ACF 265: Another free simulcast of "Naruto Shippuden" on April 9, 2009 from VIZ

VIZ MEDIA SIMULCASTS

ANOTHER FREE EPISODE OF NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ON NARUTO.COM

Visit Naruto.com On April 9^th To Watch The Newest NARUTO Shippuden Animated Adventure For Free The Same Day It Airs In Japan

San Francisco, CA, APRIL 6, 2009 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media) announces the simultaneous airing of NARUTO Shippuden Episode 103 (English subtitled) on its official web site – Naruto.com. TV Tokyo has made this special episode available for simulcast on April 9th in North America on http://www.naruto.com/ and www.crunchyroll.com/naruto.

“We have received enthusiastic viewer response when we first began streaming NARUTO, and we are very pleased to present a brand new NARUTO Shippuden episode on April 9^th,” says Ken Sasaki, Vice President of Strategy & Business Development, VIZ Media. “We’re very committed to cultivating the web as an innovative medium for fans to enjoy the latest NARUTO adventures and fan culture in a variety of fun ways. From leading web social networking outlets and content providers such as iTunes^®, Hulu and Joost, to a special accelerated manga publishing campaign that has offered 7 new NARUTO volumes between March and April, there’s plenty to look forward to from the world’s most popular ninja.”

Created by Masashi Kishimoto, NARUTO was first introduced in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in Japan in 1999 and quickly became that country’s most popular ninja manga targeting tweens and teens and has more than 85 million copies circulated in Japan to-date. The manga series (rated ‘T’ for Teens) and animated counterpart (rated TV-14) about a young ninja in training is one of VIZ Media’s most successful properties, and captivates millions of fans across North America, Europe and South America.

In the NARUTO manga and animated series, Naruto Uzumaki wants to be the best ninja in the land. He's done well so far, but Naruto knows he must train harder than ever and leaves his village for intense exercises that will push him to his limits. NARUTO Shippuden begins two and a half years later, when Naruto returns to find that everyone has been promoted up the ninja ranks – except him. Sakura’s a medic ninja, Gaara’s advanced to Kazekage, and Kakashi… well, he remains the same. But pride isn’t necessarily becoming of a ninja, especially when Naruto realizes that Sasuke never returned from his search for Orochimaru. Plus, the mysterious Akatsuki organization is still an ever-present danger. As Naruto finds out more about the Akatsuki’s goals, he realizes that nothing in his universe is as it seems. Naruto is finding that he’s older, but will he also prove wiser and stronger?

Earlier NARUTO Shippuden episodes are also currently available for free at www.Naruto.com and through a variety of other web-based, video streaming outlets that have partnered with VIZ Media, including Hulu and Joost. For more information on NARUTO please visit the official NARUTO website at www.Naruto.com.