Summary
- Ikemoto was Kishimoto's assistant and helped with Naruto. He was chosen as the successor due to his familiarity and art style.
- Kishimoto is not directly involved in Boruto but supervises the story. He reads scripts and provides feedback to Ikemoto.
- Ukyo Kodachi was the initial scriptwriter for Boruto, contributing to a good portion of the series before being replaced by Mikio Ikemoto.
When Naruto ended, many fans were satisfied with how the story concluded. Even those who thought the story could have ended differently mostly agreed that it was enough, and that the series should not have a sequel. The movie Boruto: Naruto the Movie, released a few months after the manga ended, felt like a fitting conclusion to the story.
Fans were not exactly surprised when Boruto was announced as a manga series, but many thought it was an attempt to "milk" the franchise. However, although Boruto is a canon sequel, it is not written by creator Masashi Kishimoto. Instead, it is written by Ukyo Kodachi (Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, chapters 1–51) and Mikio Ikemoto. Ikemoto is now considered something of a successor to Kishimoto by fans. But why did Kishimoto choose him?
Boruto: Is Boruto’s Power Level Growing Faster Than We Think?
With new power-ups and techniques at his disposal, Boruto’s power level is growing faster and stronger than almost anyone else’s.
Was Mikio Ikemoto Involved in Naruto?
Ikemoto was one of Kishimoto's assistants during the serialization of Naruto, and he was there from the beginning. In one of the early volumes, Kishimoto said that Ikemoto mostly drew crowds and background figures and was responsible for adding white and halftones to elements in the drawings, such as eyes, stars, and speed lines. Kishimoto later added that Ikemoto helped create the designs of many Naruto characters — with such a long serialization, it's reasonable to expect that assistants will expand their roles and work more closely with the creator.
Since Ikemoto was primarily responsible for drawing Kodachi's scripts for a good portion of Boruto: NNG, Kishimoto likely considered him familiar with the Naruto universe and characters, as well as someone whose art style would not drive fans away. Since Boruto is the official sequel, fans would probably be surprised if the art style differed too much from that of the original manga.
Why Was He Chosen As "Kishimoto's Successor"?
Naruto ended in 2014 and Kishimoto himself apparently thought the ending provided proper closure, as did many fans. However, Shueisha wanted a sequel. Kishimoto probably wanted to rest a bit and move on to other projects; for instance, he started writing Samurai 8 a few years later. Thus, he rejected the proposal, but also asked Ikemoto if he wanted to do it.
Although Kishimoto doesn't write or draw Boruto, he previously stated that he wanted it to surpass Naruto. There are rumors that, during the serialization of Naruto, Ikemoto wanted to leave and work on another series, but Kishimoto asked him to stay. In this context, offering Ikemoto the opportunity to write a full Naruto series on his ow n can also be seen as a way for Kishimoto to express his gratitude for Ikemoto's help after all these years.
Is Kishimoto Involved In Boruto?
Apparently, Kishimoto is not completely uninvolved in Boruto, since he supervises the story. However, the dynamic seems different from that between, for example, Toriyama and Toyotaro in Dragon Ball Super,; Toriyama reviewed Toyotaro's drafts, changing anything that wasn't in line with the story.
Small changes have often been made right from the beginning. But little by little, the story develops in a direction that's different from Kishimoto-sensei's outline. Various factors can explain this. But the biggest reason is that I needed to create for myself a new outcome for the shonen part and a concept for the seinen part.
— Mikio Ikemoto
Kishimoto probably reads either Ikemoto's scripts or plot lines and offers feedback. He also provides outlines for Ikemoto to use in writing the story. However, Boruto seems to be more of an Ikemoto creation, though Kishimoto still needs to give his approval. This kind of "distant involvement" is actually quite common when a creator lets another author write a spin-off story.
Ukyo Kodachi's Role in Boruto
Ukyo Kodachi was the first scriptwriter for Boruto, and he wrote a good portion of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. He also supervised the anime's story, so he may have even been involved in writing the filler episodes. He had a previous involvement with Naruto, though perhaps not as extensive as Ikemoto's, as he wrote the Gaara Hiden novel. Furthermore, Kodachi also helped Kishimoto write the screenplay for Boruto: Naruto the Movie and wrote a novel adaptation of the movie.
So Kodachi was chosen because he was familiar with Kishimotos vision for Boruto and because he had writing experience. Kodachi left Boruto: NNG after Chapter 51. At the time, he said on social media that this wasn't a sudden decision, it was arranged since the beginning. Ikemoto then took over as writer and illustrator, and he currently writes Boruto: Two Blue Vortex alone.
Boruto: Two Blue Vortex is available to read on MANGA Plus.
- Release Date
- 2017 - 2023-00-00
- Network
- TV Tokyo
- Directors
- Yusuke Onoda, Tazumi Mukaiyama, Michita Shiraishi, Youichirou Aoki, Shigetaka Ikeda, Taiki Nishimura, Rokou Ogiwara, Mitsuo Hashimoto, Hikaru Sato, Akira Shimizu, Norihiko Nagahama, Takashi Asami, Hodaka Kuramoto, Kiyomu Fukuda, Yoji Sato, Masatoyo Takada, Hazuki Mizumoto, Natsumi Yasue, Hideaki Ōba, Masaaki Kumagai, Mihiro Yamaguchi, Shigenori Kageyama, Nanako Shimazaki
- Writers
- Masaya Honda, Atsushi Nishiyama, Hideto Tanaka, Touko Machida, Kyōko Katsuya, Kiyomune Miwa, Ukyo Kodachi, Masahiro Okubo
- Franchise(s)
- Naruto
Cast
-
Yuko SanpeiUzumaki Boruto (voice) -
Cocoro KikuchiUchiha Sarada (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
- Studio
- Pierrot
- Producers
- Koichi Machiyama
- Based On
- Manga
- Number of Episodes
- 293
- Streaming Service(s)
- Crunchyroll
- Creator(s)
- Masashi Kishimoto
