Naruto premiered in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine in 1999.[13] The first 238 chapters are known as Part I, and constitute the first part of the Naruto storyline. Manga chapters 239 to 244 comprise a gaiden series focusing on the background of the character Kakashi Hatake. All subsequent chapters belong to Part II, which continues the storyline in Part I after a two and a half year time gap. The Naruto manga is serialized in North America by Viz Media in their manga anthology magazine Shonen Jump, with the first chapter of the English adaptation published in the January 2003 issue.[14] To compensate for the gap between the Japanese and English adaptations of the manga, Viz implemented its "Naruto Nation" campaign, where it released three volumes a month in the last four months of 2007 in order to close said gap.[15] Cammie Allen, Viz's product manager, commented that, their main reason for the schedule was to catch up to the Japanese release schedule to give their readers a similar experience to that of Japanese readers.[15] A similar campaign was planned for 2009, with eleven volumes from Part II of the series being released between February and April in order to catch up to the Japanese serialization. Starting with the release of volume forty-five in July, Viz will begin releasing Naruto on a quarterly basis.[16]

As of April 2010[update], 51 tankōbon have been released by Shueisha in Japan, with the first twenty-seven tankōbon containing Part I, and the remaining twenty-four belonging to Part II. The first tankōbon was released on March 3, 2000.[17][18] In addition, several tankōbon, each containing ani-manga based one of the Naruto movies, have been released by Shueisha.[19][20][21][22] In Japanese, Shueisha has also released the series for cell-phone download on their website Shueisha Manga Capsule.[23] Viz has released 46 volumes of the English adaptation of the manga with the first being published on October 6, 2009.[24][25] In addition, Viz Media released all twenty-seven volumes in a boxed set, thus constituting the entirety of the Naruto storyline before Part II on November 13, 2007.[26]

Anime series
Naruto
Main article: List of Naruto episodes
Directed by Hayato Date and produced by Studio Pierrot and TV Tokyo, the Naruto anime adaptation premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo October 3, 2002, and ran for 220 episodes until its conclusion on February 8, 2007.[27][28] The first 135 episodes are adapted from the first twenty-seven volumes of the manga, while the remaining eighty episodes are original episodes that utilize plot elements not seen in the original manga.[29] Beginning on April 29, 2009, the original Naruto anime began a rerun on Wednesdays and Thursdays (until the fourth week September 2009 when it changed to just Wednesdays) in HDTV with new opening and ending themes under the name Shōnen Hen (少年篇?, "Youth Version").

Episodes from the series have been published in DVD. The first DVD series has been the only one to be collected in VHS format.[30] There are a total of five series, with each of the including four episodes per volume.[31] The series has also been collected in a series of three DVD boxes during 2009.[32][33] The newest DVD series is Naruto The Best Scene which collects scenes from the first 135 episodes from the anime.[34]

Viz licensed the anime series for broadcast and distribution in the Region 1 market. The English adaptation of the anime began airing on September 10, 2005 and finished on January 31, 2009, with 209 episodes aired.[35] The episodes have been shown on Cartoon Network's Toonami (United States), YTV's Bionix (Canada) and Jetix's (United Kingdom) programming blocks. YTV still airs the show with newer ones at midnight on Sundays and with reruns at 4am on Tuesdays-Fridays. Beginning on March 28, 2006, Viz released the series on DVD.[36] While the first 26 volumes contain four episodes, since DVD volumes have five episodes.[37] Uncut editions are compiled in DVD Box Sets, each containing 12-15 episodes, with some variation based around story arcs.[38] In the American broadcast, references to alcohol, Japanese culture, sexual innuendo, and the appearance of blood and death were sometimes reduced for the broadcast, but left in the DVD editions.[39] Other networks make additional content edits apart from the edits done by Cartoon Network, such as Jetix's stricter censoring of blood, language, smoking and the like. The series has also been licensed to the websites Hulu, Joost, and Crunchyroll, which air episodes online with the original Japanese audio tracks and English subtitles.[40][41][42] The last Naruto episode aired on YTV's Bionix block on December 6, 2009 at 12:30am ET.[43]

Naruto: Shippuden
Main article: List of Naruto: Shippuden episodes
Naruto: Shippuden (ナルト 疾風伝, Naruto Shippūden?, lit. "Naruto: Hurricane Chronicles") is the ongoing sequel to the original Naruto anime and covers the Naruto manga from volume twenty-eight on. The TV adaptation of Naruto: Shippuden debuted in Japan on February 15, 2007 on TV Tokyo. It is developed by Studio Pierrot and directed by Hayato Date.[29][44] ABS-CBN is the first TV network outside Japan to broadcast Naruto: Shippuden; it aired the first 40 episodes of Naruto: Shippuden, running the show through March 19, 2008. On January 8, 2009, TV Tokyo began broadcasting new episodes via internet streaming directly to monthly subscribers. Each streamed episode is made available online within an hour of its Japanese premiere and includes English subtitles.[45] Viz began streaming English subtitled episodes on January 2, 2009, on its official website for the series. The uploaded episodes include both previously released episodes and the new episodes from Japan.[46] since October 2009, the English dub of Naruto: Shippuden started airing weekly on Disney XD.[47] and has been editing out all the blood, and most of the violence, but like the original Naruto anime, Viz is releasing bilingual DVDs featuring the original Japanese version with English subtitles and an uncut English dub of Shippuden.

The series is being released to Region 2 DVD in Japan with four or five episodes per disc. There are currently four series of DVD releases divided by story arc.[48] There is also a special feature included with the seventh Naruto: Shippuden compilation DVD based on the second ending of the series called Hurricane! "Konoha Academy" Chronicles.[49] Besides the regular DVD series, on December 16, 2009 Kakashi Chronicles: Boys' Life on the Battlefield (カカシ外伝～戦場のボーイズライフ～, Kakashi Gaiden ~Senjō no Bōizu Raifu~?) was released featuring episodes 119-120 which are set during Kakashi Hatake's childhood.[50] The first North American DVD of the series was released on September 29, 2009.[51]

CDs

Cover of Naruto Shippūden Original SoundtrackThe Naruto soundtracks were composed and arranged by Toshio Masuda. The first, titled Naruto Original Soundtrack, was released on April 3, 2003 and contained twenty-two tracks that appeared during the first season of the anime.[52] The second, called Naruto Original Soundtrack II was released on March 18, 2004 and contained nineteen tracks.[53] The third, called Naruto Original Soundtrack III was released on April 27, 2005 and contained twenty-three tracks.[54]

A series of two soundtracks containing all the opening and ending themes of the series, titled Naruto: Best Hit Collection and Naruto: Best Hit Collection II were released on November 17, 2004 and August 2, 2006, respectively.[55][56] Of all tracks of the series, eight were selected and released as a CD called Naruto in Rock -The Very Best Hit Collection Instrumental Version- that was released on December 19, 2007.[57] Each of the three movies of the first anime series has a soundtrack that was released near its release date.[58][59][60] Various Drama CD series have also been released in which the voice actors play original episodes.[61]

The soundtracks of Naruto: Shippuden have been produced by Yasuharu Takanashi. The first, Naruto Shippūden Original Soundtrack was released on December 9, 2007.[62] The second CD, Naruto Shippuden Original Soundtrack II, was published on December 16, 2009.[63] Naruto All Stars was released on July 23, 2008 and consists of ten original Naruto songs remixed and sung by characters from the series.[64] The two films from the sequel also had their soundtracks, with the first released on August 1, 2007 and the second on July 30, 2008.[65][66]

Original video animations
There are five Naruto original video animations (OVAs). The first two, Find the Crimson Four-Leaf Clover! and Mission: Protect the Waterfall Village!, were aired at the Shōnen Jump Jump Festa 2003 and Jump Festa 2004, respectively, and were later released on DVD.[67] The English localization of the second OVA was released on DVD by Viz on May 22, 2007.[68] The third OVA, Finally a clash! Jonin VS Genin!! Indiscriminate grand melee tournament meeting!!, was released on a bonus disc with the Japanese edition of the Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3 video game for the PlayStation 2.[69] The fourth OVA, Konoha Annual Sports Festival, is a short video released with the first Naruto movie. In North America, the OVA was included in the "Deluxe Edition" DVD from the first film.[70] The fifth OVA, Naruto: The Cross Roads, was featured at the Jump Festa 2010. It is focused on the character of Sasuke Uchiha during the time he was in Team 7.[71]

Films
The series has also spawned six films; with the first three situated during the first anime series, the remaining from Naruto: Shippūden. The first film, Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow, was released on August 21, 2004 in Japan. It tells how Team 7 is dispatched to the Land of Snow to protect the actors during the shooting of the new Princess Fuun movie, to whom Naruto became a fan. As a bonus, the short original video animation Konoha Annual Sports Festival was included with the Japanese release of the film.[72] It premiered on September 6, 2007 in the United States.[73][74]

It was followed by Legend of the Stone of Gelel, which was released in theaters in Japan on August 6, 2005. The film involves Naruto, Shikamaru and Sakura during a ninja mission in which they are involved in a war between the Sunagakure village and a large number of armored warriors.[75] Unlike its predecessor, Legend of the Stone of Gelel did not see a theatrical release in the United States, and was direct-to-video instead. It aired on Cartoon Network on July 26, 2008 and then was released to DVD July 29, 2008.[76]

The third film, Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom, was originally released on August 5, 2006. It shows how Naruto, Sakura, Lee, and Kakashi are assigned to protect the future prince of the Land of Moon, Hikaru Tsuki.[77] The English dub of the movie aired on Cartoon Network and was released to DVD on November 11, 2008.[78][79] On July 3, 2008, Sony released a Japanese DVD Box containing the first three movies.[80]

The series' fourth film, Naruto: Shippūden the Movie, was released on August 4, 2007, and chronicles Naruto's assignment to protect the priest Shion who starts having visions of his death.[81] The fifth film, Naruto Shippūden 2: Bonds, was released on August 2, 2008. It tells how ninja from the Sky Country attack Konoha and to stop them, Naruto and Sasuke join forces although the latter has already left two years ago.[82] The latest film is Naruto Shippūden 3: Inheritors of the Will of Fire, which premiered in Japan on August 1, 2009.[83] Naruto Shippūden 4: The Lost Tower is scheduled for July 31, 2010.[84]

Light novels
Three Naruto light novels, written by Masatoshi Kusakabe, have been published in Japan by Shueisha, while the first two were released in English in North America by Viz. The first, Naruto: Innocent Heart, Demonic Blood (白の童子、血風の鬼人?), retells Team 7's mission in which they encounter the assassins Zabuza and Haku. It was released on December 16, 2002 in Japan and November 21, 2006 in North America.[85][86] The second novel Naruto: Mission: Protect the Waterfall Village! (滝隠れの死闘　オレが英雄だってばよ！, Takigakure no Shitō Ore ga Eiyū dattebayo!?, lit. The Waterfall Village's Fight to the Death I am the Hero!), based on the 2nd original video animation of the anime, was published on December 15, 2003 in Japan and October 16, 2007 in the United States.[87][88] The latest novel is an adaptation of the first Naruto film and was published on August 23, 2004.[89] Viz has also started to publish new novels called Chapter Books written by Tracey West, and with illustrations from the manga. Unlike the series, the novels are aimed to children aged 7 to 10 years old.[90] The first two novels were released on October 7, 2008 and currently at least 11 novel have been published.