The Naruto anime series may have ended in 2017 with Shippuden, but the will of the ninja continues to live on. Now that the franchise has hit its 20th anniversary, fans will soon be able to relive the nostalgia, as four new episodes are set to grace the small screen, with selected earlier episodes slated for rerun in Japan starting July.
The announcement is part of a bigger celebration that saw Studio Pierrot streaming a special “Road of Naruto” video last year, which condenses 20 years of Naruto anime history into 10 minutes. The video includes fresh, reanimated battle footage, and was later accompanied by three new visuals for the 20th anniversary on Twitter.
Adapted from Masashi Kishimoto’s manga of the same name, the anime debuted back in 2002, and follows Naruto Uzumaki on his journey to become the strongest ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village. The Naruto Shippuden anime sequel series premiered in 2007 and ended its run in 2017, the same year that the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations manga got its own adaptation.
The series, which runs weekly in Weekly Shonen Jump, is set after the events of Naruto and chronicles the adventures of Boruto, Naruto’s son. While the manga is ongoing, the anime will be going on an indefinite hiatus after episode 293, due to release on 26 March. A second part to the anime is currently in the works.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Trinity Sun
