Masashi Kishimoto Video Interviews (Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie)

Masashi Kishimoto, the legendary creator of Naruto, has taken the stage with two brand new video interviews! Both have to do with Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie, but also include a bit of information from the normal version of the series too. New footage from Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie is included.

The first Masashi Kishimoto video interview is from Asaichi, a television program on Japanese public station NHK. It starts at about 5:57.

Why did you start writing Naruto?
Kishimoto-sensei: At the beginning, I thought I’d write a story about ramen, something about the relationship between noodles and soup. But that was no good, so I passed that part over to the protagonist’s name and started to write about Japanese ninja.

What was the theme that you most fussed over for Naruto?
Kishimoto-sensei: The idea of being acknowledged, of wanting to be acknowledged. I gave the protagonist my own feelings of wanting to be acknowledged by my manga’s editor.

When writing Naruto, who is your target audience?
Kishimoto-sensei: First of all Children, in particular schoolboys in their second year of middle school. Even if I have to prostrate myself, please watch me! The feelings held by second year schoolboys in middle school are a real treasure.

Did something happen when you were in the second year of middle school?
Kishimoto-sensei: I decided I wanted to become a professional mangaka.

Who is your rival?
Kishimoto-sensei: There are many so I can’t narrow it down to one. All of the Jump authors are rivals with each other. The most frightening of all, however, are the newcomers whose talent we still have yet to see.

Later on, about 11:25 into the video, scenes from Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie are shown. It starts off with Naruto and Sakura by the Hokage Mountain. Naruto doesn’t understand where they are and feels like he’s gone crazy.

Then the scene changes to Naruto opening the door to his house. Kushina welcomes him home to which Naruto tears up a bit and says that he is home.

The scene then changes once again, but this time within the streets of the Leaf Village. Sakura asks Naruto if he is happy in this alternate reality. Naruto, a little surprised by the question
asks what Sakura-chan means by that. Then to himself, Naruto thinks that everything he has ever wanted is here, a father and a mother.

The second Masashi Kishimoto video interview is from TV Tokyo’s Sakiyomi Jan Bang. This is the third interview in the series. The first interview was on Naruto, while the second interview was on Sakura.

In this new interview Kishimoto-sensei talks about the characters who gave him the most trouble. It wasn’t Sasuke or Hinata, but instead the enemies. He didn’t know who the enemies should be and had meetings that lasted several hours to determine this. It was funny that Kishimoto-sensei couldn’t come up with an idea, but thanks to the team working on the movie he was able to come up with something he liked. Then the interview concludes, mentioning there will be a part 4 with talk on a few highlights from the movie.

Credit to MegaPizzaGirl123, ShippudenBleach101, and michaels.

Also known as Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Road to Ninja, Naruto Shippuden Movie 6, among others, Road to Ninja is the 9th movie overall in the Naruto series. It will debut in Japanese theaters July 28, 2012. Naruto’s creator, Masashi Kishimoto will be personally involved with the movie, creating the story and providing character designs. To learn more, please visit the Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie section.