Is the upcoming New Naruto anime canon? Explained

With the new Naruto anime announcement that it has been postponed, fans will have to wait for the same to get a new release date. That said, Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine did reveal its plot. With Team 7 getting back together, fans are left to wonder if the upcoming special anime is canon or not.

As part of Naruto anime's 20th year anniversary, the franchise is celebrating the event with a new special anime. This anime was set to premiere on September 3, with new episodes set to be released every week for four consecutive weeks. Unfortunately, this also got delayed to improve the quality.

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Is the new Naruto anime canon or filler?

The new Naruto anime is most likely anime canon. As per the information provided by Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, the anime is set to feature Team 7 embarking on a new mission. However, given that team leader Kakashi Hatake is absent, Naruto is set to be named the temporary captain. Additionally, the story is seemingly supervised by series creator Masashi Kishimoto.

While one would argue that the anime's plot sounds filler-like, the fact that the new Naruto anime has been supervised by Masashi Kishimoto makes it an anime canon. Thus, fans can expect the story to fit into the manga canon's timeline while connecting to the main series.

Gaara as seen in the ROAD OF NARUTO video (Image via Studio Pierrot)

That said, several fans could argue that the story is actually a filler. Many believe that anime studios often add the creator's name as part of their credits to make fans believe that certain content is canon.

Given that the story was neither depicted in the manga nor when the original anime aired, it is fair for fans to consider it filler. However, fans will have to wait until the anime premieres to come up with a definite answer.

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What to expect from the new Naruto anime?

Naruto Uzumaki as seen in the ROAD OF NARUTO video (Image via Studio Pierrot)

With the new anime set to be four episodes long, fans can expect Team 7's mission to be a bit long. Thus, fans can expect Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to travel to another village where they might get introduced to new characters and their original story.

That said, considering that the anime is celebrating Naruto anime's 20th year anniversary, there remains a possibility that the episodes would play with nostalgia. Thus, the mission could take place at some familiar location.

Sasuke Uchiha as seen in the ROAD OF NARUTO video (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Additionally, several side characters may have some role to play in each of the episodes. Thus, fans can expect Team 7 to interact with other teams. With that, fans could possibly witness some interactions that were never seen before. One interaction that fans never witnessed before the Boruto anime aired was between Sasuke and Hinata. Thus, the new Naruto anime could bring such interactions.

Moreover, given that fans know what will happen in the future of the series, there could be certain hints in the episodes that directly relate to it. This could include Naruto becoming friends with Kurama, becoming the Hokage, etc.