Naruto is a franchise all about an obnoxiously loud kid dressed in bright orange who wants to be the leader of an entire ninja village, a type of assassin known for being quiet and stealthy. Yet somehow, he manages to pull this off over the course of both the original series and later Shippuden.

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All jokes aside Naruto, and by extension his son Boruto, are some of the more iconic Shonen protagonists out there, and the openings for Naruto, Shippuden, and Boruto: The Next Generation are almost always fantastic. So, let's go over some of the best openings across all three series and talk about why exactly they're so good.

Updated January 11th, 2024 by Jacob Buchalter: As time passes, seasons change, kids grow up, and the Naruto/Boruto franchise adds another few openings to its ever-expanding repertoire of absolute 'bops'. While the series as a whole can be a topic of debate across the anime fan community due to the series' pacing, amount of filler, and the quality of the 'new generation' AKA Boruto's generation, the Naruto franchise is still so incredibly iconic. And, a sizeable portion of what makes this series stick out in the memories of so many people can be attributed to the openings. With that bit of explanation out of the way, let's take a look through the entire list of Naruto Original Series, Naruto Shippuden, and Boruto: The Next Generation openings and see which ones belong on here.

18 Boruto: Lonely Go!

Opening 4

Just like any anime opening, there's a lot of symbolism going on in the fourth opening of the Boruto: The Next Generation series called Lonely Go. Whether it's Boruto walking alongside Naruto only for him to disappear in a cloud of smoke (AKA a Shadow Clone because he's never around in person) or Sarada pulling along Sasuke only for him to fade away (as if it was a Genjutsu), there's a lot of little subtle bits of imagery sprinkled throughout. Funnily enough, however, Mitsuki seems to only get compassion from Orochimaru in their little scene, which just feels so ironic considering who Orochimaru is and their morals compared to Sasuke and Naruto.

In any case, most of this OP isn't actually going over a lot of what is currently going on in the anime at this point, which can be a positive or negative thing, depending on who's asking. Either way, the visuals, vocals, and animation of this opening are top-notch, even if they're made for an arc of the anime that is primarily labeled as filler.

17 Boruto: Kirarirari

Opening 11

As soon as any Naruto fan sees the name Kana-Boon as the performer of this opening, they'll get immediately excited. For those who don't know, Kana-Boon is one of the most beloved performers for the Naruto openings, as they're behind the most iconic Shippuden opening, Silhouette. And, it's immediately very clear once the OP begins that Kirarirari is meant to be Boruto's 'version' of Silhouette.

Both songs start with these polaroid-esque film reel clips of previous iconic moments in the series before showing the primary 'cast' of the upcoming arc. Then, from there, both openings (right around the point of the climax of the song) build-up to the protagonist desperately 'chasing' after something, with Naruto chasing after Sasuke and Boruto chasing after his father. Granted, in general Silhouette still easily beats Kirarirari, but it's still a great opening. Plus, that moment where Boruto has the same little 'stumble' in his run chasing Naruto as Naruto did chasing Sasuke is a genius enough detail to get this opening on the list all on its own.

16 Boruto: Golden Time

Opening 5

So many of the Boruto openings are full of homages and references to moments in Shippuden openings, and Golden Time is no different. The slow introduction of characters building up to a chorus right as the main cast confronts some epic enemy in battle is pretty standard for almost every Naruto/Boruto opening. But the real homages come at the part of the opening song where Boruto is chasing his father's back, as he so often does, as well as this little crystal of light, only to have it fade away in his hand. This is a nod to Shippuden OP 18, Line, in which all of the characters throughout that Naruto opening are constantly chasing after their goal/dreams (personified as these crystals of light) with pure desperation.

Boruto, however, doesn't destroy his dream 'crystal' of becoming a great man like his father but doesn't exactly catch it either, proving that he's not the same as his dad, and he's still got a long way to go. Of course, outside of this, the OP itself is fantastic as Fujifabric does an incredible job with a song that is both unique and full of energy. The only real downside overall is that the visuals don't really have anything to do with anything in regard to the story.

15 Boruto: Starting and Growing

Opening 7

Just like how Golden Time had this unique energy and flow to it, Sambomaster's Starting and Growing doubles down on this energy and even amplifies it in Boruto's seventh OP. Somehow, this OP manages to capture the bright, stark colors that a lot of the earlier Boruto OPs are known for, while also capturing that raw solemn energy that another Naruto OP called Rhapsody of Youth excelled at capturing the most.

And there are a lot of important little hints to pick up about upcoming events such as the shadowy introduction of Kawaki in the beginning, the steady progression of Boruto's Karma, or even just the fact that the ever-lazy Chocho isn't running like the rest of the kids are. It's the first Boruto opening that feels like an actual tonal jump into something more serious (which fans hope Part 2 continues) and has a lot of similarities to Pain's invasion back in the Shippuden days. The only problem is that this opening is a bit of a tease, as the actual events that play out in the OP wouldn't happen until a bunch more filler was out of the way.

14 Boruto: Gold

Opening 10

Finishing up the Boruto section with another 'banger', it's the opening titled Gold, and wow is this one a beauty to look at visually. The first twenty to thirty seconds of this OP are so incredibly stunning in a visual sense, do a great job introducing the characters and their gimmicks (such as Sarada's Sharingan), and the action that follows after (along with the chorus) is equally as engaging.

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There's a real change in tone with this one, as it seems like the Boruto openings have fully finished transforming into their own take on the classic Shippuden OPs. And, for any fans of the Boruto manga, this opening feels like things are finally starting to pick up thanks to Kawaki's appearance. And, while this OP suffers from the same problem as Golden Time in that the kids are just fighting some random mobs in it rather than actually important antagonists, it's still just so nice to look at.

13 Naruto Shippuden: Empty Heart

Opening 20

It feels odd that the final opening song of the Shippuden series doesn't quite get the best letter grades, but sadly those grades are accurate. Empty Heart is both a bittersweet farewell and a celebration of the series/journey up to now. A lot of different parts of this song have homages to other openings from the series, which is always a nice touch.

This was the opening for the final arcs of the main series that mostly just cleaned up character stories to set up for Boruto: The Next Generation. The song itself is beautiful and perfectly matches the tone the visuals are going for, and the whole opening just paints a clear picture of how much things have changed for these characters since it all started back in the year 2002.

12 Naruto Shippuden: Lovers

Opening 9

Moving onto Lovers, the opening that was there throughout most of the Five Kage Summit a lot of the beginning of the Fourth Shinobi World War. As per usual with Naruto openings, it starts with Sasuke and Naruto facing each other down. However, this time, Sakura (one of the series' most underutilized characters) is quite literally directly in the middle of the frame. Then, from there, the opening song goes from group to group, showing the Akatsuki, Sasuke’s group called Taka, the Kage and their closest advisors, and the important members of Konoha.

As far as music goes, the group called 7!!, otherwise known as Seven Oops, does a fantastic job making an incredibly memorable song that has both unique pacing and a lot of heart. It's a bit more of an emotional opening compared to an action-packed one, but that's not at all an insult against it.

11 Naruto Shippuden: A World That Was Transparent

Opening 7

Next up is the Opening that covers probably Naruto's most defining 'solo' moment in all of Shippuden, A World That Was Transparent by Hata Motohiro. This is the opening that covers all of Pain's assault on the Hidden Leaf Village and Naruto eventually returning to fight Pain in Sage Mode. This is one of the darkest times for the Hidden Leaf Village, as a lot of people die in Pain's assault and the village itself is basically destroyed in its entirety.

But, it's also the time when Naruto becomes the actual 'hero' of the Hidden Leaf and fully becomes a man capable enough to be within reaching distance of his dream to be Hokage. And, A World That Was Transparent does a fantastic job representing both sides of this arc incredibly well while also building hype for the final confrontation between Naruto and Pain.

10 Naruto Shippuden: Blue Bird

Opening 3

Next up on this list is Blue Bird, a song that’s a personal favorite of many Naruto fans. A lot of this Naruto opening goes for symbolism over over-the-top animated sequences, which works for the most part and gives it this emotional draw similar to something like the Kingdom Hearts II opening cinematic (Naruto even starts the opening falling from the sky). Honestly, the symbolism is so iconic in this particular OP (and arc as a whole) that it still gets homages in Boruto's openings in the current episodes.

The biggest downside for this opening is the fact that it was the opening for what most call a filler arc (which seems to be a common theme). That said, the Twelve Guardian Ninja filler arc is one of the least offensive fillers since it has a lot of interesting characters and expands upon Naruto’s wind-chakra Rasengan training much earlier than the manga.

9 Naruto Shippuden: Sign

Opening 6

Even thinking of this next opening song gets a lot of Naruto fans all teary-eyed. Sign was the sixth opening for the Shippuden series, and it covered some pretty significant story arcs, mainly the Tale of Jiraiya the Galant and the Fated Battle Between Brothers. These two arcs are some of the most iconic moments in Shippuden, whether it’s Jiraiya’s showdown with Pain in the Land of Rain or Sasuke and Itachi’s long-awaited confrontation.

And, while the opening (for the most part) has a lot of clips from the actual anime itself rather than unique animation, once the chorus drops, this addition to the overall Naruto OST really goes hard, both visually and tonally.

8 Naruto Shippuden: Light Of A Firefly

Opening 5

Funnily enough, the next opening song titled Light of a Butterfly was also done by Ikimono-Gakari, the group that performed Blue Bird. But, this OP stuck in more people's memories since it covered a more significant story arc.

But, from about episode 112 onward, this is where things really pop off. And, a lot of this can be seen in the opening, especially with that eerily creepy scene of pure villain-arc Sasuke slowly walking into the bright purple pool of liquid, showing that he's fine with any taboo jutsu or method as long as it gets him closer to his goals.

7 Naruto Shippuden: If

Opening 2

If is another opening that features Gaara quite a bit, as well as it also featuring the incredible Killer Bee, the lightning-fast Minato, a bunch of the resurrected characters that participated in the Fourth Shinobi World War, and Naruto in his Nine-Tails Chakra form finally arriving at the battlefield.

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Quite honestly, this opening covered a ton of the big events in the Fourth Shinobi War, and it couldn’t really hope to accurately encapsulate it all in a minute and thirty-second runtime. But, overall, it still did a pretty great job and the scenes with Naruto and Sasuke in the Valley of the End are by far the most memorable parts of this opening.

6 Naruto Shippuden: Silhouette

Opening 16

This opening, called Silhouette was on for most of Naruto’s penultimate confrontation against both Obito, the Infinite Tsukiyomi, and Madara Uchiha. This is also the point in the story where Sasuke and Naruto meet the Sage of Six Paths and find out that they’re both technically 'reincarnations' of his two sons.

Basically, it’s the ultimate opening covering the climax of the series as a whole and is likely the most recognizable Naruto opening nowadays.

5 Naruto Original Series: R.O.C.K.S

Opening 1

Can't go wrong starting at the beginning right? Quite frankly, Rocks (with stars symbols in-between each letter) by Hound Dog might be up there with some of the all-time greats hypothetically deserving of the 'most 90s anime opening of all time' award. This opening, even just ten seconds into it, hits any 90s kid with such a strong feeling of nostalgia and they don't even have to be a Naruto fan to feel out.

Besides the 'feel' of the song, however, the opening is also just a great one for introducing people to the Naruto series as a whole. It does a great job introducing the protagonist right away, showing the rest of the main cast stylishly with their own solo shots, before quickly jumping into the action with Team 7 fighting off some attackers and Naruto finishing them off with an iconic Shadow Clone barrage. The only real 'downside' of this opening is that it made Sasuke seem like a pretty friendly character, and that's obviously not at all how he was in the actual show.

4 Naruto Original Series: Far Away

Opening 2

Surely the case is a bit different in Japan or most other countries that aired Naruto outside of the US, but Far Away is by far one of the most recognizable openings for those who grew up with Naruto. The song itself, by Asian Kung-Fu Generation, is just so uniquely memorable and enjoyable, and there really aren't any other songs across Naruto, Shippuden, or Boruto that capture the same energy.

However, while the 360 pan around the different teams during the Chunin Exams and the head-to-head shots between opponents are so memorable, most of the other animation moments and visuals from this opening are pretty flat or just straight-up lazy, which sadly mostly offsets the huge advantage it got from the music itself. In any case, while this opening's visuals do have some flaws, the Chunin Exams that this OP primarily covers is by far one of the best arcs in the entire Naruto franchise, so that's also some more points in this opening's favor.

3 Naruto Original Series: Rhapsody Of Youth

Opening 5

Finally, this list has reached the original series section of openings. While a lot of Shippuden’s openings are S-tier, there’s also a good portion of them that are B to C+ tier as well. Meanwhile, the classic Naruto openings are a bit more extreme as either S+ or C-/D tier.

Rhapsody of Youth is obviously an OP that falls into the S+ category, being the Naruto opening song that covered a large portion of the Sasuke Recovery Arc, a fan-favorite story arc from the original series. And, while the song itself is incredible, the fact that this opening has a ton of original animation, doesn’t only feature Sasuke/Naruto prominently and doesn’t actually spoil a lot of the arc (something that happens a lot with anime OPs), means that it easily earns its S+ label.

2 Naruto Original Series: Turning Sadness Into Kindness

Opening 3

Turning Sadness into Kindness is one of the most apt titles for an anime opening ever in regards to what arc the OP actually covers. This song, the third OP for the original Naruto series, covers Naruto convincing Jiraiya to train him, Naruto’s big battle against Gaara, and a bit of Orochimaru’s attack on Konoha.

That second event that includes Gaara and Naruto is the primary one this opening song is worried about as most of it is centered around the tragic backstories of the main cast, from Neji to Sakura, with Gaara's and Naruto's childhoods as Jinchuriki as the focus. The animation is a bit lackluster, but the incredibly memorable song and storytelling of the visuals more than make up for it.

1 Naruto Original Series: Go!!!

Opening 4

Go!! otherwise known by its fan-made title 'Fighting Dreamers', is the most well-known Naruto opening out there, at least with those who watched the series right as it first came out. Truly, this opening is the Hokage of all Naruto openings.

Now, of course, it has to be said that the actual animation of this opening isn’t all that great, but the visuals are fantastic since the entire OP has this whole 'leaping from the manga page' feel to it.

Naruto

Animation

Action

Adventure

Release Date

October 2, 2002

Creator

Masashi Kishimoto

Main Genre

Animation