The highly anticipated 20th-anniversary new episodes of Naruto have been unexpectedly delayed. The anime's official website announced the delay a few days before they were slated for release, in order to further improve the quality of the final product.
Originally scheduled to begin on September 3, the 20th Anniversary Naruto special was meant to air one new weekly episode for four weeks. However, the Naruto Production Committee has agreed to postpone it due to quality concerns. As of yet a new window for release has not been provided. In place of the much-anticipated new episodes of Naruto, a special selection of Boruto episodes will air instead.
Naruto's Delay Is A Letdown For Fans, But It Will Lead To A Better Product
On Twitter, Naruto fan and reliable source of news Abdul Zoldyck (@Abdul_S17) shared the translated statement made by Naruto's production team, alongside the special's poster. Though disappointing, particularly given how soon the special was slated to begin, a delay for quality improvement is much better than receiving a lackluster special. Naruto and his friends have been an important part of fans' lives for two decades. Having a lackluster special for this much-anticipated return of the original series would only be an even greater disappointment. By taking extra time, there's a better chance that the special will be able to deliver the respect and celebration that the series has earned.
The last sentence of the translated statement reads:
We will do our utmost to meet your expectations, so we would like to thank you for your understanding.
In place of the 20th anniversary special, Boruto Naruto Next Generations Masterpiece Selection will be airing. This essentially means that a selection of the best Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episodes will be in the original broadcast slot. While not what fans originally wanted to see, this will be better than rushing out a product just to meet the deadline. Given Naruto's adventures have already spanned twenty years, an extra few weeks or even months is a short time to wait to celebrate the franchise's accomplishments.
Naruto has achieved his dreams of becoming Hokage, has become a father, and created one of the strongest eras the Hidden Leaf village has seen with the help of his allies. The adventures of his son have been met with mixed reactions, but there has always been excitement for new stories and specials involving the titular shinobi. Considering that the whole idea behind this special is to present the stories told in the original show in an updated fashion, it would have been counterproductive to put out a product of underwhelming quality. When the twentieth anniversary special for Naruto does arrive following this delay, it might actually be everything fans have hoped for since the team is refusing to rush the final product towards a lackluster result.
Sources: Abdul Zoldyck/Twitter; Naruto Official website.
