Naruto
Naruto is an anime that is pretty polarizing. The vast majority of anime fans love it or hate it, with every few falling somewhere in the middle, but it’s the very same things that make this anime so polarizing that also make it such a tried and true shounen series. Naruto is a young hero in the making who believes his skills are far greater than they actually are, and for many viewers his arrogance can be a major detractor for the series as a whole. But it’s when you start to understand Naruto more and develop a sense of empathy for this troubled soon-to-be hero that the magic of the series starts to really shine through the cracks of his often obnoxious personality. Naruto simply dares to take character development to new heights. Characters in this anime often take a journey from the depths of depression and trauma and emerge through their personal turmoil as a new person — for better or for worse.
Naruto’s journey is a particularly exaggerated one that extends all the way through Naruto Shippuden. We see him grow from an arrogant young child wanting to be far more powerful than he actually is and eventually become a rough-around-the-edges type of leader who wants the best for those he truly cares about. While he often makes sudden, brash decisions, these types of mistakes are more believable considering the fact that Naruto is a character who has had an unquenchable thirst for love and companionship and how he is fighting to protect the people he now identifies as family. Sure there are plenty of overused tropes, but the character development on display throughout the anime, beautifully crafted fight scenes, narrative plot twists, and fillers that are actually still entertaining all come together to compensate for that. All in all, Naruto is a complex, layered series that delivers on multiple fronts.
