Masashi Kishimoto
Following the conclusion of "Naruto", Kishimoto became involved in the "Start of a New Era Project" commemorating the manga's conclusion and 15th anniversary. On the last page of the final chapter, "Weekly Shonen Jump" announced that a spin-off miniseries, also authored by Kishimoto, would be released in 2015. The series, "", ran from April to July 2015. Beyond this, Kishimoto was also heavily involved with two canonical movies, "" and "", as he personally supervised both movies, and illustrated several light novels. When asked by Boruto Uzumaki's voice actress Yūko Sanpei to continue making "Naruto" movies, Kishimoto stated that he was taking a break and could not physically do so.
Jiraiya (Naruto)
Several manga, anime, and video game reviewers have praised the character of Jiraiya. Davey Jones of "ActiveAnime" regarded Jiraiya’s training with Naruto as good comic relief and stated that the two characters are similar. "AnimeonDVD"s Justin Rich praised Jiraiya’s introduction in the series, describing him as a funny character. Jason Van Horn of "IGN" commented on Jiraiya's relationship with Naruto, writing that "they share so much in common". Matt Shingleton of "DVDTimes" viewed Jiraiya as "the greatest character Masashi Kishimoto [had] ever created in this series" and further said that "besides the fact he fills the comical pervert archetype [he is] one of the strongest characters in the series and just about everything about him is rough and unpredictable". Jason Thompson praised the character's Sage Mode, commenting that it would make a good cosplay. He also expressed shock at the character's death while fighting Pain, considering him a sympathetic person. Luke Carroll of "Anime News Network" enjoyed David Lodge's role as Jiraiya's English voice actor.