The Last: Naruto the Movie

The Last: Naruto the Movie
Theatrical release poster. Left caption reads, "The last episode; a first love".[Jp. 1]
Directed by	Tsuneo Kobayashi
Written by	Kyozuka Maruo
Based on	Naruto  by Masashi Kishimoto
Starring	Junko Takeuchi Nana Mizuki Jun Fukuyama Chie Nakamura Satoshi Hino Showtaro Morikubo Kazuhiko Inoue Noriaki Sugiyama Akira Ishida
Music by	Yasuharu Takanashi
Production company	Studio Pierrot
Distributed by	Toho
Release dates	December 6, 2014 (2014-12-06)
Running time	112 mins
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese
Box office	¥1.94 billion (Japan) (US$16.5 million)

The Last: Naruto the Movie is the tenth overall Naruto film and the seventh Naruto Shippūden film, made to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the franchise. This is also the first entry in the Start of a New Era Project^{[Jp. 2]}, and the first film to be an official part of the canon Naruto storyline and is set between the last two chapters of the original manga series. The new movie is also featuring the next generation of characters, that have yet to be trained.

It premiered in theaters on December 6, 2014.^[1][2] The Last became the highest-grossing feature film in the franchise, earning ¥1.94 billion (US$16.5 million).^[3]

Plot

Two years after the events of the Fourth Shinobi World War, the moon that Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki created long ago to seal away Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's body begins to descend towards the Earth. With the moon now a meteor that would destroy everything on impact, Naruto must deal with this new threat. The crisis is caused by Toneri Ōtsutsuki, a descendant of Hamura Ōtsutsuki ill-determined to carry on his ancestor's legacy. During the Konohagakure Winter Festival, Hinata hopes to give Naruto a personal gift of love — a red scarf — she knitted herself in remembrance of one Naruto used to wear back in the Academy, and Sakura offers to help. Toneri then infiltrates Konoha and kidnaps Hanabi Hyuga after failing to seize Hinata, and the scarf she made got damaged. Deployed for a mission, Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Sai, and Shikamaru go to rescue Hanabi. Shikamaru is also given a special clock held only by the five Kage, which apparently is counting down to doomsday. On the journey, Naruto gradually began to realize the concept of love having to experience Hinata's memories. At some point, Toneri steals Hanabi's Byakugan and implants them in his own empty eye sockets, awakening the Tenseigan sealed by Hamura's descendants over the last millennium. He also succeeds in capturing Hinata, proposing her to marry him; she "accepts" his offer, which causes Naruto to fall into a deep depression after being thoroughly beaten by Toneri. At the same time, in Naruto's absence, Sasuke returns to Konoha to protect the village from meteorites breaking off from the moon.

After a three-day recovery process, Naruto wakes up and sees Sakura severely weakened due to saving his life. Sakura talks with Naruto and helps him realize Hinata truly loves him. With new-found strength, Naruto leads the charge into Toneri's moon base. Meanwhile, in Toneri's palace, Toneri asks Hinata craft a red scarf for him. But in reality, Hinata only accepted Toneri's proposal as she was contained by the spirit of Hamura to aid him as the "Byakugan Princess" to destroy the Tenseigan altar. Unfortunately, when Hinata attempts to destroy the altar, Toneri realized the deception and places her in a giant bird cage while destroying the scarf she had originally made for Naruto. Naruto's team finally catches up and a massive attack on Toneri's palace begins. The team splits, with Naruto rescuing Hinata from the ceremony, while the others save Hanabi. However, Toneri's Tenseigan grants him enough power to slice the moon in half. Naruto enters Nine-Tails Mode, and a huge duel ensues. Near the end, Naruto grasps the last remaining shred of the scarf and channels his chakra shroud into the fist and delivers a strong punch enough to depower Toneri and pin him against a wall. Hinata uses this chance to retrieve Hanabi's Byakugan. Eventually, Naruto defeats Toneri, stops the moon from falling. Toneri, realizing the error of his ways, remains on the moon as it returns to the orbit. Naruto then confesses his love for Hinata and the two kiss.

During the end credits, scenes show Naruto and Hinata's wedding, attended by their friends and family. In a post-credits scene, set during the time of the series' epilogue, the couple play with their children, Boruto and Himawari.

Voice cast

Production

The film is directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi^[4] while manga author Masashi Kishimoto is providing the story concept, character designs, and exercising complete editorial supervision.^[5] The film was first announced at Jump Festa 2012.^[6][7] It was premiered on December 6, 2014, which made it the first movie in the franchise to be released two years after the previous film.^[5] Its first teaser was revealed on July 31, 2014.^[8]

The film was heavily promoted in the lead up to the Naruto manga finale in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, with new concept designs and information revealed on a weekly basis.^[9][10] A new character voiced by Jun Fukuyama made an appearance in the movie. Fukuyama also asked fans to enjoy the film once it is released.^[11] A limited edition official movie data book was distributed with the movie, and was to contain a one-shot movie tie-in chapter by Kishimoto. Maruo Kyōzuka wrote a novelization published by Shueisha on December 8, 2014.^[12]

The male duo Sukima Switch is performing the film's theme, "Hoshi no Utsuwa" ("Star Vessel"); producer Takuyuki Hirobe had asked the duo to make a song that invokes a gentle yet powerful outlook of the world in the making of the movie.^[1] The single is set to be released on December 3, 2014.^[13] A character CD song for Hinata Hyuga has also been announced as "Fuyu no Owari ni" ("At the End of Winter") by Nana Mizuki.^[14]

Box office

During its first weekend, The Last earned ¥515 million (US$4.35 million).^[15] The film has grossed ¥1.29 billion after three weekends.^[16] And by the end of December 2014, it had earned about ¥1.75 billion (US$14.76 million) and became the top-grossing feature film in the franchise.^[3]

Sequel

After the post-credits scene of The Last, it has shown a teaser trailer for a movie based on Naruto and Hinata's son Boruto set for an August 2015 release.^[17] Masashi Kishimoto is confirmed to be involved as a supervising executive producer, co-writer and character designer, conceiving the story about the next generation. The sequel is tied into the New Era Project.

References

Japanese text

Specific

External links

• The Last: Naruto the Movie at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website
• TV-Tokyo's website
• The Last: Naruto the Movie (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia