Boruto: Naruto the Movie

**Boruto:  Naruto the Movie** was the first movie based on the Baruto:  Naruto the Next Generation anime series, as

    well as the eleventh movie based on Naruto in general.  It was originally released in Japan on August 7, 2015.

## Plot

The film opens with a battle between ninja Sasuke Uchiha and an unknown adversary being watched by another enemy. The plot then moves to the protagonist from the *Naruto* series, Naruto Uzumaki, who has become "the Seventh Hokage", the leader of the village of Konoha. He is married to Hinata Uzumaki and has two children, Boruto Uzumaki and Himawari Uzumaki. Boruto, Sarada Uchiha (Sasuke and Sakura Uchiha's daughter), and a child named Mitsuki become an elite ninja team under their teacher, Konohamaru Sarutobi. Boruto is upset at Naruto for focusing more on being Hokage than on their family.

Sasuke returns to the village to warn Naruto about the powerful opponent he faced earlier. After Naruto misses Himawari's birthday, Boruto meets Sasuke and asks him to train him so that he can become strong enough to surpass Naruto. Sasuke agrees on the condition that Boruto performs the Rasengan technique, which he then learns from Konohamaru. Sasuke then honors his promise and helps Boruto prepare for the upcoming Chunin Exam, a test taken by young ninjas. Boruto, hoping to convince Naruto to spend more time with him, is tempted to cheat on the exam by using a prototype device, Kote, that stores each type of jutsu. It was given to him by the arrogant scientist Katasuke, who wanted his experiment to gain publicity for marketing purposes before Naruto shot down the proposal. In the exams, Naruto catches Boruto cheating and disqualifies his son. Before Naruto leaves the arena, the two figures Sasuke previously encountered, Kinshiki Otsutsuki and Momoshiki Otsutsuki, appear and destroy it.

The duo is revealed to be after the Nine-Tails creature sealed inside Naruto's body to create a chakra fruit so that they become immortal. Naruto sacrifices himself to protect everyone and entrusts Boruto's safety to Sasuke. Sensing that Naruto is still alive in another dimension, Sasuke allies himself with the other Kage to rescue him. Boruto insists on joining them to make amends with his father. They arrive in the other dimension and find Naruto bound by the Otsutsuki duo, and the four Kage engage Kinshiki in a fight. Across the battle, Momoshiki devours Kinshiki to increase his strength, while Naruto joins forces with Sasuke to defeat him. However, Katasuke shoots Momoshiki with a Kote that restores his strength. Weakened, Naruto lends his remaining chakra to Boruto to create a giant Rasengan while Sasuke distracts Momoshiki long enough for Boruto to use his attack and finish him.

In the days following the victory, Naruto reconciles with Boruto. Boruto resolves to become a ninja who protects the village from the shadows; he supports Sarada's dream of becoming Hokage. After the credits, Mitsuki reveals he is the son of the criminal Orochimaru, surprising both his teammates.

## Why It Rocks

1. Great animation, much better than the show due to it being an anime film.
2. Good voice acting in both sub and dub.
3. Great music and soundtrack.
4. Great artwork and character designs.
5. This film is a decent introduction to the Boruto series and the characters involved in that series.

## Reception

### Box Office and Sales

The film was released on August 7, 2015.[21] Theatergoers were given two different types of hand fans — one of them using images of Naruto and Boruto, the other Sasuke and Sarada's.[22] *Boruto* became the 11th highest-grossing Japanese film (and the 7th highest-grossing anime film) at the Japanese box office in 2015, with ¥2.62 billion.[2] It earned ¥680.1 million yen (around US$5.46 million) during its debut, giving the series its highest-grossing opening.[23] On August 25, the film became the highest-grossing movie in the Naruto series, earning ¥2.02 billion in 19 days with 1.56 million admissions.[2] The film grossed US$919,651 in the United States and Canada[3] and CN¥103.2 million in China.[24]

Its DVD and Blu-ray versions were released on July 6, 2016, by Aniplex.[25] They include the original video animation *The Day Naruto Became Hokage* showing how Naruto Uzumaki becomes the Seventh Hokage but does not make it to the ceremony.[26] During its release week, the Japanese Blu-ray of the film sold 30,758 units while the DVD sold 24,372 units.[27][28] By the end of 2016, the DVD had sold 35,183 units.[29]

Manga Entertainment released the movie in cinemas in the United Kingdom on November 10, 2015.[30] Manga Entertainment released the home media release on June 5, 2017.[31]Licensed by Viz Media in the United States on July 2015, the film was screened in over 80 cities in October of the same year.[32] Its home media release was published on March 28, 2017.[33] In Australia and New Zealand, the film was licensed by Madman Entertainment and earned $216,943 in Australia.[34][35] A fan film was developed by Deerstalker Pictures to promote the Australian release.[36] The home media version was released on May 25, 2017.[37]

### Critical Response

Critical response to the film has been mostly positive. Review aggregator website *Rotten Tomatoes* retrospectively collected reviews to give the film a score of 94%,[38] while on *Yahoo! Japan* it has a rating of 4.31 out of 5 stars.[39] Amy McNulty of *Anime News Network* gave the film an overall grade of A-, calling it "a step in the right direction for Masashi Kishimoto's Start of a New Era Project". McNulty and Andy Hanley of *UK Anime Network* enjoyed Naruto's relationship with his son Boruto and how the differences between their childhoods become the focus of the film.[40][41] *The Fandom Post'*s Richard Gutierrez called it a "wonderful coming of age film", noting the focus on the theme of generations, Naruto's growth since his first appearance, as well as how Boruto seeks to surpass him but ends up caring more for him by the time the film finishes.[42]

The fight scenes have been the subject of major praise for their animation. Dan Rhodes said that Sasuke and Naruto's fight scenes are some of the best parts of the film, predicting longtime fans would look forward to them. However, some writers felt the villains were forgettable.[40][43][44] Christian Chiok of *Japanator* and Charles Solomon of the *Los Angeles Times* agreed with Rhodes, comparing the fight scenes with those from the famous *Dragon Ball* franchise based on their animation. Solomon found the enemies interesting and concluded that "no *Naruto* fan will want to miss *Boruto*, which suggests a new direction the franchise may take, now that the long-running TV series has finally concluded".[45][46] Alexandria Hill of *Otaku USA* enjoyed Boruto's fight against the film's villain and his team-up with Naruto and Sasuke, despite being sceptical while watching it for the first time.[44]

*Japanator**s Christian Chiok enjoyed Boruto's character development, his relationship with his father and how heartwarming it becomes in the movie.[47]*****Toon Zone*agreed, noting that despite possible flaws in Boruto's character, his growth through the film makes him a more appealing character, saying the movie "is one of the better films in the*Naruto*canon and shouldn’t be missed by fans of the series".[48] Chris Zimmerman from*DVD Talk*noted how the writers portray Boruto's poor relationship with his father and how it improves during the climax of the film.[49] Alexandria Hill agreed, feeling the fractured relationship between Boruto and Naruto was the main point of the story, while the subplot about Boruto's use of technology to win fights was not explored.[49] On the other hand,*Kotaku**s Richard Eisenbeis was critical of Boruto's development, feeling that the bond with his father at the end of the film was weak and not believable.[50] In contrast, Chiok felt the bond between Boruto and his father was well developed and noted that, while Boruto and Sarada do not wish to follow their fathers' paths, there was proof that they still loved them.[45] Both Mcnulty and *Toon Zone* were also pleased with the title character's voicing by English voice actress Amanda C. Miller.[40][48] The soundtrack gathered mixed opinions while Thais Valdivia from *Hobby Consolas* enjoyed the theme song provided by Kana-Boon.[40][51]

### Legacy

Pleased with *Boruto: Naruto the Movie*, Sanpei asked Kishimoto to make a sequel which elicited the wry request that she let him rest.[52] A novelisation of the movie written by Ukyō Kodachi was published by Shueisha on August 10, 2015.[53] Manga author Kenji Taira released two gag manga series that parodied *Boruto*: one is set when Konohamaru's team is formed and the other is when Boruto requests Sasuke to become his teacher.[54][55] CyberConnect2's fighting game *Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4* was given an expansion that adds returning characters such as Naruto and Sasuke in their *Boruto* forms as well as new ones from the film in order to retell the story but under the subtitle of *Road to Boruto*.[56] In May 2016, *Boruto* writer Ukyo Kodachi also started his own manga series with artist Mikio Ikemoto, which begins by retelling the events of the film under the title *Boruto: Naruto Next Generations*.[57] The television anime series of *Boruto* will retell the events of the feature but with additional content.[58]