Jul 23, 2015 11:52 PM
Non-seasonal Anime Movie Impressions - 1. Naruto: The Last
Anime Relations:
Naruto: Shippuuden, The Last: Naruto the Movie
Naruto's manga ended somewhere close to the end of last year, and this movie was released about a month after that as a sort of 'concluder' for the series. Almost 3/4 of a year after that, Naruto Shippuden (which I don't bother watching) is still ongoing, Naruto Gaiden ended a month or two back, and a movie revolving around Naruto's son is coming out in Japan next week. So much for ending the series - the franchise hasn't stopped at all, and if Dragonball is capable of not ending decades after the manga did, we could raise the same question for Naruto.
But these external circumstances aside, I was honestly quite looking forward to watching this movie. I initially planned on watching the Korean sub when it first came out, but... it just didn't sit right with me. We all knew long ago that this was going to be yet another milking of the franchise, but as a NaruHina shipper, I had always wanted to see how they would decide to clean up this one.
Of course, Naruto is not a series that focuses on romance - and it shouldn't be. But that doesn't stop Kishi from doing what he wants, and amongst the female cast, Hinata got quite a fair bit more development than some of the others, save perhaps Sakura. In the Pain arc, we see how Hinata finally stands up for what (who) she loves, and from there, we can see how she has developed from being that meek side character we first see in the first part of Naruto into a strong, young woman who is capable of putting up a fight (both literally and metaphorically speaking). Of course, the change in her character design also did wonders to exhibit her maturity (ahem), but all these changes drew me to the character in the first place, and knowing that Kishi was likely to ship her rather than Sakura, I hopped aboard the canon.
So it does make commercial sense to go about 'ending' the series on a high note. Of course, all those other ships were sunk (NaruSasu? Really, guys/girls?) in the manga's ending and we are left with a gap to fill in the story about how Naruto finally went for Hinata. So of course it should be no surprise that the movie, with this rather narrow focus in mind, would take on romance as part of its plot. They could have just ended it simply like that, but if one wants to go all the way... they may as well right? For the industry... more money - for the fans (of the ship in particular)... to fill in the gaps - for the haters (especially of this ship)... something more to rant about, especially with all that mess Kishi gave us in the final arc.
With these ideas in mind, it surprised me that people were expecting something great and serious from the movie. I cannot deny that their points make sense, but perhaps they should've considered some of these factors when they were watching it. It was obvious from the start that the bait was for shippers and fans of the series in general who wanted some closure on Naruto's character, but still it could not be taken seriously. On to the movie itself.
The plot of the movie itself is actually... quite rehashed. For the critics, this is one of their two main valid points, I feel. It acts precisely like a filler, and it doesn't try to hide this too much. Having not watched all those Naruto fillers, and generally one who avoids fillers in most series, I did not feel too enraged by this - probably because I haven't been exposed to fillers on a constant basis. It is however, not exactly a very strong plot. It is a good-enough one, and its primary merit is how it made a clear establishment between itself and the manga's ending, even if it isn't too greatly hinted. Cliche would be the nasty word to use here, but perhaps that describes it best; nothing about it was too surprising, except at one point, when I was hoping for an explanation, and it took a while before it came - at least it did, though.
The other aspect of the plot, the romance, on the other hand, really does deserve a bit of a kick. As one writer on the MAL forum posted, "Hinata took years for her feelings to come through and develop. It took Naruto merely the course of a few days." Now, as a shipper, I feel inclined to say that perhaps the seeds were sown in Naruto's heart from way before, but I cannot deny that there is truth in this point. The 'blossoming' of Naruto's feelings came so quickly and I was actually shocked when he decided to confess. Naruto's immersion in that Evangelion-like dream takes too much credit for the change in his heart. I did however, enjoy very much the scenes when Naruto and Hinata were alone in the deserted city - if I had to defend the ship, I would point to those scenes as the ones that were responsible for the trigger. But it is a weak defense.
The action of the movie was... typical of Naruto's anime (which I've watched a bit), and so that is a good thing. After years of reading the manga and being confused at Kishi's drawings, it's good to see that the anime studio knows what it is seeing. The sound... well the ED was nothing very special. I watched it more for scenes of Naruto and Hinata's wedding, but it really didn't strike me too much. The most spectacular part of the art was perhaps the beginning, when the history of the ninja was documented. That was good.
As a whole, I did enjoy this movie. I did recognize that there were flaws in the story, and other weaknesses, but having waited for this movie for so long, I decided I would switch off (as I almost always do) and just watch. The most important thing is that the movie needs to provide closure for what it intends to market, and in that it was successfully achieved. Naruto rarely ever pleases everybody, especially with the way it ended, but here I was just watching for the sake of seeing an aspect of the series which merited a little more exposition.
But these external circumstances aside, I was honestly quite looking forward to watching this movie. I initially planned on watching the Korean sub when it first came out, but... it just didn't sit right with me. We all knew long ago that this was going to be yet another milking of the franchise, but as a NaruHina shipper, I had always wanted to see how they would decide to clean up this one.
Of course, Naruto is not a series that focuses on romance - and it shouldn't be. But that doesn't stop Kishi from doing what he wants, and amongst the female cast, Hinata got quite a fair bit more development than some of the others, save perhaps Sakura. In the Pain arc, we see how Hinata finally stands up for what (who) she loves, and from there, we can see how she has developed from being that meek side character we first see in the first part of Naruto into a strong, young woman who is capable of putting up a fight (both literally and metaphorically speaking). Of course, the change in her character design also did wonders to exhibit her maturity (ahem), but all these changes drew me to the character in the first place, and knowing that Kishi was likely to ship her rather than Sakura, I hopped aboard the canon.
So it does make commercial sense to go about 'ending' the series on a high note. Of course, all those other ships were sunk (NaruSasu? Really, guys/girls?) in the manga's ending and we are left with a gap to fill in the story about how Naruto finally went for Hinata. So of course it should be no surprise that the movie, with this rather narrow focus in mind, would take on romance as part of its plot. They could have just ended it simply like that, but if one wants to go all the way... they may as well right? For the industry... more money - for the fans (of the ship in particular)... to fill in the gaps - for the haters (especially of this ship)... something more to rant about, especially with all that mess Kishi gave us in the final arc.
With these ideas in mind, it surprised me that people were expecting something great and serious from the movie. I cannot deny that their points make sense, but perhaps they should've considered some of these factors when they were watching it. It was obvious from the start that the bait was for shippers and fans of the series in general who wanted some closure on Naruto's character, but still it could not be taken seriously. On to the movie itself.
The plot of the movie itself is actually... quite rehashed. For the critics, this is one of their two main valid points, I feel. It acts precisely like a filler, and it doesn't try to hide this too much. Having not watched all those Naruto fillers, and generally one who avoids fillers in most series, I did not feel too enraged by this - probably because I haven't been exposed to fillers on a constant basis. It is however, not exactly a very strong plot. It is a good-enough one, and its primary merit is how it made a clear establishment between itself and the manga's ending, even if it isn't too greatly hinted. Cliche would be the nasty word to use here, but perhaps that describes it best; nothing about it was too surprising, except at one point, when I was hoping for an explanation, and it took a while before it came - at least it did, though.
The other aspect of the plot, the romance, on the other hand, really does deserve a bit of a kick. As one writer on the MAL forum posted, "Hinata took years for her feelings to come through and develop. It took Naruto merely the course of a few days." Now, as a shipper, I feel inclined to say that perhaps the seeds were sown in Naruto's heart from way before, but I cannot deny that there is truth in this point. The 'blossoming' of Naruto's feelings came so quickly and I was actually shocked when he decided to confess. Naruto's immersion in that Evangelion-like dream takes too much credit for the change in his heart. I did however, enjoy very much the scenes when Naruto and Hinata were alone in the deserted city - if I had to defend the ship, I would point to those scenes as the ones that were responsible for the trigger. But it is a weak defense.
The action of the movie was... typical of Naruto's anime (which I've watched a bit), and so that is a good thing. After years of reading the manga and being confused at Kishi's drawings, it's good to see that the anime studio knows what it is seeing. The sound... well the ED was nothing very special. I watched it more for scenes of Naruto and Hinata's wedding, but it really didn't strike me too much. The most spectacular part of the art was perhaps the beginning, when the history of the ninja was documented. That was good.
As a whole, I did enjoy this movie. I did recognize that there were flaws in the story, and other weaknesses, but having waited for this movie for so long, I decided I would switch off (as I almost always do) and just watch. The most important thing is that the movie needs to provide closure for what it intends to market, and in that it was successfully achieved. Naruto rarely ever pleases everybody, especially with the way it ended, but here I was just watching for the sake of seeing an aspect of the series which merited a little more exposition.
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Divin3Wind_
| Jul 23, 2015 11:52 PM |
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