Naruto Shippuden the Movie 1

劇場版NARUTO -ナルト- 疾風伝 (Naruto: Shippuuden Movie 1)

8.0(1)

OtakuDen

7.3(184,181)

MAL Score

Ranked #3131

Popularity #893

Action
Adventure
Fantasy

Episodes: 1
Duration: 1 hr 34 min
Aired: Aug 4, 2007
Status: Finished Airing

Synopsis

A band of ninja seeks to resurrect a fearsome demon whose return—spirit reunited with body—would spell the end of the world. The lone hope of stopping it rests with Shion, a shrine maiden capable of sealing the creature away permanently.

Assigned as her protector, Naruto Uzumaki quickly runs into Shion’s refusal: her visions foretell death, and she has already seen Naruto’s looming fate. Avoiding her might spare his life, yet Naruto refuses to back down, choosing to confront the prophecy head-on to keep Shion safe and prevent catastrophe.

Otaku Consensus

Naruto Shippuden the Movie 1 is received as a clear step up from the original Naruto film trilogy, with Hajime Kamegaki’s direction keeping the theatrical side story focused on fight momentum, prophecy-driven tension, and a sharper Shippuden-era tone. The strongest praise centers on Studio Pierrot’s clean action cuts, Yasuharu Takanashi’s music, and Naruto’s character work with Shion; the recurring knock is that, despite looking polished and clear, it is not among the most lavishly detailed anime theatrical productions.

Why You Should Watch

Watch this if you want a compact Shippuden-era battle movie that delivers ninja set pieces, demonic fantasy stakes, and Naruto’s stubborn emotional core without committing to a long filler arc. It scratches the same itch as a Bleach theatrical film: a familiar shounen cast dropped into a high-pressure supernatural scenario, powered by clean studio action and a dramatic guest character. The draw is not franchise lore density; it is seeing Studio Pierrot translate TV-series energy into a tighter movie format, with Yasuharu Takanashi’s score pushing the fights and solemn shrine-maiden material harder than the earlier Naruto movies. If you prefer Naruto when it is earnest, physical, and built around refusing despair, this is one of the more functional movie entries.

Key Characters

N
Naruto Uzumaki
Naruto is compelling here because the movie isolates one of his defining traits: he treats a predicted defeat as something to be challenged rather than obeyed.
S
Shion
Shion gives the film its sharper dramatic hook, functioning less like a standard rescue target and more like a fatalistic counterweight to Naruto’s refusal to accept limits.

What Makes It Stand Out

1
This was the first theatrical film under the Naruto Shippuden banner, released on August 4, 2007 after the franchise had moved beyond the original Naruto era.
2
Studio Pierrot’s presentation was widely singled out by viewers as cleaner and more exciting than the first three Naruto movies, especially in its fight-heavy stretches.
3
Yasuharu Takanashi provides the music, tying the film to the more forceful Shippuden sound palette rather than the lighter adventure tone associated with early Naruto.
4
The production credits include Tetsuya Nishio on character design and Hirotsugu Kawasaki on storyboard, giving the film a notable animation-side pedigree beyond its TV-series branding.
5
The movie’s dramatic structure leans on a prophecy conflict, which lets it test Naruto’s ideology directly instead of simply building another mission-of-the-week scenario.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1: AniList tags the film very strongly as Shounen at 96% and Ninja at 92%, while also flagging Super Power, Demons, Gods, and Shrine Maiden elements that distinguish it from a purely shinobi-focused assignment.
Fun fact 2: Its MAL footprint is unusually broad for a franchise movie: a 7.3 score from 184,181 votes, a #3131 rank, and #893 popularity in the provided data.
Fun fact 3: The film has a 70/100 AniList score and 424 AniList favourites, placing its reception in the solid fan-approved range rather than cult-favorite territory.
Fun fact 4: Key animation credits include Mieko Hosoi and Masashi Kudou, while Hidetsugu Itou and Masaya Oonishi are credited as assistant animation directors.
Fun fact 5: Contemporary fan commentary often frames it as stronger than the three pre-Shippuden Naruto movies, with praise aimed at the action scenes, visual polish, and moments of character development.