Review of Naruto: The Lost Story

Introduction

You could say that Manga Entertainment has a small problem. Keeping even a hit property like Naruto in the public consciousness isn`t easy when the series DVD releases are placed six months apart, even with the Jetix broadcasts. Fortunately there are a number of films and this OVA which can be released, and serve as a useful prod during the fallow months between boxsets, a little nudge as if to say, "Hey, Naruto! Remember, not long now!" We had the first Naruto movie over Christmas, and with just a couple of months till the first of the Season 3 boxsets, here comes the Lost Story OVA, to keep the momentum of the Naruto juggernaut going. UK fans are in for a special treat in the extras, as Manga have sourced the Find The Red Four Leafed Clover short, an animation that even our American cousins are yet to enjoy on DVD.

12 years previously, the Hidden Leaf village was plagued by the Nine-Tailed fox demon. The Fourth Hokage ninja sacrificed his life to defeat the menace, and sealed up the spirit in the body of a newborn child. That orphan grew up as Naruto Uzumaki, a mischievous prankster with great ambition. Not only does he want to be a ninja, but he also wants to be the strongest ninja of them all and be granted the title Hokage. He has more than a little competition, the Hidden Leaf village is a community of ninja, and Naruto had great difficulty just passing his entrance exams to qualify as a lowly Genin. Even when he did manage to get his certification, he was assigned to undergo training by the demanding Kakashi, partnered with his rival Sasuke and Sakura, the girl on whom he has a crush. What makes things difficult is that few see him as Naruto, instead of the dreadful fox demon that was sealed inside him.

Set after the Chunin Exam arc (currently playing in the Season boxsets), Kakashi`s group are assigned a simple c-rank mission to escort the leader of the Village Hidden in the Waterfall back home. Shibuki is a timid, nervous young man, hardly what you would expect from the leader of a ninja community, although the trip is an uneventful one. Shibuki is reluctant to invite his escorts into the village, insisting that the entrance remains secret, although he has no qualms about setting Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke to work cleaning the lake. Kakashi gets a summons to return home, and he leaves his students behind, telling to catch up when they have finished their cleaning mission. Which is when a band of rogue ninja decides to strike. Led by an exile from the waterfall village named Suein, they are after the mythical Hero`s Water, an elixir that increases the chakra of whoever drinks it, in exchange for shortening his lifespan. Soon Sakura gets ambushed, Sasuke is captured, and Naruto is left to teach a coward the meaning of bravery.

Video

The Lost Story gets a 4:3 transfer that isn`t too far removed from the television series. It`s all clear and sharp, the character designs are brought across well, and given the OVA nature of the feature, the animation is a smidgen stronger than the regular episodes. There are certainly no flashback sequences, or lengthy static scenes for inner monologue to slow things down. The big flaw is the NTSC to PAL nature of the transfer, which means whenever the image pans left or right, or scrolls up or down, the picture is subject to a regular jerkiness that is on the wrong side of annoying. It got to the point where I wished that they would stop the camera moving altogether and just stick with a static shot.

Audio

You get a choice of English and Japanese, both in DD 5.1 and DD 2.0 flavours. Subtitles are of the translated variety, and everything works as it should. The dialogue is clear, action comes across well, and Naruto`s distinctive soundtrack is all present and correct. The surround tracks edge out the stereo in terms of audio presence, but it`s a narrow thing.

Features

You get the usual Manga trailers, Bleach, Naruto, Ghost In The Shell - Solid State Society and Karas. Well worth a watch is the awesome looking trailer for the forthcoming Vexille, a 3D CG feature given the full anime treatment a la Appleseed. Look out for it from Momentum films.

The big extra, and apparently a UK exclusive is the Find The Red Four-Leaved Clover Naruto short. It`s set early on in the Naruto canon, with the ninja heroes at the start of their training. The third Hokage`s grandson Konohamaru has a problem. A girl he likes is leaving the village, and he wants her to stay. He hears that if he can find a red four-leaved clover, any wish will be granted. The problem is that the red clovers only grow in Akagahara, an enclave used to train high rank ninja commanders, and which is definitely off limits to children and lower ranked ninja. It`s a job for the newly formed Naruto Corps; all that is left is to recruit its leader.

This animation runs for 17 minutes, is presented in 4:3, mastered from a rather soft source, and the only soundtrack is a 2.0 Japanese Stereo one, with forced English subtitles.

Conclusion

Also known as Mission - Protect the Waterfall Village, The Lost Story is a pleasant enough diversion for Naruto fans, certainly enjoyable to watch, but hardly adding anything to the overall story. In that respect it`s just like the Ninja Clash In the Land Of Snow movie that I reviewed a few months ago. The story is also similar, with Naruto and friends assigned to escort someone home, and with Naruto having to lead by example, convincing his charge to overcome his own failings and become a stronger person as a result. The thing is that Ninja Clash In the Land Of Snow took its time to develop the guest character, tell a decent story and make us care about what happened to her.

Protect The Waterfall Village doesn`t do that. For one thing, it`s basically a glorified double episode, which barely has enough time to tell its story, and do so as efficiently as possible. The other problem is that the guest character Shibuki is pretty thin, he`s a cowardly teenager put into a position of authority when he`s least ready, and it`s down to Naruto to wake the hero inside. There is a little depth in that we get to learn the reason behind his timidity, and can sympathise with his tragic circumstances, but the character is just too cookie-cutter and ephemeral to make a lasting impact. What Naruto fans will be impressed with are the action sequences in this animation, concluding with a showdown between Naruto, Sasuke and Suein that reveals that the two rivals have developed their teamwork skills, as well as showing how much they have improved their combat skills since they began training. The downside is that Sakura is back to her observer mode of wet fish, and hardly gets to ninja at anyone during its runtime, captured and hogtied early on in the proceedings.

The Lost Story isn`t anything special, with a story that could easily have been told in two episodes of the anime series, rather than warranting an OVA of their own. But, the price is attractive, especially given some of the usual retail discounts, and the addition of the extra short animation does add value to the package. Naturally Naruto completists will have already placed their pre-orders, but for those who dabble in the world of the bright orange ninja, The Lost Story may be fun, but certainly isn`t essential. Things are looking up for Naruto fans though, as in the US, Viz have accelerated their release schedule, unleashing a new boxset every few months instead of after half a year. If Manga follows suit, then waiting for subsequent releases in the UK shouldn`t be so much of a chore.