9 Anime You Should Watch If You Like Naruto

Boku no Hero Academia

Fairy Tail

Nanatsu no Taizai

Hunter x Hunter

One Piece

Bleach

Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Soul Eater

Akame Ga KillHunter x Hunter is a fun adventure about young boy called Gon as he trains to become a hunter to meet his father who abandoned him years ago.

Fans of Naruto should watch this 144 episode series as Kishimoto has openly admitted to being heavily influenced by it. The series’ themes of revenge and friendship; the Chunin exam arc; and the Akatsuki organisation and Chidori were all heavily borrowed elements of Hunter x Hunter.

Nanatsu no Taizai (also referred to as Seven Deadly Sins) follows a group of knights turned criminals as they try to save a kingdom from corruption. The series, like Naruto, is filled with great animation, interesting characters and spectacular action sequences that any fan of the spikey haired boy’s journey will enjoy.

Soul Eater follows a group of students – some who can transform into weapons, others that wield said weapons – at a magical academy run by a goofy caricature of Satan. Fans of the early Naruto story – specifically, before Shippuden – will greatly enjoy this short series for its great action, quirky characters and interesting psychological scenes exploring vengeance (much like Sasuke’s own descent). Oh, and there’s a ninja character too!

Fairy Tail is a grand adventure about a magical guild and its members. Set in the magical kingdom of Fiore, the series follows an out-spoken young man named Natsu, with the ability to breathe and eat fire, Lucy, a young woman who can summon celestial zodiac spirits, and a variety of other characters; each adding a goofy dynamic to the group. Fans of Naruto will no doubt enjoy this series for its grand cast, each with their own unique powers similar to the various ninjas and villages.

Fans of Japanese animation are no doubt aware of One Piece. The series is the biggest and one of the longest running shows in Japan, and still growing with the show nearly reaching the 700 episode mark. Like Naruto, it follows a young boy destined to be the number one warrior in the world – dubbed the King of Pirates. The series has a great cast of characters as well, each well developed with satisfying character development and fight sequences (including growth in their strength in battle),; there is also a timeskip, like Naruto.

Katekyo Hitman Reborn! is an underrated and slightly older shounen series following Tsuna, a young boy who soon learns he is a descendent of the Vongola mafia family in Italy and is next in line as the organisation’s leader. The series follows a similar narrative structure to Naruto, beginning with light-hearted stories about friendship before evolving into a war between ideals. Like other series recommended, Reborn! offers a grand cast of quirky characters, a good sense of world building and an atmospheric soundtrack.

Like One Piece, fans of Naruto are no doubt aware of Bleach. Bleach follows Ichigo Kurosaki, a normal teenager who ‘dies’, becoming a soul reaper before later getting involved in a various of conflicts associated with the underworld. Bleach has similar arcs to Naruto, with the Aizen arc following a similar pattern to the war arc in Naruto Shippuden. The series also includes another grand cast of characters, some with bizarre powers such as a sword that transforms into a giant worm creature, and another that turns into an invisible cloud of dust. Despite the manga still in production in the middle of its final arc, the anime ended a few years ago.

Akame ga Kill follows a group of rebels known as Night Raid as they attempt to overthrow a corrupt government in their kingdom. The series has been described as the Game of Thrones of anime, featuring a crazy amount of gore, violence and deaths. Fans of Naruto will love this 25 episode series for its interesting sense of world building and lore surrounding the mysterious weapons called teigu, and the great fights that make you doubt the protagonists’ future survival.

Shounen Jump are so proud of the series’ success that the manga has taken Naruto’s former spot in the magazine, following a short panel of Hokage Naruto patting young Deku on the back, before cutting to a shot of Goku as Kakashi Sensei with his pupils Ichigo, Luffy and Naruto.