Masashi Kishimoto is the writer and illustrator of the famous manga “Naruto“ which has stolen millions of hearts all over the world. The manga has sold over 250 million copies worldwide. His manga series started its serialization from 1994 to 2014. Akira Toriyama and Katsuhiro Otomo were two of Masashi Kishimoto’s key influences as a young manga reader who later expressed a desire to create his own works. As a result, Kishimoto worked tirelessly for several years to create his own shonen manga for Weekly Shonen Jump, a publication he loved.
Is Masashi Kishimoto writing Boruto?
Fans of the well-known anime and manga series Naruto are intrigued about Masashi Kishimoto’s role in the series’ follow-up, Boruto. But is he writing it?
The answer is both yes and no!
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is a spin on Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto and started serializing the anime in May 2016 in Shueisha’s Shonen manga magazine but was later moved to Shueisha’s monthly magazine, V Jump.
Shueisha proposed to Kishimoto to carry on with the writing of Boruto but he rejected the offer as he was very much worn out from Naruto and needed a much-needed hiatus. Instead, he recommended his assistant Mikio Ikemoto to illustrate the series and Ukyō Kodachi stepped in as the writer of the plot.
Kishimoto is very much involved in Boruto and is credited for its creation however, he is not named as the main author or illustrator of the series.
He, however, is involved in supervising the series and is involved in giving consultants time to time for the series to develop. He offers his input and guidance to the authors and illustrators to ensure that the narrative and the characters are consistent with the Naruto series. Along with supervising the development of fresh characters and plots, Kishimoto also voices his viewpoints to ensure the series remains relevant. Kishimoto also offers a plot framework for each arc, ensuring that they fit within the Naruto universe.
One of the Reddit users u/sonfoa had to say:
That tweet was also misconstrued. When Boruto was in development Kishimoto basically wrote a draft/outline that he left for his assistants that they could use when writing Boruto.
The tweet basically said that they were going to be using that draft going forward but people took that as Kishimoto returning.
Another user named u/Rozenmarine- said:
It was a different writer at first, but he started writing the series again at some point after the Kara arc
Apparently, in 2020, Ukyō Kodachi left the franchise of the Boruto team and Masashi Kishimoto had to step in again. Kishimoto has endorsed and been enthusiastic about Boruto in interviews, saying he is pleased to see the show’s newest cast of characters and plotlines come to life. Although nothing has been confirmed, he further hinted that he might visit the Naruto universe again in the future.
Although he may not directly engage in the writing of Boruto, he is a major part of the team of creators of Boruto and under his guidance, the plot of Boruto is set to develop further.
