The Last: Naruto the Movie is a 2014 Japanese animated film produced by Studio Pierrot and directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi. Based on Masashi Kishimoto's manga and anime Naruto, it is the first film which is part of the canonical storyline set between chapters 699 and 700 of the manga series. The film, starring Junko Takeuchi, Nana Mizuki, Chie Nakamura, Showtaro Morikubo, Satoshi Hino, Kazuhiko Inoue and Noriaki Sugiyama, focuses on Naruto Uzumaki's ninja team as they go on a mission to rescue Hanabi Hyuga from a man known as Toneri Otsutsuki. Naruto and his partner, Hinata Hyuga, develop a romantic relationship during their adventure.
The film premiered on 6 December 2014. Kishimoto created new designs for the characters, since they are now young adults rather than teenagers (as they were in the manga's second part and its animated adaptation, Naruto: Shippuden). Kishimoto and the writers focused on the romantic relationship between the main characters; although Kishimoto was uncomfortable depicting romantic scenes, he overall enjoyed seeing them. The film's theme song is Sukima Switch's "Hoshi no Utsuwa".
The Last had been the franchise's highest-grossing film before it was surpassed by its sequel, Boruto: Naruto the Movie (2015). The film was also a critical success, with a number of writers praising its story (for its focus on Naruto and Hinata's relationship) and animation. However, its lack of an appealing antagonist was criticized. The film's Japanese home-media release was one of the year's best sellers.
Plot
Story of love Hinata and Naruto -
The film is set two years after the Fourth Ninja World War, the manga's final story arc where Naruto Uzumaki and his allies achieve world peace. Kakashi Hatake, now Konohagakure's village leader and the Sixth Hokage, notices that the moon is nearing Earth and will soon collide with it. The crisis is caused by Toneri Otsutsuki, a descendant of Hamura Otsutsuki of the Branch House, who is determined to fulfill his legacy and punish humanity for abusing the energy known as chakra over a millennium. During the Rinne Festival, as Hinata Hyuga knits a red scarf similar to the one Naruto wore when they first met, Sakura Haruno offers to help her. Hinata becomes doubtful as Naruto receives a variety of gifts from others, including another scarf. Toneri infiltrates Konoha; although he fails to kidnap Hinata due to Naruto's intervention, he kidnaps Hinata's younger sister, Hanabi Hyuga.
Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Sai and Shikamaru Nara are assigned by Kakashi to rescue Hanabi. In an abandoned village of the Otsutsuki Clan, Naruto understands the concept of romantic love from seeing Hinata's memories while being caught in an illusion and spending more time with her. Toneri transplants Hanabi's eyes into himself to awaken the Tenseigan which his ancestors sealed over the last millennium, and he proposes to Hinata. To have a chance at saving Hanabi, Hinata accepts his offer after she rejects Naruto's romantic overtures and Naruto falls into a depression. The villagers on Earth defend themselves, intercepting the moon's meteorites and evacuating the civilian population from Toneri's genocidal assault, while Sasuke Uchiha returns to protect Konohagakure.
After recovering for three days, Sakura reassures Naruto that Hinata loves him and the group approaches Toneri's castle. Hamura's spirit contacted Hinata as the Byakugan Princess, explaining that Toneri has misinterpreted his decree. Toneri refuses to listen to Hinata, ruins the scarf and brainwashes her. Invading Toneri's castle, Sakura and Sai secure Hanabi while Shikamaru holds off Toneri's puppets. Naruto saves Hinata from the ceremony and helps her destroy the Tenseigan altar. Toneri uses the remains to strengthen his power, slicing the moon in half as Naruto engages him in combat. With Hinata's help, Naruto overpowers Toneri, sending the moon back into its orbit due to mixing their chakra. After Hinata takes back Hanabi's eyes, Toneri realizes the truth about Hamura's decree and decides to remain on the moon to atone for his sins. After Naruto tells Hinata that the scarf he wore earlier belonged to his late mother, they declare their love for each other and return home.
During the final credits, Naruto and Hinata marry in front of their friends. In a post-credits scene before the epilogue, they have two children: Boruto Uzumaki and Himawari Uzumaki.
Voice cast
Production
The film was directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi. Masashi Kishimoto provided the story concept, character designs and complete editorial supervision. Since the story takes place two years after Part II and several years before the epilogue, the characters were redesigned with clothing suitable for missions and more-mature facial features. The film was first announced at Jump Festa 2012. It contains homages to Jun'ichirŠTanizaki's In Praise of Shadows, Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and Nobuhiko Obayashi's Lonely Heart.
Screenwriter Maruo Kyozuka said that he wanted to depict a love triangle between Naruto, Hinata and Toneri in the film. Although Naruto is initially clueless about Hinata's feelings for him, during the film he begins to acknowledge and respond to them. Hinata's character was also developed in the film, with Kyozuka saying that she had to put aside her feelings for Naruto to accept Toneri's proposal so she could find Hanabi. During this scene, Kyozuka wanted to depict Naruto at his lowest after his rejection by Hinata. He then returned Naruto to his brave self, with the character resolving to continue his mission regardless of the cost. Toneri was developed as a despicable villain.
After seeing the staff's initial work on a film about Naruto's relationship with Hinata, Kishimoto decided to oversee the project. He enjoyed seeing Naruto and Hinata's romantic scenes, even those not written by him. Kishimoto admitted his discomfort at writing romantic scenes, and he said he had seen Naruto and Hinata's kiss only a few times. In making The Last: Naruto the Movie, Kishimoto based the idea of Hinata wanting to make a scarf for Naruto on what his wife had actually once done for him; this elicited laughs from the staff as they worked on the film. Kishimoto felt a mixture of satisfaction and sadness due to the two characters' growth since Naruto's beginning; they had become like his own children.
Hinata's voice actress, Nana Mizuki, was surprised at the attention her character received. After seeing Hinata as an adult, Mizuki was amazed by how womanly Hinata looked and acted and felt the same way about Naruto's young-adult self. The character's personality and unwillingness to give up, regardless of the situation, attracted Mizuki to Hinata. According to Mizuki, her favorite scene in the film was when Naruto tells Hinata he loves her. Happy at Hinata's joy, she thought the character was cold when Hinata went to Toneri. Naruto's voice actress, Junko Takeuchi, was happy with the story and had hoped that Naruto would end up in a relationship with Hinata. Takeuchi was reminded of Naruto's late godfather, Jiraiya, when she read the script. She thought that although Naruto's declaration of love was the most important part of the character's growth, his true nature had not changed at that point. Satisfied with the story, Takeuchi thought that the audience would agree.
The film's first trailer premiered on 31 July 2014. It was promoted in the lead-up to the Naruto manga finale in Weekly ShÅnen Jump, with information announced weekly. A new character, Toneri (voiced by Jun Fukuyama), appeared in the film. A limited-edition data book with Kishimoto's one-shot tie-in chapter was distributed with the film. Maruo KyÅzuka wrote a novelization, which was published by Shueisha on 8 December 2014.
The jazz fusion duo Sukima Switch performed the film's theme song, "Hoshi no Utsuwa" ("Star Vessel"), after producer Takuyuki Hirobe had asked them to compose a song which invoked a gentle (yet powerful) world view. The single was released on 3 December 2014, at the same time as the film's soundtrack. A character CD song for Hinata, "Fuyu no Owari ni (冬ã®çµ‚ã‚ã‚Šã«)" ("At the End of Winter"), was recorded by Nana Mizuki. Two additional CDs were The Host: Naruto the CD and Even in a Future Day.
Reception
Critical response
The Last received a positive response from audiences and a score of 80 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Amy McNulty of Anime News Network, while criticizing the film's unengaging villain, overarching plot and nondescript score, praised its animation and more character-driven, romantic approach than previous films: "Despite the (awkward) title, the movie is not actually the final film in the franchise, but it's the last of an era and a fitting capstone for the series and its fandom". David West of Neo wrote that although The Last had characteristics in common with the original series (such as the main characters' mission to stop Toneri's plans), its well-executed focus on the romantic relationship was fairly new to the franchise. According to a Toon Zone review, the relationship between Naruto and Hinata overshadowed the villain and made the film more appealing. However, the reviewer wrote that the film's early release (before the end of the Naruto: Shippuden anime) and new status quo in the Naruto world might confuse the audience.
Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review: "If 'The Last' lacks some of the emotional punch of the previous feature, 'The Road to Ninja', Kobayashi compensates with flamboyant visuals that mix CG, drawn animation and elegant calligraphic figures; fans should stay through the credits for a surprising final scene". McNulty and Fandom Post writer Chris Beveridge criticized the falling-moon threat's lack of impact on the story, but Beveridge praised The Last's atmosphere and lack of melodrama. Although Brendan Ha of Otaku USA praised the film's action scenes and animation, he had mixed initial emotions about the romance. According to Ha, it was affecting but the fact that it was Naruto's last film (since the next one focused on his son) left viewers unhappy.
Naruto's romance with Hinata was praised by the media, with some reviewers saying that The Last should have been condensed for their relationship to have a bigger part. David West said their relationship was well-executed, praising the inclusion of previous occasions in the series where Hinata and Naruto were together. West also praised Hinata's role in the film and her interaction with the antagonist, Toneri. Thais Valdivia of Hobby Consolas liked the development of supporting characters Shikamaru Nara and Sai, but she criticized the too-brief appearance of Sasuke Uchiha. While noting issues with some plot elements, Valdivia enjoyed the symbolism of the scarves. Kotaku's Richard Eisenbeis agreed about the supporting cast and the love story, recommending the film to long-time Naruto fans despite regarding Toneri as an unmemorable villain.
Box office and release
During its first weekend, The Last earned ¥515 million (US$4.35 million) and grossed ¥1.29 billion after three weekends. In December 2014, it earned about ¥1.75 billion ($14.76 million) and became the franchise's top-grossing feature film. By January 2016, the film had grossed ¥2 billion ($16.9 million).
Aniplex released the Japanese DVD on 22 July 2015, which sold 18,565 copies in that country. It was one of 2016's bestselling DVDs in Japan, selling 34,687 copies. On 29 December 2016, the film aired on TV Tokyo at 1:30 a.m. and received a rating of 1.4Â percent.
It was released by Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand. In North America, Viz Media and Eleven Arts screened the film in 21 theaters on 20 February 2015. Viz released the DVD and Blu-ray versions on 6 October 2015.
Legacy
After The Last's post-credits scene, a trailer for the next film has been shown with Naruto and Hinata's son Boruto Uzumaki, Sasuke and Sakura's daughter Sarada Uchiha, and the rest of the new generation. For its fighting game Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, CyberConnect2 added Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata in their forms from The Last to the game's playable characters. ShÅ Hinata wrote a 2015 light novel, Konoha Hiden: The Perfect Day for a Wedding, in which Kakashi tasks the cast with finding the best gift for Naruto and Hinata's wedding. Toneri returns in the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, and he is interested in Boruto's growth.
References
External links
- The Last: Naruto the Movie on IMDb
- Official website
- TV-Tokyo's website
- The Last: Naruto the Movie (film) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
