It’s almost hard to believe that time has flown by so quickly, but the beloved shonen anime Naruto is celebrating its 20th birthday. The original series consists of 220 episodes and has come to become one of the most beloved shows among anime fans, following the shenanigans and hardships of the titular ninja and his rag-tag band of buddies.
Of course, much like fans hunger for more news on the continuation of the Dragon Ball Super anime following Super Hero, Naruto fans are thirsting for fresh live-action goodness from the manga adaptation, clinging on to any morsel of information that could mean we’re getting more of it. There are two tidbits in particular which fans are latching on to surrounding Naruto’s 20th anniversary, the first being a message on the official Naruto website from the creator of the source material, Masashi Kishimoto:
Anime’s 20th anniversary!! Sending everyone a “Thank you!” through the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!!! It’s the Naruto anime’s 20th anniversary! In celebration, the “NARUTO OFFICIAL SITE” is now open not only in Japan, but across the globe for everyone to enjoy! As this is a big anniversary year, a ton of projects are being planned, so please check this website for exciting info! I hope everyone looks forward to it!
The second comes in the form of something a little more on the nose, being a ten minute clip summarizing key moments from the series, albeit remade with gorgeous and modern animation. You could forgive fans for getting thirsty for a Naruto remake after seeing this.
Is Studio Pierrot reanimating Naruto?
Unfortunately, bar any sort of official confirmation, it seems like we’ll be waiting for some time yet before Naruto gets some sort of Dragon Ball Z: Kai treatment in the way of a detailed episodic remake (hopefully, bar the filler) of the fan favorite series. A particular dead giveaway is the simple fact that Naruto’s sequel series Boruto is still in active production and consistently releasing new episodes.
However, it’s not worth ruling out entirely. While a Naruto remake may only be an extremely early pre-production item listed in the ‘tons of projects’ Kishimoto has confirmed, or may not even exist, the simple fact that Studio Pierrot went to the painstaking effort to recreate some of Naruto’s most iconic scenes surely serves as a way of saying that it’s at least being considered.
For the time being, fans can continue to look forward to new Boruto episodes weekly.
