Anime Mini Review of The Last: Naruto the Movie and some VIZ Media collectible figurines

My fascination with Naruto started when I was looking for an anime/manga series that would appeal to my son (who was then just six going on seven). I was attracted to this young little outcast who persistently defied overwhelming odds to achieve his goals despite being the object of so much hate. Soon, I was just as engrossed in this anime/manga series as my son was (and still is). So it's fitting that the first ever anime movie we got to watch in the cinema was The Last: Naruto the Movie.

There are some minor spoilers ahead so if you haven't caught the movie yet, please be forewarned especially if you are a fan. Essentially, the tenth overall Naruto film and seventh Naruto Shippūden film is a romance between Uzumaki Naruto and Hyūga Hinata. It's about darn time I say. Being a sucker for romantic shows, I absolutely loved this movie. While a certain amount of background knowledge is required to fully appreciated the subtle nuances of the relationship between the leading pair, the plot and writing does give - rather successfully in my humble opinion - some context for the non-fan to enjoy the movie. But if you have been a fan like me who has been rooting for this couple since day one when the manga first appeared nearly 15 years ago, this movie is heaven-sent.      

Finally, the romance between Naruto and Hinata is fully realised

Hinata when she was a young crybaby

As with every movie, there had to be a villain and a save-the-world storyline but both were largely forgettable and played second fiddle to the Naruto and Hinata love story. Being a big old softy, I had always resonated with how pure and unconditional the romance between both of them was, as depicted in the anime and manga. It was a pleasure to see that brought to life on the big screen. Aside from the plot, the movie's colour scheme tended towards the dark/gloomy side as a fair amount of scenes occurred during night-time. Animation was top-notch as I have come to expect from anime artists/animators on the Naruto Shippūden series. I am giving this movie a 4.5 out 5 stars! Go see it.   

An older and stronger Hinata

It was great to finally see Hinata take centre stage in a Naruto movie

One big mistake I made when watching this movie was not staying on until the end credits had completely finished. This meant I missed a short piece featuring Naruto and Hinata's children. I had mistakenly thought that the still art featuring the couple's wedding when end credits were rolling was all there was to the 'easter egg' for fans. So if you have the chance to catch this show, don't repeat my mistake. Meanwhile, I had wanted to catch the show again, this time with the missus but it was unfortunately no longer showing in the cinema close to my home. A double whammy for poor me! 

Brilliant piece of fan art by Schneeblau on Devian Art

Watching the movie got me thinking about the few quality Naruto Shippūden figurines in my collection. I wanted to share photos of two of my favourites i.e. Uzumaki Naruto and Uciha Sasuke in the hope that it will inspire you to work on anime figures on your future miniature painting projects. Both figurines are from Viz Media, the company that also does the official English-subbed version of the Naruto Shippūden anime and manga. Presently, I have no plans to repaint them because I am happy with the quality of paint on both miniatures which are about four inches or 100-mm in height. 

Front and back view of the unboxed Viz Media Naruto figurine

Front and back view of the unboxed Viz Media Sasuke figurine

Side view of the boxes

Unboxed front view of Sasuke and Naruto figurines from Viz Media

Unboxed back view of Sasuke and Naruto figurines from Viz Media

Watching the movie has made me want to continue reading the manga after having stopped doing so at Volume No.40 some years back. So I dug into my son's manga collection and spent a huge protion of my Lunar New Year holidays reading Naruto Shippūden mangas from the start (Volume No.28) all the way to the latest English-language issue (Volume No.68). It's so hard to find time to read so this massive holiday reading binge was a welcome one. In fact, I seem to have caught the reading bug again and couldn't help picking up a new novel to read after all that manga overdose. So I got a copy of Still Alice by Lisa Genova and am now hooked on this page turner. From now on, you can get an idea of what's going on in my head by checking out what I'm reading (see graphic on right column).

Catching up on Naruto's manga series

This Lunar New Year Holiday has been tough on my hobby output as I have spent most of my time doing almost every other thing but painting miniatures. I can only hope that I will be able to break out from this holiday inertia and resume work on the many miniatures awaiting my attention on my paint station. Now where was I .... aah yes, page 56 ... [ picks up a book and reads ].