STORYTELLING, RENEWED

JAPANESE ANIME AND MANGA SERIES NARUTO CELEBRATES ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY, AND MONTBLANC MARKS THE OCCASION WITH A SPECIAL COLLECTION THAT SITS AT THE CROSSROADS OF PURPOSEFUL LEGACY AND COMPELLING STORIES

- FARISIA THANG

Think anime and first thing comes to is likely Naruto. Since its inception, the Japanese manga and anime series become recognized as a high measure of storytelling - all 720 episodes of it. Over the years, it has stood out as one of the best-selling manga series of all time, with 250 million copies sold in 46 countries to date.

For the uninitiated, Naruto follows the adventures of Naruto Uzumaki, a young, orphaned ninja who navigates a fictional world in his search of recognition and fulfilling his ambition of becoming the Hokage, his village's leader, and strongest ninja. Essentially, it's a series with fascinating characters and compelling stories so influential that it's made its way into the pop culture zeitgeist.

Which explains why German maison Montblanc celebrates the series' 20-year anniversary with a special collection. With its roots firmly anchored in the culture of writing, Montblanc supports the art of creative storytelling, and hence the cultural influence of Naruto. While it may seem like an unexpected pairing to the masses, the maison thinks it has actually been a long time coming. More than an expression of fine craftsmanship across products like writing instruments, watches, leather goods, new technologies, and accessories, Montblanc believes that everyone can leave a mark - not just as a way to achieve success, but simply as part of a purposeful journey.

As Montblanc CEO Nicolas Baretzki shares, "We do very few collaborations. The fact that we are kind of the owner of the writing instrument category I think it's our responsibility to express that craft in different ways. While tradition is usually the case, we thought it would be meaningful to also celebrate all forms of writing, starting with manga."