‘Naruto’ Creator Masashi Kishimoto Announces New Series

It’s been more than a year since Naruto wrapped its manga, but Masashi Kishimoto lives on in the industry. The famed creator has helped set up Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, but it seems Kishimoto has even more to share. After all, it was just announced that the Naruto creator will debut a new series next year.

Jump Festa is going on in Japan at the moment, and the event’s Boruto stage made an announcement about Kishimoto. The panel confirmed the artist would debut a brand-new series in 2018. The series is being released to honor Weekly Shonen Jump’s 50th anniversary, and fans are excited to see Kishimoto make a comeback.

So far, there are few details out about the new series. The initial announcement is all Shueisha was willing to say, but some sketches from the manga were shared online. As you can see below, the blurry pieces seem to show a slew of action sequences and character close-ups. There is no telling if the new title will be related to Naruto in any way, but fans should not get their hopes up. In the past, Kishimoto has said he would like to explore stories outside of his previous franchise, and this story gives him that opportunity.

If you are not familiar with Kishimoto, you should know the artist is best-known for his work on Naruto. The artist pitched the franchise to Shueisha years ago, and it began its serialization in 1999 after it shared a successful one-shot in 1997. Naruto went on to become one of the industry’s most popular franchises to date, and its anime under Studio Pierrot became a worldwide phenomenon.

Are you excited to see Kishimoto’s new series? Hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to let me know and talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!