My Thoughts on the Last Naruto Movie
I saw the The Last: Naruto the Movie on its opening day December 6th in Japanese. Surprisingly, I understood about 90% of the movie without subtitles. As a special bonus for people who saw the film on opening day, the movie theater gave everyone a free Official Movie Guide Book filled with tons of artwork for everyone's character redesign for the movie. The movie guide even has a cute little side story between Naruto and Hinata that takes place after the events of the movie. Cool.
I went into the theater with the expectation that this movie would focus
...
more on love than action, but I never expected that it would it focus that much on love. Nevertheless, there is still action within the movie and the movie delivers its action scenes very smoothly. I like to imagine the movie as a double helix. On one strand, you have action. And on the other, romance. I'll begin by talking about the action.
Do you remember that hopeless goofball from Part I of Naruto that struggled to do almost everything? Well, he's grown up. The movie takes place 2 or 3 years after the events of the manga (I forgot how many years) , Kakashi is Hokage and Naruto is the Hero of the Fourth Great Shinobi War. His hair is shorter now and he's got some new threads. This is a brand new Naruto. When the enemy's army first arrives to kidnap Hinata, Naruto springs into action--and he is magnificient. As Naruto dashes after Hinata, numerous fodder shinobi jump in his way to halt his actions. I don't think they knew who they were dealing with. Naruto has transcended to the point where he is able to destroy the fodder shinobi with simply one punch or kick without needing to break his dash. Nevertheless, a few fodder remain. As the fodder shinobi hover in the sky, Naruto charges up a single yellow, Wind Style: Rasenshuriken with one hand that acts like a guided missile and decimates them all in one of the most beautiful explosions of the series. He isn't using Sage Mode powers; he isn't using Nine Tails powers; he's using Naruto powers. I won't describe anymore action scenes besides this one, but this was perhaps the first time in the entire series I saw Naruto's resemblance to his dad. Naruto has become a genius. He's even converted me, one of the most anti-Naruto fans there were, to become his fan. This scene is actually one of the earlier scenes of the movie, but you can expect more badassery from Naruto in the following scenes as well.
The romance. I have mixed feelings about Naruto's relationship with Hinata. First off, the relationship makes sense. Hinata has always been there for Naruto, even without Naruto noticing. And Naruto has always been there for Hinata, even without Naruto noticing. The movie does an absolutely beautiful job at showing the next step in the progression of the NaruHina relationship as the most natural thing in the world for both characters. Although the background characters in this Naruto movie shine far less than usual, I really want to express my content with Sakura's character in the film. Without overexerting herself, Sakura plays Cupid. She's a close female friend that can relate to Hinata's struggle of trying to be noticed by the one she loves, and does her best to help Hinata build up her confidence to confess to Naruto. And on the other side, as Naruto's best female friend, Sakura tries her best to explain the birds and the bees to Naruto; in other words, what the difference between "I love ramen" and "I love you" is. Sakura seems a lot more mature in this movie than she ever has before and I really like her character. Back to Naruto and Hinata.
My major problem with the NaruHina relationship in the movie is that the strong emphasis on love takes the series in a new direction that I don't exactly like--it's as if the series is no longer Naruto. I liked most of the romantic undertones in the series prior to the movie because they were just that--undertones. The series was not about love. Simply, the romantic undertones provided a quick joke or added a little drama here or there. Admittedly, the strong love interest by Hinata and Sakura were used at times to drive the plot of the series, but those feelings never took away from the action of the series. My other issue with the pairing is not necessarily an issue, just a comment really. Having pairings in the Naruto universe realized is just a weird feeling. Because the show was never about pairings, it always seemed to me that pairings were invited by fans, and used by fans to argue amongst themselves. It's just weird to me having certain pairings becoming canon.
All in all, this was a fantastic movie. It kind of feels like a Hollywood blockbuster; I can totally see this movie being done with real life actors. I recommend the movie to ALL fans of the Naruto series. Because the movie takes place after the manga, this is the real end to the series. Seeing Naruto blown up on the big screen was an absolutely amazing experience.
I give the movie 4/5 stars.
P.S. If I really have to think about it, I guess I was more of a NaruSaku fan than a NaruHina fan, so I guess I'm a little bitter at that XD
Feb 2, 2015
The Last: Naruto the Movie
(Anime)
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My Thoughts on the Last Naruto Movie
I saw the The Last: Naruto the Movie on its opening day December 6th in Japanese. Surprisingly, I understood about 90% of the movie without subtitles. As a special bonus for people who saw the film on opening day, the movie theater gave everyone a free Official Movie Guide Book filled with tons of artwork for everyone's character redesign for the movie. The movie guide even has a cute little side story between Naruto and Hinata that takes place after the events of the movie. Cool. I went into the theater with the expectation that this movie would focus ... 
Feb 2, 2015
Naruto: Shippuuden
(Anime)
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My Thoughts on the Ending of Naruto
First thing first. I will miss Naruto like no other. I first came into contact with Naruto way back in the 7th grade of middle school when it used to air in English on Toonami. It was love at first sight. The date was September 10th, 2005. I eagerly awaited each week for new episodes, and Naruto never disappointed, even on its worst episode. Fast forward 9 years later, and I'm still eagerly awaiting each new episode every week, even though I have already finished the events of the manga. Critics of Naruto say that the anime/ manga has ... |
