Table of Contents
Naruto is a timeless shonen series that cemented its place among mainstream anime fans by becoming one of the “Big 3”. After the original series by Masashi Kishimoto ended in 2014, it was only natural that fans were left wanting more.
Naruto’s sequel series, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, handled as a joint effort between Kishimoto and one of his assistant while he was working on Naruto, Mikio Ikemoto, aimed to answer that demand. While the sequel has been met with heavy criticism from fans, it’s still going strong.
Recently, Kishimoto and Ikemoto participated in a live event in France, where the pair were interviewed by French manga publisher Kana. In the interview, the pair had the opportunity to talk passionately about their work, and revealed a bombshell about the writing process behind Boruto that most fans weren’t expecting.Read More
While Kishimoto Initially Had a Bigger Role, He Trusts Ikemoto
“In the case of Boruto, I initially wrote the broad outlines of the story, but very succinctly,” Kishimoto explained. “We then organized a meeting to discuss it. Ikemoto-sensei is really the one who is fully in charge of Boruto… I just enjoy reading it!”
Ikemoto followed up this point by saying:
“At the beginning, Master Kishimoto indeed shared his story with me. But the more we advance, the more different the plot becomes from what was initially planned. Today, I discuss the next part of the storyline with my editor, every month. So I think Kishimoto-sensei doesn’t yet know what’s going to happen next in Boruto.”
This revelation came as a surprise to many – mostly that Kishimoto currently has a very hands-off approach to writing Boruto, especially with the current state of the manga, Two Blue Vortex, fighting tooth-and-nail to earn back favor from fans that were initially put off by the sequel.Read More
