Boruto: Naruto the Movie | |
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Directed by | Hiroyuki Yamashita |
Screenplay by | Masashi Kishimoto[1] Ukyō Kodachi |
Story by | Masashi Kishimoto |
Based on | Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto |
Starring | |
Music by | Yasuharu Takanashi Yaiba |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Toho |
Release date |
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Running time | 96 minutes |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Box office | US$39.5 million[2][3] |
Boruto: Naruto the Movie is a 2015 Japanese animated martial arts fantasy film and the directorial debut of Hiroyuki Yamashita. It is based on Masashi Kishimoto's manga and anime Naruto, and is the second film to be a part of the canonical Naruto storyline, being a sequel to the manga series. It stars Yūko Sanpei, Junko Takeuchi, Kokoro Kikuchi and Noriaki Sugiyama. Set after the finale of Naruto, the film focuses on the title character Boruto Uzumaki, son of Naruto's protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki, who cannot stay with his family due to being the leader of his ninja village. Vigilante Sasuke Uchiha returns to the village with warnings about two beings who might become a big threat to the world peace the ninjas managed to bring about in the original series.
The film was first teased in the post-credits scene of the previous film, The Last: Naruto the Movie (2014). Kishimoto took a large role in the making of The Last, handling the script and character designs. However, Kishimoto took an even larger role in the making of this film, handling the script, characters designs and screenplay. This brought him difficulties, because of which he required help from other staff members, such as the writer Ukyō Kodachi and director Yamashita. They created new scenes that left a deep impression on Kishimoto.
Released in August 2015, the film became the franchise's highest-grossing film, and its home media versions had good sales to the point of becoming Japan's best-selling releases in 2016. Critical reception of the movie has been mostly positive, with writers praising the animation, well-animated fight choreography as well as Boruto's growth, but it was criticized for its unmemorable antagonists along with Boruto's relationship with his father not being explored deeply. Ukyo Kodachi and artist Mikio Ikemoto adapted the film as the first story arc of Boruto (2016), a manga sequel of Naruto, with both it and its anime adaptation (in which it is the seventh story arc) altering some details with added content.