Naruto

Fans of the internationally popular hit manga Naruto were dealt a huge blow when the series ended last November after 15 years of serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. Who would have thought that the story of a young ninja with high hopes and ideals (and named after a ramen ingredient, no less) would become such a success world-wide and go on to continue for 15 years?

Well, it did, and while Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto has been enjoying his well-earned rest since finishing the series, fans will be delighted to know that he apparently hasn’t been completely idle, as he publicly commented on plans for his next manga recently at an Apple Store event in New York!

Yes, Kishimoto-sensei was in the Big Apple last week to coincide with New York Comic Con 2015 and gave several  public talks and interviews during his visit, which unsurprisingly attracted considerable interest from the large number of anime/manga fans in the city for the event.

In the interviews, Kishimoto was asked questions on various topics including his creative process and style, to which he commented that he hadn’t started creating Naruto with TV and theatrical animation in mind. He said that he was heavily influenced by movies, though, including the animated film Akira, which he particularly likes, so his artistic style may have become somewhat “cinematic” as a result.

Naruto 3

The best news for fans was that Kishimoto confirmed he was preparing to work on his next manga, which he said was going to be a science fiction story!  He also mentioned that he has been running and even lifting weights since finishing his work on Naruto.

Concerning Naruto’s success, he commented that he was extremely happy about how fans around the world seem to have embraced the distinctly Japanese elements of the story and genuinely delighted with the sheer amount of love the series has received.

We’re sure many Naruto fans in New York were absolutely thrilled to see the artist who created the beloved franchise, and even more excited to hear that a new manga from him was in the works. Even if we won’t be seeing any fancy ninja techniques, a science fiction story from the creator of so many memorable and powerful characters sounds wonderful, and we’ll certainly be waiting for more information on the new series as it becomes available!

Source: Cinema Today via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Amazon Japan
Insert image: Amazon Japan