Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-24531362-20140904111518/@comment-1894786-20140908133150

Elveonora wrote: Ranmaru is non-canon

Kishi has never dismissed the anime as non-canon, the fans have. The anime could very well be 100% canon. They've certainly tried their best to keep it as close the manga as possible, aside from anime-exclusive arcs and changing some events around to account for anime arcs. I'll consider it canon until Kishi states otherwise. :P