Naruto Creator Recreates Cover Art From 1999

By Nick Valdez

Naruto is now in the midst of celebrating the 20th Anniversary of its original anime adaptation's release, and to help celebrate the big occasion the original creator behind it all has gone all the way back to the beginning to recreate one of its most famous covers! Naruto has come a long way since it first hit the pages of Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, and it's a much different franchise now than it ever has been. That's why looking back at it all has been very eye-opening for fans who have been sticking with the series for all this time.

The biggest changes probably came within the series' manga itself. Naruto series creator Masashi Kishimoto, much like other manga creators, began with a much different kind of art style for the series that evolved the more he continued to release new chapters. It meant that the series ended with a much different kind of look that fans saw with the series when it first began, and there's no better example of this than Kishimoto recreated the first cover to Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine Naruto was ever in. Check it out: 

What is Naruto Doing for the 20th Anniversary? 

The next issue of Shueisha's Saikyo Jump magazine in Japan will be celebrating Naruto with a special new cover from Masashi Kishimoto that recreates the cover art for Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine that featured the very first chapter of the series back in 1999. Seeing the two covers side by side goes to show just how much has changed for Kishimoto as an artist over these twenty long years, and really hammers home that it has been that long since the manga first kicked off its run. 

READ MORE: Naruto 20th Anniversary: A Look Back on the Leaf | Naruto's 20th Anniversary Promo Reveals What an Anime Reboot Could Look Like

This isn't the only celebration for the 20th Anniversary, however, as Kishimoto has been sharing all kinds of art as Naruto's anime celebrates in its own way with special promos, trailers, and more. Boruto: Naruto Next Generations' anime will even be heating up next year too with some big adaptations, so the next 20 years of the series are already looking bright. 

Can you believe it's been 20 years of Naruto? 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!

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