The Last: Naruto the Movie

Plot

Two years after the Fourth Ninja World War and Kakashi Hatake becomes the Sixth Hokage, the moon is falling towards Earth and will soon collide. The crisis is caused by Toneri Ōtsutsuki, a descendant of Hamura Ōtsutsuki of the Branch House, who is determined to fulfill his legacy and punish mankind for abusing chakra over a millennia. During the Rinne Festival, as Hinata Hyuga knits a red scarf that Naruto Uzumaki wore when they first met, Sakura offers to help her, but Hinata becomes doubtful as Naruto receives various gifts from everyone, including another scarf. Toneri infiltrates the Leaf Village but fails to kidnap Hinata due to Naruto's intervention, though Toneri successfully kidnaps Hanabi, Hinata's younger sister.

Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Sai and Shikamaru Nara are assigned to rescue Hanabi after Kakashi gives a special clock to Shikamaru that counts down to doomsday. Traveling in an abandoned village of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, Naruto understands the concept of romantic love from watching Hinata's memories while being caught in a genjutsu and from spending more time with her. Toneri transplants Hanabi's eyes in himself to awaken the Tenseigan that his ancestors sealed over the last millennium and proposes to Hinata. To have a chance at saving Hanabi, Hinata accepts his offer after rejecting Naruto's love confession, which causes Naruto to fall into depression. Back on Earth, the villagers defend themselves and intercept the moon's meteorites, evacuating the civilians from Toneri's genocidal assault, while Sasuke Uchiha returns to protect the village.

After recovering for three days, Sakura reassures Naruto that Hinata truly loves him, and the group approaches Toneri's castle. Earlier, the spirit of Hamura contacts Hinata as the "Byakugan Princess", explaining that Toneri has misinterpreted his decree. Toneri refuses to listen to Hamura, ruins the scarf and brainwashes Hinata. 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 and slices the moon in half, as Naruto engages him in the Nine-Tails chakra mode. Naruto grasps a shred of the scarf and overpowers Toneri, making the moon return to orbit. Taking back Hanabi's eyes, Toneri realizes the truth about Hamura's decree and decides to stay on the moon to atone his sins. After Naruto tells Hinata that the scarf he wore earlier belonged to his late mother, the two confess their mutual love and return home.

During the end credits, Naruto and Hinata get married, while his friends attend the wedding. In a post-credits scene before the series' epilogue, the couple have two children, Boruto and Himawari.

Production

The film is directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi while Masashi Kishimoto provides the story concept, character designs and exercising complete editorial supervision. It was first announced at Jump Festa 2012. It premiered on 6 December 2014, which made the first film in the franchise to be released two years after the previous film. Its first teaser was revealed on 31 July 2014.

The film was 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. A new film character made an appearance voiced by Jun Fukuyama, who asked the fans to enjoy it after it was released. A limited edition official data book was distributed with the film, and was to contain Kishimoto's one-shot tie-in chapter by. Maruo Kyōzuka wrote a novelization published by Shueisha on 8 December 2014.

The male duo Sukima Switch performed the film's song, "Hoshi no Utsuwa" ("Star Vessel"); producer Takuyuki Hirobe asked the duo to make it invoking a gentle yet powerful outlook of the world diring production. The single is set to be released on 3 December 2014. A character CD song for Hinata Hyuga was announced as "Fuyu no Owari ni" ("At the End of Winter") by Nana Mizuki.

Critical response

Amy McNulty of Anime News Network, while criticizing the unengaging villain, overarching plot and score for having no impact, praised the top-notch animation and story for taking a more character-driven romance approach to it than previous films, concluding that "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." Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review, saying that "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." Naruto's romance with Hinata earned multiple positive reactions from the media to the point some wished The Last to be condensed so that their relationship was the main focus of it.

Box office

During its first weekend, the film earned ¥515 million (US$4.35 million). The film has grossed ¥1.29 billion after three weekends. In December 2014, it earned about ¥1.75 billion (US$14.76 million) and became the top-grossing feature film in the franchise.

Sequel

After the post-credits scene of The Last, it has shown a teaser trailer for the film based on Naruto and Hinata's son, Boruto, along with Sasuke and Sakura's daughter, Sarada, and the new generation. Kishimoto 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. The film was released in Japan on 7 August 2015 and appeared with English subtitles in selected theaters in North America on 10 October 2015. After the film's success, it appeared in North America for a second time for a two night premiere on 18 and 19 December.