Author: Indigo Curnick
Date: 2026-06-27
Major spoilers for: Naruto, Demon Slayer, Dr Stone, Frieren.
Naruto was the first anime I ever watched. It was probably around 2003 on Cartoon Network. I had no idea what Naruto was at the time, nor anime in general. Naruto was totally different to anything else on Cartoon Network at the time, shows like Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog and so on. The arc I tuned into was the Land of Waves Arc. I remember the showdown in the ice mirrors and Zabuza's emotional sacrifice on the bridge at the end. It had an emotional depth and also violence a young kid without the internet simply couldn't get anywhere else at the time.
I was hooked. I ended up watching every episode of Naruto, and then Naurto: Shippuden. I even watched the fillers, as I simply didn't know what fillers were. Big mistake. Anyway, after some 770 episodes, what did I get?
In fairness, a lot of good. There was no mistake I ended up watching all of it - watching Jiraya's death or Naruto defend Hinata in the village were deeply emotional scenes. However, I did also watch Naruto flashback to that swing about a hundred times.
After reflecting on Naruto and several other significant anime that were popular in the 90s, 00s and 10s, I've noticed a few themes and trends which I call the Naruto-style. My thesis is two parts, one, the Naruto-style is simply not very good; and two, the Naurto-style is generally less popular now than it was in the past.
So what's the Naruto-style of anime? It is characterised by four major red-flags:
- unchecked power creep;
- no permanency;
- endless repeats;
- unfocused story;
Naruto had all four in spades.
Unchecked power creep might be the easiest to see. Consider the fight between Kakashi and Zabuza in the Land of Waves Arc. That was supposed to be legendary combat; Kakashi and Zabuza above the skill level of an average Jonin. Frankly it looked good. Restrained, skilled, smart. By the end of Naruto: Shippuden there were summons and skills by Genin which outclassed Kakashi in the Land of Waves Arc. Sure, it looked cool when I was about 15 but it's so shallow in hindsight. It also undermines the earlier seasons. Why didn't Kakashi simply use those same skills from the final episodes on Zabuza and instantly win?
The lack of permanency can be best seen in Naurto's skill level. Despite multiple training arcs, Naurto himself never seems to actually get better at anything. Because of the power creep; Naurto is easily defeated by supposedly low level enemies. This sets up a major tonal clash. On the one hand Naurto is said to be an extremely powerful shinobi, on the other, he seems to lose easily. Who is Naurto? We can ever truly answer this question because he doesn't seem to have a stable character.
Naurto also endlessly repeats the same points over and over again. At a certain point it feels like a long run of Groundhog Day. All I need to mention is the swing. Naruto, for such an "accomplished" shinobi seems physically incapable of actually winning a fight and has to Talk no Jutsu his way out of nearly everything. It will inevitably involve a sombre flashback to him swinging alone outside the school. The sight of this flashback is apparently so powerful that even the most evil and twisted people can have their entire worldview transformed in a matter of minutes (which takes about 5 episodes; Timewaste no Jutsu is Naruto's other major skill).
Finally Naruto lacks anything approaching a coherent story. Almost all of the original Naruto series is random. It isn't until Naruto: Shippuden that we start to see something of a story develop, however, that's 500 episodes long, which is a clear indication of an unfocused story. It is perhaps from here where all other ills arise: repetition, lack of permanency and power creep come from making it up as we go along.
Naruto was good for the time, but I think it's critical we move on. I for one won't be watching any more Naruto-style anime. What are the remedies to the Naruto-style? A couple of anime come to mind.
Demon Slayer is the clearest counter to Naruto. In just 63 episodes, plus three films (and one optional film) it delivers a single, clear, focused story. Let's say with the films it's about 85 episodes equivalent in length; or in other words about 12% of the run time of Naurto.
First, the story is focused from the start: kill Muzan. This gives each arc a clear focus. In Naurto, most arcs felt like they didn't have anything to do with the overall story. In Demon Slayer each arc clearly contributes to the overall, larger story.
The structure of Demon Slayer is generally quite simple. In that world, demons have "ranks" - common demons, lower ranks, upper ranks and Muzan himself, with a clear gradation. This focus prevents power creep: Muzan is as strong a foe as it gets, and we expect the best Hashira and our main characters, to be about as strong as him when the time comes. Of course, the main thing which prevents power creep is a limited run time.
Also there is permanency: in the early arcs Tanjiro comes to grips with defeating common demons. Quickly we get past that, and once Tanjiro successfully defeats a demon of a certain rank it is assumed he has unlocked a certain skill level. We do not need to retread unlocking that level again! And we don't. Because of all this, everything we see is permanent. Tanjiro doesn't suddenly level-down to be unable to defeat much weaker demons than he was dispatching before.
I was greatly overjoyed to find out that Demon Slayer was ending. No final season is planned but instead three films which concluded the franchise are being made. This is perfect; in a feature length film there's no room for wasted time. Focused, intense stories are paramount. After seeing Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle last year in the cinema, this seems to be the case.
Dr Stone is another anime which has just finished airing that shows a departure from Naruto-style story-telling. With 93 episodes the story is a little larger than Demon Slayer but it still sticks to a good focus. It does take longer to find its focus than Demon Slayer, with a slightly elongated prologue. Nevertheless, the task is clear: rescue humanity from the petrification.
By having "Why Man" on the moon and undoing the petrification device, Dr Stone avoids the trap of unchecked power creep - once the petrification is undone then victory is achieved. There is no more.
Dr Stone also shows remarkable permanency. Once they "unlock" a new scientific breakthrough, it is taken as a given that they have an endless amount of that substance. In one episode, The Nation of Science had countless ships and rockets and so on at its disposal. It really does not matter that in real life manufacturing a large cargo ship capable of crossing the Atlantic takes years of work from thousands of individuals in a complex society. I don't care! The show is set in a fantasy world where production is cheap and effortless. This also allows it to avoid endless repeats. We don't need to see the manufacture of steel or the mining of coal over and over again, as they certainly would in real life.
By doing so, it shows off the real point of Dr Stone - the maverick. Each character being "The Best at X" is the core drive of the anime. When watching Dr Stone I can't help but be struck at how Randian it is. It reflects strongly the plot of Atlas Shrugged but inverted; in Atlas Shrugged the maverick geniuses were escaping a collapsing society, in Dr Stone the maverick geniuses are rebuilding an already collapsed society. This gives it a much more optimistic view than Rand's pessimism.
Frieren is another anime which typifies this post-Naruto transformation. Frieren is a yin to the yang of Demon Slayer. We have a nice focused story, on reaching the resting place of souls in the North to see Himmel once again.
What I like about Frieren is how little combat is in it. Frieren is a extremely powerful mage; she defeated the demon king after all. Why wouldn't she just win almost every fight easily? The focus isn't on the combat but rather Frieren's emotional journey. Contrast this with even a "strong" Naruto being outclassed by supposedly lower level enemies. In Frieren we do not get a clash between what we told and see: we are told Frieren is a powerful mage and we see Frieren as a powerful mage. It's easy to explain who Frieren is as she has a stable character; though, an evolving one. A powerful mage who has mastered magic and is able to defeat with ease almost any opponent.
Flashbacks to her journey against the demon king reveal it to be one of necessity. Contrast this with her current journey, one of true personal growth. Frieren represents a much more mature story than we usually get in anime. The true enemy is not external, but rather internal; Frieren's own loneliness and isolation. Watching Frieren learn to connect with others is a level of mature emotional story telling I don't often expect from anime.
I think this has shown some evidence for the second point of my thesis: the three anime I mention as counter-Naruto-style anime are three particularly popular anime right now. There are plenty more I would put into this category which I have not mentioned such as Apothecary Diaries, Witch Hat Atelier - again some of the most popular anime running right now. I do believe we are seeing a overall decline in the Naruto-style anime, and the most popular anime right now all tend to be pretty high quality, especially from a story perspective.
Is Naruto the only anime of this category? Obviously not. It's just the one which stands out to me as a major offender. While I do think there's a general shift away from the Naruto-style in modern anime, there's still going to be plenty of instances of it. One Piece for instance is still running (now on its 1164th episode); My Hero Academia is 181 episodes over 9 seasons; I can't even be bothered to check if Dragon Ball is still running but let's say it is. While this vague and endless style of story telling will never end, I and many others, simply won't be engaging with it anymore. However, if the torrents of AI slop has told me anything, it is that there will always be pigs lined up at the trough for their next serving.
I think in terms of anime slop, though, we're definitely seeing a switch from Naruto-style anime to borderline endless hours of isekai slop. Ever since the travesty Sword Art Online hit screens in 2012, the isekai genre has somehow grown in popularity. I do see how; the basic premise of isekai does have some kind of merit to it. Essentially the whole genre is A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, which is frankly really fun. However, there's two basic problems with isekai's rise. First, Sword Art Online was shocking and I can not believe it spawned a genre. Second, every isekai combination is already played out; each one becoming more generic and derivative and cliché than the last. I suppose the fundamental is that anime is very expensive to produce and in a world of limited resources not everything can be a Frieren or a Dr Stone. I wish it was.