'Naruto' Goes Studio Ghibli In This Soft Fan-Art

Naruto was one of the biggest properties in Weekly Shonen Jump during its run, often seen as one [...]

By Nick Valdez

Naruto was one of the biggest properties in Weekly Shonen Jump during its run, often seen as one of the main pillars of the magazine, and a large part of its popularity is its unique character design.

Thanks to series creator Masashi Kishimoto's strong character design, you can put his characters through pretty much any filter and they'd be instantly recognizable and seem cool in any setting.

Even if its main characters Naruto and Sasuke enter the world of Studio Ghibli.

Twitter user @havoc_kwang uploaded the following pieces of fan-art which imagine Naruto and Sasuke in the Studio Ghibli film, Spirited Away. This art places them in the roles of that film's main characters, Chihiro and Haku.

The two translate incredibly well, and even include the likes of the a super cute version of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Surely fans would definitely want to see a full length feature in this style.

For those of you unfamiliar with Naruto, the series began in 1997 when Masashi Kishimoto did his first one-shot of the series. Shueisha agreed to serialize the story in Weekly Shonen Jump starting in 1999, and it became a quick success. The manga ran until 2014 and accrued 72 volumes over its lengthy run. Naruto has since become one of the industry's most famous franchises, and its global popularity rocketed when Pierrot licensed Naruto for an anime.

The original Naruto anime began in 2002 and went on for five years. Its sequel, Naruto: Shippuden, debuted in 2007 and lasted for more than a decade as it closed in early 2017. The franchise continues on with Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, a sequel spin-off which follows the Hidden Leaf Village's new heroes and their famous parents.

Naruto tells the story of its titular hero as Naruto Uzumaki strives to become the greatest ninja of his village. Born as the host of a powerful demon, Naruto lives much of his a pariah but dreams of becoming his home's leader. After graduating from the Ninja Academy, the boy begins his quest to become a respected and powerful Hokage, but things get complicated when international coups and radical terrorists make themselves known.

Studio Ghibli is a prolific animation studio in the anime scene. Not only have eight of its anime films gone on to be part of Japan's fifteen highest grossing anime films, it's most notable release, Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away has grossed over $290 million USD worldwide.

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