In Japan, the season released in both VHS and DVD format. After the 52nd episode, it was removed from the schedule rotation to make room for its successor series, Naruto: Shippuden. The season's first 52 episodes ran on Adult Swim's relaunched Toonami block in a completely uncut format from Decemto November 30, 2013. The English dub ran from Septemto Novemon Cartoon Network's Toonami programming block in the United States and YTV's Bionix programming block in Canada. The first season ran from Octoto Novemon TV Tokyo. Based on Masashi Kishimoto's manga series, the season follows Naruto Uzumaki living in the Hidden Leaf Village, determined to become the next Hokage and gain the respect of the villagers. The first season of the Naruto anime series is directed by Hayato Date, and produced by Pierrot and TV Tokyo.
