CREATOR

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Kishimoto Masashi

PlOTLINE

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Konoha's Team 7 - yes, that's our dear Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi - are given a mission. They have to protect the country's most famous actress Fujikaze Yukie - best known for her role as Princess Fuun - as she travels to the Country of Snow to start shooting her latest movie. The only problem is Yukie herself, who turns out to be as apathetic in person as she is heroic onscreen. Just as things can't get any worse between actress, movie set and Team 7, they are attacked by a powerful band of ninja in Snow Country. And it turns out that Yukie could be a...REAL princess?!

COMMENTS

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I enjoyed it. Alright, honestly speaking, the movie's as cliched as it gets. I mean, escorting a princess who doesn't want to be a princess, fighting treachery in a country overrun by an evil lord. Can you already see where the whole movie's heading? It's the whole overcoming weakness, justice prevailing over evil thing all over again. And I don't really mind, because this is essentially what [Naruto] is all about. Fighting against odds and winning, right?

There are 2 things about the movie that I enjoyed the most. The first one is the movie-within-a-movie theme. There are subtle reminders throughout the whole movie that audiences (yes that's us) are essentially watching a movie ABOUT a movie. It's like telling you to take the whole experience with a pinch of salt and just enjoy it, you know? ^^ The second thing is the action. I'm as much a fangirl AND a fanboy when I watch adventure anime. If there's supposed to be action, then I damn well WOULD have it. I'm pleased that the fight scenes are just as significant as the usual character-bonding scenes in the movie, especially where we get to see some fighting stuff that we've not seen before. There's just not quite enough action to REALLY satisfy, though.

All in all, I think the movie provides a reasonably good dosage of all that is [Naruto]. While it provides nothing really new to what we already know of the series, we do get to see more of Team 7. The Snow Country landscape is refreshing, and the whole movie is genuinely enjoyable.

MAIN CHARACTERS

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Team 7, and 2 more new characters that you should know about.

UZUMAKI NARUTO. Neglected ever since childhood, Naruto grows up a delinquent who failed his ninja academy exam a good three times. Yet, despite it all, his ever-enthusiastic and never-say-die attitude remain intact. One of the greatest joys of the series is watching Naruto grow in stature and fortitude as he fights one obstacle after another. He is single-minded, fiercely-determined, with big ambitions and an even bigger heart.

UCHIHA SASUKE. Reticent, proud and obsessive, Sasuke is the total opposite to Naruto in temperament. This stems mainly from the Uchiha Tragedy where all the members of the powerful Uchiha clan were slaughtered overnight, leaving Sasuke as the sole survivor. Now a prodigiously talented rookie, he lives to exact revenge for the Uchiha massacre. Sasuke is also Naruto's eternal rival and comrade.

HARUNO SAKURA. An intelligent girl who with good analytical skills and Chakra (energy) control. Most times, she wrestles with her lack of physical prowess as well as her infatuation with Sasuke (sigh, get over it), but during the series, she will grow a lot in maturity and courage. She also has a hilarious inner self called the Inner Sakura where she lets loose her bitchiness. ^^

HATAKE KAKASHI. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura's teacher after they had graduated from the academy. With his students, Kakashi is kindly, casual yet strict, and although he makes judgement calls that might seem inappopriate, he is mostly proven correct. On his own, Kakashi is a highly-talented ninja and has an angst-ridden past which few people know of.

FUJIKAZE YUKIE. The reluctant princess and anti-heroine. She's basically quite disagreeable. Blase, uncaring, unmotivated, bored, you name it. ^^ But then you find out that it's not without reason she's the way she is.

DOUTOU. The token villain. As you can see, he looks the part too. Generally, he just seems like a smarmy barrel. But then, he actually CAN fight, believe it or not! And he has his personal agenda regarding Snow Country.

ANIME DETAILS

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Director : Date Hayato
Character Design : Nishio Tetsuya and Suzuki Hirofumi
Music : Masuda Toshiro
Episodes : 1
Status : Complete

ANIMATION

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The action flows smoothly, and there're some pretty nifty effects and setpieces to show off the characters' fighting prowess. A commendation for the snow and ice setting of the movie. It's rather gloomy, since you don't see to much sunshine, but ice provides no few possibilties when it comes to fight scenes! Overall, the animation isn't groundbreaking (at some point, you'd think you're watching the series, and not the movie), but it is consistent and good.

SCREENCAPS

VOICE-ACTING

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All I can wax lyrical about the seiyuu is already done in my review of the series. ^^ But just for the movie, let me reiterate. Takeuchi Junko still blows my mind as Naruto. She totally breathes life into his character! The rest of the cast is good too, but it's a bit like a walk in the park for them, I'd say! ^_~

MUSIC

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Most of the background themes are familiar ones if you've watched the [Naruto] series. That in itself is not a bad thing, IMO, since the series music IS good. I just thought maybe we could have some new, striking background music for the movie. But oh well, the movie theme kinda makes up for it. I LOVE the song. It's just a simple, stirring song but it's lovely, really. Here it is :

• Main Theme - [Home Sweet Home] sung by Yuki

RESOURCES

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NARUTO INFO (excellent information guide)

NARUTO FAN GUIDE (fan site)

NARUTO CHUUSHIN (fan site)

NARUTO MANIA (fan site)