Naruto Anime Guide: Season 1

Season One of the series debuted in Fall 2002. The manga series moved to animation under the direction of Studio Pierrot and aired on TV Tokyo, by the end of season one, it proved popular enough to move from Thursday to Wednesday evenings in prime time.
One notable characteristic of this first season, was the anime's seeming reluctance to animate much of the manga per episode. This results in long recaps of the previous episodes, causing the episode itself to be approximately 15-16 minutes in length, rather than the 19-20 minutes seen in later seasons.

The Music

Opening One: "R*O*C*K*S" by Hound Dog

Episodes: 1-25





Opening Two: "Haruka Kanata" by Asian Kung-Fu Generation

Episodes: 26-53 (Only Episode 26 for this Season)





Closing One: "Wind" by Akeboshi

Episodes: 1-25

The Story Arcs

Episode 1-5: Series Introduction

The first five episodes introduce the series. It establishes the world and many of its characters.

In the following summaries, Orange = Filler.




Episode 1: "Sanjou! Uzumaki Naruto ~ Calling on! Uzumaki Naruto"

Airdate: 10/03/2002





Introduces the series, the Kyuubi demon has been sealed within the young child Naruto and he struggles to find recognition from those who hate and fear him in the world by pulling pranks.

Episode 2: "Konohamaru da kore! ~ I am Konohamaru!"

Airdate: 10/10/2002





Introduces Konohamaru. Konohamaru, the grandson of the village leader wants to get out of his grandfathers shadow and become his own skilled ninja. He and Naruto come to form a close bond.

Episode 3: "Shukuteki!? Sasuke to Sakura ~ Old Enemy!? Sasuke and Sakura"

Airdate: 10/17/2002




Introduces Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto gets placed on a team with fellow academy classmates Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto struggles to prove he is better than Sasuke so he can gain Sakura's affection.

Episode 4: "Shiren! Sabaibaru enshuu - Test! Survival Exercise"

Airdate: 10/24/2002





The team struggles to prove themself against their new Jounin sensei Kakashi. All three try to prove themself, but Naruto fails miserably.

Episode 5: "Shikkaku? Kakashi no keturon - Disqualification? Kakashi's Decision"

Airdate: 10/31/2002




Kakashi tells the team they're not fit to be ninjas, but are they not seeing "underneath the underneath"?