Greetings boys and girls! I have not seen a topic like this and thus opted to create one. I've heard people give their opinions on this series overall now that it's finished, but haven't quite seen people provide their opinions in a quantitative fashion. Thus, I'd like for users here grade the story arcs based on the below criteria. Feel free to offer additional analysis of the arcs in your posts, if you like. Once I've gotten enough ratings from the users here, I will take them, average them out and present the results so that everyone made get a good idea about how the general community here ranks the story arcs in Naruto.
Ranking System:
S rank: The storytelling was as close to perfection as possible, the characters were consistent and the themes were compelling. There is little to nothing you can think of that would have made the arc better.
A rank: Although the storytelling was great, the characters were consistent and the themes were compelling, there were maybe a few things that could have been done to make the story arc better. All in all a very enjoyable read regardless.
B rank: The story arc was good over all, but it had some flaws that could have easily made it a lot better. Still worth rereading in the future despite that.
C rank: The story arc was okay at best. The author had some great ideas, but none of them were really properly executed. By the end of the story arc, I found myself just waiting for the arc to be finished so that we could move on to the next one.
D rank: I did not like this story arc. It had some moments, but I felt it was badly written for the most part from start to finish. Very little made sense and reading it was a drag.
F rank: This story arc was an abomination. The author got very little right, if anything at all. The storytelling didn't make sense, the themes didn't make sense and the characters didn't make sense. This arc should have never made its way into the manga and is beyond redemption.
Story Arcs:
Prologue: Beginning of the series up Team 7's formation.
Land of Waves Arc: Team 7 being assigned their C rank mission up to the death of Zabuza and Haku.
Chuunin Exam Arc: The Chuunin exams up to the defeat of Gaara.
Search for Tsunade Arc: Itachi and Kisame showing up in the leaf village up to Naruto, Jiraiya and Tsunade defeating Orocihimaru and Kabuto.
Rescue Sasuke Arc: Tsunade being brought back to Konoha up to the end of part 1.
Rescue Gaara Arc: The beginning of part 2 up to Gaara being brought back to life.
The Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission Arc: From Yamato and Sai joining team 7 to team 7's confrontation with Sasuke, Orichimaru and Kabuto.
Hidan and Kakuzu Arc: From Asuma and co's business with Hidan and Kakuzu to Naruto defeating Kakuzu.
Itachi Pursuit Mission Arc: From Sasuke defeating Orochimaru to Sasuke defeating Deidara.
Pain Arc: From Jiraiya infiltrating Pain's village as well as Sasuke vs Itachi to Sakura hugging Naruto after saving the village from Pain.
Five Kage Summit Arc: From Danzo being made the Sixth Hokage to Team 7 finishing up their reunion with Sasuke.
Fourth Shinobi War Arc: From Naruto being taken away to that island where he unlocks the Kyuubi's power to the end of the manga.
So that's how it works! To get things started, I'll go first! I will be adding a modicum of analysis to my ratings for the sake of discussion, but no one needs to follow my example to the letter. As long as I get the rankings, that'll suffice for the purposes of this thread.
Prologue: S rank. From a storytelling standpoint, I felt this arc did everything right. It introduced the title character while perfectly establishing the series' main theme. It did so in a captivating way. Naruto was a loser who couldn't get anything right and was the worst in his class. To add, nobody liked him. Not just because of his pranks, but because of reasons beyond his control. There was a demon sealed himself him responsible for the deaths of many people in the village years ago. Despite all of this, Naruto wants to do the impossible and become Hokage.
All in all, I like the prologue a lot because I immediately want to root for the main character and am willing to stick around long enough to see how he'll achieve his dreams and possibly get the girl. It also makes me find the character relatable. I wasn't exactly a "loser" when I was his age, but I definitely wasn't "Mr. Popular" or "Mr. Successful." Like him, I also had a cute girl I was pining for, but could never get her to return my feelings (though I incidentally ended up discovering she liked me all along at a point at which it was waaaay too late, so yeah, I definitely identify with naruto 
).
I really liked the bench scene in chapter 3. At that point, I was immediately hooked on the possibility of a NaruSaku relationship sometime down the road. Sasuke also made for an intriguing rival who I looked forward to seeing this loser of a main character eventually surpass. Lastly, the bell test was a genius way of establishing how fights in this series would be played out. Intelligence and strategy are infinitely more important than raw power and Kakashi demonstrated this in effortlessly beating Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura simultaneously.
Land of Waves Arc: S rank. Like the prologue, I felt this arc did everything right. We start to see some potential in the title character that could allow him to become a powerhouse down the road. And I'm not talking about his kyuubi's powerups, but his sheer intelligence. The way he got Kakashi out of that water bubble was great and unpredictable. What's more, it was completely in character for Naruto. He had already been established as a bit of prankster at the beginning and was using those skills he had developed in his pranks to outwit and elite shinobi in the heat of battle. Maybe this guy can become Hokage!
We also get a healthy dose of world building in the form of the tree climbing exercise (learning a great deal more about chakra) and Zabuza/Haku (the reality of being a shinobi). Inari's back story was also a great vehicle for furthering the theme of guts and determination; a theme which Naruto had been riding on since the first chapter. Haku also helped to continue the series' most consistent theme (the strength that comes from bonds). We had already seen the power Naruto gained when Iruka's life was on the line in the prologue and we continued to see this not just with Naruto and Sasuke, but also the villains themselves, be it Haku's sacrifice or Zabuza's final act.
My only pet peeve about this arc was probably Sakura more or less taking a backseat to the fighting, but she at least made up for it in her performance during the tree climbing exercise, so it's very minor.
Chuunin Exam Arc: A rank. I liked this arc. A lot. It introduced a plethora of interesting characters without losing sight of the main character (a problem Bleach and even Hunter x Hunter constantly have). We're also introduced to a character who is the polar opposite of Naruto: Gaara. He's evil. Naruto's not. He's skilled. Naruto is not. He's smart. Naruto is not. Though they have very little, they do both possess a demon sealed within them and understand loneliness. He's there to show us what would have happened had Naruto not had established bonds (there's that theme again!) with the people he cares about. In the end, Naruto saves the day by the skin of his teeth and in a fashion fitting for an underdog.
We get to see this series' presumptive main villain (Orochimaru) for the first time. And he doesn't disappoint. He's sadistic, he's evil and he's very intelligent. He also seems to have an interest in Sasuke, leading readers to think that perhaps Sasuke will be corrupted down the line, making his rivalry with Naruto all the more interesting.
Sakura also gets some heavy moments. We get to learn why she likes Sasuke. She eve gets several of her own fights. I fear this arc was somewhat of a lost opportunity for her, however. Kishimoto goes to great lengths to show that she's no longer going to rely on Naruto and Sasuke to save her, but she still ends up relying on Sasuke (not to mention Rock Lee, Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji) to save her. And after her fight with Ino, she is basically background filler and a damsel in distress for the remainder of the arc. Really, there were many great moments about this story arc, but this was my only problem.
Search for Tsunade Arc: A rank. The author took a gamble in putting Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi on the sidelines for a while, but it was well worth the risk because it allowed him to clarify Sasuke's goal in regards to his older brother, Itachi. We were also introduced to the village's new Hokage, got to see Naruto learn what would go on to become his signature technique as well as see a brilliant moment of guts and determination on his part. This arc may have ended up getting a B rank instead had it dragged on, but it was short and sweet and thus gets an A in my eyes
I don't give it an S since I don't really see any good reason for Sakura not to be on this mission as well, especially since it would've allowed her to meet her future mentor much earlier and perhaps provide better character development. It also makes sense from a narrative standpoint, since Sakura would want to help heal Sasuke ASAP by finding someone who could provide the treatment.
Rescue Sasuke Arc: A rank. Initially, I had intended to give this arc an S rank. I mean, when you think about it, this arc does everything right. We get character development for all of the main characters (excluding kakashi) as well as character development for the more interesting secondary characters. Sasuke becoming bad had been implied for a while now, so this arc was inevitable. Naruto and Sakura get some of the best developments in this series and arguably the best moment in the series (POAL). I could go on and on about what I like about this arc, but lets get to what I do not like since the problem with the arc don't get discussed nearly as much as the good.
The problem with this arc is Naruto's fight with Sasuke. Kishi spends like 5-10 chapters trying to play up a brotherly bond between Naruto and Sasuke. Something I thought was great the first time I read this, but now find pretty silly. There was never a brotherly bond prior to this point. Naruto saw Sasuke as someone he respected and wanted to be acknowledged by as a result, but this brothers stuff came out of nowhere. Naruto had a closer bond with Iruka and arguably Shikamaru than he did with Sasuke. It wasn't even a "I hate this guy with a passion" relationship from Sasuke's end. Naruto was beneath Sasuke's notice. So really, when it's all said and done, I think pulling this "brotherly bond" out of the behind was a mistake (especially in hindsight). I think Kishimoto should've stuck to what had been established. Naruto saw Sasuke as a friend and was determined to bring him back due to his promise to Sakura. Much better IMO!
Rescue Gaara Arc: B rank. This is arc was good overall, but it didn't feel like any of the part 1 arcs. The themes, though present, were pretty hamfisted. Yes, we know the difference between Naruto and Gaara, but this had already been established to us back in part one. I was glad to see Naruto improve, but didn't really care to see him succumbing to the kyuubi so easily while pursuing Deidara. With 2.5 years of training, you'd think he'd be a little better than this. If anything, he seemed like a joke on the battlefield. On the other hand, I liked how far Sakura had come along. She takes out a kage level shinobi (albeit with help), but it's farcry from her performances in part 1.
The Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission Arc: C rank. This arc was okay at best. As a NaruSaku, I did like the Yamato moment in chapter 297, but the rest of the arc was hit or miss. I won't bore anyone with the details, but this arc begins a trend that plagues the rest of the series. That trend is this fixation on the Uchiha blood line and Naruto being obsessed with Sasuke to the point where I actively dislike the title character. The way Orochimaru made him go 4 tails was pathetic. This is not the guy I had been rooting for over 200 chapters. Sakura was pretty useless throughout the arc, but something I was willing to forgive given the potential that had been established for her (perhaps being the one who can save Naruto if/when he goes berserk) as well as furthering the narrative that Naruto and Sakura would save Sasuke together.
We got two new characters. Sai himself demonstrated the potential to be interesting, given his backstory, this "Root organization" as well as Danzo. Yamato, however, felt like a pretty pointless character. Should have kept Kakashi.
Hidan and Kakuzu Arc: B rank. It's been a while since I've read this arc, but I remember liking the second half and not really caring for the first half. The first half invalidates the entire timeskip by having Naruto partake in some training that makes Jiraiya look incompetent in hindsight. Really, this the kind of stuff Naruto ought to have been working on for the past 2.5 years. We should've seen results like this in the RESCUE GAARA ARC. Thus, this arc comes off to me as if the author realizes he's shot himself in the foot and is trying to correct himself. The first half also details a mission with Asuma and Shikamaru that I did not really care for. I like Shikamaru, but he's a side character and so is Asuma. I would have at least made a main character present during the first mission, but that's just me. The second half is great in that it details Shikamaru getting revenge against Hidan and Naruto finally doing something befitting an elite shinobi. Even Kakashi gets his moments.
Again though, we start see more of this trend where Sakura is more or less irrelevant. Thus at this point, I begin to get the idea that Sakura is nothing more than pairing fodder.
Itachi Pursuit Mission Arc: D rank. The author takes a huge gamble with this arc by making the title character irrelevant and focusing on Sasuke. Unfortunately, he loses on this gamble as he doesn't realize that Sasuke does not work well for long periods of time on his own or even with his own team. What makes Sasuke interesting is Naruto. Take out Naruto and it gets boring. This arc was largely boring. It focuses too much time on the Uchiha, it makes a character thought to be the main villain irrelevant in a couple of chapters and introduces some new characters (none of which are interesting, save maybe Karin). If I were the editor on this arc, I would probably tell Kishimoto to make it about something else (get rid of Sasuke killing Orichimaru, get rid of Sasuke killing Deidara, get rid of Taka). Of course, if Orochimaru needs to be dealt with at this time, how about something more interesting, like a coup between Sasuke and Kabuto. Or maybe Sasuke manipulates Orichimaru into being a pawn against Itachi. Really, there are so many better ways to accomplsih what Kishimoto wanted to accomplish here.
Pain Arc: B rank.This arc could have gotten an A rank, but it has some serious flaws that keep it from getting here. Everyone knows what is good about this arc, so I'll just focus on the bad.
First, Itachi being a good guy is bad. Why? Because it doesn't make sense. If Itachi is simply covert op in the Akatsuki, there would have long been a double cross on his part. Think of all the ways he could have organized a multi-village effort to destroy the Akatsuki once and for all. Why allow them to go killing legions of innocent people? Why allow them to keep growing in power by collecting tailed beast? It sounds compelling at first glance, but is pretty dumb when you think about it. Itachi being a good guy was pulled out of Kishimoto's behind. Tobi is also a character pulled out of Kishimoto's behind, but we'll get to him later.
Second, Itachi being a good guy is not necessary for Sasuke to become a bad guy. If anything, it is counter intuitive. We already know why Orochimaru went down the wrong path. His intentions started off noble (wanting to revive his parents), but ended up in greed (wanting to learn every jutsu for the purpose of having power). Sasuke could have just as easily lost sight of his goals after having spent so much time with Itachi. He could have gone from wanting to get revenge against Itachi to wanting vengeance against the people who failed to stop Itachi in the first place. There are so many ways to make Sasuke go bad without having to pull stuff out of your behind.
Third, there was too much deus ex machina. It's one thing for Naruto to stumble across this unique training that is sure to make him super powerful in just enough to make it back to the village and save the day. That, I can forgive since it's a fairly common trope in shounen series. But Pain bringing everyone, including Kakashi and HInata back to life? It took the oomph out of their deaths. Everyone who died should have stayed dead. In fiction, if you can't take the story seriously without taking death seriously.
Fourth, another story arc, and example of your female lead being ignored. Again, if Sakura is a main character, she should be treated like one. I liked the hug moment she had at the end, but that's not enough, especially when she is in need of character development.
Fifth, ending the cycle of hatred should not be a Naruto theme. It's far too grand and far too late in the series to attempt to make it one. Naruto wants to become hokage and be acknowledged by everyone. Stick to that. This isn't some Gundam series where the protagonists do the impossible and suddenly end all war.
Five Kage Summit Arc: F rank. This arc had a lot of problems and was perhaps the point at which the author started not to care.
The author starts by once again making Naruto obsessively fixate on his demented bond with Sasuke, to the point of getting the hell beaten out of them. Then he forces our "hero" to get on his knees and beg the 4th Raikage like a pathetic little baby all because of this demented bond with Sasuke. Then he has our title character practically renounce the POAL, making it clear that he's doing it for himself and not Sakura, so she doesn't matter. Lastly, as if to really make me despise the title character, Naruto talks at great length about wanting to die with Sasuke. Once again, I am presented with a scene that is nothing like that of the character I had come to know over 200 chapters. The REAL Naruto would NEVER say something like that. It was STUPID and it was PATHETIC.
Sakura also begins to become a bit of a joke. Don't get me wrong. She was simply useless before, but this was the first time she become a flat out joke. We're once again reintroduced to the crybaby school girl who loves Sasuke for reasons readers cannot understand. In the course of 3 chapters, she kills the POAL and everything it signified by getting Naruto to renounce it. Then, she attempts to go assassinate Sasuke, but ends up needing to be saved again.
Sasuke, as always throughout part two, is simply some kind of narrative black hole. He sucks up everything he's near and DESTROYS it. He pointlessly fights the five kages for reasons that still don't make too much sense to this day. Then he "kills" Karin to establish how "evil" he is. Then he destroys both Naruto and Sakura's characters.
Fourth Shinobi War Arc: F rank.I want to say there were no redeeming moments about this arc, but there were. I liked Kushina's back story as well as her interactions with Minato. That was good. Everything else was stupid. And by everything else, I literally mean everything else. There was NOTHING ELSE good about this arc. I could go on and on, but I'll instead be brief.
Lets talk about Obito. He is NOT a good villain. First off, he is a rehash. Hey Kishi, I liked Obito back when his name was Gaara. You already gave us a character that demonstrated what Naruto would be like if circumstances were different. We didn't need to see it again. For no reason besides cheap shock value, you've tarnished the tarnish the very basis of Kakashi's character throughout the series. You've also tarnished Naruto's character. Why would you have your title character call this murderer "the coolest guy ever?
Lets talk about Madara. Bringing him back to life was a TERRIBLE idea. You've spent the entire series developing a final villain. His name is Sasuke Uchiha. This arc should've been the one arc that was centered around. THIS was the time to make a Sasuke focused arc. With Sasuke as the villain, it's necessary. instead, you throw in some overpowered new guy who gets defeated as a result of deus ex machina.
Lets talk about Kaguya. Actually, lets not. Three words: Final Fantasy 9. Kishimoto evidently LOVED the final boss.
Lets talk about the war. It was terrible executed. It'd be one thing if the "war" were minimized to the secondary characters that had already been introduced and established. The genin 9! But instead, we spend considerable amounts of times on characters Kishimoto has literally just introduced. Characters we don't care about fighting characters we don't care about. Oh joy.
Lets talk about Sakura. Congratulations. That trend in minimizing Sakura's relevance to the story has come out in full force. Kishimoto not only destroys every ounce of character development this character has EVER had, but he also makes irrelevant to the plot. Think about it. The POAL no longer matters, so she's not part of Naruto's motivation in saving Sasuke. Furthermore, all of that business about Sakura bringing back Sasuke together alongside Naruto? All gone, since Sakura is reduced to a mindless fangirl. Even worse, the author literally lampshades the fact that she has NO REASON to love Sasuke. None whatsoever. But what is his answer to this? Love doesn't need a reason!
Lets talk about Sasuke. First off, Kishimoto's kills hundreds of chapters of development in a single chapter by having Sasuke renounce his villainous ways in time to help out in the war. So Sasuke is a good guy again, right? Well yes, but we still gotta have a final battle between Naruto and Sasuke, so lets manufacture some meaningless conflict between Naruto and Sasuke for the end. Suddenly, within the last 8 chapters, Sasuke's character is rewritten and he wants to save the world in a Code Geass like fashion by "focusing all the hatred on him." I'm glad Kishimoto's likes Code Geass, but Code Geass is actually a well written series. Lelouch's motivations there actually made sense. Sasuke's do not.
Lets talk about Naruto. Honestly, there's not much to say. Kishimoto killed the title character in the previous arc. Here, what we have is nothing but a shell of his former self. All that stuff about hard work and destiny back in the Chuunin exam is forgotten and Neji is suddenly proven right. Even worse, what made the battles in this series interesting is destroyed. The fights are no longer about intelligence and strategy, which is why Naruto keeps needing to rely on deus ex machina power ups to beat the bad guys. To top it off, we never actually get to see him become Hokage, much less get the girl he most clearly loved for at least 692 chapters.
Edited by ThroughWithLove, 01 May 2016 - 08:57 PM.
