After 15 Years, 'Naruto' Manga Series is Ending Next Month - Marking the Near-End of the Whole Franchise

By Adelyn Torralba Oct 12, 2014 05:08 AM EDT

After 15 Years, 'Naruto' Manga Series is Ending Next Month - Marking the Near-End of the Whole Franchise

After fifteen solid years, over 679 chapters, 22 seasons of anime series, 10 feature films and lots of plot twists and turns, the "Naruto" franchise, written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto, is coming to an end next month, according to Kotaku. The last entry of the manga series will appear in the Weekly Shonen Jump and will go on sale on November 10, in Japan.

"Naruto" was first published on September 21, 1999 on the 43^rd issue of the Jump magazine. It has then spawn into great popularity in 2002 when it was adapted into a television anime, spanning 220 episodes for the first season, and 378 episodes for the current season, and still ongoing. Within that almost 600-episode span, "Naruto" went from being an aspiring ninja, to a half-human, half-beast, in which avid fans witnessed, even though sometimes being frustrated because of sudden side-stories within the whole broadcast. Nevertheless, as IGN reported, it has been regarded as one of the most popular manga and anime series in Japan for some time.

AnimeNewsNetwork earlier said in a report that author Masashi Kishimoto mentioned in 2012 the rising climax of the story and has the ending already in his mind. He also said that he had a year and a half to finish the series, but it looks like he took an extra half-year to finally put the series to an end. An earlier report by ShonenGamez also mentioned that the Naruto manga storyline will definitely end in 2014, in a convention in which Masashi Kishimoto has attended.

Apart from the manga / anime series and the films, the Naruto franchise has also spawned into game adaptations for the various video game consoles, most notably on the PS2, PS3 and PSP. The latest game, "Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution" was released for consoles just last month. The final film of the series, entitled "The Last Naruto The Movie", is scheduled to be released in Japanese theaters on December 6, 2014.