Naruto Was Supposed to Return With 4 New Episodes… So Where is it?

Summary

• The return of new
  Naruto
  anime episodes has been postponed due to quality concerns, the lack of information fans have on the project is concerning.
• Animation studio Pierrot, responsible for the
  Naruto
  series, is currently busy with other high-profile projects, like
  Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War
  .
• Naruto creator, Masashi Kishimoto, is also working on the Boruto series, which could be slowing down the release of new Naruto anime episodes.

The Naruto anime was set to release new episodes in September 2023, however, so little about the project has been revealed, especially after its postponement, that many fans are concerned. Naruto Shippuden concluded in 2017, and the story of Boruto has dominated the franchise’s releases since. That all changed when a four-episode return of the Naruto anime was announced in Spring 2023. However, in all that time, there has been a concerning lack of information about the anime’s anticipated return.

Anime’s most popular ninja, Uzumaki Naruto, recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the studio Pierrot’s adaptation. It was a big year that provided a lot for Naruto fans to celebrate. Still, it could have been even bigger if new episodes of the beloved anime aired as originally planned. Days before the first episode was supposed to air, an official announcement on the Naruto website stated that the new episodes were postponed due to quality concerns.

It’s currently unclear if the writing or animation required more time. The fact that fans know so little about the project has caused speculation on whether one or both are reasons for the delay in the new anime episodes. While neither may be the case, the fact that the plot or even the animation studio behind the project is unknown has even longtime fans concerned about the lack of planning or attention the anticipated project seems to be receiving.

Studio Pierrot May Be Too Busy To Work On The New Naruto Episodes

Since animation studio Pierrot created the previous Naruto and Boruto anime seriesit will be the one handling the four-episode specials. However, the studio has more than a few high-profile series in production that might prevent the work from being done on new Naruto episodes. The stunning Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War captivated audiences and gave the end of Kurosaki Ichigo’s journey the attention it deserved for years. And that barely scratches the surface of unannounced projects the studio is likely working on, like Season 5 of Black Cloverseason 5 of Kingdomand the return of the Boruto anime.

The first part of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations ended with a cliffhanger when its final anime episode aired in March 2023. Much like the Naruto Shippuden time skip, the Boruto adaptation is vastly approaching its own, which sees a dramatic shift in the story. Studio Pierrot is likely working on the second part of the Boruto anime. As the busy production studio is working on Borutothe end of Bleachand other projects like Kingdom and possibly the return of the Black Clover anime, Pierrot needs time and resources to release the specials with the quality fitting Naruto‘s 20th anniversary.

Recently, Pierrot president Muchiki Honma hinted in an interview that Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War’s success means Boruto could be going seasonal as opposed to continuous when it returns. While this could theoretically clear up the schedule for Pierrot as they no longer have to worry about coming up with as much filler for Boruto when it does return, such a dramatic shift in priorities could add up to a greater amount of time spent upfront as the studio decides what to cut and what to keep from the plans they made before the decision to go seasonal only.

Still, it’s not difficult to see how a switch to purely working on seasonal anime could benefit Pierrot and the Naruto 20th anniversary specials in particular. Working on a yearly anime can be grueling work as Pierrot has to devote significant resources to writing and animating material not already laid out for them by the original manga. Fans can hope that moving Boruto to seasonal will not only help that series but also give Pierrot time to work on the Naruto specials as well.

Naruto’s New Episodes Pose a Unique Problem For Pierrot

In addition to potential production issues related to Pierrot’s other anime projects, the Naruto specials also could just be a unique challenge. Naruto is one of the most beloved and iconic anime franchises of all time. The announcement of the specials was met with a tidal wave of support from fans who were eager to see new episodes from a beloved series. The 20-year cycle of nostalgia is definitely at play with Naruto too, as fans who grew up watching the series when they were young are now adults who are eager to revisit the beloved series.

Given this amount of hype and anticipation, Pierrot has a monumental task. More than just random filler, Naruto’s anniversary specials need to be something truly special to earn the approval and love of fans. Naruto’s filler is infamous, so doing something that doesn’t live up to the series’ heights could damage the franchise as a whole. Given this pressure, it’s understandable why Pierrot would want to delay the release of the specials to ensure their quality. Further complicating matters is that it’s unclear how much or how little series creator Masashi Kishimoto is involved.

Although Kishimoto took a very well-deserved break after completing the Naruto manga, he has become more involved with the Naruto and Boruto series in the last few years. Fans were spoiled by his incredible drawing talents and layered writing in the Minato spin-off manga, Naruto: The Whorl Within The Spiralwhich was released in 2023. Kishimoto has supposedly taken over writing duties for the Boruto series, meaning that he could be too busy to have input on the new Naruto anime episodes, if that’s what he is planning to do.

Thankfully, the return of the Naruto anime has only been postponed and not canceled. It’s encouraging that the latest message from the Naruto Anime Production Committee apologized for the delay and acknowledged that the specials planned to celebrate the original anime’s 20th anniversary deserve extra care and quality to ensure they are worthy of the beloved series.

For a franchise with more than its fair share of filler episodes, it sounds like those in charge of this return want to create something exceptional that will be worth the wait. Hopefully, the new Naruto anime episodes will air in 2024, giving fans a shortly-delayed 20th-anniversary celebration worth of the series’ legacy.

Source: Naruto, vizmedia/YouTube

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• 

  Naruto: Shippuden

  Summary:

  Set two and a half years after the events of Masashi Kishimoto’s original anime, Naruto Shippuden continues the titular hero’s attempts to become the best ninja in the Hidden Leaf Village and bring his former friend Sasuke Uchiha back to the light. The 500-episode series features the return of allies such as Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki’s mentor Jiraiya, as well as the villainous organization Akatsuki.

  Release Date:

  2007-02-15

  Cast:

  Junko Takeuchi, Kazuhiko Inoue, Noriaki Sugiyama, Chie Nakamura, Shoutarou Morikubo, Hideo Ishikawa, Nana Mizuki, Houchuu Ootsuka

  Genres:

  Action, Adventure, Animation, Martial Arts

  Rating:

  TV-14

  Seasons:

  22

  Story By:

  Masashi Kishimoto

  Writers:

  Junki Takegami, Satoru Nishizono, Yasuyuki Suzuki, Yasuaki Kurotsu, Masanao Akahoshi

  Network:

  Adult Swim

  Streaming Service(s):

  Crunchyroll

  Franchise(s):

  Naruto

  Directors:

  Hayato Date, Masaaki Kumagai, Yasuaki Kurotsu, Osamu Kobayashi, Chiaki Kon