Naruto Anime HD Remaster Announces Premiere Date

Naruto made its anime debut more than a decade ago, but the original series remains a classic. Studio Pierrot let fans experience Naruto Uzuamki in all his anime glory starting in 2002 until the first series ended in 2007. While sequels like Naruto Shippuden have since aired, the first Naruto anime stands the test of time. And, now, the series is getting an HD remaster to overhaul Naruto for a new generation.

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Earlier this year, it was announced that Naruto would be getting a high-definition remaster by Studio Pierrot. Details about the endeavor have now been released, informing fans that the Naruto remaster will premiere on June 14th at 4 PM on Animax Japan.

So far, there is no word on what kind of remaster Naruto will be getting. In the world of anime, remasters usually come in three different styles: an HD upscale, a restoration, or a complete narrative fold over.

An upscale is the easiest and least-intrusive remaster an anime can get. Naruto would not be given any new animation and simply have its lower quality footage revamped to 1080p. As for a restoration, that process would require Studio Pierrot to go in and redo animation sequences to make Naruto look nicer.

When it comes to anime fold overs, fans will be familiar with at least one such remaster; Dragon Ball Z Kai is an example for this sort of do over. Making a 'Naruto Kai' would require Studio Pierrot to add in new footage and clean up pre-existing scenes when possible. Making a kai cut may also necessitate new dialogue and theme music.

So far, fans agree that a full-blown Naruto Kai seems unlikely due to the amount of work it would take. Studio Pierrot is busy churning out new episodes of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations each week, so the company's resources are limited. It is far more likely that Naruto's HD remaster will be mostly upscaling with an occasionally restoration. There is also no word on whether the remaster will streamline the anime by removing the series' copious filler episodes, so fans will have to wait and see what the new project's episode guides look like in a few weeks.

You can check out Viz Media's synopsis of Naruto below:

"Naruto is a young shinobi with an incorrigible knack for mischief. He's got a wild sense of humor, but Naruto is completely serious about his mission to be the world's greatest ninja!"

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Author/artist Masashi Kishimoto was born in 1974 in rural Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Like many kids, he was first inspired to become a manga artist in elementary school when he read Dragon Ball. After spending time in art college, he won the Hop Step Award for new manga artists with his story Karakuri. After considering various genres for his next project, Kishimoto decided on a story steeped in traditional Japanese culture.

His first version of Naruto, drawn in 1997, was a one-shot story about fox spirits; his final version, which debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, quickly became the most popular ninja manga in the world. The series would also spawn multiple anime series, movies, novels, video games and more.