Summary
- Kishimoto hints at new manga plans, focusing on family time before making a return to the manga world.
- Fans excitedly await Kishimoto’s potential new series after the cancellation of Samurai 8.
- Manga enthusiasts speculate about Kishimoto’s new project, possibly exploring Mario, a mafia series set in New York.
The creator of Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto, renewed fans’ hopes of seeing another manga from the author in a new interview with his colleague and co-author on Boruto, Mikio Ikemoto. Although it wasn’t an explicit confirmation, it still opens up the exciting possibility of his return.
Kishimoto and Ikemoto were invited to an interview by Naruto’s French publisher, Kana, and multiple events, such as a re-screening of the Boruto movie, a press conference, and a meet-and-greet, were planned. The two shared a lot of information, but Kishimoto’s plans for the future were the most interesting.
Kishimoto said that as of now, he is focusing on spending time with his family and looking for motivation from fans to create a new manga. A new series is definitely in his vision and although it might be a while before it is made official, fans of Naruto can look forward to Kishimoto’s new series in the future.
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Kishimoto’s Return To The Manga World Has Been Met With Excitement
Fans of Naruto and Boruto are rushing to translate the interview and share it online. Although much is still unknown, Kishimoto is interested in a manga unrelated to Naruto and hopes for a new one instead. He already made one titled Samurai 8, a sci-fi series, that was unfortunately canceled by Shonen Jump due to low sales. It has been years since, and after working on the Minato one-shot, a short story that was met with positive reviews, it seems his passion for manga-making has been reignited once more. The first time he mentioned anything about Samurai 8 was in 2014, and it wasn’t until 5 years later it started serializing, so the same could very well happen for his new title.
A potential direction he could take is fleshing out his one-shot titled Mario, a mafia series set in New York. While it was fast-paced, which is usual for a one-shot, it had a good reception due to the focus on the relationship between Mario and Saori instead of the action that comes with being a mafia hitman. Interestingly, Kishimoto sketched Mario in a Naruto character sheet back in 1998, meaning this was something he had been planning for a long time. This adult and violent series will be a different and much-welcomed addition to Kishimoto’s portfolio which is mostly battle shonen series.
A point of concern for fans is whether he will handle the art himself as well as the writing, as he only handed the story for both Samurai 8 and Boruto. As Kishimoto said, his main priority at the moment is spending time with his family, a luxury he wasn’t afforded in the years he was making Naruto. After yesterday’s press conference where he was met with loud cheers and a standing ovation that almost led him to tears, finding motivation from fans will definitely not be hard for Masashi Kishimoto.
Source: @BorutoOricon, @AniNewsAndFacts.