This being a mainly character driven plot, this becomes a huge issue because any significant event in fillers could affect the characters so they can't move ahead the plot line at all. The issues that lies within the filler episodes is that they are not allowed to make any significant changes to the story or specifically its characters.
It counts as 219 total filler episodes which make up 44% of the series as a whole. The amount of filler in this show is staggering. The story is mainly hampered (not ruined) by fillers and pacing issues which I will discuss below. Down the line this is series deals with more mature themes and darker tones and manage to execute well on most of those themes if not all. And the story then on is presented in a collection of long well constructed story arcs with the bigger picture stories of Sasuke and the Akatsuki being told parallelly till a certain point.
The series eases you back into the world of Naruto with a slow paced, almost SOL like first few episodes. It starts off where the first part of Naruto ended and the very first scenes gives us a sneak peak of things to come. It's unpredictable, it's thrilling, it plays with your emotions, it's funny, it's tragic, it's sometimes downright frustrating but it is, more than anything, wondrous and fun while being able to take itself seriously when it needs to. But what it is, is beautiful (probably not the word that can be often used to describe a shounen anime), but it really is. While it's not bad, it's certainly no Berserk. The story of Naruto has been a mixed bag. I'm going to tell you why it hasīeen the best experience an anime gave me in my entire life and dig into what made the series popular while also explaining its flaws. Sometimes the animation quality was below par and pacing can be painfully slow at times. Let me start off by saying Naruto is by no means a flawless anime. An anime that ranked as one of the most watched series in Japan that got tarnished by a greedy studio and has received tons of internet backlash throughout the years. The series that sold over 220 million manga copies, winning handful of awards along the way. Others will enjoy it immensely too, but without a doubt the more intelligent you are the more you will enjoy it.Naruto.
It is a must watch AND a must read to everyone with above average intelligence. Though it does have a large emphasis on fighting, Naruto is primarily about characters and story. It is not anything like DBZ or similar 'OP Powaz anime'.
In summary it's my opinion that Naruto is one of the most epic and dynamic stories to exist to this date. Other reviews stating it's gone on for too long or stories/characters are being recycled - I wont go into too much explanation on flawing this review, it's so far off the mark all I need say is this individual has clearly not understood the intricate's of the characters and the history. Reviews down rating due to fillers is ridiculous, obviously the studio and channels need to make money and fill air time, and obviously 1 manga is not as long as 1 anime, common sense should then counter any grudge held due to fillers. Character growth, development and change is incomparable to any other manga/story/book you will ever read, with some serious plot twists while constantly offering reasoning and back story completely justifying them all. It then goes on to get better and better and better. The story continues were it left off and takes no time at all in getting right into it. Had to add a review since some of them I read were quite frankly ridiculous.