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Studio Pierrot released a Naruto 20th Anniversary video on their official YouTube channel on Monday to commemorate the anime series. The video contains re-animated scenes from the original series and Naruto: Shippuden that leave us all wishing that Studio Pierrot would give us an entire re-animated version of the complete series. The very first episode of Naruto aired on this day in 2002–paving a long road for anime fans around the world today.
The tribute video features many of Naruto‘s greatest theme songs including the following:
Naruto
- 2nd Opening Theme Song: “Haruka Kanata” by ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION
- 4th Opening Theme Song: “GO!!!” by FLOW
- 5th Opening Theme Song: “Seishun Kyosokyoku” by Sambomaster
Naruto Shippuden
- 3rd Opening Theme Song: “Blue Bird” by Ikimonogakari
- 6th Opening Theme Song: “Sign” by FLOW
- 16th Opening Theme Song: “Silhouette” by KANA-BOON
The creator of the series, Masashi Kishimoto, drew a special illustration for the special occasion as well. A new website was also created for the anniversary, which released new visuals of the series that you can also see below with a comment from Kishimoto regarding the special occasion: “Anime “NARUTO” has marked its 20th anniversary! “NARUTO OFFICIAL SITE” launched today to celebrate it and it’s made to not only entertain fans from Japan, but from overseas! As the anniversary year, various projects will be going on, so I’d like you to check the information on this website! Stay tuned, everyone!
Naruto Anime
The entirety of the Naruto series ran for a total of 720 episodes, with the original series running for 220 and Naruto: Shippuden for 500. The anime original received both complaints from writers in the west and praise at the same time for its animations. But looking back, critics couldn’t have been any more wrong as many scenes from Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden alike have aged like fine wine, including the fight between Kakashi and Obito in Naruto: Shippuden which has still received praise even today.
Despite receiving much criticism over the years, there’s no denying that Studio Pierrot is considered one of the best studios in the industry that has given us plenty of incredible memories, especially with Naruto. The fight between Rock Lee and Gaara, the Final Valley fights between Naruto and Sasuke, Guy vs. Madara, Sasuke vs Itachi, and so much more. Naruto has lived on to become one of the most popular television series, not just anime, of all time.
Naruto Manga
The manga written and illustrated by Kishimoto first began serialization in 1999 and has since published a total of 72 volumes in many languages including English. Originally, Naruto actually started out as two different one-shots by Kishimoto titled Karakuri (1995) and, of course, Naruto (1997). Now, 23 years later, the manga is hailed as the greatest of all time by some and one of the greatest of all time by most. Winning award after award, Kishimoto has gone on to become one of the creators of a “Big 3” series that has now garnered over 250 million copies in circulation worldwide, making him one of the greatest mangakas of all time.
Twelve years ago the Village Hidden in the Leaves was attacked by a fearsome threat. A nine-tailed fox spirit claimed the life of the village leader, the Hokage, and many others. Today, the village is at peace and a troublemaking kid named Naruto is struggling to graduate from Ninja Academy. His goal may be to become the next Hokage, but his true destiny will be much more complicated. The adventure begins now!
Manga synopsis via VIZ Media
