Naruto is nothing short of a historic anime franchise. It’s one of the greatest anime series ever, and it laid the grown work for nearly every shōnen series that came after it.
While the main series is over, new animations depicting the events of both Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden are still coming out, and a brand-new animation released for Naruto Mobile recreates one of the most touching relationships in the franchise.
The new animation was released to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the game and the release of all-new commemorative S-Rank ninja Naruto Uzumaki and Jiraiya. It’s an exceptional animation that the rest of the franchise could learn a lot from.
This New Animation Hit Us Right in the Feels
This new animation showcases one of the most touching, and ultimately tragic, relationships in all Naruto. Naruto was treated incredibly poorly by his entire village when he was a child. He was an orphan whose parents sacrificed their lives for their son and the Hidden Leaf Village at large, and the villagers paid them back by ostracizing their son at every corner.
Jiraiya, one of the strongest characters in Naruto, was one of the first people to treat Naruto like a human being. Not only did he treat Naruto well, he took the young ninja under his wing. Jiraiya might be the wisest character in the series, and his relationship with Naruto was something the future Hokage needed more than anything.
Naruto Creator Officially Returns With Glorious New Art
Long-time Naruto fans hungry for more of its iconic style are in for a treat as the original creator releases stunning new artwork.
The new animation showcases the famous blue popsicle moment. On the surface, the moment itself doesn’t seem too special, but it meant the world to Naruto. The visual shows Jiraiya splitting a blue popsicle in two, taking one half for himself and giving Naruto the other. It’s a moment that shows Jiraiya’s devotion to Naruto, letting him know he doesn’t have to be alone anymore.
Naruto/Boruto Needs to Look like This Going Forward
There’s no telling what’s next for the Naruto franchise. There are still a lot of Boruto chapters to animate, so that’s the logical next step for the franchise, but who knows what will come next? Boruto itself came out of nowhere (for better or worse), so it’s not out of the question that Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto’s creator, might have more story to tell.
Naruto never had bad artwork. It was rarely outstanding, but for a shōnen franchise with nearly 1,000 episodes, having a decent enough quality is usually enough (so long as it’s not as bad as Dragon Ball Super). If Naruto does continue in some capacity, it should take a look at this new animation for inspiration.
The next iteration of Naruto doesn’t necessarily have to use CGI to work. Instead, it should look to recreate the feelings of this visual, recreating the underlying emotions that it brings out of us in its incredibly quick run time. Naruto’s and Jiraiya’s feel genuine, heartfelt, and moving in a way animation can rarely capture, and Naruto needs that moving forward.
Naruto Mobile has released more than its fair share of stunning visuals and animations. We love just about everything that the game has released, and some of the visuals are so good we wish that they were more than a few minutes long. If Naruto continues after Boruto, it needs to bring some of these elements to life.
- Video Game(s)
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Naruto: Clash Of Ninja Revolution 3, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja (2003), Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja, Naruto: The Broken Bond, Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker, Naruto Shippuden Dragon Blade Chronicles, Naruto: Path Of The Ninja, Naruto x Boruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections
- Cast
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Junko Takeuchi, Maile Flanagan, Noriaki Sugiyama, Chie Nakamura, Kazuhiko Inoue, Nana Mizuki, Hideo Ishikawa, Yûko Sanpei
- Latest Film
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Boruto: Naruto the Movie