When I joined this site, The first review I ever posted was of Naruto but it's extremely outdated now and my vocabulary was limited 7 years ago so I figured its time to delete that one and totally redo it, So here we are. This is going to be a loooong review including my personal thoughts and how it affected me so strap on!

This review is for the entire Naruto series, keep that in mind.

For most people, the way they got introduced to anime is probably via Dragon ball, Pokémon, Beyblade, Bakugan etc. And while I did watch these shows growing up, no other show stood out to me as much as Naruto. My 12 year old self had no idea what he was watching on Cartoon Network one day but I'm glad I was because from that day onward I developed a sort of affliction towards this series. At that point in time I only saw bits and pieces and random episodes on CN, So my knowledge was vague and I only knew two things that this show is Naruto and he's the main character.

Fast forward a couple of months after that point, our local Cartoon network stopped broadcasting Naruto and Dragon ball Z for some odd reason. So I was left puzzled what to do. Now keep in mind, this is early 2010s and 2011. Our household had no Internet, let alone a computer so my only choice was to search my local markets. I scoured and I actually ended up finding Bootleg dvds of Naruto (I didnt know they were bootleg at the time lmao) Bought a ton of those but even then I didnt properly watch the series. Years passed by, I bought my first console (PS2) solely for playing the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Series (True fans know what I'm talking about haha). That game was my life for that period of time. Then after a while, bought an Xbox 360 and played more Naruto games etc.

Fast forward to now when its 2015, I made my MAL account and now I had proper internet access and could watch all of Naruto and so I did just that. Then came the time for the war arc of Naruto which had several fillers that it actually ended up making me read the manga for the first time and I read that till the end. Now a few years passed, the anime was actually now at its end and I still remember the day I watched the final episode, Tears flowing from my eyes. It was 2017 and I just graduated from my College and was now preparing for my University entrance exams. I also rewatched multiple scenes and played the games so many times that I felt like I knew the series by heart and Naruto became my profile pic on most online platforms haha (It was a phase).
I did rewatch the entire series, including fillers in 2020 all in 35 days non stop hahaha xD.
Naruto is the reason why I delved so much into anime and why I now love Anime. I'm proud of the years I spent watching it, almost feels like I grew up with Naruto. This feeling cannot be explained, Its surreal.

Now on to the review,

Story : One of the best written stories in shounen easily, don't compare this to seinen or other categories because it should be compared with its competitors right? At the time it was competing with Bleach and One piece and they were known as the Big 3. All 3 of these shows are still going on till this day, Boruto counts of course.
You will find everything in Naruto's story, romance, melodrama, dark themes, war, politics, abuse, action, super powers, mind games. It literally has every single thing that you can think of and it amazingly portrays the journey of Naruto as an individual through his early life till adulthood.

Characters : Boy oh boy, where do we start. Even people who havent watched Naruto are familiar with its characters like Itachi, Kakashi, Sasuke etc. Because of Kishimoto's excellent and charming character designs!
Some of the best side characters and antagonist can be found in Naruto.

Animation : Studio Pierrot has somewhat managed to maintain a standard of quality throughout all the years when it made Naruto.
While the animation has its ups and downs, for the most part it does its job pretty well. Nothing is perfect obviously but I think Studio pierrot did their best with what they had.

Voice actors : Stellar cast, Everything gave their hearts and poured their all into their roles.

Soundtrack : One of THE BEST soundtracks ever, Sad osts, Happy ost, Banger openings and Endings.
I still listen to them to this day while driving my car, the songs and music is that good!

Verdict : Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Naruto helped shape an entire generation of Weebs and people like me to whom Naruto became an irreplaceable part of their lives and its the reason why Iam here to today writing this review. Naruto helped shape my personality and I will no doubt show this to my children and partner, If I'm lucky enough! Hehe :)

If you're still reading this review then here's a cookie ?. Just go blind and start this journey. Trust me , You wont regret it.
This is my longest review since I couldnt find the words to write down properly but I did manage to write atleast some of it!

Thank you for reading!