How to watch ‘Naruto’ and ‘Naruto Shippuden’ in order, including movies

Although Naruto and Naruto Shippuden concluded in 2017, the anime is cemented in anime history the best series for those who are getting into anime for the first time. 

Starting Naruto is overwhelming for even the most seasoned anime fan. The anime is famously lengthy, especially when you factor in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations and we have a no-filler watch guide too.

Do I need to watch the Naruto movies? 

The movies are entertaining but you don’t have to watch most of them to understand the plot. If you only want to stick to canon, you can watch the anime alone and you’ll understand pretty much all you need to know. 

That being said, The Last: Naruto the Movie and Boruto: Naruto the Movie are part of the series’ continuity. You can ultimately still skip these but it might make the beginning of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations a bit confusing. The others, while beautifully drawn and often enjoyable, are not required viewing.

How to watch Naruto in order

If you want to watch Naruto in its entirety, you’re going to want to start with the 2002 anime before watching Naruto Shippuden and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. You can follow the shows’ release order if you’re watching without the movies but if you’re watching those as well, you’ll want to jump between the shows and the films. 

You can start by watching the first 101 episodes of Naruto before adding your first movie to the mix. After that, the movies are interspersed with different arcs. Here’s the best order to begin if you want to watch Naruto chronologically: 

• Naruto Episodes 1-101 
• Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow (2004)
• Naruto Episodes 102-160 
• Naruto the Movie: Legend of the Stone of Gelel (2005)
• Naruto Episodes 161-196 
• Naruto the Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom (2006) 
• Naruto Episodes 197-220 (End of the show)

After finishing the first series, you can start Naruto Shippuden. Start with the first 32 episodes before watching the first Naruto Shippuden movie. 

• Naruto Shippuden Episodes 1-32
• Naruto Shippuden the Movie (2007)
• Naruto Shippuden Episodes 33-71 
• Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Bonds (2008)
• Naruto Shippuden Episodes 72-126 
• Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Will of Fire (2009) 
• Naruto Shippuden Episodes 127-143 
• Naruto Shippuden the Movie: The Lost Tower (2010) 
• Naruto Shippuden Episodes 144-196 
• Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison (2011)
• Naruto Shippuden Episodes 197-251 
• Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie (2012)
• Naruto Shippuden Episodes 252-493 (End of the show)
• The Last: Naruto the Movie (2014)

You can stop here if you’re only interested in Naruto Uzumaki and the story from the original manga series. If you’re a completionist or you’re interested in what happens after Naruto gets his happy ending, you can now move on to Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. This series follows Naruto’s son Boruto and continues the story established in the Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. 

Unlike the other shows, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is still airing new episodes. Here’s what you need to watch to be up to date. 

• Boruto: Naruto the Movie (2015) 
• Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episodes 1-293 

If watching all of these movies and episodes terrifies you but you still want to experience Naruto, you can always check out Masashi Kishimoto’s phenomenal manga. You’ll miss out on the filler (as much as we love to hate on filler, there are some gems hidden among the filler episodes) but reading the manga is less intimidating than watching over 1000 episodes and 11 movies. 

You can currently watch Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations on Crunchyroll. Watching all the movies online is more of a challenge but most are available to stream on Netflix or to rent or buy on Prime Video.