25 Best Anime Series on Netflix Right Now (2020)

25. Naruto

Seasons: 2

Rating: TV-PG

Languages: Japanese with English subtitles; English dubbed

Let’s start things with a controversial placement. Netflix’s own description of Naruto tells us that the manga by Masashi Kishimoto holds a spot as one of the top-selling titles of all time. Here’s the gist of the story: a Naruto Uzumaki wants nothing more than to be Hokage of his ninja village, but he’s an outcast and happens to have a nasty spirit sealed within him. As he tries to learn more about the arts of being a ninja, he makes friends, has conflicts, and harnesses his power to fight for his village and himself.

The manga, however, is not the anime.

The anime has a major problem by the name of filler. Since it started airing while the manga was still running, extra episodes needed to be made in order to give Kishimoto time to keep writing the series. As a manga, Naruto ended in 2014. The second half of the anime, Naruto: Shippuden, has not actually finished airing episodes, though the newest episodes are side stories set before the events of the series.

So why doesn’t Naruto make it much higher? Alas, Naruto: Shippuden currently isn’t available on Netflix, though two of the movies are. Naruto doesn’t finish the story on its own, not even with the two Shippuden films as supplemental viewing.