![]() Once Naruto and his allies re-seal the Ley Line, time begins to correct itself. The ensuing battle is spectacular, although Mukade’s puppets recall the clay army in the earlier film. To defeat Mukade, Naruto joins forces with Sara, the Queen of Loran, and four warriors from the Hidden Leaf Village: Minato, Choza, Shibi and a younger version of Kakashi-sensei. When Mukade unseals the Line, a chakra explosion sends Naruto into the past, when Loran was a mighty city-state. Mukade hopes to use the energy from the stream to power a puppet-army that will conquer the Five Great Ninja Nations. ![]() The Lost Tower (2010) sends Naruto to Loran, a ruined city built over the Ley Line, a powerful stream of chakra energy. Director Masahiko Murata pits Naruto and his friends against chimeras, monsters and evil ninjas in a spectacular finale. Shikimaru struggles over whether orders or friendship take priority, but Naruto’s Will of Fire carries the day. His unwavering belief in the ninja tenet, anyone who disobeys an order is scum, but anyone who deserts his friends is worse than scum, causes problems for his responsible friend Shikimaru, who’s supposed to stop him. Ignoring the plans of his commander, Lady Tsunade, Naruto charges into action. His plot involves kidnapping Naruto’s nutty mentor Kakashi-Sensei. In The Will of Fire (2009), the sinister Hiruko strives to achieve virtually limitless power. Although director Hajime Kamegaki presents some exciting visuals, the film feels overly talky and needlessly complex. The story grows increasingly baroque as Naruto faces off against a megalomaniacal king No-Tails, a dark beast that feeds on anger and hatred and the flying fortress of Ancor Vantian. At the same time, the evil Orochimaru, whose body is failing, sends Sasuke after Shinnou. Naruto, Sakura and Hinata are sent to aid Shinnou, a skillful doctor, and his apprentice, Amaru. Their attack in chakra-powered, one-man flying machines recalls sequences in several of Hayao Miyazaki’s films. The film opens with the Hidden Leaf Village under aerial assault by ninja from the Land of the Sky, a group that was nearly wiped out many years ago. Of the four films, Bonds (2008) has the most complicated plot. ![]() Kamegaki balances the dire threats with plenty of physical comedy. The battle with clay automatons provides real visual excitement, although the media don’t always blend seamlessly. Director Hajime Kamegaki uses CG to create a terracotta army modeled on the statues found in Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s tomb. Shion, the priestess of the Land of Ogres, must keep Moryo’s body sealed within a hidden temple, with Naruto and his friends protecting her. If Moryo’s body is similarly resurrected, he will destroy life on Earth as humans know it. In Naruto Shippuden–the Movie (2007), evil ninjas employ black magic to resurrect the spirit of the demon Moryo. The four features in this collection, which are tied to the later Naruto Shippuden program, are more entertaining than the earlier films, offering adventures that wouldn’t work as television arcs. If he remains something of a grinning goof-off and self-proclaimed knucklehead, he’s also generous, valiant and devoted to his friends. A classic come-from-behind kid, he learned difficult jutsu (magical techniques) and how to draw on the chakra (spirit-energy) of the demon imprisoned within his body. In the sequel, Naruto Shippuden (2007), which ran twice as long, Naruto matured-a little. The first Naruto TV series (2002) ran for 220 episodes. Naruto often makes blunders, and he has weaknesses…I think readers see themselves in Naruto and that’s what appeals to them: They can empathize with him and his weaknesses.” Masahi Kishimoto, the creator of the original manga, said in an interview, “Perfect heroes are cool, but no one can really empathize or identify with them. As a result, Naruto Uzumaki grew up an orphan and an outcast: Troubled and troublesome, he nearly flunked out of the ninja academy. Minato, the Hokage or village leader, gave his life to imprison the demon in the body of his new-born son Naruto. Twelve years before the story opens, a terrible nine-tailed fox demon nearly destroyed the ninja settlement of the Hidden Leaf Village. In Japanese folklore, some evil spirits grow multiple tails as they age and their powers increase. With more than 220 million books of the manga in print-about half the total of the “Harry Potter” series, sales of tens of millions of DVD and Blu-ray discs, as well as countless consumer products, Naruto has become a global phenomenon.
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