Naruto Creator Masashi Kishimoto to Draw Short Manga Based on ‘Narutop 99’ Character Poll Winner

Fans worldwide can vote for “Narutop 99” character popularity poll winner until December 31

The Jump Festa ’23 event revealed on Saturday the “Narutop 99” worldwide character popularity poll in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Naruto franchise. The franchise’s original creator Masashi Kishimoto will draw an original short manga following the character who wins the poll.

The staff of the anime streamed a promotional video for the character poll event, which will run until December 31.

Fans can vote for their character of choice on the “Narutop 99” website and place one vote every day. This is the first time a character poll for the franchise is being held worldwide.

Kishimoto ended his main Naruto manga after 15 years of serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump in November 2014. He then wrote the one-volume sequel manga Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring. Kishimoto also worked on the script and character designs, and served as the chief production supervisor on the Boruto -Naruto the Movie- film sequel.

Mikie Ikemoto and Ukyō Kodachi launched the Boruto sequel manga in Weekly Shonen Jump in May 2016. The manga moved to Shueisha’s V Jump magazine in July 2019. Masashi Kishimoto took over for Kodachi as writer starting with the manga’s 52nd chapter in November 2020.

The Boruto: Naruto Next Generations television anime based on the manga premiered in April 2017. Viz Media is simulcasting the anime on Hulu as it airs in Japan, and Crunchyroll is also streaming the anime. The anime began airing on Adult Swim’s Toonami block in September 2018. Viz Media is releasing the anime on home video.

Sources: Jump Festa ’23 Super Stage livestream, Jump Comics’ YouTube channel