let me start by saying I like naruto and bleach, but I can't see why people will watch and read something so long. I don't thing the story line is really that awesome to keep people that faithful for so long, and from what I've seen the story line is slow and there are lots of flashbacks (one I watched the latest episode just to check up on it, and I was immediately hit with a flashback of naruto and sosuke's friendship, highly over used if you ask me). This is the opinion of someone who stopped at shippuden ep. 78, so things might have changed or I was just looking at the series all wrong, but I didn't get the overwhelming impression that everyone else seemed to have. Please leave your opinion for me I don't get why people are still so loyal, is there anything interesting that I may have missed?

Also I'd like nothing better than to get back on the naruto fan wagon again, I enjoyed loving naruto while it was still new and super awesome to me. Or is it time to move on, and stop trying to save a sinking ship* (fondness of naruto)?

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I dropped the anime of Bleach, it had way to many fillers that just ruined the story. As for the manga though I still read it but I've lost a lot of interest for it. As for Naruto, I watched the anime and about 90 episodes of shippuden but some where along the lines I just stopped watching it. I check in on the manga once in a while but it fails to catch my attention enough to make me want to read the whole manga.

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I'm kind of with you. I loved it back then... but not any more; things change when you finally notice what "filler" is.

Also, I've all but given up on anime (or at least anime adaptations of manga). The stories move too fast for the manga to stay in step; the speed of it almost always leads to either way too much filler/flashbacks, or a snail's pace episode. - I myself remember watching a shippuden episode and wondering why it took an entire half-hour for Kankuro to catch up with sasori... I mean that's what cut-scenes are for.

MANGA and Visual Novels for Life (and maybe some Light Novels)

I read both every week and still enjoy them alot. I will say I'm mostly just watching them to find how they end though lol. Truthfully most people won't give up on a series that they've been reading for years (4 years for me) as it would mean I didn't just waste time I completely wasted my time. XD

I dropped both the naruto and bleach anime cause well...they suck.

I still read both, but I've taken breaks from Naruto and even skipped whole chapters, nut I've remained faithful to Bleach and never miss a chapter...
I've been reading Bleach and Naruto for a long time, and I'm not planning on dropping either, unless Bleach touches on the romance aspect and Kubo decides to hook up Ichigo and Orihime, then I''d drop that series faster than a hot potato, other than that, I won't be dropping either.

YES!!!
another we hate naruto/bleach thread FINALLY

...

its ok if you dont like the manga/anime

you go read something else

naruto and bleach have not changed much so that is not a valid reason
you might have changed/never liked it to begin with?
and the filler argument...in alot of cases the fillers are just as good if not better than the manga and in some cases they serve an important task...making the anime diffrent from the manga so its worth watching it...and usualy they are packed with comedy
there is nothing to be loyal about...read a chapter takes 5minutes...packed with action,comedy,awesome monsters,weirdness
LAUGH if you like it
then next week repeat
if not... dont read it

since they both sell fairly well all over the world its safe to say that ppl still like them

I've never really watched or read Naruto (I think possibly I watched 3 episodes of the anime once...) but I was definitely a long time fan of Bleach's anime but I quit early last year and just this week picked it up again (cross checking an episode list on wikipedia so I *don't* have to watch the stuff I didn't want to). I've been debating picking up the manga though, mainly because I'm interested in how it might end and hope it gets a great ending.

Yes! My thoughts exactly. I was thinking that Kubo could still salvage Bleach by letting Orihime die, Ichigo going Bankai and oops he died too. Then the story about Soul Society can continue in peace.

No, I'm kidding - I'm only half-serious about that. I think that some mangas do have natural ending points, but it all depends on the nature/breadth/depth of the premises and process in continuity. I mean, I could bear reading about a world of ninjas or soul-reapers for 500 chapters; I can't say the same for, for example, Death Note. Don't get me wrong - Death Note is in every way as excellent as Bleach and Naruto - but you can see why some genres would be amenable to extended storytelling and some wouldn't by comparison, right?

To all fellow Bleach/Naruto followers: the outlook has improved! I mean, okay, Bleach hit rock-bottom when the whole Fullbring fiasco started, so there was no way to go but up - but it is finally going up. (I'm really happy that Rukia was promoted!)
And for Naruto, So, don't give up just yet!

I've watched Bleach (before it became a hype), and managed to hold on quite long hoping it would become better (±30 episodes)... It did not.
Naruto... Watched the first few episodes when they came out and didn't like it from the start. I seriously can't understand WHY people would actually want to read/watch crap like that, I mean, what's the point?
Testosterone filled battles (with many 'fights' that span more than one or two chapters), no plot, 'villain of the week' style templates, no character depth, annoying antagonists/protagonists, senseless violence, glorified violence, no originality, very predictable, constantly more of the same, etc etc.

I could bear it if there was a definite ending in sight or something the story is working to, but NO series should be longer than ±20 volumes or more than 50 episodes (just chop it up in stand-alone seasons if need be).

Ah yes, and the fanboys aren't helping. The main reason I became so annoyed with Naruto is annoying little teenager fanboys living in my neighbourhood.

So in short, NO I don't like, but wouldn't mind it so much if people could please stop worshipping shows like that.
There are many series out there - and many more when looking beyond manga/anime - that are similar, but much better and more enjoyable, than series like Naruto, Bleach or Dragonball... Why are exactly these so famous?

PS:
Maybe a poll would be interesting, I personally would like to know if there are any fangirls of these kinds of shows... So far I've only met (IRL) boys (and one or two adults) that liked it.

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