Naruto Franchise Gets New Boruto Manga Supervised by Masashi Kishimoto

Naruto assistant artist Mikio Ikemoto will draw new series focused on Boruto

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The countdown website for the "Next Generation" of the Naruto franchise ended on Saturday to announce a new manga in the franchise. Mikio Ikemoto, who worked as an assistant under original manga creator Masashi Kishimoto on Naruto, is drawing the new manga. Kishimoto will supervise the manga, and Ukyō Kodachi (Naruto - Gaara Hiden: Sajingensō novel, Boruto -Naruto the Movie-screenplay cooperation) will write the manga's script. The new manga will focus on Boruto.

The new manga will be titled Boruto and it will run in Weekly Shonen Jump starting in spring 2016. The magazine will publish new chapters once a month.

Ikemoto wrote the two-chapter "COSMOS" short manga for Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997 and 1999.

Shueisha had launched the countdown site last month, and the countdown had featured the logo and the silhouettes of the characters from Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto manga — specifically, of the children of the main characters from the Naruto manga, who were featured in Boruto -Naruto the Movie- and in Kishimoto's Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring one-volume sequel manga.

Kishimoto ended his main Naruto manga after 15 years of serialization last November. He then wrote the Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring one-volume sequel manga, and also worked on the script and character designs and served as the chief production supervisor on the Boruto -Naruto the Movie- film sequel. A series of novels continued the story after the manga's end.

At a preview screening for Boruto -Naruto the Movie- in July, Boruto voice actress Yuko Sanpei said that she "wanted to see the films continue," and Kishimoto responded with a wry smile, "I can't. Please let me rest now." After finishing Naruto, Kishimoto said, "During this time, I finally went on my honeymoon. Even though my son has grown as big as[protagonist Naruto's son] Boruto." Kishimoto had gotten married over a decade ago.

Kishimoto attended this year's New York Comic Con event on October 8-11. He confirmed that he is working on plans for his next manga, a science-fiction story.

 The new Boruto manga will be published once a month in Weekly Shonen Jump. This article previously incorrectly stated that the manga would only run for one month.