The Last Naruto Movie is, in fact, the last Naruto movie, not including the recent Boruto movie that follows a new generation. The movie was made to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Naruto and the ending of one era leading into the beginning of another. With original manga creator Masashi Kishimoto supervising and lending his hand to story concept and character designs I know I’m in for a good ride. The movie is coming to the UK through Manga UK who have handled all the Naruto releases thus far and even gave the sequel movie Boruto: Naruto the Movie a theatrical run.
“Two years have passed since the fated battle between Naruto and Sasuke in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. A comfortable peace has fallen over the village and the winter festival approaches with a bit more excitement than usual. Seasons of war have transformed Naruto and his friends into elite young warriors, but now they grow into the adults they were meant to be, forming bonds beyond friendship.
Naruto and Hinata approach this next stage with trepidation and find their progress stalled when a mysterious and dangerous man appears with a disturbing message; the end of the world is upon them. Once again Naruto and his friends are sent to investigate and stop the impossible: a falling moon! What is the tragic fate that connects this disaster with Hinata’s Hyuga Clan? And to what lengths will Naruto go to speak the words that will change his life?” – Manga UK
It’s very clear from the outset that this movie is heavily focused on the relationship between Naruto and Hinata. Something that we have all been dying to see come to fruition for so long is finally upon us. Set between chapters 699 and 700 of the manga, the movie feels very different from its predecessors. It personally feels more like an actual part of the main story and not just a fun side story and that’s because it is, it’s the first movie to be an official part of the Naruto storyline canon. This alone makes it a must-watch for fans of Naruto, even those that haven’t seen the previous movies.
A running theme throughout the early goings of the movie is how dense Naruto is when it comes to Hinata’s obvious feelings. This is something we have become accustomed to over the years and we’ve been rooting for Hinata all that time. Not only is Hinata always in the background, for most of the series, she is also pretty badass; her Byakugan ranks her up with the best of fighters and this movie gives her almost centre stage to showcase her stuff. I’ve always been a huge Hinata fan, since the really early chapters of the manga, and I’m glad we finally get to see more of her.
The movie is easily visually superior to the main television series, making great use of some vibrant colours and a predominantly night time setting. Naruto’s Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and our main villain Toneri’s own chakra that has a green glow look fantastic when they clash in battle. With a large portion of the movie taking place within the moon itself the world that has been created there look amazing albeit abandon and overgrown. Toneri’s castle at first appears rather out of place but gradually the eeriness of it really lends itself to Toneri’s warped sense of duty.
I have to admit that despite memorable voice acting, I struggle to recall any of the score from the movie. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it’s bad but rather forgettable which is a shame, but when you have impressive visuals and an awesome story something needs to take a back seat. The movie comes with various extras such as movie trailers, promos and commercials as well as trailers for Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Haikyu and One Piece Film Z, and, of course, a Naruto art gallery.
