The Naruto franchise has teamed up with luxury goods manufacturer Montblanc to launch a stunning line of very expensive collectibles.
The collection's description on Montblanc's website reads, "Celebrating 20 years of the award-winning anime, this bold and expressive collection from Montblanc brings the storytelling of Naruto to life across stylish writing instruments, leather goods and smartwatches." The cheapest items are a 50 ml ink bottle, priced at $40, and a notebook that features a picture of Naruto, Rasengan in hand, priced at $90. In contrast, the most expensive items are a Naruto-and-Jiraiya-themed tote bag for $1,370 and a black-and-orange Smartwatch for $1,570. The collection also includes multiple fountain pens engraved with Naruto iconography; they range in price from $790 to $1,035.
Naruto Merch Is in Demand
Montblanc isn't the only company the Naruto franchise has partnered with to create unique merchandise. Notably, the furniture company Secretlab recently released its TITAN Evo 2022 series of computer chairs, and two of the chairs found inspiration from the classic ninja series. One features the Akatsuki organization's red cloud symbol, and the other showcases the seal that binds Kurama inside Naruto.
Studio Pierrot's first anime adaptation of Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto manga premiered in 2002 and ran for 220 episodes. The sequel series, Naruto Shippuden, debuted in 2007 and included a total of 500 episodes. The story follows the titular orange-clad shinobi, who has a dream of becoming the leader of his village. Alongside his teacher, Kakashi, and teammates, Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto hones his skills and discovers the dark secrets of his world. Naruto, along with Tite Kubo's Bleach and Eiichiro Oda's One Piece, is considered one of the shonen genre's Big Three and remains incredibly popular to this day.
There are more ways to celebrate the anime series' 20th anniversary than just spending money on expensive collectibles. For example, many fans are breathing new life into the classic Naruto Ninja Run meme. Moreover, the creative team behind the franchise has produced a plethora of special celebratory artwork. Kishimoto has released multiple new visuals highlighting the adventures of Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto. Pierrot has dropped a promotional video that features reanimated versions of classic moments from both anime series.
While the Naruto anime will no longer be available to stream on Netflix after Oct. 31, fans can find the show on both Crunchyroll and Hulu. VIZ Media distributes Kishimoto's manga series in North America and the United Kingdom.
Source: Montblanc
