NARUTO: production drawing by Mamoru Sasaki

Naruto is one of the best-selling manga series in history having 250 million copies in circulation worldwide in 47 countries and regions, with 153 million copies in Japan alone and remaining 97 million copies elsewhere. It has become one of Viz Media’s best-selling manga series; their English translations of the volumes have appeared on USA Today and The New York Times bestseller list several times, and the seventh volume won a Quill Award in 2006. Reviewers praised the manga’s character development, strong storylines, and well-executed fight scenes. Critics noted that the manga, which has a coming-of-age theme, makes use of cultural references from Japanese mythology and Confucianism.

Naruto Shippuden the Movie (Japanese: 劇場版 NARUTOナルト 疾風伝, Hepburn: Gekijōban Naruto Shippūden) is the fourth overall in the Naruto film series and the first Naruto: Shippuden film, directed by Hajime Kamegaki and written by Junki Takegami. The movie is set after episode 32, and is considered one of the best films in the Naruto series, owing to the somewhat darker nature of the narrative, while still balancing the comic elements familiar and beloved by younger fans.

This lead animator genga could be the work of several production personnel (including director, Hajime Kamegaki), but the most probable candidate is Chief Animation Director, Mamoru Sasaki, whose work on Chobits, CLAMP, Evangelion, and Ghost in the Shell, shines through the spare line work. It’s a phenomenal close-up of the titular character by an animation legend.