Get to Know Masashi Kishimoto, the Man Behind Naruto

Get to Know Masashi Kishimoto, the Man Behind Naruto

For those of you who love Naruto, you must be familiar with the name Masashi Kishimoto, right?

Most people around the world are familiar with him because he is one of the best and most influential mangaka in the world.

He is the mastermind behind the success of Naruto, which is now popular throughout the world and has influenced popular culture to this day.

For those of you who are curious about Masashi Kishimoto, you can read this article until the end, OK!

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A Brief Profile of Masashi Kishimoto

Masashi Kishimoto is a Japanese Manga artist (Mangaka) who was born in Nagi, Okayama, Japan on November 8, 1974.

He was born an identical twin with Seishi Kishimoto. However, Masashi Kishimoto was born first, making him Seishi Kishimoto's older brother.

In the past, his grandfather often told him war stories, so this is what formed his interest in drawing characters from anime that he watched like Arale, Dr. Slump and Doraemon.

When he started to get bored with Doraemon, he switched to watching the anime Mobile Suit Gundam and started drawing Gundam.

When he was in elementary school, Masashi Kishimoto watched the anime Kinnikuman and Dragon Ball with Seishi Kishimoto.

Since then, he began to idolize the Creator of Dragon Ball, namely Akira Toriyama and enjoyed all his works such as the Dragon Ball series, Dr. Slump and Dragon Quest as well. RPG games created by Akira Toriyama.

Even though he couldn't afford Weekly Shōnen Jump as the magazine Dragon Ball was published in, he still followed all the series thanks to his school friends who subscribed to the magazine.

During junior high school, he began to lose interest in manga and turned to baseball and basketball. However, after seeing a poster for the anime film Akira, he became fascinated by the illustrations and wanted to emulate the style of the mangaka, Katsuhiro Otomo.

Besides that, he also likes other series such as Jin-Roh: The World Brigade, Ninku and Ghost in the Shell.

He is also a very perfectionist figure, where he corrects the details of his friends' drawings and is also an illustrator mentor for his friends.

During his school days, he spent his time drawing, especially while listening to class. He also drew while playing hide-and-seek, waiting to be found by his friends.

In 11th grade, he created a 31-page one-shot manga. When he showed it to his younger brother, Seishi Kishimoto, he deemed it "ugly.".

Because he was dissatisfied with his younger brother's assessment, he showed the manga to his father, even though his answer was also less than satisfactory.

But he didn't give up, he submitted his manga for the Jump Magazine Award.

This failure fueled his enthusiasm to continue making comics even though he failed many times.

By the time he graduated from high school, he was ranked 38th out of 39 students in his class. This made him increasingly anxious about his future.

But he was determined that 'everything would work out'. With this determination, he continued to draw and submit his comics to Jump Magazine.

After graduating from high school, he began to focus on drawing manga and entered Kyushu Sangyo University majoring in Art with the hope of becoming a professional mangaka.

After entering college, he tried to create the Chanbara manga while reading Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal and Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin.

In his second year of college, he began drawing manga for a magazine competition. However, he realized that his work resembled seinen manga, which is aimed at adult readers, rather than shōnen manga, which is aimed at children/teens.

When he watched the anime Hashire Melos!, he was amazed by the character designs used by the animator and started researching the works of various animators.

Then he met Tetsuya Nishio, the creator of the anime adaptation of the Ninku manga which was quite influential in Japan.

After imitating the style used by several other creators in several anime, he realized that his style was suitable for Shōnen series.

He also created a manga entitled 'Karakuri' which managed to attract the attention of publisher Shueisha and was finally published in 1996 and received the Hop Step Awards for the category of "Promising New Manga Artist".

Career Journey

Masashi Kishimoto's first successful manga was Karakuri, published by Shueisha in 1995. This earned him the 1996 Shueisha "Hop Step Award" for "Promising New Manga Artist".

From here, he became an Editor and completed all the rejected drafts including the Slice of Life manga 'Michikusa' and the action manga 'Asian Punk'.

Then in 1997, he wrote a one-shot version Naruto published in Akamaru Jump Summer.

In December 1997, while developing Karakuri for serialization, he was offered a one-shot in Weekly Shōnen Jump. Karakuri debuted in Weekly Shōnen Jump 1998 No. 4-5 but ran into deadline issues and received poor reviews.

After the failure of Karakuri, he switched to developing the Baseball-themed Seinen manga 'Yakyūō' and the Mafia manga 'Mario' in the hope of making better profits than before in the Seinen magazine.

Then, he also worked on the storyboard for the fantasy one-shot 'Magic Mushroom' and it was eventually serialized.

After that, he started developing the Naruto draft for about 6 months and made storyboards for the first 3 chapters so that it could be published in Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine.

In September 1999, Naruto was first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump 1999 No. 43 and was an instant hit among the magazine's readers.

The series ended on November 10, 2014 after 15 years of publication with a total of 700 chapters collected in 72 volumes.

Sales reached more than 113 million copies in Japan, more than 95 million copies in the United States and 93 million copies worldwide up to volume 36 and total sales of this series are around 301 million copies.

He also received the “Rookie of the Year” award for the Agency for Cultural Affairs.

This manga was eventually adapted into two anime series, namely 'Naruto' and 'Naruto Shippuden'.

The Naruto manga series is one of Viz Media's flagship series and its seventh volume won the Quill Award and “Best Graphic Novels” in 2006.

In 2014, he served as a producer on the film 'The Last: Naruto the Movie', the finale of the Naruto series. Naruto ended on November 10, 2014, and 'The Last: Naruto the Movie' premiered on December 6, 2014.

Naruto is a unique story that is able to capture the hearts of fans, with interesting character writing that can amaze its fans.

Naruto's journey is filled with courage, perseverance, dreams and ideals that are very inspiring to everyone.

Until finally, Naruto became a hype throughout the world because it was able to captivate the hearts of fans with this series.

At its peak, the series was one of the most popular series in the world currently published and was a remarkable achievement for Masashi Kishimoto.

On December 19, 2015, he announced he would be a producer on the monthly manga series 'Boruto: Naruto Next Generations'. In the June 10, 2019 issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump, it was announced that 'Boruto: Naruto Next Generations' would be published in V Jump starting June 20, 2019.

In November 2020, starting from CHAPTER 52 he became the author of the manga 'Borutu: Naruto Next Generations' which will be published on November 21, 2020.

Short Biodata

After knowing his biography, below is the biodata of Masashi Kishimoto, namely as follows:

• Full name: Masashi Kishimoto
• Place and date of birth: Okayama – Japan, November 8, 1974
• Age: 52 Years (2026)
• Education: Kyushu Sangyo University
• Profession: Manga Artist (Mangaka)
• Active Years: 1997 – present
• Tall: 170 cm
• Heavy: 57 kg
• Younger sibling: Seishi Kishimoto
• Work:
  • Manga:
    • [One-shot] Karakuri (1995)
    • Akamaru (1997)
    • [One-shot] Naruto (1997)
    • Karakuri (1997 – 1998)
    • Naruto (1999)
    • [One-shot] Bench (2010)
    • Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie (2012)
    • Mario (2013)
    • Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring (2015)
    • [One-shot] Boruto: Road to B (2015)
    • Boruto: Naruto the Movie Tokubetsu Bangai-hen – Naruto ga Hokage ni Natta Hi (2015)
    • Naruto Gaiden: Nanadaime Hokage to Akairo no Hanatsuzuki (2015)
    • Naruto: Fuu no Sho – Sugao no Shinjitsu…!! (2015)
    • Naruto: Rai no Sho – Ai wo Utareta Kemono!! (2015)
    • Naruto: The Path Lit by the Full Moon (2016)
    • Naruto Gaiden: Michita Tsuki ga Terasu Michi (2016)
    • Boruto: Naruto Next Generations (2016 – 2019)
    • Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru (2019 – 2020)
    • [One-shot] Naruto: The Whorl Within the Spiral (2023)
    • Boruto: Two Blue Vortex (2023)
    • Naruto Gaiden: Uzu no Naka no Tsumujikaze (2023)
  • Motion Comic:
    • Motion Comic: Naruto (2012)
  • Anime (TV Series, Movies, OVAs & Specials):
    • Naruto (2002)
    • Naruto: Akaki Yotsuba no Clover wo Sagase (2003)
    • Naruto: Takigakure no Shitou – Ore ga Eiyuu Dattebayo! (2003)
    • Naruto Movie 1: Dai Katsugeki!! Yuki Hime Ninpouchou Dattebayo! (2004)
    • Naruto: Konoha no Sato no Dai Undoukai (2004)
    • Naruto Movie 2: Dai Gekitotsu! Maboroshi no Chiteiiseki Dattebayo! (2005)
    • Naruto Narutimate Hero 3: Tsuini Gekitotsu! Jounins vs. Genins!! (2005)
    • Naruto Movie 3: Dai Koufun! Mikazuki-jima no Animal Panic Dattebayo! (2006)
    • Naruto: Shippuuden (2007)
    • Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 1 (2007)
    • Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 2 – Kizuna (2008)
    • Naruto: Shippuuden – Shippuu! “Konoha Gakuen” Den (2008)
    • Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 3 – Hi no Ishi wo Tsugu Mono (2009)
    • Naruto: The Cross Roads (2009)
    • Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 4 – The Lost Tower (2010)
    • Naruto Soyokazeden Movie: Naruto to Mashin to Mitsu no Onegai Dattebayo!! (2010)
    • Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 5 – Blood Prison (2011)
    • Naruto: Honoo no Chuunin Shiken! Naruto vs. Konohamaru!! (2011)
    • Naruto x UT (2011)
    • Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 6 – Road to Ninja (2012)
    • Naruto: Shippuuden – Sunny Side Battle (2013)
    • The Last: Naruto the Movie (2014)
    • Boruto: Naruto the Movie (2015)
    • Boruto: Naruto the Movie – Naruto ga Hokage ni Natta Hi (2016)
    • Boruto: Jump Festa 2016 Special (2016)
    • Boruto: Naruto Next Generations (2017)
    • Kamiusagi Rope x Boruto: Naruto Next Generations (2017)
    • Road of Naruto (2022)
    • Naruto (Shinsaku Anime) (TBA)
    • Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Part 2 (TBA)
  • Video Games:
    • Tekken 6 (2009)
    • Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution (2014)
  • Artbooks:
    • The Art of Naruto: Uzumaki (2004)
    • Paint Jump: Arto of Naruto (2008)
    • Naruto Illustration Book (2010)
    • Uzumaki Naruto: Illustrations (2015)
  • Guide (Guidebook):
    • Naruto Secret Manual, Book of Meetings: Official Character Data Book (2002)
    • Naruto Secret Manual, Book of Soldier: The Official Fanbook (2002)
    • Naruto Secret Manual, Book of Conflict: Official Character Data Book (2005)
    • Naruto Secret Manual, Book of People: Official Character Data Book (2008)
    • Naruto Secret Manual, Book of Everyone: The Official Fanbook (2009)
    • Naruto Secret Manual, Book of War: Official Character Data Book (2014)
    • Naruto Secret Manual, Book of Formation: Official Movie Guidebook (2014)
    • Naruto Secret Manual, Book of Nations: Official Movie Book (2015)
    • Naruto Kizuna: The Words That Bind – Heaven Scroll (2013)
    • Naruto Kizuna: The Words That Bind – Earth Scroll (2013)
  • Novels:
    • Naruto: Shiro no Douji, Keppu no Kijin (2002)
    • Naruto: Takigakure no Shitou Ore ga Hero dattebayo! (2003)
    • Naruto: Dai Katsugeki! Yuki Hime Ninpouchou Datteba yo!! (2004)
    • Gekijouban Naruto: Dai Gekitotsu! Maboroshi no Chitei Iseki Datteba yo (2005)
    • Gekijouban Naruto: Dai Koufun! Mikazuki-jima no Animal Panic Datteba yo (2006)
    • Gekijouban Naruto: Shippuuden (2007)
    • Naruto: Hozuki Castle
    • Gekijouban Naruto: Shippuuden – Kizuna (2008)
    • Gekijouban Naruto: Shippuuden – Hi no Ishi wo Tsugu Mono (2009)
    • Naruto Ninja Series (2010)
    • Naruto: Tales of a Gutsy Ninja (2010)
    • Gekijouban Naruto: Shippuuden – The Lost Tower (2010)
    • Naruto: Blood Prison (2011)
    • Naruto Jinraiden: The Day the Wolf Howled (2012)
    • Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie (2012)
    • The Last: Naruto the Movie
    • Boruto: Naruto the Movie
    • The Last: Naruto the Movie (2014)
    • Naruto Shinden Series (2015)
    • Naruto Hidden Series (2015)
    • Boruto: Naruto the Movie (2015)
    • Naruto: Tales of a Pure Ninja (2015)
    • Naruto: Kakashi's Story – Lightning in the Frozen Sky (2015)
    • Naruto: Shikamaru's Story – A Cloud Drifting in the Silent Dark (2015)
    • Naruto: Sakura's Story – Love Riding the Spring Breeze (2015)
    • Naruto: Konoha's Story – The Perfect Day for a Wedding (2015)
    • Naruto: Gaara's Story – Sandstorm Mirage (2015)
    • Naruto: Akatsuki's Story – Evil Flowers in Bloom (2015)
    • Naruto: Itachi's Story – Daylight (2015)
    • Naruto: Itachi's Story – Midnight (2015)
    • Naruto: Sasuke's Story – Sunrise (2015)
    • Naruto: Konoha's Story – The Steam Ninja Scrolls (2016)
    • Naruto: Naruto's Story – Family Day (2016)
    • Naruto: Sasuke's Story – Star Pupil (2016)
    • Naruto: Shikamaru's Story – Mourning Clouds (2016)
    • Naruto: Kakashi's Story – The Sixth Hokage and the Failed Prince (2019)
    • Naruto: Sasuke's Story – The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust (2019)
    • Naruto: Naruto's Story – Uzumaki Naruto and the Spiral Destiny (2019)
  • Other:
    • Strings on Fire by Chisako Takashima (2016)
    • Learning Japanese History Through Manga, Volume 1 (2016)
    • Learning Japanese History Through Manga, Volume 5 (2016)
• Achievements and Awards:
  • Quill Award (2006): Winner of the “Best Graphic Novel” Category for Naruto Vol 7
  • Diamond Comic Distributors (2007): “Best Selling Manga” Winner”
  • Teacher Librarian's (2008): Enter the list of recommended books in the "Fiction" category.“
  • Nickelodeon Magazine Comic Award (2009): Nominations for the “Favorite Manga Series” category”
  • Los Angeles Times (2010): Position #3 in the “Top 10 Anime” list”
  • Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (2015): Nominations for the annual awards held by the Asahi Shimbun media
  • TV Asahi (2005): Position #17 based on International Survey
  • USA Today Booklist (2008): Naruto Vol. 28 ranked #17 in its first week of release
  • IGN: Ranked #38 in the “100 Best Animated Series” category”
  • Guinness World Record's Gamer Edition (2011): Naruto character ranked #29 in the category “Best Video Game Characters of All Time”
  • Japanese Cultural Festival (2014): Winning the “Rookie of the Year” award (Newcomer/Arts Award)
• Social media:
  • Instagram: @masasikishi
  • X (Twitter): @TheKishimoto

Interesting Facts

Below are some interesting facts about Masashi Kishimoto, including the following:

Best Mangaka in Japan

Masashi Kishimoto is one of Japan's best manga artists. This is due to his talent for drawing, which was evident in elementary school.

He was inspired by Akira Toriyama (Dragon Ball mangaka) and Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira.

When he was still in school, all his diaries were full of sketches, even when playing hide and seek he still had time to draw.

Idolizing Akira Toriyama

Since childhood, he has been interested in the art of drawing and this started from the manga he read and the anime he watched.

One of the works that most inspired him was Akira Toriyama's 'Dragon Ball.' Akira Toriyama is one of his idols and has been his biggest inspiration throughout his career as a manga artist.

Often Failed

He published several one-shot manga that were ignored by publishers. However, due to his dedication, he continued practicing and improving his skills until finally, in 1999, Naruto was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump.

His First Manga

Before Naruto, Hiataru-kun was the first manga that told the story of teenage ninjas.

While in college, he published the manga 'Karakuri' which caught the attention of publisher Shueisha in 1996 and won the Hop Step Awards, a prestigious award in Shōnen Jump Magazine for ‘Promising New Manga Artists’.

Samurai 8 is His Biggest Failure

Masashi Kishimoto once developed 'Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru' which tells the story of a boy named 'Hachimaru'.

However, 'Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru' was less popular among fans until finally signs of failure appeared.

‘'Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru' didn't last long and was eventually removed from Weekly Shōnen Jump.

This manga was Masashi Kishimoto's biggest failure, since then he has been traumatized to try drawing new manga.

Naruto's Success

Naruto tells the story of the journey of a young ninja, Naruto Uzumaki, who dreams of becoming Hokage, the leader of his village.

With its charming characters, exciting storyline and epic battles, Naruto has captured the attention of everyone around the world.

When Naruto was first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump, the series was an instant hit among readers.

After 15 years of publication, Naruto has 700 chapters collected in 72 volumes.

Sales reached more than 113 million copies in Japan, more than 95 million copies in the United States and 93 million copies worldwide up to volume 36 and total sales of this series are around 301 million copies.

Naruto's success made him one of the most popular and influential mangaka in the world.

Bringing Japanese Culture to Naruto

The concept of Ninjutsu in Naruto is inspired by traditional Ninja art in Japan as well as the use of Japanese symbols in the Naruto story.

He succeeded in presenting an entertaining story while introducing aspects of Japanese culture to the world through Naruto.

Continued Active in the Manga and Anime Industry

After the Naruto project concluded, he remained active in the manga and anime industry. He served as a producer for the 'Boruto: Naruto Next Generations' series, a sequel to Naruto.

In addition, he started another manga project 'Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru' in 2019.

Love Eating Ramen

Naruto's favorite ramen shop that appears in the comic actually exists in the real world, where the ramen shop is Masashi Kishimoto's favorite ramen shop when he was still a student at Kyushu Sangyo University.

Eiichiro Oda's Rival

Naruto has been hyped among readers to the point of becoming the best-selling and most successful comic in Japan.

Naruto's popularity has become a rival to Eiichiro Oda's One Piece manga and is even considered its biggest rival.

However, Masashi Kishimoto felt honored because his work was recognized by the mangaka he idolized.

Didn't Have Time for Honeymoon Because of Naruto

Masashi Kishimoto married in 2003, but they didn't have a honeymoon until 2015 due to their busy work on Naruto. Despite this, their relationship has been long-lasting and they have a son.

Uniquely, this couple gave the iconic scarf from the movie 'The Last: Naruto The Movie' which was taken from his personal experience.

His Twin Brother is a Mangaka

Seishi Kishimoto is Masashi Kishimoto's twin brother, who is also a comic artist.

They both have been very interested in the world of anime since childhood and often watch it together.

Uniquely, they both have similar stories and drawing styles. Initially, people thought one was plagiarizing the other's work, but this was due to their frequent watching, drawing, and sharing ideas since childhood.

Masashi Kishimoto left a huge influence on the world of manga and anime, his work, especially Naruto, will always be remembered and provide inspiration for future manga readers.

Also read:

• 7 Strongest Characters in Naruto Shippuden
• List of the Most Exciting Filler Episodes in the Naruto Anime
• Don't Get It Wrong, This is the Right Order to Watch Naruto

So, that's some information about Masashi Kishimoto, the Naruto manga creator. So, what do you think?

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