3 months of silence says Naruto remake is definitively doomed

The Naruto remake was among the most discussed topics in the anime and manga community a few weeks ago. However, things seem to look quite grim for fans of the series since they haven’t provided any updates regarding the status. The remake episodes were going to be released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series.

As per the first announcement made by the official team, the remake episodes were set to release on September 3, 2023. However, it’s been three months since the supposed release date, and no one from Shueisha or Studio Pierrot has given the fanbase any update on this issue.

Let’s look at the possible reasons for the delay and whether or not the Naruto remake will ever be released.

Disclaimer: This article explores theories surrounding the production of the Naruto remake and is speculative.

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Understanding potential reasons why the Naruto remake might not come through

The Naruto remake has failed to give any updates for about three months. The first time a delay was announced, the team wanted to improve the animation quality since this was a remastered version of the older episodes. Despite it being just four episodes, improving animation quality could take time. The animators could have been hard at work releasing the episodes, which could have caused the delay.

Another possible reason is mismanagement of assets. A considerable project such as this will involve many assets and files, which must be maintained thoroughly to avoid loss of progress. There could be a technical issue at Studio Pierrot wherein the lack of files would translate to the recreation of the scenes shown in the original anime series.

Another reason for the Naruto remake delay could be a creative decision taken by the studio. The studio could have realized that remastering the existing episodes led to poor quality. The original show was released about 11 years ago. There is a clear difference in the quality of animation in shows released in 2002 and those released this year.

Therefore, Studio Pierrot could be recreating the remake episodes frame-by-frame from scratch. At that point, the Naruto remake is no longer treated like a remastered project. It is as good as a new project, which could be why Studio Pierrot is taking time to produce it.

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How would the franchise benefit from releasing the remake episodes

A still from the Shippuden series (Image via Studio Pierrot)

The Naruto series could follow in the footsteps of Toei Animation and what they did with Dragon Ball Z Kai. This would allow Studio Pierrot to shift its focus from the Boruto series and work on the remake episodes. If they do this and avoid the filler episodes, it also allows the studio to fix some inconsistencies seen in the original run.

Fans have been complaining about the sheer volume of filler episodes in the Boruto series, which will not be required now that the Two Blue Vortex manga has progressed substantially. These are just some reasons the entire franchise will benefit from the release of the Naruto remake episodes.

We urge the fanbase to wait for further announcements confirming the speculations above.

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Stay tuned for more anime and manga news as 2023 progresses.