No. of episodes 17 | ||
The fourth season of the Naruto: Shippuden anime series is directed by Hayato Date, and produced by Studio Pierrot and TV Tokyo. They are based on Part II for Masashi Kishimoto's manga series. The season follows Shikamaru Nara attempting to avenge Asuma's death. The fourth season aired from August to December 2008 on TV Tokyo. It was also released on four DVDs in Japan by Aniplex between January 14 and May 13, 2009. The season was referred to by these DVDs as the chapter of Immortal Devastators — Hidan and Kakuzu (不死の破壊者、飛段・角都, Fushi no Hakaisha Hidan Kakuzu).
On January 2, 2009 Viz Media and Crunchyroll began providing subtitled Naruto: Shippuden episodes. The English dub aired on Disney XD between March 16 and July 23, 2011. Viz Media released the season in two DVD boxes on April 26 and July 12, 2011. Manga Entertainment collected it in two DVD boxes with the first one released on July 11, 2011 and the second set on November 7, 2011.
The opening themes for this season were "Blue Bird" (ブルーバード, Burūbādo) by Ikimono-gakari to episode 77 and "Closer" by Joe Inoue from episode 78 onward, and the ending themes were "Broken Youth" by NICO Touches the Walls to episode 77 and "Long Kiss Good Bye" by Halcali from episode 78 onward. The broadcast versions of episodes 70-73 include scenes from the movie in the opening themes, while still retaining the original music.