On March 26th, 2023, the 293rd episode of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations arrived. In it, the villainous Code was seeking revenge against the Hidden Leaf Village for the loss of his master. Luckily, both Boruto and Kawaki were more than willing to take down the new Kara Organization leader but things have been silent when it comes to the ninja-focused shonen series on the anime front. Approaching the two-year anniversary since last we saw Konoha’s finest on the small screen, it’s time for Studio Pierrot to bring back everyone’s favorite ninjas.
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To start, let’s dig into the previous plans of Pierrot when it came to the Hidden Leaf. Following the recent conclusion of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, the production house confirmed that they were working on four new episodes of the original Naruto series, once again pointing the camera at the younger iterations of Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. Initially, Pierrot had confirmed that these new installments would arrive in September 2023 but had to be pushed back as the studio felt the animation wasn’t up to par. These episodes, and a potential return for the Boruto series, have yet to be confirmed.
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Pierrot’s About Face
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons for the delay in these Naruto episodes was, surprisingly enough, Demon Slayer. The Demon Slayer Corps’ anime adaptation Ufotable has taken the world by storm and the seasonal approach to their works was noticed by Pierrot specifically. The Naruto studio hasn’t just been working on Konoha’s story but has recently had its hands full with Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War’s popular series. As the conclusion of the Soul Society approaches, now seems like the perfect time to at least tease the return of the Seventh Hokage and the newest generations of ninjas.
In April of last year, Pierrot president Michiyuki Honma broke down how Tanjiro and company changed their approach to anime, “I think Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba was a major turning point for the anime industry. It was a high-quality work that took a lot of time and a generous budget to make and it was a big hit when it aired, attracting people from a wide range of age groups. I watched it. Before and after Demon Slayer was announced, I really felt that we had to change the way we create things. Furthermore, other studios were releasing high-quality works on a similar scale and in Japan there was an environment where these could be watched on commercial television.”
Boruto Stories To Cover
When it comes to Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, there are still several chapters worth of story material to cover for an upcoming anime season. For manga readers, you know that the son of the Seventh Hokage’s story continues thanks to the Shippuden of the sequel series, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex. It’s in this current series that the next generation has really shined and could potentially give shonen fans quite a few episodes to get fans up to speed.
One major complaint that many anime fans have had in the past when it comes to the world of Naruto has been “filler.” For quite some time, with Pierrot attempting to stick to a weekly release schedule, the anime would routinely create entire storylines that were completely original, having never appeared in the manga prior. Should the studio stick to its seasonal approach, it would mean that creators Masashi Kishimoto and Mikio Ikemoto could continue to build up stories for years to come.
We Really Miss Naruto
In all honesty, Naruto’s anime was one that held a weekly schedule for quite some time, and while the filler obviously wasn’t the ideal for many fans, we’ve missed being able to see these characters regularly on the screen. Even while Boruto might not be held in as high regard as his father, Two Blue Vortex is a tale that has done a lot to redeem Konoha’s newest band of ninjas and seeing these stories animated would go a long way in giving the shonen franchise the shot in the arm it needs.
Naruto earned its place as a member of Shonen Jump’s “Big Three” in more ways than one and we are counting down the days until we can once again see a Shadow Clone Jutsu burst out of the screen, small, silver, or otherwise.
