The ‘Power’ Arc (Naruto Shippuden: 290-295) Kakashi plays the awkward but cool target that shows some of his good natured side and the small bits of fun we get out of Kakashi’s often serious demeanor. The arc is just pure good vibes and classic Naruto silliness. It’s one of the few arcs where we see Sasuke, perhaps still caught in his youthful naivety, actually indulging one of Naruto’s doe-eyed plans. This arc is classic Naruto Part I childish deviance from Team Kakashi. If you love Kakashi but want some lighter content, this arc shows the happy-go-lucky side of Naruto in optimal fashion. Gotta See! Gotta Know! Kakashi-Sensei’s True Face! (Naruto 101)
Kishimoto often mentions Kakashi as one of his favored characters, he once remarked that if he had to make a series focussing on any other character then he would choose Kakashi, and this is as close we get to this in the form of an anime. This provides a lot of backstory to the series more widely but also to Kakashi’s character specifically. If you are into Kakashi Hatake, there is no better filler to watch. There are some familiar faces in this such as Minato Namikaze, Itachi Uchiha, and we even see Kakashi protecting an unborn Naruto in his mother’s womb! The whole arc is like one of the Hiden novels, following the young Kakashi through his Anbu career as one of the youngest jonin in the village. If you like Kakashi as a character, then this is a seriously fun arc to watch. Here’s a quick list of all the canon episodes and all the filler episodes for reference: Naruto This can be super helpful in most anime, but especially in Naruto, as sometimes you just want to see the canon, and sometimes you want the specific filler arc where certain characters or techniques may be used.Įither way, we’re going to give you the blueprints so that you can tailor your own watching experience for both Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden.
In any case, being able to navigate between filler and canon arcs will be able to help you cater your watching experience to your preferences. Sometimes what writers do is mix canon with filler in one episode which can make things confusing, but there is always someone who has read the manga who will be able to clarify what is and isn’t canonical information. On the other hand, some can be quite random and boring depending on what you want from the show. In Naruto some of these arcs can be particularly compelling, especially the ones that delve into characters in fun ways.
Canon simply refers to the show’s original plot line from the manga, and ‘filler’ refers to the added arcs.