The official website for the upcoming 2015 Naruto exhibition has revealed details about the event to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto franchise. The exhibition itself will be held in Tokyo and Osaka next year, and will be titled Kishimoto Masashi Naruto Ten.
The Kishimoto Masashi Naruto Ten will actually open in Spring 2015 in Tokyo whilst in Summer the same year in Osaka. The Tokyo exhibition will be held at the Mori Arts Center Gallery, Roppongi Hills from April 25 till June 28, which will then move to Osaka being held at the Osaka Culturarium, Tempozan between July 18 and September 27. The exhibition will have many detailed three dimensional models and dioramas from the franchise. One such attraction that could be in the exhibition is the full model of the Hokage faces with Naruto painting over them, from the early chapters of the Narutomanga.
Here is the concept art for the model:
There will also be showcases of the original art from that Masashi Kishimoto had drawn for the manga, in addition to covers of the manga’s volumes. It won’t be all of his art, but select images from some of the vital moments from the series.
There will also be a special video 10 minute theatre production at the exhibition:
And the last concept art is for a small library that contains all related material and concepts that helped Kishimoto develop the story and world of Naruto.
The exhibition will not be free and require tickets to enter the exhibition. All ticket holders for the event will get a free 19 page manga chapter titled Shinden: Kaze no Sho (New Legend: The Book of Wind).
People who purchase advance copies of the tickets will receive an additional 19 page manga chapter titled Shinden: Ikazuchi no Sho (New Legend: The Book of Thunder). Advance tickets will go on sale from February next year.
There has been no confirmation whether Kishimoto will be writing or illustrating the miniseries, tentatively called Naruto. Additionally, a series of light novels from Akira Higashiyama, the scriptwriter of Naruto Shippuuden: Blood Prison, will be produced next year as well. The first light novel will be focusing on Kakashi Hatake. The novels will be published by Shueisha’s Jump J Books imprint. The new projects are part of the Naruto Shin Jidai Kaimaku Project (Naruto’s New Era Opening Project) and includes The Last -Naruto the Movie-, which just launched in Japan, this Exhibition, and the recently announced Naruto Shippuuden Movie 8 – Boruto.
Naruto is an original manga series created by Masashi Kishimoto. The manga began in 1999 in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, where to date a total of 69 volumes have released. Since its debut the manga has sold over 130 million copies in Japan alone. The series has also received two TV anime series adaptation, covering the manga’s two parts: Naruto and Naruto Shippuden in 2002 and 2007 respectively. Both series were produced by Studio Pierrot. Additionally, a total of 9 anime films have released to date and numerous OVAs and specials. A light novel spin-off was produced by Masatoshi Kusakabe and released in 2002, and a manga spinoff, titled Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden, began publishing in 2010 from Kenji Taira and was adapted into an anime in 2012. Today, the franchise is one of Japan’s most renowned and one of the most popular anime/manga series outside of Japan.
Here is a synopsis of the original series:
Naruto Uzumaki, a hyperactive and knuckle-headed ninja, lives in Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf village. Moments prior to his birth, a huge demon known as the Kyuubi, the Nine-tailed Fox, attacked Konohagakure and wreaked havoc. In order to put an end to the Kyuubi’s rampage, the leader of the village, the 4th Hokage, sacrificed his life and sealed the monstrous beast inside the newborn Naruto.
Shunned because of the presence of the Kyuubi inside him, Naruto struggles to find his place in the village. He strives to become the Hokage of Konohagakure, and he meets many friends and foes along the way.
The Kishimoto Masashi Naruto Ten will open in Tokyo on April 25 and ending on June 28, before moving to Osaka and reopening on July 18 through till September 27.