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Earlier this week, it was announced that the Naruto anime would be returning with four new special episodes to commemorate the series’ 20th anniversary. The news came alongside a new teaser visual of the series’ central characters in their youth, as well as additional information on the theme songs for the four new episodes.
To fans' excitement, the legendary Japanese band FLOW is set to return to the Naruto series to record both the opening and ending themes for these four brand-new episodes. According to currently available information, FLOW will be performing a new version of their opening theme, GO!!!, originally used as the series’ fourth opening, from episodes 78 through 103.
FLOW will also be covering the ending theme Viva★Rock, originally performed by the band ORANGE RANGE as the original series’ third ending theme overall. Unsurprisingly, the news has Naruto fans incredibly thrilled, with FLOW being hailed as one of the series’ most recognizable and talented associated musical acts.
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FLOW returns to Naruto stomping grounds for upcoming four brand-new episodes
The news of FLOW’s return to the Naruto series came earlier in the week, with fans excitedly discussing the news in the days that have passed since. The four brand new episodes of the original series are set to air over four weeks in September, with currently available information pegging the start date as September 3, 2023.
FLOW has been previously quoted as describing how their trajectory as a band changed when they first collaborated with the anime series. According to them, they view the anime as a "comrade in arms" with whom they experienced an upswing in popularity concurrently. Earlier this year, FLOW participated in the FLOWxNARUTO THEME SONG COVER project and actually ended up covering Viva★Rock as a part of the project itself.
In addition to the aforementioned opening theme GO!!!, FLOW has also performed the opening themes Re:member, Sign, and GOLD across the original series, Shippuden, and Boruto. The band has also performed the Shippuden ending theme, Rainbow’s Sky, which is the only ending theme the band has performed for the franchise’s anime series.
A Japanese rock band, FLOW, formed in 1998 with singers Koshi Asakawa and Keigo Hayashi, guitarist Takeshi Asakawa, bassist Kotaro Goto, and drummer Hiroshi Iwasaki. The group has released 39 singles and 12 studio albums as of February 2023 and is well-known internationally as the singers of the opening themes for several anime and Japanese drama series.
The original anime series first aired as a television anime adaptation of author and illustrator Masashi Kishimoto’s manga series of the same name, which debuted in September 1999. It first premiered in Japan in October 2002 and ran for 220 episodes. This was immediately followed up by the Shippuden sequel series, which adapted the rest of Kishimoto’s manga and debuted in Japan in February 2007.
Both the anime and manga series were followed by Boruto, which focuses on the titular son of Naruto, who is living in a shinobi world much different from that of the original series. While Kishimoto was initially absent from the sequel manga’s production, he joined the creative team behind the series in November 2020, replacing original series writer Ukyo Kodachi.
Be sure to keep up with all anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
