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Farewell, Naruto: The Curtain Closes on the World’s Best-Loved Ninja

  • Uzumaki Naruto, at right, and Uchiha Sasuke begin the series as uneasy friends and rival students at the same ninja academy. In the end, though, Sasuke leaves for more sinister pursuits, leading to his final battle with Naruto. (Stills from The Last: Naruto the Movie. © Kishimoto Masashi, Scott/Shūeisha, TV Tokyo, Pierrot; courtesy 2014 Naruto the Movie Production Committee.)

    Uzumaki Naruto, at right, and Uchiha Sasuke begin the series as uneasy friends and rival students at the same ninja academy. In the end, though, Sasuke leaves for more sinister pursuits, leading to his final battle with Naruto. (Stills from The Last: Naruto the Movie. © Kishimoto Masashi, Scott/Shūeisha, TV Tokyo, Pierrot; courtesy 2014 Naruto the Movie Production Committee.)

  • Kishimoto at one of his two desks—this one where he does his pen coloring. Behind him is a bank of six desks where his assistants do their work.

    Kishimoto at one of his two desks—this one where he does his pen coloring. Behind him is a bank of six desks where his assistants do their work.

  • Kishimoto Masashi: Born in Okayama Prefecture in 1974. Won the Hop Step Award for his debut work, Karakuri, in 1995. The first single-issue Naruto work appeared in Akamaru Jump in 1997. Two years later, in 1999, the series Naruto began. It would run for 700 installments, finishing up in the late fall of 2014, just after his fortieth birthday.

    Kishimoto Masashi: Born in Okayama Prefecture in 1974. Won the Hop Step Award for his debut work, Karakuri, in 1995. The first single-issue Naruto work appeared in Akamaru Jump in 1997. Two years later, in 1999, the series Naruto began. It would run for 700 installments, finishing up in the late fall of 2014, just after his fortieth birthday.

  • Naruto, the “blond-haired, blue eyed ninja,” has won popularity and fame in the domestic market and around the globe. Kishimoto wrote a total of 700 episodes, filling 71 full-length print volumes that have sold more than 130 million copies in all in Japan as of November 2014. Including foreign sales, including 12 million volumes in North America and 17 million in France, Naruto broke the 200 million mark in September 2014. (Image from The Last: Naruto the Movie. © Kishimoto Masashi, Scott/Shūeisha, TV Tokyo, Pierrot; courtesy 2014 Naruto the Movie Production Committee.)

    Naruto, the “blond-haired, blue eyed ninja,” has won popularity and fame in the domestic market and around the globe. Kishimoto wrote a total of 700 episodes, filling 71 full-length print volumes that have sold more than 130 million copies in all in Japan as of November 2014. Including foreign sales, including 12 million volumes in North America and 17 million in France, Naruto broke the 200 million mark in September 2014. (Image from The Last: Naruto the Movie. © Kishimoto Masashi, Scott/Shūeisha, TV Tokyo, Pierrot; courtesy 2014 Naruto the Movie Production Committee.)

  • During his manga’s 15-year run Kishimoto became a father. In the comic’s final installment, Naruto, too, has two children of his own.

    During his manga’s 15-year run Kishimoto became a father. In the comic’s final installment, Naruto, too, has two children of his own.

  • The tenth film in the series portrays aspects of the Naruto world that never made it into the written series. Haruno Sakura, the object of Naruto’s unrequited affections (bottom left), and Hyūga Hinata (bottom center), who longs for Naruto in turn, play major roles, as does one new character: the foe Ōtsutsuki Toneri (bottom right), a central figure in the final film. (Images from The Last: Naruto the Movie. © Kishimoto Masashi, Scott/Shūeisha, TV Tokyo, Pierrot; courtesy 2014 Naruto the Movie Production Committee.)

    The tenth film in the series portrays aspects of the Naruto world that never made it into the written series. Haruno Sakura, the object of Naruto’s unrequited affections (bottom left), and Hyūga Hinata (bottom center), who longs for Naruto in turn, play major roles, as does one new character: the foe Ōtsutsuki Toneri (bottom right), a central figure in the final film. (Images from The Last: Naruto the Movie. © Kishimoto Masashi, Scott/Shūeisha, TV Tokyo, Pierrot; courtesy 2014 Naruto the Movie Production Committee.)

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