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Throughout all the arcs and major events in Naruto and Naruto Shippuden, there have been a ton of different openings, some more memorable than others, so, here’s a look at the best of the best.

Updated February 12th, 2021 by Jacob Buchalter: Thinking back on it now, there really are quite a lot of openings throughout the Naruto and Naruto Shippuden series. And, because so many people grew up on them, almost every single OP holds a special place in someone’s heart. But now, much like how Boruto is all about the next generation, it’s time for the newest generation of people growing up on Boruto to get their representation, so a few of its OPs are now included in this list as well.

Disclaimer: Spoilers for Naruto,Naruto Shippuden, and Boruto: The Next Generation.

13 Boruto Opening 5: Golden Time

Artist: Fujifabric Episodes It Covers: 101-126 Visuals: C+ Animation: B- Music: C

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 comes 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 this crystal of light) with raw desperation. By the end of this OP, Naruto manages to grasp his with confidence, likely an illusion to him actually becoming Hokage (though maybe not the best father), while Sasuke destroys his for the sake of his revenge (though he does eventually pursue strength for a different reason).

Boruto, however, doesn’t destroy his dream of being 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 downsides of this entry into the OST is that the visuals don’t really have anything to do with anything in regards to the story.

12 Boruto Opening 7: Starting and Growing

Artist: Sambomaster Episodes It Covers: 151-180 Visuals: A- Animation: C+ Music: B-

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 this “things are getting real” energy that has a lot of similarities to another Naruto OP called Rhapsody of Youth.

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, 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. But in any case, as an enclosed product, Starting and Growing is absolutely fantastic.

11 Boruto Opening 10: Gold

Artist: Flow Episodes It Covers: 231-Current Visuals: A Animation: C Music: C

Finishing things up with the most recent Boruto opening called Gold, boy is this one beautiful to look at. 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 in a different way.

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 thing 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 just fight some random mobs in it rather than actual important characters, it’s just so nice to look at. Plus, it does a fantastic job letting viewers know that Kawaki and Boruto have something shared between them, and that they eventually become close enough to work their way towards the ever-illusive goal of being one of anime’s top-tier duos just like Naruto and Sasuke.

10 Shippuden Opening 20: Empty Heart

Artist: Anly Episodes It Covers: 480-500 Visuals: B+ Animation: C+ Music: C+

It feels odd that the final opening song of the Shippuden series is this far back in the rankings, but this is where it falls. “Empty Heart” is both a bittersweet farewell and a celebration of the series/journey up to now. A lot of different parts of the song homage other openings from the series, which is a very 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.

9 Shippuden Opening 9: Lovers

Artist: Seven Oops Episodes It Covers: 206-230 Visuals: B Animation: B Music: B-

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 in this pure blue sky, with Sakura (one of the series’ most underutilized characters) 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 “Taka”, the Kage and their closest advisors, and the important members of Konoha.

As far as music goes, the group called “7!!” AKA “Seven Oops” does a fantastic job making an incredibly memorable song that has both unique pacing and a lot of heart.

8 Shippuden Opening 3: Blue Bird

Artist: Ikimono-Gakari Episodes It Covers: 54-77 Visuals: A+ Animation: C Music: A

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. Honestly, the symbolism is so iconic in this particular OP that it still gets homages in Boruto openings in the current episodes.

The biggest downside for this opening is the fact that it was the opening for a “filler” arc. That said, the Twelve Guardian Ninja filler arc is one of the least offensive since it has interesting characters and expands upon Naruto’s wind-chakra Rasengan training much earlier than the manga. Still, such a fantastic opening, squandered being put to use during a filler arc.

7 Shippuden Opening 6: Sign

Artist: FLOW Episodes It Covers: 129-153 Visuals: B+ Animation: B+ Music: B+

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” (one of anime’s best teacher-type characters) 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.

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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 in the music.

6 Shippuden Opening 5: Light Of A Firefly

Artist: Ikimono-Gakari Episodes It Covers: 103-128 Visuals: B Animation: A Music: A+

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 was seen by a lot more people since it covered a more significant story arc, well..at least part of one.

Most of the anime episodes that came out with this as the opening were part of the Three Tailed Beast Arc, another anime-only arc and one of the longest spans of anime-only content of all. 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 fighting Itachi.

5 Original Series Opening 5: Rhapsody Of Youth

Artist: Sambomaster Episodes It Covers: 104-128 Visuals: B+ Animation: A+ Music: S

Finally, this list has reached an entry from the original Naruto series and not just Shippuden. While a lot of Shippuden’s openings are S-tier, there’s a good portion 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 a spot on the rankings.

4 Original Series Opening 3: Turning Sadness Into Kindness

Artist: Little By Little Episodes It Covers: 54-77 Visuals: A+ Animation: C Music: A

“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 makeup for it.

3 Shippuden Opening 2: If

Artist: Daisuke Episodes It Covers: 282-306 Visuals: B- Animation: B+ Music: A-

Speaking of Gaara, “If” is another opening that features this character quite a bit, as well as it also featuring the incredibly Killer Bee fighting 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.

2 Shippuden Opening 16: Silhouette

Artist: Kana-Boon Episodes It Covers: 380-405 Visuals: B+ Animation: A+ Music: S

This opening 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 that Sasuke and Naruto meet the Sage of Six Paths and find out that they’re both 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.

1 Original Series Opening 4: Go!!!

Artist: FLOW Episodes It Covers: 78-103 Visuals: A+ Animation: C Music: S+

“Go!!” otherwise known by it’s fake title “Fighting Dreamers” to most of the Naruto fanbase, 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. But, just to be clear, it’s a strong Kage like Naruto, not a weak one like Gaara’s father Rasa.

This OP covers Naruto’s training with Jiraiya, the two of them searching for and finding future Hokage, Tsunade, fighting Orochimaru along with Kabuto, Sasuke’s first confrontation against Itachi, and Naruto finally learning to use the Rasengan. Now, of course, it has to be said that the animation of this opening isn’t great, but the visuals are fantastic since the entire OP has this whole “leaping from the manga page” feel to it.

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