News
Disney XD to Add Naruto Shippūden in U.S. (Updated)
posted on by Egan Loo
The Hollywood Reporter newspaper has revealed and Viz Media has confirmed that the Naruto Shippūden anime series will run on the Disney XD channel in the United States starting next month. The sequel series takes place two and a half years after the first Naruto anime series as the older, somewhat more mature title character returns to his village of Konoha and faces the Akatsuki criminal ninja organization. The series has been streaming online on several websites, including ANN, since January.
The first Naruto anime series based on Masashi Kishimoto's ninja manga ran on the Cartoon Network until this year, shortly after the network had also ended its Toonami programming block. Viz Media publishes the original manga and also releases the DVDs of the anime adaptations.
Disney XD is The Walt Disney Company's television channel aimed primarily, but not exclusively, to boys. It has also run Digimon: Data Squad and Oban Star-Racers.
Thank you to the ADVNation blog for the news tip.
Image © 2002 Masashi Kishimoto / 2007 Shippuden
Update: More background and story information added.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history