Kagurabachi Creator Reveals Naruto as Their Top Manga

Kagurabachi has become one of the biggest new manga debuts for Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, and the editor behind the manga series has revealed how much the creator loves Naruto! Kagurabachi has reached outside of Japan to become one of the most suddenly popular new releases in the last few years. It became viral before the manga's first chapter even debuted, and Takeru Hokazono's original manga series has been keeping that hot streak going even months after that first chapter. But it turns out that the creator has some very recognizable influences that also come from Shonen Jump magazine. 

Speaking with Shueisha's MangaPlus service in honor of Kagurabachi's quick popularity, the editor behind the series, Takuro Imamura, was asked about working with Hokazono as a creator. Noting that Hokazono has been reading Shonen Jump while growing up, there was a desire to be serializing a manga with the magazine. Going even further, Imamura revealed that Naruto is a big series for Hokazono that fans might even see influences of in Kagurabachi. Even inspiring Hokazono to become a manga artist overall. 

Kagurabachi's Naruto Influences

When asked if there was a manga that Hokazono was inspired by, Imamura responded, "He just absolutely loves Naruto. If you take a look at his Tezuka award-winning piece and early one-shots, the influence is quite evident. He's also explored other highly popular series like Chainsaw man, Attack on Titan, and Ajin: Demi-Human." That love for Naruto goes even further as it inspired Hokazono to become an artist, "Hokazono grew up reading Jump, so naturally, there was a desire to serialize in Jump. Moreover, his aspiration to become a manga artist stems from Naruto, adding to its significance."

As Imamura talked more about Hokazono, he noted how the creator's art has been improving too, "I feel his art has improved. For the one-shot, his lines still had a novice touch, but it's rapidly matured with the start of Kagurabachi. I believe he has been putting a lot of effort into his drawings even amidst his busy weekly serialization. Another change is that he's started to take walks (laughs). Apparently he makes more progress thinking while walking around the neighborhood rather than sitting at his desk."

But how do you feel about Naruto's influence on Kagurabachi's creator? Have you noticed any similarities? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on X (formerly known as Twitter)!