For a kid who grew up shunned by his entire village, Naruto sure is popular.

Anime News Network reports "Naruto Shippuden" is the fifth most popular show on Hulu despite its relatively robust availability elsewhere on the Internet:

"Jason Kilar, CEO of the Hulu video-streaming website, lists the top five shows on Hulu for 2009 in a Wednesday blog entry. Naruto Shippuden made the list at #5, after 'Saturday Night Live,' 'Family Guy,' 'The Office,' and 'The Simpsons.' No other Japanese animated title made the list."

Naruto's ranking seems pretty impressive considering Hulu has 43 million monthly viewers. It's also nice to see an action show amid several of America's top comedies. There's no demographic info available to help define what kind of audience is hip to the series' ninja action, but judging by the numbers, it's probably safe to assume it's more than just the cosplay crowd.

As both a fair weather fan of Naruto (I prefer the manga) and a nightly Hulu user, it's nice to see these two aspects of my entertainment playing nicely together. Still, it'll be interesting to see if the series gets bumped by Lost when it's fifth season begins in 2010.

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