Naruto the Movie: Road to Ninja
Released By: Manga Entertainment
Rating: 12
Running Time: 106 Mins
Audio: English & Japanese DD 2.0
Aspect Ratio: 16x9
Release Date: Out Now!
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes
Synopsis: Naruto is annoyed that his other classmates are ready to make the jump to Jonin and their parents are recommending them. As he has no living parents, he can't go through it without someone to recommend him, so Iruka sensei seems to be his best option. Meeting up at Ichirakus ramen place has a shaky start, and when he refuses, Naruto gets the hump and runs off, only to see Sakura has some trouble at home too.
Review: While Naruto sees everyone else with their family, he also wishes his dad was around rather than just being a head carved into a rock. Naruto the Movie: Road to Ninja teases us with a new twist on the current arc where the dead Akatsuki have come back to life and to the village to cause trouble for almost all the teams of the leaf. Naruto and his friends seem to have seen them off, but when Madara turns up to put them in a similar genjutsu to the ultimate tsukuyomi, Naruto and Sakura find they are in an alternate universe. One where no one has ever heard of Madara, and calls Naruto "Menma," the ingredient in ramen, he said he hated when he was at Ichiraku's before the transition.
The fun part of this movie is that their friends they thought they knew are different - Rock Lee has a quirky dress sense he shouldn't show in public, Kiba's actually a cat-lover and Akamaru hates him for it, Neji's a thing for the ladies - but not in a good way, Choji's thin and Shikamaru's the big eater with not a lot of intelligence. What's most surprising is that Sasuke is also there, and even he's totally different, and like everyone else calls Naruto Menma. Unlike the previous movies, this one has more of a fun, easy-going feel about it that won't go unnoticed. As the Naruto-loving Hinata was a shy, cute girl, in this universe, she is a hard type who will beat up any other girl who tries to take Naruto from her. Obviously, from the perspective of the viewer, she's deluded as no one would dare! This side of Hinata doesn't go down well with either Naruto or Sakura, but Sakura likes Sasuke's alternate side even less when he's a shameless ladies man.
For the viewer, there are many key scenes to this movie that are great to enjoy, the bath house scene where almost all the cast are taking some time out is funny enough with the hi-jinks Shikamaru, Neji and Rock Lee get up to. Watching a sleazy Sasuke give a rose to Sakura (making her wildest dreams come true) then later on giving them to any girl he takes a fancy to. This Sasuke dresses different, has a cocky, yet approachable attitude and enjoys teasing the girls who flock around him. Okay, so maybe he isn't so different after all. While Sai could draw in the real world, here Sakura and Naruto watch as Sai is dressed up as a painter, applying some oils to a canvas, but not quite getting the idea of being able to draw as well.
Overall it's wonderful seeing the characters in a different light, the story is fun to watch and loses all the unhappy moments noticed in previous movies and gives fans of the series a chance to see what happens before the real Fourth Great Ninja War starts - the ultimate objective being the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Episodes:1 movie
Number of Discs:1
Packaging/Box Quality: A thin box with the image of Naruto surrounded by Sakura, Kakashi sensei Kushina and Minato with the ever looming Tobi in the background along with the dastardly team of Akatsuki makes for an interesting and colourful cover I liked very much.
Animation Quality: Very good. I liked the transition of the normal everyday characters to the new ones in the alternate reality - the bonus is in noticing what has changed with each character.
Sound Quality: Very good whether viewers want to watch it in its original Japanese or English dubbed version, they are both just as good and full of humour.
Bonus Material: Japanese Commercial Videos, Japanese Promo Videos, Japanese Trailers and Art Gallery.
Verdict: This has to be the most impressive Naruto movie yet - with characters that never fail to endear you to them.
