Naruto Creator’s Next Series Shares Special Preview

Ever since Naruto: Shippuden came to an end in 2014 after 15 years of running in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump, fans have been wondering what kind of project series creator Masashi Kishimoto would release next. After teases officially revealed Kishimoto’s next project would be science fiction and samurai heavy, fans have been in pure anticipation to experience it for themselves.

With its Shonen Jump debut coming in just a couple of weeks, now fans can officially get their first look at Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru thanks to Viz Media. You can find more information at the link below.

Details have been mostly kept under wraps for Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru, but the series will be written by Naruto’s creator Masashi Kishimoto. Though it may come as surprise considering the art looks so much like Kishimoto’s own work, the illustrations for the new series will actually be provided by Kishimoto’s former assistant Akira Okubo.

The special preview for the series features one color cover page. and three brief black and white pages teasing the series to come. There’s an emphasis on tease as the special preview introduces a young kid, presumably the titular Hachimaru, who wishes on a shooting star for a stronger body and friends. But most notably, he dreams to be a samurai and soon fans will see how far he’ll go to follow this dream when the series makes its official debut in Shonen Jump on May 12th.

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.

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