Naruto has released a special illustration to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the anime! Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto franchise is bigger than ever these days as not only are new fans still discovering the original run to this day, but the story is still continuing on with new chapters and episodes of the official Boruto: Naruto Next Generations sequel series. While the series is still so popular, it can be easy to forget that the series has been around for a very long time. Now the anime is preparing to celebrate a huge new milestone of its own as it turns 20 next year. ย
Videos by ComicBook.com
The Naruto anime first premiered in Japan on October 3rd, 2002, and that means it will be celebrating its official 20th Anniversary this Fall. As part of the celebration talking about Boruto’s current anime,ย Naruto took the stage at Jump Festa 2022 to announce the anniversary celebration with a special new visual showcasing just how far Naruto Uzumaki has come over the course of the anime’s 20 year run so far. You can check it out below as released on the anime’s official Twitter account:ย
It’s been quite a two decades for the Naruto anime as both its central hero and the series surrounding him have changed a lot over their run. Not only did the series reinvent itself with its time skip for Naruto: Shippuden, it went ahead and reinvented itself once more to continue with the official sequel anime series. Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is quickly approaching a comparable number of episodes to its predecessor series as it starts setting up for its own long run, so it’s clear there are no signs of stopping.ย
This is also likely not the end of the 20th Anniversary celebrations for the anime either. As part of the manga’s own 20th Anniversary, the anime had a special time travel arc where Boruto met the younger version of his father, so there’s no telling what the anime could do for its own anniversary. But what do you think? Can you believe it’s been 20 years of Naruto? When did you first start watching the anime? What are some of your favorite moments and episodes from over the years? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!