Viz Media announced a new `limited` Naruto TV anime series, with full details to be revealed at the `NARUTO: What`s Next?` panel at New York Comic Con on October 10. The project arrives three years after a delayed set of 20th-anniversary episodes went silent.
The Naruto franchise is returning to television. Viz Media announced that a new "limited" Naruto TV anime series is in the works, with full details to be unveiled at a dedicated panel at New York Comic Con on October 10.
What we know
The announcement, made on Monday by Viz Media, confirms a new television anime described as a "limited" series. The specifics — format, episode count, staff, and release window — remain undisclosed. Viz Media said the "NARUTO: What's Next?" panel will reveal them.
The panel is scheduled for October 10 at 5:00 p.m. EDT (2:00 p.m. PDT, or October 11 at 6:00 a.m. JST). It will be streamed live worldwide, according to Anime News Network.
Appearing at the panel are Junko Takeuchi and Noriaki Sugiyama, the Japanese voice actors behind Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, respectively, along with Pierrot Films executive producer Yoshihiro Tominaga.
An unresolved thread from 2023
The new project arrives with one significant open question. In March 2023, the franchise announced four "brand-new" anime episodes to mark the anime's 20th anniversary, promising modern re-animations of iconic scenes. The episodes were set to premiere weekly starting in September 2023, backed by a widely circulated trailer.
A week before the planned debut, the episodes were delayed to improve quality. No further news about them has emerged since August 2023. It remains unclear whether the newly announced limited series is connected to that shelved project — or something entirely separate. Viz Media has not clarified the relationship.
Why the timing matters
October 2027 will mark the 25th anniversary of the Naruto anime, which originally aired on TV Tokyo. Per Polygon, a TV Tokyo investors' Q&A in May 2026 stated the broadcaster had "several projects planned" for the anniversary, framing it as "the beginning of a new stage." That makes a large-scale announcement plausible: a full remake or a new season tied to the milestone, rather than a small-scale exhibition or tie-in.
The anime industry has also shifted since Naruto's weekly broadcast era. Seasonal production has largely replaced the continuous weekly model, and Pierrot's recent work on Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War has demonstrated the studio's capacity for higher-fidelity production. Whether Naruto follows that model is unknown.
The wider franchise
Naruto, created by Masashi Kishimoto, launched in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999 and ended in November 2014. The manga has since produced two television anime series, films, OVAs, the Boruto sequel manga and anime, novels, stage plays, and video games.
Separately, Lionsgate is developing a Hollywood live-action film adaptation. The project launched a global casting search in July 2026 for its three leads — Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura — with Destin Daniel Cretton directing. Charles Melton is reported to be in final negotiations to play Kakashi Hatake.
What to watch for
Until October 10, the nature of the limited series — its scope, its relationship to the delayed 2023 episodes, and its release window — remains a matter of speculation. Fans and industry observers will have their first concrete answers at the NYCC panel.
Sources: Anime News Network, Polygon