Naruto Should Be Netflix’s Next Live-Action Anime

Time flies in the ninja world when you’re having fun. It has been almost twenty-five years since Masashi Kishimoto introduced the young boy who would become Konoha’s Seventh Hokage and the Naruto franchise is still riding high to this day. While Naruto Uzumaki might no longer be leading the charge in the manga and its anime adaptation, handing the baton to his son, Boruto, that isn’t stopping the Hidden Leaf from finding exciting new ways to hit the mainstream. Thanks to the success of Netflix’s One Piece, now might be the time for the streaming service to take a good, hard look at creating a live-action take on the world of Naruto.

One of the big reasons why Naruto was able to become as popular as it was wasn’t just thanks to the fast-paced ninja battles that fuel its story, but the wide array of characters, good and evil, that populate the ninja world. Naruto Uzumaki might have been the title’s hero but his origin story saw most of the world seeing him as a villain. Harboring the nefarious Nine-Tailed Fox inside of himself, Naruto was a pariah in Konoha, though this fact didn’t stop him from earning friends, gaining trust, and creating a legacy that has made waves in the anime world and won’t soon be forgotten. Naruto might have seen some stumbles in the past but Boruto: Two Blue Vortex has been throwing some wild curveballs at readers and receiving wide acclaim in doing so. 

The Live-Action Naruto

If you’ve been following recent anime developments, you might be aware that Lionsgate is working with director Destin Daniel Cretton to create a live-action movie of Naruto. While few details have been revealed regarding the plot or casting of the upcoming live-action anime adaptation, Cretton has expressed his passion for taking on the challenge of bringing Konoha to life. On top of the announcement, the Shang-Chi director even received the approval of Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto to create this new take on the ninja world, alleviating many anime fans’ thoughts on the project. While Kishimoto might not take on an Executive Producer role as Eiichiro Oda has with One Piece, it goes a long way to show that Naruto’s “father” is on board. 

Bearing this mind, you may be wondering why a Netflix television series should be made in the face of a live-action movie. To start, Naruto is such a giant franchise that it almost seems like a disservice to keep it restrained to one feature-length film, minus the idea that sequels would be in development. The ninja world from Masashi Kishimoto introduced shonen fans to hundreds of characters over its decades-long history and there would be more than enough material to share between two live-action projects. In the case of One Piece, the Straw Hats’ story is spread out across multiple mediums and Naruto could once again follow suit in terms of its predecessor’s path.

A Naruto Television Show Vs. A Naruto Movie

While both live-action adaptations could approach the story of the Seventh Hokage and his offspring in two different ways, there is more than enough material for a potential live-action television show to add ancillary material to the upcoming Lionsgate film. Examining the first stories that began Naruto’s journey, there are only so many battles and character stories that could fit into a feature-length film. Background for characters such as Itachi Uchiha, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade, Rock Lee, Kakashi, and countless others could be relegated to a Netflix series while the film focused squarely on Naruto. 

One Piece’s live-action series has opened the door for live-action anime adaptations like the upcoming Naruto film. While there was never direct confirmation that the Naruto live-action movie was given the green light thanks to the Straw Hat Pirates’ success, the two appear to go hand-in-hand in terms of One Piece’s first season release being followed shortly by the Naruto announcement. These two major shonen franchises have decades of stories worth telling, whether they be via anime, manga, live-action, or otherwise. However Naruto did plan for a live-action future, the shonen series is certainly in good company at the moment. 

A Naruto Anime Remake

Much like One Piece, Naruto currently harbors hundreds of anime episodes to its name across three series, aka Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. Keeping this fact in mind, it might be difficult for some anime fans to dive into the Hidden Leaf Village considering the vast amount of storytelling that makes up the Seventh Hokage’s life. One Piece, Netflix, and Wit Studio deliberated this predicament and decided to update the shonen franchise with an upcoming anime reboot. Not only will The One Piece modernize the anime for a new generation, but it will also “trim the fat” when it comes to the filler material that was a part of One Piece, sticking more closely to its source material.

If there is one thing that Naruto became notorious for in the past, it’s the amount of filler that the Studio Pierrot production used in the past. Creating a remake that is more “lean and mean” than its predecessor won’t just give new fans the perfect jumping-on point but it could work in tandem with a live-action series to boot. Perhaps Pierrot could hand off the animating duties to Wit Studio as well, giving a new studio the opportunity to bring Masashi Kishimoto’s artwork to life.

Whether it be via a live-action series, a live-action movie, an anime adaptation, or the original manga, the ninja world has become a legend in the anime world and is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. Here’s to twenty-five years Naruto and hopefully, anime fans are in for twenty-five more.