Is Naruto worth continuing?

[Pocket-Gog~]

So, I dropped Naruto 6 episodes in. Does it get better? Is it worth continuing?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Only worthwhile arc is the first arc so if you found that worth dropping, don't continue any further.

If you want to see a series with the same elements as early Naruto....just rewatch the Hunter Exams.

 

[Pocket-Gog~]

Only worthwhile arc is the first arc so if you found that worth dropping, don't continue any further.

If you want to see a series with the same elements as early Naruto....just rewatch the Hunter Exams.

What are the similar elements between Early HxH and Early Naruto?

 

[Captain Cadaver]

What are the similar elements between Early HxH and Early Naruto?

- Both have a last survivor of a special clan who's eyes turn red and want revenge (Kurapika and Sasuke).
- Both have a main character who presents fear and other negative emotions towards their older brother, of whom's name begins with I (Killua's fear of Illumi and Sasuke's fear/hatred of Itachi).
- Chunin Exams = Hunter Exams
- Both feature a far older contestant than the main character in their exams that act as a villain and have an overly large fascination with one of the young main cast members (Hisoka and Orochimaru).
- Both have a member of the exam with sinister motives who puts on a facade (Tonpa and Kabuto).
- Both feature a part of the exam that involves taking an item from another participant in a primarily forested area (Stealing badges on Zevil Island and Stealing Scrolls in the Forest of Death).

If including later events, there's also the Releases in Part 2 being linked to a person's nature and similar factors as well as the test for their attribute taking obvious inspiration from Nen and the water divination test.

 

[Pocket-Gog~]

Kishimoto basically copied Togashi then.

 

[sei'taer]

Naruto had a little too much fluff even in the manga. i can't imagine the anime.

 

[Warmmedown]

Skip the filler. Get past Gaara being introduced. If you still really don't like it then it's probably best to drop it. Otherwise, the Chuunin exams and up until the timeskip are good, if you skip the filler. Definitely better than DBZ, nostalgia and cultural influence aside.

 

[Symbiote]

Chuunin Exams & Rescue Sasuke arc were good. The rest was hit or miss.

 

[sei'taer]

Yeah the chuunin exams are pretty good, gaara vs rock lee specifically.

 

[Captain Cadaver]

Kishimoto basically copied Togashi then.

Well, I'd say Kishimoto attempted to give his own take on Togashi's ideas rather than completely rip them off (or butcher them like My Cliche Academia did with it's Hero Exams). Unlike the Hunter Exams where the plot favours the main 4, Hisoka and Illumi and treats the rest as expendable until the last stage, all the competitors in the Chunin Exam by the time of the tournament stage had enough focus and intriguing aspects to be considered worthy of being main characters themselves and equally justified in winning as Team 7 were. The repercussions of the arc were also greater than that of the Hunter Exams since we had important, established characters dying such as Hiruzen or being gravely injured for their mistakes like Lee (though the latter would be ruined by the Sasuke Rescue Arc), whereas the Hunter Exam only had a fodder die and Killua not gain the liscence he didn't even care about.

Hunter Exams still hold up as better overall though, since the tournament bracket at the end was far more interesting than the linear one in Naruto,the characters were given far more focus and it wasn't retroactively ruined like the Neji fight was once fatalism became part of Naruto, but my point is that the Chunin Exam wasn't completely a watered down Hunter Exam.