Masashi Kishimoto

Masashi Kishimoto
岸本 斉史
Born (1974-11-08) November 8, 1974
Nagi, Okayama, Japan
Residence Okayama, Japan
Occupation Manga artist
Known for Naruto
Relatives Seishi Kishimoto (twin brother)

Masashi Kishimoto (岸本 斉史, Kishimoto Masashi, born November 8, 1974[1]) is a Japanese manga artist, well known for creating the manga series Naruto which was in serialization from 1999 to 2014. As of October 2015, Naruto manga has sold over 220 million copies worldwide.[2] The series has been adapted into two anime, and multiple films, video games and multiple related media. Besides the Naruto manga, Kishimoto also personally supervised the two canonical anime films, The Last: Naruto the Movie and Boruto: Naruto the Movie, and has written several one-shot stories.

A reader of manga ever since a young age, Kishimoto showed a desire to write his own manga, citing authors Akira Toriyama and Katsuhiro Otomo as his main inspirations. As a result, Kishimoto spent several years working to write his own shōnen manga for Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine which he was a fan of.[3]

Early life

Masashi Kishimoto was born in the Okayama Prefecture, Japan on November 8, 1974 as the older identical twin of Seishi Kishimoto.[1] During his childhood, Kishimoto showed interest in drawing characters from the anime shows he watched, such as Dr. Slump's Arale and Doraemon's titular protagonist.[4][5] In elementary school, Kishimoto started watching the Kinnikuman and Dragon Ball anime alongside his brother.[6] During the following years, Kishimoto started idolizing Dragon Ball's original creator Akira Toriyama, enjoying not only his series Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, but also Dragon Quest, a series of role-playing video games for which Toriyama is the art designer. While he could not afford to buy Weekly Shōnen Jump where the Dragon Ball manga was published, he followed the series thanks to a friend from school who had subscribed to the magazine.[7][8] By high school Kishimoto started losing interest in manga as he started playing baseball and basketball, sports he practiced at his school. However, upon seeing a poster for the animated film Akira, Kishimoto became fascinated with the way the illustration was made and wished to imitate the series' creator Katsuhiro Otomo's style.[9] Other series he enjoyed reading are Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, Ninku and Ghost in the Shell.[10]

During his last years of school, Kishimoto spent time drawing manga and went to an art college with hopes that he would become a manga artist.[11] Upon entering college, Kishimoto decided he should try creating a Chanbara manga since Weekly Shōnen Jump had not published a title from that genre. However, during the same years, Kishimoto started reading Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal and Nobuhiro Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin (the latter of which was published in Weekly Shonen Jump), which used the said genre. Kishimoto recalls having never been surprised by manga ever since reading Akira and found that he still was not able to compete against them.[12] In his second year of college, Kishimoto started drawing manga for magazine contests. However, he noted that his works were similar to seinen manga, aimed towards an adult demographic, rather than the shōnen manga read by children and teenagers.[13] Wishing to write a manga for Shōnen Jump that targets a young demographic, Kishimoto found his style unsuitable for the magazine.[14] When watching the anime series Hashire Melos!, Kishimoto was surprised by the character designs employed by the animators and he started researching works from animators. He later met Tetsuya Nishio, designer from the anime adaptation of the manga Ninku who he deemed a big influence.[15] Now emulating the way of drawing from multiple character designers from anime series, Kishimoto noted that his style started resembling shōnen series.[16]

Works

Kishimoto's first successful manga pilot was Karakuri (カラクリ, lit. "Mechanism"), which he submitted to Shueisha in 1995. This earned him an honorable mention in Shueisha's monthly "Hop Step Award" in 1996, granted to promising rookie manga artists.[17] At this point he was assigned an editor, Kosuke Yahagi, and worked on a number of rejected drafts including a slice-of-life manga, Michikusa (道くさ, lit. "Wandering Detour"), and an action manga, Asian Punk (アジアンパンク, Ajian Panku). In 1997, he wrote a one-shot version of Naruto (NARUTO－ナルト－) which was published in Akamaru Jump Summer.[10]

In December 1997, while redeveloping Karakuri for serialization, Kishimoto was offered a one-shot in Weekly Shōnen Jump. Hampered by the sudden deadline, a reworked Karakuri debuted two weeks later in Weekly Shōnen Jump 1998 No. 4-5, but performed poorly in reader surveys and was immediately cancelled. Following the failure of Karakuri, Kishimoto reduced his output and began moving in a seinen direction with drafts for a baseball manga, Yakyūō (野球王, lit. "Baseball King"), and a mafia manga, Mario (マリオ), hoping to find better luck with a seinen magazine. Yahagi persuaded him to give the shōnen genre one last shot and Kishimoto began working on storyboards for a fantasy one-shot, Magic Mushroom (マジックマッシュルーム, Majikku Masshurūmu), but stopped when Yahagi called and asked him to instead develop storyboards for serialization. The two decided to submit a version of Naruto with a reworked story and world and produced storyboards for the first three chapters, winning a spot in the magazine. With a six-month lead time, Kishimoto repeatedly revised and redrew the first several chapters of the series.

In September 1999, the serialized version of Naruto premiered in Weekly Shōnen Jump 1999 No. 43 and quickly became a hit. Naruto ended on November 10, 2014 after more than 15 years of serialization, with a total of 700 chapters collected in 72 volumes. Sales have exceeded 113 million copies in Japan and over 95 million copies in the US,[18] followed by over 93 million copies worldwide (outside Japan and United States) as of volume 36.[19] It was adapted into two successful anime series, Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. Kishimoto requested that Tetsuya Nishio oversee the character designs of Naruto when the manga was adapted into an anime series.[20] For CyberConnect2's Naruto fighting game Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution he was responsible for Mecha Naruto upon being suggested by the staff to include a new character. Kishimoto decided on adding a character that would bring a big impact to worldwide level which resulted in Mecha Naruto. CyberConnect2 CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama was surprised when seeing the new character.[21]

The Naruto manga series became one of Viz Media's top properties,[22] accounting for nearly 10% of all manga sales in the US in 2006.[23] The seventh volume of Viz's release became the first manga to ever win a Quill Award when it claimed the award for "Best Graphic Novel" in 2006.[23] Responding to Naruto's success, Kishimoto said in Naruto Collector Winter 2007/2008 that he was "very glad that the American audience has accepted and understood ninja. It shows that the American audience has good taste... because it means they can accept something previously unfamiliar to them."[24] While writing the manga, Kishimoto met Eiichiro Oda, author of One Piece who he considered his rival. When Naruto ended, Oda left a message in the series' final volume acknowledging him as a rival. According to Kishimoto "That felt so gratifying."[25] Additionally, before the anime adaptation's premiere of My Hero Academia, he praised Kōhei Horikoshi's work, believing it would be a success overseas.[26] Additionally, Kishimoto referred to Yoshihiro Togashi as one of the favorite artists.[27]

Two of his former assistants, Osamu Kajisa (Tattoo Hearts) and Yuuichi Itakura (Hand's), have gone on to moderate success following their work on Naruto.[28][29][30] In 2009, Kishimoto designed an extra costume for the video game character Lars Alexandersson for Tekken 6; in 2010 this character appeared in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 as part of a special cross-promotion.[31] In 2010, Kishimoto produced a one-shot baseball manga, Bench (ベンチ, Benchi), as part of Jump's "Top of the Super Legend" project, a series of six one-shot manga by famed Weekly Shōnen Jump artists.

For the ninth Naruto film, Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie, Kishimoto was responsible for both the story planning and characters' designs.[32] To promote the film, Kishimoto worked in Motion Comic Naruto a DVD that shows scenes from the manga in 3D that was given to the first 1.5 million people who went to the cinema.[33] Regarding Naruto's publication Kishimoto told Tetsuya Nishio in July 2012 that the series would take over a year and a half to end. However, Kishimoto admitted that it now appears that the manga will continue beyond that timeframe.[34] In April 2012, it was announced that Kishimoto would publish a one-shot version of his long-postponed mafia manga, Mario, in Jump Square,[35] based on the rough, 160-page manuscript he began working on before Naruto became serialized.[36]

Throughout 2013, several of Kishimoto's one-shots saw their English-language debut in issues of the Weekly Shonen Jump digital magazine, including Mario, Bench, and the original Naruto pilot.

Kishimoto was also the winner of "Rookie of the Year" for the series in the Agency for Cultural Affairs.[37]

Following the conclusion of Naruto, Kishimoto became involved in the Start of a New Era Project commemorating the manga's conclusion and 15th anniversary. On the last page of the final chapter, Weekly Shonen Jump announced that a spin-off miniseries, also authored by Kishimoto, would be released in 2015. The series, Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring, ran from April to July 2015. Beyond this, Kishimoto also was heavily involved with two canonical movies, The Last: Naruto the Movie and Boruto: Naruto the Movie, as he personally supervised both movies, and illustrated several light novels. When asked by Boruto Uzumaki's voice actress Yūko Sanpei to continue making Naruto movies, Kishimoto stated that was taking a break and could not physically do so.[38]

In August 2015, Kishimoto announced that he already has finalized what he wants to do for his next manga series. A sci-fi manga, the series will feature a unique protagonist, with Kishimoto having already completed the character designs. Kishimoto also plans for the work to surpass Naruto in quality, and plans to release the series monthly via the digital magazine Shonen Jump Plus due to the taxing effort required for a weekly series. Kishimoto has not yet finalized when he plans to officially announce the series, as he wants to spend time with his family.[39][40] On December 19, 2015, it was announced that Kishimoto would supervise the monthly Boruto (BORUTO−ボルト−) series beginning in Spring 2016. The new spinoff will be illustrated by Kishimoto's chief assistant on Naruto, Mikio Ikemoto, and written by his writing partner for Boruto: Naruto the Movie, Ukyo Kodachi. It was preceded by a Naruto: The Path Lit by the Full Moon one-shot written and illustrated by Kishimoto.[41] Kishimoto expect both his upcoming work and Boruto: Naruto Next Generations to surpass Naruto.[42]

Manga

Film

Artbooks

Novels

Other

Personal life

Kishimoto is the twin brother of Seishi Kishimoto, the author of 666 Satan and Blazer Drive.[3] In 2003, Kishimoto married, but due to being busy never went on a honeymoon with his wife until 2015. The couple has one son.[39]

Influences and style

The first time Kishimoto used the double action technique in a fight between Naruto and Haku.

While as a child Kishimoto enjoyed reading manga, he was inspired to write one after seeing a promotional image for the film Akira. This made him analyze the artwork of Akira's original author, Katsuhiro Otomo, as well as Akira Toriyama, another artist he admired. Realizing both had their own style regarding the designs, Kishimoto decided to draw manga while crafting his own images.[9] While attending art school, Kishimoto was also an avid reader of Hiroaki Samura's Blade of the Immortal, and extensively studied Samura's page layouts, action sequences, and anatomical techniques.[49] When Kishimoto was originally creating the Naruto series, he looked to other shōnen manga for influences while attempting to make his characters as unique as possible.[50] Kishimoto cites Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball series as one of his influences, noting that Goku, the protagonist, was a key factor when creating Naruto Uzumaki due to his energetic and mischievous personality.[51] When redesigning three characters for the series, Kishimoto cites The Matrix, one of his favorite movies, as an inspiration for their outfits.[52] He has also cited Yoshihiro Togashi as one of his favorite manga authors,[53] while the manga Sasuke by Sanpei Shirato, a series which Kishimoto likes, inspired Kishimoto in the development of the character Sasuke Uchiha.[54]

Kishimoto has also cited other influences such as Takeshi Kitano and Quentin Tarantino. He also mentioned Michael Bay's technique "of shooting a scene against the background light" but found it difficult to make.[10] Another technique inspired by Jackie Chan's films he used in the Naruto manga is the "double action"; in this action a punch is shown in three different angles in order to give a big impact on the punch's strength. This was first shown in Naruto Uzumaki's battle against Haku. Sometimes, Kishimoto draws panels intentionally confusing during fight scenes to add a sense of speed. On the other hand, Kishimoto commented that for the fights between Naruto and Sasuke, he added action from the top of the page to the bottom in order for them to be easier to follow.[55]

During the series' publication, Kishimoto got married and had children. The changes to his personal life affected the story as he made the protagonist Naruto Uzumaki meet his parents, something the author wanted the character to feel based on his own experience as a father.[3]

When drawing the characters, Kishimoto consistently follows a five-step process: concept and rough sketch, drafting, inking, shading, and coloring. These steps are followed when he is drawing the manga and making the color illustrations that commonly adorn the cover of tankōbon, the cover of Weekly Shōnen Jump, or other media. The toolkit he uses occasionally changes.[56] For instance, he used an airbrush for one illustration for a Weekly Shōnen Jump cover but decided not to use it for future drawings largely due to the cleanup required.[57]

Masashi and his twin brother Seishi have been drawing manga together since early childhood, thus their styles are similar.[58] As a result, each has frequently been accused of copying the other, not just artwork, but story elements as well. Seishi notes that the similarities are not intentional but are likely because they were influenced by many of the same things.[59][60]

Kishimoto has admitted he made no plans in regards to the development of Naruto's story developments. For example, when introducing Sasuke, the character says he wants to kill a person. By this time, Kishimoto only thought that Sasuke's brother, Itachi, had done a wrong deed in the past but was not certain of what was exactly. By volume 16 of the series which featured Itachi's actual introduction, Kishimoto decided Itachi was an agent working for Konohagakure to kill all members from the Uchiha clan except Sasuke. This is later revealed in volume 43 of the manga.[55] Another one was the revelation that the late Minato Namikaze would be Naruto's father. When Kishimoto had the idea that Minato would be Naruto's father, he started adding hints of that to the reader such as giving the Hokage mountain from Konohagakure spiky hair similar to Naruto's.[61]

References

  1. 1 2 Kishimoto, Masashi (October 4, 2002). NARUTO―ナルト―[秘伝·兵の書]オフォシャルファンBOOK (in Japanese). Japan: Shueisha. p. 205. ISBN 4-08-873321-5.
  2. ↑ "Masashi Kishimoto at New York Comic-con: Part II - An Evening with Masashi Kishimoto". Viz Media.
  3. 1 2 3 Kido, Misaki C. (January 2012). "Interview with Masashi Kishimoto (Creator of Naruto)". Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha. Viz Media (01-30-12): 118–121.
  4. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2005). Naruto, Volume 7. Viz Media. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-59116-875-1.
  5. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2005). Naruto, Volume 7. Viz Media. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-59116-875-1.
  6. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2005). Naruto, Volume 8. Viz Media. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4215-0124-6.
  7. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2005). Naruto, Volume 8. Viz Media. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-4215-0124-6.
  8. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2005). Naruto, Volume 8. Viz Media. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-4215-0124-6.
  9. 1 2 Kishimoto, Masashi (2006). Naruto, Volume 10. Viz Media. p. 157. ISBN 978-1-4215-0240-3.
  10. 1 2 3 Solomon, Charles (December 17, 2008). "Interview: The man behind 'Naruto'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  11. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Naruto, Volume 13. Viz Media. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-4215-1087-3.
  12. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Naruto, Volume 13. Viz Media. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-4215-1087-3.
  13. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Naruto, Volume 15. Viz Media. p. 66. ISBN 978-1-4215-1089-7.
  14. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Naruto, Volume 15. Viz Media. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-4215-1089-7.
  15. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Naruto, Volume 15. Viz Media. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-4215-1089-7.
  16. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Naruto, Volume 15. Viz Media. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-4215-1089-7.
  17. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Naruto, Volume 16. Viz Media. p. 150. ISBN 978-1-4215-1090-3.
  18. ↑ "The Origin of Naruto - Naruto Shippuden - Official U.S Site" (Press release). Vizmedia/Shueisha. August 11, 2009.
  19. ↑ http://ajw.asahi.com/article/cool_japan/style/AJ201411100007
  20. ↑ Gan, Sheuo Hui (2013). "Auteur and Anime as Seen in the Naruto TV Series". In Berndt, Jacqueline; Kümmerling-Meibauer, Bettina. Manga's Cultural Crossroads. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. p. 227. ISBN 978-1-134-10283-9.
  21. 1 2 "Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution: Entrevista Hiroshi Matsuyama". Playerslink. April 21, 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  22. ↑ "USA Today's Top 150 Best Seller list features Viz Media's Shonen Jump's Naruto manga at number 29" (Press release). Viz Media. March 7, 2006. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008.
  23. 1 2 "Naruto Nabs Quill Award". ICv2. October 12, 2006. Retrieved April 7, 2008.
  24. ↑ "10th Anniversary: The Masashi Kishimoto Files". Shonen Jump. Viz Media. 7 (11). November 2009.
  25. ↑ Aoki, Deb (October 14, 2015). "Part II - An Evening with Masashi Kishimoto". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Naruto Cheers on My Hero Academia's Deku". Anime News Network. April 2, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  27. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (December 4, 2009). NARUTO―ナルト―[秘伝·皆の書]オフィシャルプレミアムファンBOOK. Naruto (in Japanese). Japan: Shueisha. pp. 74–81. ISBN 978-4-08-874834-4.
  28. ↑ SHONEN JUMP talks with NARUTO creator MASASHI KISHIMOTO: The Hokage Speaks, American Shonen Jump (May 2006)
  29. ↑ Naruto Vol. 24, p. 169.
  30. ↑ Naruto vol. 6, p. 66.
  31. ↑ Ciolek, Todd (August 5, 2009). "The X Button Guilty Motivation". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
  32. ↑ "Naruto: Road to Ninja Film's Story, Designs Penned by Kishimoto". Anime News Network. March 21, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  33. ↑ "1.5 Million Naruto Movie-Goers to Get Motion Comic DVD". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  34. ↑ "Kishimoto: Naruto Manga to Continue Longer Than 1.5 Years". Anime News Network. July 27, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
  35. ↑ "【集英社】ジャンプスクエア -ジャンプが放つ全く新しいコミック誌!!-". Viz Media.
  36. ↑ Naruto vol. 11, p. 126
  37. ↑ "Masashi Kishimoto Wins 'Rookie of the Year' Award for Naruto". Anime News Network. March 14, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  38. ↑ "Naruto Creator on Being Asked for Sequel: 'Please Let Me Rest Now'". Anime News Network. June 28, 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  39. 1 2 "Naruto's Masashi Kishimoto Considers Writing Sci-Fi Series Next". Viz Media.
  40. ↑ Ashcraft, Brian. "What's Next for Naruto's Creator? A Sci-Fi Manga, Perhaps!". Viz Media.
  41. ↑ "VIZ Blog / Boruto's Coming to Shonen Jump!". Viz Media.
  42. ↑ "Boruto Manga Gets Anime Project in April 2017". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  43. ↑ "2014 Naruto Movie Titled 'The Last,' Slated for December 6". AnimeNewsNetwork. July 23, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  44. ↑ "Naruto sequel film to open in theaters in Japan on August 7". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
  45. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (July 2, 2004). NARUTO―ナルト―　岸本斉史画集　UZUMAKI. Naruto (in Japanese). Japan: Shueisha. ISBN 4-08-873706-7.
  46. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (April 4, 2008). PAINT　JUMP　Art　of　NARUTO－ナルト－. Naruto (in Japanese). Japan: Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-782168-0.
  47. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (July 8, 2009). NARUTO―ナルト―イラスト集　NARUTO. Naruto (in Japanese). Japan: Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-874823-8.
  48. ↑ "集英社版『学習まんが日本の歴史』（集英社新版）". Shonen Jump.
  49. ↑ "ジャンプBOOKストア！". Shonen Jump.
  50. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Uzumaki: the Art of Naruto. Viz Media. p. 138. ISBN 1-4215-1407-9.
  51. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Uzumaki: the Art of Naruto. Viz Media. p. 139. ISBN 1-4215-1407-9.
  52. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Uzumaki: The Art of Naruto. Viz Media. p. 127. ISBN 1-4215-1407-9.
  53. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (December 4, 2009). NARUTO―ナルト―[秘伝·皆の書]オフィシャルプレミアムファンBOOK. Naruto (in Japanese). Japan: Shueisha. pp. 74–81. ISBN 978-4-08-874834-4.
  54. ↑ "Interview: Tracking Down the Source". Shonen Jump Naruto Collector 3. Viz Media. August 2007.
  55. 1 2 漫道コバヤシ第13号「NARUTO完結！岸本斉史SP」 [Kobayashi No. 13 'Completion of Naruto! Masashi Kishimoto SP'] (in Japanese). Fuji Television. December 13, 2014.
  56. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Uzumaki: the Art of Naruto. Viz Media. pp. 112–114. ISBN 1-4215-1407-9.
  57. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2007). Uzumaki: the Art of Naruto. Viz Media. p. 118. ISBN 1-4215-1407-9.
  58. ↑ "GetBackers' Ayamine to Launch Holy Talker Manga in April". Anime News Network. February 8, 2008. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  59. ↑ Kishimoto, Seishi (2006). O-Parts Hunter, Volume 1. Viz Media. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-4215-0855-9.
  60. ↑ Sparrow, A. E. (January 30, 2007). "O-Parts Hunter Vol. 1 Review". IGN. Retrieved August 9, 2014.
  61. ↑ Kishimoto, Masashi (2014). NARUTO―ナルト―キャラクターオフィシャルデータBOOK 秘伝・陣の書 (in Japanese). Shueisha. pp. 378–387. ISBN 978-4-08-880263-3.
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