New Naruto Anime Does Not Meet Fan Expectations
Long-awaited anniversary episodes of Naruto turned out to be a crossover with a forgotten 1990s anime that many Naruto fans have never even heard of.
Viz Media revealed the four-episode anime NARUTO x NINKŪ at New York Comic-Con. According to Anime Corner, this is the same anniversary project originally scheduled for release in September 2023 that was delayed to improve quality.
As it turns out, the creators prepared a crossover between Naruto and the Ninku manga and anime as an anniversary gift. In the plot, Kakashi assigns Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura a new mission, but cannot travel with them. Command temporarily passes to Naruto. Along the way, the characters end up in another world where they meet Fusuke, the protagonist of Ninku.
Koji Kiriyama’s Ninku manga ran intermittently from 1993 to 2011 and even received an anime adaptation in 1995 and 1996. However, it never achieved the same popularity as Naruto. At the same time, Masashi Kishimoto admitted that the desire to see the continuation of Ninku is what once pushed him to create Naruto. Now, he proposed the crossover idea himself to finally fulfill his long-held dream:
“I created Naruto because I wanted to see the continuation of Ninku myself. I think many of you have already noticed how much Ninku influenced Naruto. Without Ninku, there would be no Naruto. Put simply, Fusuke is Naruto’s secret mentor. Over time, I began dreaming of bringing this teacher-student relationship out of the shadows and making it part of a real story. Kiriyama-sensei, who is as much of a mentor to me as Fusuke is to Naruto, kindly agreed to my selfish request. He met with me personally and provided tremendous help, making my long-held dream a reality. I have finally managed to create a continuation of Ninku in the truest sense of the word. It consists of four episodes in total, and I hope you will enjoy watching them all the way to the end!”
Ninku creator Koji Kiriyama also shared his excitement about the upcoming crossover:
“The worlds of Naruto, Fusuke, and their friends will meet and intertwine, and I am sincerely glad! This miracle was made possible thanks to Kishimoto-sensei’s proposal and generosity. It is a great honor for me that he understands and embraces the world of Ninku so deeply. The adventures of Naruto, Fusuke, and their friends are about to begin. I hope you look forward to them with the same excitement and anticipation as we do as creators!”
However, not all fans share the creators’ enthusiasm. After three years of waiting, many hoped to see new adventures of the characters in the familiar world of Naruto rather than a crossover with a little-known anime:
“It’s not quite what I wanted, but for Kishimoto, that’s cool.”
“I’m not trying to judge anyone, but what on earth is this?”
“Hmm… I was hoping these special episodes would focus on Naruto and his friends.”
At the same presentation, a full-fledged continuation of the Naruto manga titled Naruto: Shadow Rising was announced, which is being worked on by Masashi Kishimoto. This news somewhat softened fans’ disappointment:
“Yeah, the general sentiment seems to be that the anime announcement was disappointing, but offset by the manga announcement.”
The release date for NARUTO x NINKŪ remains unknown as the creators have not yet announced a premiere date.
Source: iXBT.games
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