‘Boruto’ Creator Addresses Whether The Manga Is Canon

Boruto is carrying on the ninja traditions Naruto made years ago, and fans are eating all its stories up. Still, there are those who wonder if the series’ manga should be considered canon, and an answer has come down from the creator himself.

So, yes — Boruto is canon to Naruto regardless of its format.

Recently, the creator of Boruto did an interview with Lucca Comics about his on-going series. Mikio Ikemoto is handling the series in lieu of Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto, and a translation summary (via Reddit) of the interview reveals the artist’s canon point of view.

According to translators, Kishimoto is very much involved with the direction Boruto is taking.

“Kishimoto is still heavily involved with the series by defining every concept and initial idea, and supervising Kodachi’s / Ikemoto’s work,” the summary reads.

Continuing, Ikemoto said the manga is in charge of mapping out the sequel’s main story. While the anime may detour with parallel arcs, Boruto will always come back to the manga for plot tentpoles. Like many other anime adaptations, Boruto will get to a point where it is more closely aligned with what Weekly Shonen Jump is publishing; However, Ikemoto needed to get enough chapters under the series’ belt before Boruto began that phase of adaptation.

There is no timeline for when Boruto will move into manga arc adaptations, but fans are plenty interested in where the publication is these days. Ikemoto is toeing into a brand-new arc featuring Kawaki, a kid who is considered to be a dangerous vessel by Kara. The terrorist organization has nefarious plans in store for the kid, and its most recent chapter saw a villain named Kashin Koji infiltrate the Leaf Village to steal the boy back. The action-packed arc has already done plenty in its short run, and manga readers are looking forward to the day the anime runs into the story.

Did you ever think Boruto might not be considered canon? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto ran in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump for 700 chapters. The story follows 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 features the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.