Masashi Kishimoto facts for kids

Masashi Kishimoto (岸本 斉史, Kishimoto Masashi, born November 8, 1974) is a famous Japanese manga artist. He is best known for creating the popular manga series Naruto. This series was published from 1999 to 2014. It has sold over 250 million copies around the world.

Naruto was turned into two anime TV shows. It also inspired many films, video games, and other related stories. Besides the Naruto manga, Kishimoto also helped create the The Last: Naruto the Movie and Boruto: Naruto the Movie films. He also wrote several short stories.

In 2019, Kishimoto wrote Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru. This series finished in March 2020. From May 2016 to October 2020, he oversaw the Boruto: Naruto Next Generations manga. This manga was written by Ukyō Kodachi and drawn by Mikio Ikemoto. In November 2020, Kishimoto took over as the main writer for the Boruto series.

Kishimoto loved reading manga when he was young. He always wanted to create his own manga stories. He was greatly inspired by other famous manga artists like Akira Toriyama and Katsuhiro Otomo. Because of this, Kishimoto spent many years working hard. He wanted to create his own shōnen manga for Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. He was a big fan of this magazine.

Early Life and Artistic Journey

Masashi Kishimoto was born in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, on November 8, 1974. He has an identical twin brother named Seishi Kishimoto. As a child, Kishimoto enjoyed drawing characters from anime shows. These included characters from Dr. Slump and Doraemon.

Discovering Manga and Anime

In elementary school, Kishimoto watched anime like Kinnikuman and Dragon Ball. He soon began to admire Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball. He loved Toriyama's manga and his work on the Dragon Quest video games. Even though he could not buy Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine, he followed Dragon Ball through a friend.

In high school, Kishimoto briefly lost interest in manga. He started playing baseball and basketball instead. However, seeing a poster for the animated film Akira changed his mind. He was amazed by the artwork and wanted to draw like its creator, Katsuhiro Otomo. He also enjoyed other series like Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade and Ghost in the Shell.

Becoming a Manga Artist

During his last years at Kyushu Sangyo University, Kishimoto focused on drawing manga. He went to art college hoping to become a professional manga artist. He tried creating a Chanbara (sword-fighting) manga. However, he soon realized other popular manga like Blade of the Immortal and Rurouni Kenshin were already using this style. He felt he needed to find his own unique approach.

In his second year of college, Kishimoto started entering manga contests. He noticed his drawings often looked like seinen manga, which is for adults. But he wanted to draw for Shōnen Jump, which is for younger readers. He then studied the character designs of animators. He met Tetsuya Nishio, who designed characters for the anime Ninku. Nishio became a big influence on Kishimoto. By copying different anime drawing styles, Kishimoto's own style began to fit the shōnen genre.

Career Highlights

Early Manga Works

Kishimoto's first successful manga story was called Karakuri. He sent it to Shueisha in 1995. This work earned him an honorable mention in a contest for new manga artists in 1996. He then got an editor, Kosuke Yahagi. Together, they worked on several ideas that were not published.

In 1997, Kishimoto created a short version of Naruto. It was published in a special magazine called Akamaru Jump Summer. Later, in December 1997, a new version of Karakuri was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump. However, it did not do well and was quickly canceled.

After Karakuri failed, Kishimoto thought about drawing manga for adults. But his editor convinced him to try the shōnen genre one more time. They decided to rework Naruto with a new story and world. This new version of Naruto won a spot in Weekly Shōnen Jump. Kishimoto spent six months carefully revising and redrawing the first few chapters.

The Rise of Naruto

In September 1999, the full Naruto series began in Weekly Shōnen Jump. It quickly became a huge success. The series finished on November 10, 2014, after more than 15 years. It had 700 chapters collected into 72 books. Naruto has sold over 301 million copies worldwide.

Kishimoto won the "Rookie of the Year" award for Naruto. The manga was adapted into two popular anime series: Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. Kishimoto asked Tetsuya Nishio to design the characters for the anime. Naruto became one of Viz Media's most popular series in the US. In 2006, a Naruto book won a Quill Award for "Best Graphic Novel."

Kishimoto wanted to explore the theme of war in Naruto. This idea came from stories his grandfather told him about the Hiroshima crisis. He showed that war has no good side, but he wrote about it with a message of hope. Kishimoto was very happy that American audiences enjoyed Naruto. He felt it showed they could appreciate something new to them.

While working on Naruto, Kishimoto became friends with Eiichiro Oda, the creator of One Piece. He saw Oda as a friendly rival. When Naruto ended, Oda wrote a special message in the final book, which made Kishimoto feel very proud.

Kishimoto also helped with other projects. For the video game Tekken 6, he designed a new character named Lars Alexandersson. He also designed "Mecha Naruto" for the game Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution. For the Naruto film Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie, Kishimoto created the story and character designs. He also oversaw the film The Last: Naruto the Movie, which connected the end of the manga to its future.

After Naruto: New Adventures

After Naruto finished, Kishimoto worked on the "Start of a New Era Project." This celebrated the manga's ending and 15th anniversary. A short spin-off series, Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring, was released in 2015. This led up to the film Boruto: Naruto the Movie, which Kishimoto supervised and co-wrote. He also drew pictures for several light novels set in the Naruto world.

In August 2015, Kishimoto announced his next big project. It would be a sci-fi manga with a unique main character. He wanted this new work to be even better than Naruto. He planned to release it monthly in a digital magazine.

In December 2015, it was announced that Kishimoto would supervise the monthly Boruto: Naruto Next Generations manga. This new series began in Spring 2016. It was drawn by Mikio Ikemoto, Kishimoto's main assistant on Naruto. Ukyo Kodachi, who co-wrote the Boruto movie, wrote the story. In November 2020, Kishimoto took over as the main writer for the Boruto manga.

In December 2017, Kishimoto confirmed he was working on a new science fiction adventure series. This series was officially announced as Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru in 2018. Kishimoto wrote the story and drew rough sketches. Akira Ōkubo, a former assistant, drew the final artwork. The series started in Weekly Shōnen Jump in May 2019. However, it did not find a large audience and ended in March 2020.

Works by Masashi Kishimoto

Manga Series

• Karakuri (one-shot) (1995)
• Karakuri (1997)
• Bench (one-shot) (2010)
• Mario (one-shot) (2013)
• Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru — creator, writer, storyboard artist (2019–2020)

Naruto Manga

• Naruto (one-shot) (1997)
• Naruto (1999–2014)
• Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring (2015)
• Boruto: Road to B (one-shot) (2015) — a collaboration
• Naruto: The Path Lit by the Full Moon (one-shot) (2016)
• Boruto: Naruto Next Generations — editorial supervisor (2016–2020), writer (2020–2023)
• Naruto: The Whorl Within the Spiral (one-shot) (2023)
• Boruto: Two Blue Vortex — writer and editorial supervisor (2023–present)

Anime Films

• Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie — 2012, story and character designer
• The Last: Naruto the Movie — 2014, original story and character designer
• Boruto: Naruto the Movie — 2015, original story, screenwriter, and character designer

Video Games

• Tekken 6 — 2009, guest character designer
• Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution — 2014, character designer

Artbooks

• The Art of Naruto: Uzumaki (2004)
• Paint Jump: Art of Naruto (2008)
• Naruto Illustration Book (2010)
• Uzumaki Naruto: Illustrations (2015)

Novels (Illustrator)

• Naruto Jinraiden: The Day the Wolf Howled (2012)
• The Last: Naruto the Movie
• Boruto: Naruto the Movie
• Naruto: Tales of a Gutsy Ninja (2010)
• 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)

Personal Life

Masashi Kishimoto is the twin brother of Seishi Kishimoto. Seishi is also a manga artist, known for 666 Satan and Blazer Drive. In 2003, Kishimoto got married. However, he was so busy with Naruto that he did not go on a honeymoon until 2015.

When creating The Last: Naruto the Movie, Kishimoto got an idea from his wife. The character Hinata Hyuga wants to make a scarf for Naruto Uzumaki. This was inspired by how his wife once made a scarf for him. Kishimoto and his wife have one son.

Influences and Artistic Style

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

Kishimoto loved reading manga as a child. He was inspired to create his own after seeing a picture for the film Akira. This made him study the art of Akira's creator, Katsuhiro Otomo. He also studied the work of Akira Toriyama, another artist he admired. Kishimoto realized both artists had their own unique drawing styles. He decided to develop his own distinct way of drawing manga. While in art school, he also learned a lot from Hiroaki Samura's manga Blade of the Immortal. He studied Samura's page layouts, action scenes, and how he drew bodies.

When Kishimoto first created Naruto, he looked at other shōnen manga for ideas. He wanted to make his characters as special as possible. He says Dragon Ball by Akira Toriyama was a big influence. He made Goku, the main character of Dragon Ball, a key part of creating Naruto Uzumaki. This was because of Goku's energetic and playful personality. Kishimoto also said the movie The Matrix inspired the redesigned outfits for his characters. He also mentioned Yoshihiro Togashi as one of his favorite manga authors. The manga Sasuke by Sanpei Shirato also inspired him when he created Sasuke Uchiha.

Kishimoto has also mentioned other influences, like filmmakers Takeshi Kitano and Quentin Tarantino. He also liked Michael Bay's way of filming scenes with light behind them, though he found it hard to draw. Another technique he used in Naruto came from Jackie Chan's films. This is called "double-action." In this technique, a punch is shown from three different angles. This makes the punch look much stronger. This was first seen in Naruto Uzumaki's fight against Haku. Sometimes, Kishimoto draws fight scenes in a confusing way on purpose. This helps to show how fast the action is. But for fights between Naruto and Sasuke, he drew the action from the top of the page to the bottom. This made them easier to follow.

During the time Naruto was being published, Kishimoto got married and had children. These changes in his personal life affected the story. For example, he made Naruto Uzumaki meet his parents. This was something the author wanted the character to experience, based on his own feelings as a father.

When Kishimoto draws characters, he usually follows a five-step process. First, he makes a concept and a rough sketch. Then, he drafts the drawing. After that, he inks it, adds shading, and finally, colors it. He uses these steps for the manga pages and for the colorful pictures on the covers of books and magazines. His tools sometimes change. For example, he once used an airbrush for a Weekly Shōnen Jump cover. But he decided not to use it again because it was too much work to clean up.

Masashi and his twin brother Seishi have been drawing manga together since they were very young. Because of this, their drawing styles are quite similar. People have often accused them of copying each other's art and story ideas. Seishi says these similarities are not on purpose. They are likely because both brothers were influenced by many of the same things growing up.

Kishimoto has said that he did not always plan out the story of Naruto in advance. For example, when he first introduced Sasuke, the character said he wanted to kill someone named "Itachi." At that time, Kishimoto only knew that Sasuke's brother, Itachi, had done something wrong. He was not sure what it was. By volume 16, when Itachi was fully introduced, Kishimoto decided Itachi was a secret agent. He was working for Konohagakure and had to kill everyone in the Uchiha clan except Sasuke. This was later fully explained in volume 43 of the manga. Another example was the idea that Minato Namikaze would be Naruto's father. When Kishimoto had this idea, he started adding hints for the readers. For instance, he gave the Hokage mountain in Konohagakure spiky hair, similar to Naruto's.

For the film Boruto: Naruto the Movie, Kishimoto included tributes to several movies. The most notable ones were the 1996 film The Rock and the 2002 film Spider-Man. The tribute to The Rock was mostly about how the story was put together. He also said he was a fan of Avi Arad, especially his films based on the Spider-Man comic book character.

Images for kids

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

See also

In Spanish: Masashi Kishimoto para niños