Twenty Days of Anime Movies - Day 2 - Naruto Shippuden The Movie

[arcadiagt5]

With the glaring exception of Kamui No Ken / The Dagger of Kamui, I've never really been that big a fan of the fighting anime. Flame of Recca blew an interesting plot in favour of the half opponent of the week, Bleach ditto, and I nearly gave up on Rurouni Kenshin during the Kyoto arc

Comments

[seawasp]

Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, it would help to know the characters and abilities beforehand.

One thing you need to know about most anime-series movies, if you don't know already, is that they are generally in a separate continuity from the rest of the series. So -- alas -- Naruto's future with the princess is only in that alternate universe.

Still, that scene is wonderful, especially because you have no idea whether this is Naruto remaining utterly clueless (which given a few other things seems not entirely likely) or deliberately messing with his friends.

[arcadiagt5]

Continuity is always a challenge for movies based on a series.

Do you risk annoying existing fans by doing something independent and/or a reboot?

Or do you alienate new viewers by requiring familiarity with what has gone before?

I suspect that annoying new fans is a better bet in terms of box office which is why you often see that approach taken.

There are alternatives though - the Silent Möbius movies are essentially prequels to the manga that benefit from but don't require prior knowledge and end with the opening chapter of the manga.

[arcadiagt5]

One more thing: one of the alternatives that I wish we wouldn't see quite so often is to condense the 26 episodes or more down into a 2 hour movie.

This can work, but it can also be a dreadful train wreck.