The official Naruto website has revealed that the anime will be celebrating its 20th anniversary with some brand new episodes.
Set to start in September, the episodes are described as “a new anime project,” with four brand new episodes in total planned. No further details were given regarding the time period that the episodes would take place in or which characters would be involved. Anime News Network is reporting that selected earlier episodes of the Naruto anime will be rerun on TV in Japan starting in July as part of the anniversary celebrations.
The Naruto anime debuted in Japan on October 3, 2002. The first part of the anime, simply titled Naruto, covered Part 1 of the manga and aired until early 2007, at which point the story featured a timeskip. From then on, the series would cover Part 2 of the manga and would change its title to Naruto: Shippuden. This ran until 2017, when the series ended and was followed-up by the sequel series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
The series follows the titular ninja as he strives to become the leader of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Naruto has enjoyed immense popularity since its debut, becoming one of Shonen Jump’s iconic “Big Three” series of the mid-2000s alongside One Piece and Bleach.
