Naruto, Boruto Anniversary Special Coming to Crunchyroll

Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto is celebrating its landmark 20th Anniversary in a huge way this year, and not only will Boruto: Naruto Next Generations feature a special arc in which Boruto will team up the younger version of Naruto, but the franchise will be holding a special live event in Japan gathering live performances from some of the most influential names that have helped it bring it to life over its 20 year long tenure. But Crunchyroll has got our backs as they have announced they will be streaming the special event shortly after its debut in Japan for a limited period.

Available for a limited 24 hour period from Wednesday, October 9th at 6:00 PM PT to Thursday, October 10th at 6:00 PM PT, Crunchyroll will be streaming NARUTO to BORUTO THE LIVE 2019, the special 20th Anniversary event for the franchise features live performances, original script readings, and more.

Originally taking place on October 5-6 at the Makuhari Messe Event Hall in Chiba Prefecture in Japan, the new event featured live performances from bands and performers who have contributed to Naruto and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations theme songs over the years such as FLOW, KANA-BOON, Game-Jikkyosha Wakuwaku Band, Little Glee Monster, SNOWKEL, DISH//, and FUJIFABRIC.

According to Crunchyroll, the cast of the anime was on hand for special live readings too. Tackling stories which will only be featured at the event, the featured cast includes Junko Takeuchi as Naruto Uzumaki, Noriaki Sugiyama as Sasuke Uchiha, Chie Nakamura as Sakura Uchiha,Nana Mizuki as Hinata Uzumaki, Yuko Sanpei as Boruto Uzumaki, Cocoro Kikuchi as Sarada Uchiha, Ryuichi Kijima as Mitsuki, and Kensho Ono as Shikadai Nara.

Those in attendance for the special 20th Anniversary event in Japan were also privy to a special new sketch from original series creator Masashi Kishimoto, and a new illustration from the anime's character designer Tetsuya Nishio too. But with this limited window to watch it, you might want to open up some time in your schedule!

Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto for Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, Naruto follows a young ninja, with a sealed demon within him, that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The series ran for 700 chapters overall, and was adapted into an anime series by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex that ran from 2002 to 2017. The series was popular enough to warrant a sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations which 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.