2022 will be the 20th anniversary of the Naruto anime's premiere, and Shueisha previewed its plans to celebrate the series' big birthday at this year's Jump Festa.
The Boruto presentation at the event kicked off a look back at the past 20 years of its prequel series, Naruto. The recap video covered the events of both the original Naruto anime, as well as its post-timeskip continuation, Naruto Shippuden. The nostalgic look back at the series showed Naruto's evolution from the outcast of Konohagakure to his gradual growth into the hero of Fourth Shinobi World War, and the eventual fulfillment of his lifelong dream of becoming the Seventh Hokage. The recap video also focused on his intense friendship and complex rivalry with Sasuke Uchiha, climaxing with the two former classmates' brutal battle in the Valley of the End.
Celebrating 20 years of Naruto’s animated journey! ? pic.twitter.com/wkGRJ7rEE5
— VIZ (@VIZMedia) December 18, 2021
A new logo for the series' 20th anniversary was revealed, which shows Naruto during three stages of his life: as he first appeared at the beginning of the series, as a teenager during the Shippuden era of the anime, and finally, as he appears as an adult at the end of the original anime and during the Boruto sequel series. The panel promised more events and announcements in the future to celebrate the series' anniversary. New art of an adult Naruto reassuring his younger self was also revealed.
The Naruto anime originally debuted in 2022. The series was produced by Pierrot, an animation studio that has become known for its adaptations of popular shonen manga, including Bleach, Black Clover and Tokyo Ghoul. The studio also produced the Naruto Shippuden anime, and the on-going TV adaptation of its sequel series, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
Jump Festa is a yearly event put on by publisher Shueisha to celebrate the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine and the numerous hit anime and manga franchises that originally appeared within its pages. While last year's festival had to be held entirely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's party is a hybrid event: in-person activities are being held at the Makurahi Messe convention center in Chiba, Japan, but the event is also being streamed to certain regions through Weekly Shonen Jump's official website and YouTube channel.
Naruto was created by Masashi Kishimoto in 1999 and was one of Weekly Shonen Jump's biggest hits during the anime boom of the early 2000s. The series is the fourth best-selling manga of all time, with over a quarter of a billion copies in circulation. Naruto and Naruto Shippuden are available for streaming on Netflix, Crunchyroll and Funimation, while new episodes of the Boruto anime are being simulcast through Crunchyroll.
Source: Jump Festa, Twitter
