Naruto anime rights and licensing: who owns what
Naruto's rights structure has been stable for two decades: Kishimoto, Shueisha, TV Tokyo, and Pierrot in Japan, and VIZ Media as the master licensor in the Americas.
Published: 2026-08-19. Updated: 2026-08-19.
Short answer: Naruto is based on Masashi Kishimoto's manga, which ran in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump from 1999 to late 2014. The anime copyright notice reads Kishimoto/Shueisha, TV Tokyo, Pierrot: the creator and publisher, the Japanese broadcaster, and the animation studio. VIZ Media holds the English-language manga license and has acquired North and Latin American digital, broadcast, home media, and master merchandising rights for the anime franchise, including Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
Who owns the Naruto property?
The base layer is Masashi Kishimoto's manga. VIZ Media's official Naruto page confirms Kishimoto as author and artist, the series' 1999 debut in Weekly Shonen Jump, and its conclusion in late 2014, after which Kishimoto continued writing Naruto-related works including the story for Boruto: Naruto the Movie.
The anime side is documented on the official Japanese franchise site, whose copyright notice reads Kishimoto/Shueisha, TV Tokyo, Pierrot. That four-party line names the creator, the publisher, the broadcaster, and the animation studio, the same four-party structure that appears across the franchise's anime properties.
The roles of Shueisha, TV Tokyo, and Pierrot
Shueisha publishes the manga and anchors the franchise's rights in Japan. TV Tokyo is the broadcast partner and a core anime rights holder, which is why the network appears in the copyright notice alongside the publisher. Studio Pierrot is the animation studio named in that notice, the party responsible for producing the franchise's anime series.
The sequel series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations follows the same template, with Pierrot continuing as studio and TV Tokyo as broadcaster. The official site carries separate notices for the Boruto manga, credited to Kishimoto and artist Mikio Ikemoto with Shueisha, and for the anime line.
Publicly documented Naruto rights structure.| Party | Role | Rights layer |
|---|
| Masashi Kishimoto / Shueisha | Manga creator and publisher | Underlying work, named in anime copyright |
| TV Tokyo | Japanese broadcaster | Joint anime copyright holder |
| Studio Pierrot | Animation studio | Joint anime copyright holder, series production |
| VIZ Media | Master licensor for the Americas | Manga, anime digital, broadcast, home media, merchandising |
| Hulu | US streaming partner | Boruto simulcast premiere partner in 2017 |
How Naruto is licensed in the Americas
The clearest territory-specific announcement came in March 2017, when VIZ Media said it had acquired North American and Latin American digital, broadcast, home media, and master merchandising rights to Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, with Hulu as the US simulcast partner premiering episodes the same day as Japan from April 5, 2017.
VIZ Media acts as the franchise's master licensor in the Americas: it publishes the manga, distributes the anime, and grants merchandise licenses to third parties. That master-license structure is why Naruto products and broadcasts in the region trace back to VIZ.
How the rights pieces fit by territory
Outside the Americas, Naruto anime rights are licensed territory by territory through TV Tokyo and its partners, so platform availability varies by country. Streaming, broadcast, home video, and merchandise are separate licenses with their own terms and durations.
The franchise also splits by generation: Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, and Boruto each carry their own licenses and, on the manga side, the Boruto continuation has its own credit line for Kishimoto and Ikemoto. A deal covering one series does not automatically cover the others.
Ownership uncertainty note: The four-party copyright line and VIZ Media's Americas rights are on the record. Not public: the revenue split among Kishimoto, Shueisha, TV Tokyo, and Pierrot, current per-territory streaming windows, and the present scope of VIZ's anime catalog rights as platforms change.
Why the structure matters
Naruto is an example of a mature, stable rights stack: the same Japanese rights quartet for over twenty years, and a single master licensor managing the Americas across publishing, streaming, broadcast, and merchandising.
For commercial tracking, that means Naruto headlines map cleanly to owners. A manga milestone belongs to Kishimoto and Shueisha, a broadcast or streaming deal runs through TV Tokyo and its licensees, and Americas merchandise programs are VIZ Media's lane.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns the anime rights to Naruto?
The anime copyright is held by Masashi Kishimoto and Shueisha together with TV Tokyo and Studio Pierrot, per the official site's notice. No single company owns the franchise.
Who licenses Naruto in North America?
VIZ Media. In 2017 it announced North and Latin American digital, broadcast, home media, and master merchandising rights for Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, and it publishes the Naruto manga in English.
Does Studio Pierrot own Naruto?
Pierrot is a joint anime copyright holder and the animation studio named on the franchise's official site, but the underlying property belongs to Kishimoto and Shueisha with TV Tokyo.
When did the Naruto manga run?
The manga debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999 and concluded in late 2014, according to VIZ Media's official series page.
Sources and methodology
- NARUTO official site, Naruto official franchise site. Official Japanese franchise site carrying the anime copyright notice: Kishimoto/Shueisha, TV Tokyo, Pierrot, with a separate Boruto manga notice for Kishimoto and Ikemoto.
- Naruto manga page, VIZ Media. Official English publisher page: Masashi Kishimoto as author and artist, 1999 Weekly Shonen Jump debut, and the series' conclusion in late 2014.
- VIZ Media acquires rights to Boruto: Naruto Next Generations anime series, Animation World Network. March 2017 announcement: VIZ Media acquired North and Latin American digital, broadcast, home media, and master merchandising rights, with Hulu as the US simulcast partner from April 5, 2017.