‘Naruto’ Taps Surprising Talent For Biggest ‘Boruto’ Episode Yet

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations fans know it will soon feature the climactic battle of the Chunin Exams arc once seen in Boruto: Naruto the Movie. The preview for the fight teased an amazingly animated fight scene, and now it’ll be hyped even more.

In an unprecedented move, Studio Pierrot in Japan has reached out to talent overseas in Castlevania‘s Spencer Wan, for remote help in animating Episode 65.

Spencer Wan took to Twitter to share the good news, stating “I contributed some animation on the upcoming Boruto episode, which is dropping on July 19th! Thanks too the always amazing @cekibeing for the opportunity!”

Wan has contributed to many animated series in the past such as The Owl House, OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes, and most recently, Netflix‘s Castlevania anime series. If there were any fans doubtful of his credibility, those fears can be put to rest as Wan definitely has the chops. Not only that, seeing Studio Pierrot reach out to talent overseas for the episode is a huge deal.

This further proves that the next episode will be more important than ever, since this is definitely a landmark moment in the way anime production works. Fans have noticed a greater sense of unity in recent years between the Western anime market and fandom and Japan, and this is a major example of that. Hopefully this leads to more major collaborative efforts in the future.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 65 is titled “Father and Son,” and the synopsis for the episode reads as such:

“What will Naruto and his comrades do about Momoshiki, who’s attained even more power!? While Boruto is watching over them attentively, Naruto and Sasuke manage to corner Momoshiki with their tremendous strength! However, an intruder appears…!?”

For those unfamiliar with Naruto, it has quite a storied history. Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto, the series ran in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump for 700 chapters. The story follows Naruto, a young ninja with a sealed demon within him that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is set several years after the events of the original Naruto story and featuring the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations recently made TV Tokyo’s list of Top 5 Anime in sales and profits, coming third in sales and fifth and profits. The anime has been such a success that the Naruto franchise as a whole stills holds a top spot in many anime profits rankings as well. The series even managed to cross 235 million copies of the manga sold worldwide. Boruto: Naruto Next Generations was even given a major bump of approval as it just took over a more familiar timeslot, airing in the same time and day that its predecessor Naruto: Shippuden once did.