Summary

• Naruto's anime is known for fillers, while the manga is more concise.
• The anime elongates fights, showcasing them vividly to captivate viewers.
• Its manga has more graphic violence than the censored anime, allowing for deeper storytelling.

Naruto is one of the most recognizable multimedia franchises on the planet, owing to the excellent creative vision of Masashi Kishimoto and its animators from Studio Pierrot. What could just as easily be a formulaic adventure featuring young ninjas in spectacular battles, instead became a heartwarming and insightful tale about friendship, empathy, social acceptance, and family. But as a shonen manga was adapted as an anime, Naruto fans quickly spotted numerous omissions or running changes as the series was put on the screen.

Differences aside, Naruto's anime was named the world's most popular kids show, and the manga has gone on to sell over 250 million copies. The series is an astonishing success as one of the Shonen Big Three, with enough merchandise and a recognizable brand that has solidified its status as an icon.

It can be pedantic to focus on the differences between their formats, but anime-only viewers may be curious about just how much more intense the Naruto manga can be.

10 Naruto's Anime Is Infamous For Filler

An Instantly Noticeable Difference

Naruto's filler s for 41% of the series' episode count.

Naruto is one of the most common examples of anime where filler bloats the episode count, creating a more daunting task for viewers, although there are plenty of Naruto filler guides. These are essentially side stories, occasionally shifting perspective to side characters and regions of any given series' world, as well as buying time for the manga's creator to stay ahead with the story. Filler episodes are commonly only found in anime, so for eager fans wanting to consume more content, this can technically be seen as an advantage over only reading the manga.

9 Fights Are Drawn Out In the Anime

The Innate Benefit of an Animated Medium

Sakura's fight against Sasori is commonly cited as a popular example of Naruto Shippuden's drawn-out fights in the anime, running eight episodes.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, with Naruto's anime being given space to adapt the manga's many iconic fights, these battles are given more than sufficient screen-time. This is especially evident in cases like Tenten's fight against Temari in the Chunin Exams Arc, Naruto and Sasuke's climactic final fight, and much more. Fights are commonly among the most-hyped scenes when adapting any manga into its anime format, and Naruto is certainly no exception.

8 The Manga's Violence Is Censored In the Anime

Masashi Kishimoto Could Draw Some Serious Gore

Noteworthy examples include Kakashi's genjutsu used against Sasuke to render a bloodied, maimed Sasuke during their first training exercise, Neji's grievous injury from Kidomaru being more gnarly in the manga, and Gaara's brutality being cut from the anime.

Even though Naruto doesn't explore extremely serious moments in its earliest arcs, it has some ultraviolent s in the manga that were toned down in the anime adaptation. Noteworthy examples include Kakashi's genjutsu used against Sasuke to render a bloodied, maimed Sasuke during their first training exercise, Neji's grievous injury from Kidomaru being more gnarly in the manga, and Gaara's brutality being cut from the anime. Given Naruto's popularity with the kids, toning down the violence was a sensible decision, if understandably frustrating to those who appreciated Kishimoto's detailed art.

7 Naruto's Anime Has More Flashbacks Than the Manga

Padding Out the Time

The flashbacks in Naruto Shippuden are particularly egregious, with Obito's flashbacks among the chief offenders in the series.

This difference is one of the more artistically questionable ones on the anime side, as Naruto's manga did not feature such liberal use of flashbacks, instead only reincorporating moments when totally necessary. The flashbacks in Naruto Shippuden are particularly egregious, with Obito's flashbacks among the chief offenders in the series. However, when the anime isn't padding out its runtime with this gimmick, it's creating elegant and deep and emotional character moments not available in the manga.

6 Shikamaru's Grieving of Asuma Was More Brief In the Manga

Viewers Were Treated to the Excellent Episode #82: "Team 10"

The manga only briefly shows a set of s where the grieving party holds a funeral for Asuma, paying their respects, with Shikamaru quietly bouncing back, planning a strategy while at his shogi board.

Shikamaru Nara was already an immensely popular Naruto character, and the death of Asuma Sarutobi had a clear effect on him, leading to one of the best fights against the Akatsuki in the franchise. However, the manga only briefly shows a set of s where the grieving party holds a funeral for Asuma, paying their respects, with Shikamaru quietly bouncing back, planning a strategy while at his shogi board. The Naruto anime turns this scene into a powerful message on masculinity and grief.

5 Sakura's Portrayal In the Anime Pales Compared To the Manga

A Key Member of Team 7 Didn't Get Her Dues in the Anime

Sakura Haruno's role in the Naruto series is undeniable in both the anime and the manga, but her portrayal in the former falls short of the manga's writing. The manga portrayed Sakura as a more capable and layered character, showing concern for Naruto in the written test portion of the Chunin Exams and showing resolve in her training with Tsunade to recover Sasuke. While the anime has moments of Sakura showing similar layers at the end of the Pain's Assault Arc going forward, for many fans, the omissions make her less tolerable in the Naruto anime versus the manga.

4 Sasuke Goes to Jail in the Anime

A Consequential Difference

This change is subtle, and it's not fully determined how long Sasuke's imprisoned, but he can be seen in Naruto Shippuden's anime episode #479, imprisoned, with a seal mask over his eyes, and a straitjacket, watched over by Hibiki in a scene not from the manga. Sasuke serves out at least part of his sentence before the events of Naruto chapter #699 show up in the anime, with Kakashi pardoning him, citing stopping the Infinite Tsukuyomi as a major reason. It makes sense, after all, since Sasuke was d with the Akatsuki, and killed an interim Hokage, among other crimes.

3 Hinata's Confession to Naruto Was Far Shorter in the Manga

Mere Pages of the Manga Turn Into a Whole Episode

Chapter #437 of the Naruto manga features this sequence, where it goes six pages between Hinata showing up to attempt to rescue a pinned Naruto, saying she loves him, only for her to be swiftly cut down.

Hinata's confession to Naruto was surprising in Pain's assault on Konoha, but one for which the fans had been hoping at that point for years. Chapter #437 of the Naruto manga features this sequence, where it goes six pages between Hinata showing up to attempt to rescue a pinned Naruto, saying she loves him, only for her to be swiftly cut down. Episode #166 of the Naruto Shippuden anime turns this into an episode, incorporating additional flashbacks from her life on top of the ones used in the manga, as she crawls hopelessly toward Naruto before being impaled.

2 Neji's Caged Bird Cursed Seal Was Censored

Part of a Trend of Censorship of the Manji Symbol

Manji images feature prominently in well-known manga series like Bleach, yet their anime censorship makes it difficult for especially prominent usage like in Tokyo Revengers or Blade of the Immortal.

Anime viewers may have been surprised to see Neji's reveal of an ominous forehead mark underneath his headband, meant to subjugate of the Hyuga clan's branch family, or kill them if necessary. In the anime, this resembles an 'X' on the forehead, but in the original manga, it was an incorporation of the manji symbol, known in the West predominantly as the swastika. This difference between the anime and the manga for Naruto is understandable, and it's not the only instance where it's been removed, but due to its usage in Buddhism and Confucianism, its removal breeds controversy.

1 One Sexy Jutsu Has a BL Twist in the Manga

Anime Fans Clearly Weren't Ready

In the English language release, the appears like above, showing only silhouettes.

While the sexy jutsu has been a running gag from Naruto volume #1 until its last arc, with a reverse harem jutsu even being hilariously used against Kaguya Otsutsuki in chapter #682, one saucy twist on the move was never animated. Chapter #347 of the manga features a rendition by Konohamaru, with Sakura being swayed by the Sexy: Boy on Boy technique, taking Sasuke BL dreams one step closer to reality. with a guest appearance from Sai. However, digital readers on the VIZ portal will only see silhouettes.