#naruto movies

[comikadraws]

Did Kishimoto write ANY naruto light novel at all or at least contributed to one of them? Should we consider them canon or not?

The Canon Value of the Naruto Novels

(and filler episodes)

Oof. Naruto canon is a complex thing, actually, because each and every piece of material we've got is inconsistent in some way and is getting discredited left and right.

I have previously explained in a different post how the Naruto manga and the Databooks have repeatedly retconned themselves or each other despite both having been authored by Kishimoto. Evidently, there is not one 100% secure source for canon Naruto lore.

Novel Authors

While the Novels do credit Kishimoto right on the cover page alongside other authors (in this case, Takashi Yano and Jun Esaka), they do not specify the degree of Kishimoto's involvement with the work.

The Naruto Wiki states the following:

"Though each novel tends to be written by different authors, all novels have covers illustrated by the respective manga's illustrator [Masashi Kishimoto and Mikio Ikemoto respectively]"

So, to my knowledge, most if not all of the novels written for the Naruto series were not authored by Kishimoto himself. His name on the novel covers likely only refers to his authorship of the original Naruto series (which the novels are based on) and/or his contribution as an illustrator.

J-books, at the very least, never credits Kishimoto as the "author" but instead for being the "original creator".

Japanese: 原作:岸本斉史 著者:江坂純 English: Original work: Masashi Kishimoto Author: Jun Esaka

Wikipedia does, in one instance, credit Kishimoto as a "co-author", but I'd take this with a grain of salt.

Incorporation into the Naruto Franchise

When it comes to whether or not the novels (and, by extension, filler episodes) should be considered canon, you will encounter two camps:

Those who consider anything canon as long as it was officially published as part of the Naruto franchise

Those who consider anything canon as long as it was written or supervised by Kishimoto himself

As you can see, "canon" appears to be a personal interpretation.

Jun Esaka, the author of Sasuke Retsuden, stated in a Tweet that she considers the manga to be the only truth/canon of the Narutoverse.

She made this statement in 2019 in spite of Sasuke Retsuden having been given an illustration by Kishimoto at the time of its release. This is not a particularly radical take as even the Naruto movies (that are largely considered non-canonical by the fandom) have received official illustrations made by Kishimoto.

(Below are Kishimoto's illustrations for the Shippuden movie and the Bonds movie)

Later (in 2022), Sasuke Retsuden received a manga adaptation (albeit by a different mangaka than Kishimoto, which is Shingo Kimura), and was eventually turned into an anime filler. The latter is considered anime canon, and the problem with anime canon is that Ikemoto has no qualms about referencing "anime canon" episodes in the Boruto manga (which also resulted in the appearance of Tsumire).

Could all of this promotion of Sasuke Retsuden mean that Jun Esaka's work received canon status in spite of her previous statements? You can certainly argue, but then you will run into a similar issue with the movies because the Road to Ninja movie got a manga one-shot.

With all of these variables to consider, I have come to the following conclusion: Canon is a matter of convenience and semantics.

Canon Convenience and Semantics

I cannot emphasize enough how much both considering and not considering the novels canon is valid because "canon" is a matter of semantics that relies on convenience.

In its original, religious meaning, "canon" describes a list of authoritative books accepted as holy scripture. Emphasis on "accepted" because scriptures are considered "canon" not on the condition of who authored them but based on what others decided is authentic and what is not.

Fandom then adopted the term "canon" and now it describes whatever we want it to describe. Typically, fan-made works are considered "uncanonical" by default (exceptions apply, such as with the SCP universe; please don't google this if you cannot handle horror) and any "official" content (ie. released by official publishers) is considered "canon". But then some franchises will have fans that try to redefine the meaning of "canon", focusing on authorial intent only. This definition includes works that the author intended or accepted as true to their story, or supervised or collaborated on. And then there are those who believe that there is only one "original story" or will reserve the term "canon" to works exclusively authored by the original creator.

So yes, it truly is about convenience. This is the impression I've been getting from the fandom so far, at the very least. The canon value of different projects is often not questioned on its own but instead in conjunction with berating other fans for liking certain characters or ships, surrounding their statements with comments such as "xy fans believe glorified fanfiction 🤭", denying them any ground to stand on.

Not that hate is the only reason, however. I, for example, will refer only to the manga and databooks for my analyses both for the sake of cutting down on time and effort (no way in hell am I foresting through 90 hours of filler content), and also because I try to appeal to a broad audience that includes manga/databook purists.

Needless to say, the additional content (anime, novels, movies) conflicts with manga and Databook information more often than I'd like, too, making it even harder for me to puzzle together Naruto canon. Taking all of these additional materials into account would only be an additional burden. But since the definition of "canon" is not universal, I feel free to define "canon" in a way that assists me rather than weighs me down.

My point is: The fandom has not yet agreed on one definition of "canon" and it likely never will. You need to choose what you are comfortable with. And if you are met with fandom warriors who will insult you for that, keep in mind they are just trying to play historian over something as ridiculous as wizard ninjas.

[enchantingpeachfury]

[thelavender-lily-2024]

[colorfulfoxengineer]

[lakecitysilenceme]

i would love to watch all of the shippuden movies, but trying to place them into an already confusing timeline stresses me so much

[sweeteaglecreation]

[tamelee]

Sasuke returned to look at the statue for a long time-

[snatching-ishidates-wig]

Kakashi and his scarf appreciation post

[sasucaty]

currently thinkin about how menma from naruto rtn movie is literally sns lovechild🎀

and he's way better looking than 'canon' couples fugly ass kids in boruto!!

[dokirosi]

Zero respect for Authority

SNS from that Barbie Movie shot

[thelavender-lily-2024]

Hinata's outfits during the last movie.

[lady-purpleblue]

NaruHina fanarts by sekibeing, NARUTO/BORUTO animator ❤️

[colorfulfoxengineer]

[andysaas]

Naruto using Sasuke's sword is so hot

[joy-girl]

There's something about characters that are about to die and, instead of crying, they look at their loved ones and do/say something sweet or funny to try to reassure them... that breaks my heart every single time