Original Naruto anime gets four new episodes in honour of 20th anniversary

The Naruto anime series may have ended in 2017 with Shippuden, but the will of the ninja continues to live on.

Now that the franchise has hit its 20th anniversary, fans will soon be able to relive the nostalgia, as four new episodes are set to grace the small screen, with selected earlier episodes slated for rerun in Japan starting July.

🎉アニメ『#NARUTO-#ナルト-』20周年🎉

22年10月3日、アニメ『NARUTO』は
放送開始から20周年を迎えました！㊗️

それを記念して
壮大な物語の歴史を振り返る、描き下ろしの
【20周年記念 連作ビジュアル】を公開！

この1年、皆さん一緒に盛り上がりましょう🔥https://t.co/ZJCHQfZUyN#NARUTO20th pic.twitter.com/vC5W96tR58

— アニメ BORUTO-ボルト-【公式】 (@NARUTOtoBORUTO) October 3, 2022

The announcement is part of a bigger celebration that saw Studio Pierrot streaming a special Road of Naruto video last year, which condenses 20 years of Naruto anime history into 10 minutes.

The video includes fresh, reanimated battle footage, and was later accompanied by three new visuals for the 20th anniversary on Twitter.

Adapted from Masashi Kishimoto's manga of the same name, the anime debuted back in 2002, and follows Naruto Uzumaki on his journey to become the strongest ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village.

The Naruto Shippuden anime sequel series premiered in 2007 and ended its run in 2017, the same year thatthe Boruto: Naruto Next Generations manga got its own adaption.

The series, which runs weekly in Weekly Shonen Jump, is set after the events of Naruto and chronicles the adventures of Boruto, Naruto's son.

While the manga is ongoing, the anime will be going on an indefinite hiatus after episode 293, due to release on March 26. A second part to the anime is currently in the works.

ALSO READ: Naruto celebrates 20th anniversary with reanimated anime scenes in special reel

This article was first published in Geek Culture.