Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Naruto Shippuden: Set 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Naruto Shippuden: Set 1 picks up the mantle of the original Naruto anime series and continues the epic journey of Naruto and his friends. The sequel series was first broadcast in Japan on the Bandai Channel and on TV Tokyo. Created by Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto Shippuden features animation produced by Pierrot (Naruto, Black Clover). Produced by Fukashi Azuma (Arjuna, Vampire Knight) and Tomoko Gushima (The Prince of Tennis, Saiyuki Reload), Naruto Shippuden features voice performances by Junko Takeuchi, Chie Nakamura, and Noriaki Sugiyama.

Naruto Uzumaki (Junko Takeuchi) is back in action and ready to maneuver some new ninja moves! After the events of the original series, Naruto has more game and time for action. The ninja hero has set out with a giant quest to return to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Now that Naruto is older and has even more ninja skills the time and stage is set for a comeback. Naruto has been building up strength and everything points to him having increased endurance.

Now that things are back in action for ninja Naruto, danger awaits with the villainous Akatsuki causing problems for Naruto and the rest of the heroes. Gaara, now the Kazekage within the Village Hidden in the Sand, the danger and intensity heats up. Now even Sakura and Granny are at it with an epic fight in motion. Who can survive the game and live to talk about it?

The Naruto franchise became such an endearing hit because of the characters. The characters are at the core of the entire story and the reason why audiences keep coming back for more. Naruto himself is a great lead character and someone with an abundance of charm and personality. The character has a free spirit and a sense of ambition and pride in his ninja skills. The character is joyful and this brings something fun to the table for the production. The supporting cast of characters add a lot to the series, too. The journey of the entire cast is something that provides an extra layer of fandom to the series. If it wasn’t for fun characters, there wouldn’t be such a rabid fanbase – let alone an abundance of cosplay, too!

The character designs by Hirofumi Suzuki (Naruto, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations) and Tetsuya Nishio (Naruto, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations) are excellent and feel perfectly realized for the anime series. The designs are exceptional and perfectly encapsulate the personalities of the characters. Suzuki and Nishio understand these characters – what makes them tick – and how the designs are essential to the story. The designs expand on the original manga and anime in a compelling way – providing designs that are authentic to the voice of the production and the ambitions of the series.

The animation is one of the best things about Naruto Shippuden. One of the best things about the anime medium is the manner in which it inspires creativity in some animators and production members. With Naruto Shippuden: Set 1, the team of animators do their best to provide a fun and exciting animation landscape for the series. The series features art direction by Shigenori Takada (Naruto, Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files). There is a sense of personality and character to the animation and it has colorful, fun, and engaging background animation and details. There is certainly plenty to appreciate about the way these elements help to lift up the style and propel the series forward as something visually compelling for the fans.

The cinematography by Atsuho Matsumoto (Naruto, Queen's Blade: Rebellion) is another highlight of the production and one of the things to cherish about the series. The cinematography has a lot going for it and certainly the style is something that helps to bring out the best of the animation. The style of the cinematography is essential to the production and the visual language of the anime – with colorful elements on display and with good lighting for the action scenes. The efforts of Matsumoto are undeniably compelling. Outstanding.

The score composed by -yaiba- (Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds) and Yasuharu Takanashi (Fairy Tail, Naruto Shippūden: The Will of Fire) is an essential part of the series. The music uplifts and adds to the intense battle sequences. The score is exciting, relevant, and fun. The music certainly feels pitch-perfect for the action-packed adventure underpinnings of the franchise and audiences get more splashes of energy with the quality scores. The music works well with highlighting the characters and adding to the whimsy of the series, too. The music certainly adds to the series charm and without the score the backdrop of the series wouldn’t have the same cool factor that one feels with the music soundtrack.

Featuring scripts by Satoru Nishizono (Naruto, Digimon Adventure), Naruto Shippuden: Set 1 brings back the characters that fans have come to know and love – first and foremost, Naruto himself. Fans of the franchise will be happy to return to the threshold of the earlier adventures with some more fun and excitement in store. The scripting is good and entertaining. The sense of action- packed whimsy is an essential ingredient.

Directed by Hayato Date (Naruto, Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie), Naruto Shippuden: Set 1 showcases fun action-oriented filmmaking with the ninja moves necessary to keep things going. The series is the type of series action fans gravitate towards and the director remembers to balance a sense of both action and comedy in many scenes. The series stylistic tempo continues the winning formula fans cherish, providing more excitement along the way. In fact, the action scenes are at the core of the directing and why audiences keep coming back for more – the ninja battles remain one of the big selling points and continue to do so with the sequel saga.

Naruto Shippuden: Set 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by VIZ Media, Naruto Shippuden: Set 1 picks up the pace with a 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition presentation in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. The release is sourced from standard definition and the video on the release upscales the material to high-definition. As a result, audiences need to keep expectations in check. The set has a similar bearing in quality to the previously released standard-definition upscales provided on Blu-ray by VIZ Media for the original Naruto anime series. The same source-related upscaling is applied for the next segment of the saga. The upscaling provides a slightly better picture-quality with slightly less egregious compression.

The compression and scaling of the image are modestly improved and provide a slight uptick in quality for fans who value the absolute best presentation quality possible. At the same time, audiences should keep in mind that these improvements are always modest and not night-and-day in terms of quality differences. The standard-definition material still bears all the markings of standard definition video and as a result one can't find it as satisfying as a native high-definition presentation. Colors are reasonably good looking on the release but also do not seem to provide as much whimsy and depth as on the best upscale presentations. The line art looks reasonably good here altogether there are still some jaggies present on occasion and this is unfortunately a carry over aspect for the standard definition material.

Naruto Shippuden: Set 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The Blu-ray release preserves the sound direction by Yasunori Ebina (Naruto, Boruto: Naruto the Movie). The audio presentation on the release is respectable sounding but it does lack the same degree of depth or vitality as one might expect to find with the best audio presentations. Detail seems a little less crisp and engaging and the track doesn't have as much LFE or depth as one may expect to find. Dialogue is easy to understand and the score is still well reproduced but the fidelity of the audio seems less robust than expected.

Naruto Shippuden: Set 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

 The release comes with an o-card slipcover. The slipcover adds a nice collectible element to the Blu-ray release. This is a nice aspect of the physical media game and why collectors love physical media – the tangible quality of holding a favorite in hand.

On disc supplements include:

Voice Actor Featurette: Return of a Ninja (HD, 14:34)

Storyboards – Episode 235 includes 4 pages of storyboards.

Art Gallery includes 20 click-through sketch illustrations.

Clean Open (HD, 1:31)

Close Videos (HD, 3:02)

Trailers (HD, 1:21)

Naruto Shippuden: Set 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Naruto Shippuden: Set 1 picks up the action-packed adventure with more adrenaline-packed episodes of the saga. The sequel series to Naruto continues the journey. Fans of the original are the primary target audience. The Blu-ray release features a upscaled high- definition presentation from standard-definition material. The release also includes a selection of bonus features. The supplemental package features a voice-actor featurette that might be of interest to some fans. Naruto fans hoping to build their Blu-ray collection may wish to consider a purchase but consider the modest video and audio quality of the release. Recommended.