Here Is Why the Art Style Changed in ‘Boruto’!
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is a manga series written by Ukyō Kodachi, illustrated by Mikio Ikemoto, and supervised by Masashi Kishimoto. It consists of the spin-off and sequel to Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto manga. Its story narrates the adventures and training of Boruto Uzumaki, the son of Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyūga, and his companions, who make up the new generation of ninjas of the Hidden Leaf Village whose seventh Hokage is Naruto. The series has its anime adaptation, which is directed by Hiroyuki Yamashita and produced by the Pierrot studio. Its broadcast began on April 5, 2017, on TV Tokyo. Naruto fans will have noticed that the animation style changed in Boruto, and in this article, we are going to discuss that fact.
Why did the art style change in Boruto?
The Shueisha publishing house pleaded with Masashi Kishimoto to begin a sequel when the Naruto manga ended in 2014. Kishimoto rejected the notion and suggested that Mikio Ikemoto, an artist who had been Kishimoto’s assistant from the first chapters of Naruto, draw the character in its place. The new manga was advertised on the “Next Generation” countdown website. The serialization of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations was revealed in December 2015.
According to Kishimoto, he wished Boruto to be better than his own creations. Ukyō Kodachi, a Boruto author, co-wrote the story for the movie Boruto: Naruto the Movie with Kishimoto and wrote the light novel Gaara Hiden (2015) for the series and was asked to join the production. Kodachi was tasked with overseeing the anime’s plot in addition to writing the story of Boruto. For episodes 8 and 9, Kishimoto additionally served as an anime supervisor.
Kodachi noted that his father, a doctor, had an influence on the setting of the series, which stands out for having a lot more science than the original Naruto series. Kodachi drew inspiration from science fiction role-playing games to integrate different fighting styles and techniques. Despite reviewing the manga’s scenario, Kishimoto recommended Ikemoto to develop his own visual language rather than copying it. Ikemoto concurred and expressed confidence in his visual language.
Ikemoto pledged to publish the manga and mentioned that longtime Naruto fans would be disappointed that Kishimoto would no longer be illustrating the character. Ikemoto stated that while it is an honor to work on the artwork for Boruto, he is relieved that the series is serialized monthly instead of weekly because it would be challenging to produce the nearly 20 pages per chapter needed.
Most Boruto chapters include over 40 pages, and it takes a week to create the thumbnail sketches, 20 days to create the pages, and then another week to color the images and edit the chapters. When designing the characters, Ikemoto took into account the fact that Boruto’s facial expressions changed as the story progressed.
He initially gave Boruto large eyes for his interactions with Tento, but when the character spoke to Kawaki instead, Boruto’s expression changed to rebellious. Kishimoto produced a number of characters for the producers to employ, despite the fact that he wasn’t the series’ initial writer. Although Kishimoto did not say whether Naruto or any other relevant character would die in the series, he did say that he would find such a scenario to be intriguing.
He also noted that the authors are allowed to create the story any way they see fit. After 13 volumes and 51 chapters, it was announced in November 2020 that Kodachi would cease writing the story for Boruto. Kishimoto would then take over all writing responsibilities. At the same time, Ikemoto would continue as the series’ main artist beginning with chapter 52 of the upcoming January 2020 issue of V Jump magazine, which was released on November 21, 2020.
In December 2016, the anime adaptation was announced during Jump Festa, with the premiere announced for April 5, 2017, on TV Tokyo. In January 2017, it was announced that although it was an adaptation, the anime would contain numerous original stories. In February 2017, new main characters and returning old protagonists were announced along with the original voice cast.
As you can see, there are a lot of factors that actually contributed to the differences between Naruto and Boruto. Regarding the manga, the fact that Kishimoto did not draw the series, but rather his assistant, Mikio Ikemoto, resulted in the differences; Kishimoto encouraged Ikemoto to use his own style, and this was reflected in the changes in the story. Sure, these changes are not that major, but long-time Naruto fans definitely noted the differences in style.
As for the anime, we didn’t really think that the art style changed so much. Studio Pierrot animated both Naruto and Boruto, and while some of the manga’s changes were reflected in the anime as well, the overall style is not that different. Sure, the animation quality is better overall, but the difference in style is probably the result of technological advances rather than anything else. It is probably because of the updated technologies and animation techniques that the fans noticed a difference, but the anime is more or less similar to the original version.