The Last: Naruto the Movie

The Last: Naruto the Movie is a 2014 Japanese animated action-romance film produced by Studio Pierrot and directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi. It is based on Masashi Kishimoto's manga and anime Naruto, and is the first film to be a part of the canonical Naruto storyline. It stars Junko Takeuchi, Nana Mizuki, Chie Nakamura, Showtaro Morikubo, Satoshi Hino, Kazuhiko Inoue and Noriaki Sugiyama.

Plot
Set before the finale of Naruto, the film focuses on Naruto Uzumaki's ninja team as they go on a mission to stop the moon from falling, and rescue Hanabi Hyuga — Hinata Hyuga's sister — from Toneri Otsutsuki, a man who wishes to marry Hinata and punish mankind for weaponising chakra. Naruto and Hinata develop a romantic relationship during their adventure.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Most of the new character designs are great. Most notably Naruto's, Hinata's and Gaara's
 * 2) It's nice to see some deceased characters return in this movie like Hayate, Pain and even Madara.
 * 3) The opening scene is awesome as it shows many historical battles in the Naruto universe. An awesome remix of Greensleeves plays during this scene.
 * 4) Excellent soundtrack including a remix of the Naruto Main Theme and the famous classical song Greensleeves.
 * 5) Beautiful animation done by the amazing Toei Animation studio.
 * 6) Extremely good voice acting in both English and Japanese versions.
 * 7) Tons of likable characters including Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Sai, Shikamaru, Gaara, Hinata and Toneri.
 * 8) There are tons of throwbacks to some of the previous Naruto movies.
 * 9) The after credits scene is cute and a great way to introduce us to Boruto.
 * 10) Sakura is a much better character in this movie as she cares about Naruto when Hinata left him, She helps out in a fight against evil puppets and even breaks Naruto, Hinata, Shikamaru and Sai out of Genjutsu. She even deeply cares about Naruto as well and she finds out where Toneri's hideout is.
 * 11) The 5 main characters even get tons of character development throughout the movie.
 * 12) It does explain why Hinata loves Naruto a lot.
 * 13) Tons of funny moments.
 * 14) The final scene, while cringe-worthy to some, is cute and heartwarming.
 * 15) All of the fight scenes are awesome.
 * 16) Tons of good morals like always trusting your friends and loved ones.
 * 17) There are even some references to past Naruto arcs like the Kages having a 5 Kage Summit and Pain being featured.
 * 18) It is nice to see Pain after a while.
 * 19) The final battle of Naruto vs Toneri is extremely epic and will keep you on the edge of your seat.
 * 20) The theme song preformed by Sukima Switch is very catchy.
 * 21) This movie was the perfect finale to the Naruto series, as well as the perfect beginning for the Boruto series.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) While the animation is great, it can be really bad, most notably in the final battle.
 * A, the Raikage, is a extremely unlikable character in this movie. He is shown to not care for the safety of the others and almost blew up the moon even though he knew Naruto and his friends were on it.
 * 1) When Toneri gets absorbed by the sun, it can be disturbing to some people.
 * 2) Hinata’s scarf is a very annoying plot device. Whenever she makes a new one, it always gets destroyed.
 * 3) Despite it coming out before the Naruto anime was finished, people who were following the anime were probably confused when they saw it.
 * 4) While most of the characters designs are great, there are some bad ones like Lee’s.
 * 5) The scene where Toneri possesses Hinata can be heartbreaking to some people.
 * 6) Naruto's relationship with Hinata feels somewhat rushed since they didn't have enough moments that proved Naruto loved her romantically. Also, Sakura's statement that Naruto only loved her because he saw winning her over as a rivalry with Sasuke seems like an excuse for the writers to have Naruto's feelings for Sakura be ignored, since there were several moments throughout the series that indicated Naruto really did love Sakura and it was more than just a crush or rivalry with Sasuke.
 * 7) False Advertising: despite it being called “The Last”, this isn’t the last Naruto movie as the Boruto movie and a upcoming live action Naruto movie came out after it.
 * 8) The final scene with Naruto kissing Hinata can be seen as cringe-worthy to some viewers.

Reception
The film's romantic outlook has been well-received by writers. Amy McNulty of Anime News Network praised the film's more character-driven, romantic approach compared to the 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 film's early release (before the end of the Naruto: Shippuden anime) and new status quo in the Naruto world might confuse the audience.

Naruto's romance with Hinata has been mostly 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. While noting issues with some plot elements, Thais Valdivia enjoyed the symbolism of the scarves. Midwest Book Review commended the main cast's character development and relationship to the point of stating that anime fans in general might enjoy the feature. However, Brendan Ha had mixed initial emotions about the romance. According to Ha, it was affecting, but the fact that this was Naruto's last film (since the next one focused on his son) left viewers unhappy.

Journalists have applauded the film's animation, action scenes and overall atmosphere. 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". Amy McNulty commended the film's animation but criticised the falling-moon threat's lack of impact on the story. Fandom Post writer Chris Beveridge agreed about the falling-moon, but he praised The Last 's atmosphere and lack of melodrama. Brendan Ha of Otaku USA enjoyed the film's action scenes and animation. Thais Valdivia of Hobby Consolas liked the development of the supporting characters Shikamaru Nara and Sai, but she criticised the too-brief appearance of Sasuke Uchiha.

Reviewers have generally criticised Toneri's role as the film's antagonist. Kotaku 's Richard Eisenbeis enjoyed the supporting cast as well as the love story and recommended the film to long-time Naruto fans, but he regarded Toneri as an unmemorable villain. Besides criticising the film's overarching plot and nondescript score, Amy McNulty described Toneri as an unengaging antagonist. A Toon Zone reviewer wrote that the villain was overshadowed by the relationship between Naruto and Hinata, which made the film more appealing.

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 1.4 percent.

Trivia

 * 1) At the end of the film screening in Japan, it was announced that a new movie featuring Naruto and Hinata's son, Boruto Uzumaki, would premiere on August 7, 2015.
 * 2) Retsu no Sho includes two manga-omake chapters set shortly after the events of this movie: "After The Last" and "The Rest".
 * 3) There are a few errors seen in the film:
 * 4) * In the scene where Kurama is writing on the moon, it is shown with only eight tails.
 * 5) * In the post-marriage photo after the credits, Naruto's prosthetic right arm has no bandages and looked no different from his original right arm.
 * 6) Naruto's red scarf throughout the movie symbolises the "red string of fate" between him and Hinata.