The episodes of the anime series Naruto: Shippuden are directed by Hayato Date and produced by Studio Pierrot and TV Tokyo. They are based on Part II of the Naruto manga series by Masashi Kishimoto. Naruto: Shippuden is a continuation of the Naruto manga series by Kishimoto, and continues the same storyline after the passing of two and a half years in the fictional Naruto universe. The episodes began airing on February 15, 2007 and have all been shown on TV Tokyo in Japan.On January 2, 2009 Viz Media and Crunchyroll began providing eight English subtitled Naruto: Shippuden episodes on the official Naruto website every week until it has caught up to the Japanese anime.