TV Tokyo’s wildly popular Naruto anime has been losing viewers steadily over the past two seasons. The culprit: filler episodes and their long, drawn-out non sequiturs. The idea behind this tactic was to allow the Naruto manga to get ahead of the anime – leaving Kishimoto enough time to decide how the story ends. But the end result was a series of story arcs that went nowhere and a lot of disappointed fans on both sides of the Pacific.
In response to the lower ratings and fan whining, the producers of the anime ended the filler episodes, and ended Naruto. In its place, as of February 15, 2007, is Naruto Shippuden (lit. Naruto Hurricane Chronicles). Much like Dragonball Z and Sailor Moon Supers, a new name means a new series with older characters in Japan. To the U.S. fan base, it means more of the good old days where the anime follows the plot of the manga. Either way, Shippuden has debuted to the best ratings in months on Tokyo TV; and with Cartoon Network already caught up to the end of the filler episodes, it’s safe to say that the Hurricane will come to the U.S. sometime soon.
Naruto Shippuden picks up where “part one” of Kishimoto’s manga left off: Sasuke has joined Ochomaru, and the remnants of Team 7 are rallying their strength to take him back before the end of the three year deadline. The mysterious organization known as Atsuki (Red Moon) is still causing problems for our heroes, and Uzumaki Naruto will have to use his newfound techniques and skills to stay alive on his quest to be the next Hokage.
Merchandise for the series has already been announced: a video game for the PS2 and the Wii, new collectable cards and figurines, and even a new Sakura cosplay outfit is on the market. Keep your eyes glued to gaming sites; they might tip off a U.S. version of Shippuden before Viz Media breaks the news.