Orphaned at a young age and ostracized by his village due to the nine-tailed fox demon that was sealed within him at birth, Naruto aims for the top. His dream is to eventually become the leader of his village, the Hokage.
However, first he must actually become a ninja and gain strength enough to rise to this pinnacle.
Naruto is the anime that even people that aren’t particularly familiar with anime know. It shaped childhoods and left its mark on the anime industry, but most of all, it showed that ninjas are cooler when they use ninja magic instead of stealth.
If you are looking for more anime recommendations like Naruto, head on down below.
Anime Like Naruto
For Fans of Ninjas
Nabari no Ou
In this modern world, ninja clans still survive and thrive in secret all around us.
In the midst of this sits Miharu, a relatively apathetic young man that is the bearer of a powerful ninja technique. There are many ninja clans that seek his power in order to become ruler over Nabari, the ninja world.
Enduring several attacks, Miharu has no choice but to accept the protection of his English teacher and the resident Banten ninja clan.
Unlike Naruto, Nabari no Ou is set in the modern world. While the ninjas can also use flashy jutsu, because ninjas still live in the shadows, sometimes the lowly kunai is still a valid tool.
However, while Naruto revels in big action, Nabari no Ou features one singular plot line that has moments of action, but moments of exploration through exposition as well. It isn’t quite as fast paced as Naruto.
Essentially, the thing Nabari no Ou and Naruto have most in common is that they are about ninjas.
Basilisk
When two warring ninja clans each find themselves supporting a different son of Hidetada Tokugawa as the next shogun, they each send 10 representatives to fight to the death.
The winner of this fight not only gets Tokugawa support, but they earn the right to wipe out the other clan.
While it is a bit on the older side now, Basilisk is a pretty brutal series about two ninja clans fighting each other. Each ninja has their own specific power that isn’t as flashy as in Naruto, but is absolutely vicious.
Unlike Naruto where clans often have specific powers, Basilisk has powers more specific to the person.
For Fans of Lengthy Action-Adventure Series
Fairy Tail
While looking to enhance her magic, celestial mage Lucy meets an energetic fire mage name Natsu. After finding out he is a member of the famous wizard guild Fairy Tail that she has long admired, the pair travel home so Lucy can join.
Together with her new guildmates, Lucy and Natsu embark on adventures to help people, make money, and explore their vast magical world.
If you enjoy your big action, big power shounen anime, both Fairy Tail and Naruto are for you. However, they also share a similar benefit to you the viewer – Both Naruto (the main series, at least) and Fairy Tail have ended.
Friendships are made, relationships are formed, enemies are beaten, people are saved. Both Naruto and Fairy Tail are staple shounen action series where you, the watcher, have the distinct benefit of not having to wait for more episodes. Unless you are a Boruto fan, of course.
That aside, the ninjas in Naruto often have elemental jutsu and techniques that really are not so different from the magic thrown around in Fairy Tail.
One Piece
With his dying breath, legendary Pirate King Gol D. Roger let the world know about his treasure, setting in motion the Grand Age of Pirates.
Among the many crews that set out to look for the legendary One Piece treasure is Monkey D. Luffy, a young man that has assembled a rag-tag crew to sail the Grand Line and hunt down One Piece.
Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece – They’re the “Big 3” of shounen anime. If you like one, chances are you will like the others.
One Piece can be a little daunting to get into because of its immense length, and many can be put off by the art style. However, One Piece is to pirates in anime to Naruto is to ninjas.
The characters mostly get incredible powers that grow over time and lead to incredible encounters. They tell their stories in grand arcs and even have time skips where the characters grow their powers.
Bleach
Ichigo Kurosaki is an average high school student except for his ability to see ghosts.
One night, his family is attacked by a Hollow, a corrupted spirit that devours souls. He and a Soul Reaper who appears named Rukia manage to fight it off.
However, in the process, Rukia is injured, forcing her to share her powers with Ichigo in order to survive the battle.
From there, Ichigo must face down with Hollows and other Soul Reapers alike, not yet knowing what powerful enemies lurk out in the universe and what devastating powers lie within himself.
There was a time where Bleach and Naruto were synonymous with each other as shounen action anime.
They were two different series in the exact same vein of exciting shounen action anime with a huge character roster. Then Bleach ended prematurely and Naruto kept going so they lost pace with each other.
While the ninjas in Naruto can have a variety of techniques from elemental powers to summons to just beating people with their fists, much of all the powers in Bleach are centered around swords. Or rather, different factions tend to have specific powers that are all in a similar vein such as shinigami using swords, and Quincy using powers. That doesn’t mean the powers aren’t as varied, however.
Hunter X Hunter
Twelve-year-old Gon Freecss is determined to become a world-class Hunter, a skilled individual that performs all manner of dangerous tasks, just like his long-absent father.
However, Gon finds that the path to achieving his goals is more challenging than he could have ever imagined, but in order to overcome it, Gon recruits some powerful friends.
Like Naruto, Hunter x Hunter starts off all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. It even has an early arc not unlike the Chuunin Exams.
However, both series have a way of getting pretty dark as they go on.
Yet, there’s Naruto-level dark where a few characters die and there are some dubious motivations, then there is Hunter x Hunter-levels of dark where things become vastly more messed up the more you think about them.
Unlike Naruto that tends to grow more mature, Hunter x Hunter often likes to give whiplash between dark arcs and youthful playfulness.
My Hero Academia
After the sudden appearance of super powers, or “quirks,” now 80 percent of humanity has some kind of power. With some Quirk users turning to crime, it gave rise to super heroes that help the police keep the peace.
Since he was a child, Izuku Midoriya has idolized super heroes, especially the symbol of peace, All Might, but he is devastated to learn that he won’t manifest a Quirk himself. Still, he studies super heroes and is determined to become one.
After a chance encounter with All Might, Midoriya learns that there still may be a chance for him to be a hero after all.
Like Naruto wants to be the Hokage, Midoriya wants to be the Symbol of Peace, or at least the strongest hero among professional heroes.
Like Naruto, Deku slowly gains the power to achieve his dream over time which leads him to some absolutely adrenaline-pumping fights.
If you enjoyed Naruto’s bigger battles, My Hero Academia is most famous for its stunningly beautiful end-of-arc battles.
Black Clover
After being abandoned at the same church, Asta and Yuno grew up together. Together they also grew up aiming for the same title – The Wizard King, the strongest wizard in the kingdom.
However, it soon became apparent that while Yuno has skill with magic, Asta couldn’t use it at all.
This all changed when they were attacked and Asta was given a strange grimoire that granted him the ability to nullify magic.
While Naruto’s hard work towards being a better ninja stopped being quite as important later in the series, Black Clover is built on the back of a main character who has no innate talent, but all determination.
He has no magic in a magical world and wants to be the Wizard King, not unlike a certain young ninja with Hokage dreams.
While their plots progress differently, like most shounen anime Black Clover and Naruto have innate similarity. If you really just want to see a large cast with diverse powers, Black Clover offers more of that.
For Fans of Immense Power
Demon Slayer
After the death of his father, Tanjirou has taken up the role of the man of the home, supporting his mother and five siblings.
However, after selling charcoal in town, he returns to tragedy. All his family was brutally slaughtered, save for one of his sisters. Unfortunately, she has been attacked by a demon and mingled their blood, turning her into a demon as well.
However, she still shows signs of humanity, thrusting Tanjirou onto a quest to find a way to change his sister back and preserve what is left of his family.
Like Naruto Shippuden, Demon Slayer specializes in flashy fights, each more visually amazing than the last.
If it was really the action in Naruto that made you adore it, then you will find no better spectacle than Demon Slayer.
However, while Demon Slayer prefers the sword compared to ninja tools of jutsu techniques, Demon Slayer and Naruto both share a passion for idealistic, empathetic main characters. However, even Naruto is prone to anger, Tanjiro is a saint of empathy.
Jujutsu Kaisen
In order to gain more power, demons search for fragments of the legendary demon Sukuna to consume them.
One day, Yuuji Itadori, who just lost his grandfather, learns of this as he saves his school friends from being consumed by demons after they break the seal on one of the body parts of Sukuna that was at their school.
In order to stand a chance, he eats it, revealing himself as a rare vessel that can utilize and control the curse of Sukuna, meaning when he dies, Sukuna’s curse dies with him.
If there is one anime most like Naruto, Jujutsu Kaisen would be it.
While Jujutsu Kaisen is about exorcists, you can see Naruto’s inspiration even in the main trio of good-hearted inexperienced novice, brooding black haired natural talent, “the girl,” and their white-haired ultra cool mentor. However, Jujutsu Kaisen has the distinct benefit of having the girl portion of their trio not be useless.
Furthermore, like Naruto, Yuuji ends up with an evil being sealed inside him with his body as a vessel. While this makes him a bit accursed, it does allow him the power to fight demons.
Jujutsu Kaisen, while featuring amazing action and great characters, is a bit darker than Naruto in its tone and visuals.
The Legend of Legendary Heroes
Ryner Lute is a talented mage with the power of Alpha Stigma, special eyes that can analyze all types of magic, but are said to bring destruction.
He was once a student in a magic school, but after most of his classmates died in the war, he makes an oath to make the world a more peaceful place.
In an effort to do this, he sets out to find relics from legendary heroes with the help of beautiful swordswoman Ferris Eris.
Both series feature main characters with powers that allow them to be incredibly powerful, but ultimately cause many people to shun them.
Both Naruto and The Legend of Legendary Heroes also have strong elements of friendship and betrayal, but while The Legend of Legendary Heroes and its legendarily silly title don’t seem like it at a glance, things get really quite dark much like later in Naruto.
Fire Force
A phenomenon has started overtaking mankind – one where people spontaneously combust and turn into destructive fire demons called Infernals.
To fight these demons, special fire forces were established full of those with dedication and powers to control fire.
This is the story of Fire Force 8 and their newest recruit – Shinra, who aims to become a hero and discover the truth behind the Infernals.
Both series take something simple from our world – ninjas and what are essentially fire fighters – and gives them a shounen action anime makeover.
In both Naruto and Fire Force, there are some more grounded characters, but of course the main character and many supporting characters have flashy powers that they use to fight enemies. However, as you might expect at a glance, Fire Force powers are all pretty much fire-based.
While Naruto varies in its story arcs, Fire Force has arcs, but they are all moving towards one central mystery that they are trying to uncover. It tends to keep its plot more on task compared to Naruto.
Blue Exorcist
Humans and demons have always been separated by two different worlds, humans in Assiah and demons in Gehenna. The only way to travel between the worlds is by possession, which is how Satan, the ruler of Gehenna, wages his war.
Blue Exorcist follows Rin Okumura, a somewhat trouble teen and son of Satan. However, while his father wants him to help conquer the human world, Rin decides to become an exorcist to fight him instead.
Like Naruto, Rin has tremendous power inside himself due to something evil and people discriminate against him because of it. However, instead of embracing that evil nature, he actively uses that power to fight against it.
Both Naruto and Rin were shaped this way by strong father figures and end up as scrappy, but kind-hearted fighters.
That said, the powers in Blue Exorcist, outside of Rin’s, are all actually pretty tame compared to the wide range of wild jutsu in Naruto. However, it still has those energetic shounen anime battles you are likely looking for.
Do you have your own anime recommendations for Naruto? Let fans now in the comments section below.
Hunter X Hunter is my favourite Anime. Thanks for sharing the list.