While the rest of the world celebrated Batman Day recently, one Anime has something to celebrate as well. Naruto, the incredibly popular Anime based on a manga, is celebrating its 20th Anniversary. The makers are planning a big event on their current Anime, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. Finally, Boruto meets Naruto.

Boruto Meets Naruto, Where It All Began

Like many Anime, Naruto started as a Japanese Manga released 20 years ago. The long-running Manga then became an anime series and eventually, become a multimedia franchise. Naruto is also one of the most recognizable Anime out there, with many casual audiences being aware of the main character of Naruto himself.

Image via Toonami

Naruto is all about the adventures of a young orphaned boy as he desires to become the greatest ninja the world has seen. To do this, he has to first become the leader of his own village. However, to do so, he has to overcome the struggles of being an outcast. And the reason he’s such a black sheep is a secret he needs to confront. Naruto works as one of the best underdog anime about trying to become a hero, without ever realizing his own true potential.

Beyond the Anime and Manga, Naruto also features countless feature films as well as original web shorts. The series has had a huge impact on, not just Japanese, but American pop-culture as well.

The Naruto Run At Area 51

The now infamous ‘Naruto Run’ comes from the popular anime. It’s an action that involves a fighter preparing for battle, by putting their head down, leaning forward and running with their arms straight back. It’s a ninja attack that the Anime made very popular.

Before recent events, the Naruto Run was an Anime inspired gesture or action that fans mimicked to show their love for the property. Similar to the Kamehameha wave from Dragon Ball Z. However, most recently, the Naruto Run has become a glorious Internet meme.

Headed into the weekend like… #area51raid #Area51storm #Area51Celebration #Area51 pic.twitter.com/kDHBaYQpgY

— Ced (@cedfunches) September 20, 2019

There was a recent ‘event’ known as #StormArea51, created to expose the allegedly secret government facility that experiments with Aliens. While the whole thing was a joke, many took it seriously and actually came to the event. One man was actually seen in news footage, doing the Naruto Run to storm the facility.

It’s a hilarious incident that has now become an Internet sensation. But it just goes to show the impact that Naruto has had on general pop culture.

Naruto’s Legend Continues In Its Sequel

Currently, there is a sequel to Naruto on the air titled Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. The series follows the son of Naruto, Boruto. While it’s a similar story about a boy wanting to be a great ninja, the approach and character arcs differ. While Naruto faced an uphill battle to become accepted, Boruto comes from a place of privilege. His redemption arc is different than his father’s as he has to temper himself to seek greatness.

The Nostalgic Crossover Where Boruto Meets Naruto

Image via Toonami

With Naruto celebrating its 20th Anniversary of the manga, the makers are planning a huge crossover. In an upcoming story arc of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Boruto will actually meet a younger version of his father, Naruto. The how’s and why’s are still under wraps. But it looks to be an epic crossover. How will meeting his father affect Boruto? Will Naruto know that Boruto is his future son?

We’ll have to wait until the arc of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations debuts sometimes in October 2019.

What do you think about his Anime crossover? Let us know in the comments below.

Featured image via Toonami.

Shah Shahid is an entertainment writer, movie critic (so he thinks), host of the Split Screen Podcast (on Apple Podcasts & everywhere else) and filmy father on a mission to educate his girls on decades of film history. Armed with uncontrollable sarcasm and cautious optimism, Shah loves discussing film, television and comic book content until his wife’s eyes glaze over. So save her by engaging him on his own blog at BlankPageBeatdown.com or on Twitter @theshahshahid.