4 stars for this exciting adventure with Naruto and Sakura.
Naruto The Movie: Road To Ninja is written by Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto: Shippûden) and directed by Hayato Date (Girl Revolution Utena).
Life in the village continues as usual, but after the youngsters manage to defeat a group of Akatsuki and the villagers agree to promote them to Jōnin, Naruto (Maile Flanagan) realises that he cannot be promoted as he has no parents to put in his application. He begins to feel their loss more keenly, which isn’t helped by Sakura’s (Kate Higgins – Bleach) constant arguing with her own parents. When she states that she would be better off without them, that is the final straw for Naruto.
However, before anything else can be said, Madara (Neil Caplan) shows up in the village and casts a Jutsu, causing a massive explosion. Once recovered, Naruto and Sakura can see no sign of him, so they head off to warn the others. However, no-one has heard of Madara and everybody seems different, almost opposite to their usual selves.
People seem to think that Naruto is actually called Menma, and even stranger, Sakura is now the child of heroes, it was her parents who sacrificed themselves to save the village and her father’s likeness which is carved into the rock face above the town. Even more strangely, Sasuke (Yuri Lowenthal – Tiger & Bunny) is back in the village as if nothing ever happened and things become even more difficult when Naruto’s parents Minato (Tony Oliver – Sword Art Online) and Kushina (Laura Bailey – Avengers Assemble) return from a mission and he realises that this world, although fake, may hold everything he ever wanted.
The resultant battles to regain their freedom, and discoveries of all the ways this world differs from theirs makes for an exciting ride.
This is a great addition to the Naruto franchise, very emotional in places and very enjoyable. It’s a really good story and it’s nice to see Naruto and Sakura working together towards a common goal minus all the usual arguments.
It is a must have for fans of all things Naruto, lovely animation and heart -warming storylines, as you would expect and it doesn’t disappoint.
“I’m sorry Naruto. I was wrong, so wrong. We’ve got to get back to our own world.”
Naruto The Movie: The Road To Ninja is available to order on DVD and Blu-ray now.
| Director | Hayato Date |
| Author | Masashi Kishimoto |
| Genre | Anime, action, adventure |
| Starring | Maile Flanagan, Kate Higgins, Tony Oliver, Laura Bailey, Yuri Lowenthal |
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