Traces of yet more distant lands

Today was short; at least the unreported part thereof. Naruto Shippuuden was more fun than I expected, especially the cinema part of it (I'd watched all the other Naruto movies on a computer screen), though I daresay hearing rather than reading subtitles contributed considerably to immersion (it always does). I understood most of it - kanji words are still a pain in the posterior, but it's amazing how far you can get with just wago (native Japanese vocabulary not originating in Chinese) and context. Though I admit one or two key points escaped me - more on those below.

In spite of the fact that maybe one of my readers will find it relevant, I feel obliged under the circumstances to offer a brief review. Skip it if desired. Before then, though, a few observations on the Japanese cinema experience in general. First, the giving away of promotional toys and similar. This never happened to me in the UK, but here it seems quite common, and I chose a little Sharingan-symbol pendant (Google Image Search will deliver it, I'm sure; it's more trouble than it's worth to describe verbally) over a miniature ninja headband.

Second, I note that everyone stayed in their seats up until the end of the credits. As a completist, I thoroughly approve (how many times have I missed bonus clips due to being dragged out too early?) - I note the perhaps related fact that many anime opening and ending themes are performed by actual, famous bands, so the ending credits may come with the equivalent of a new single.

Third, upon leaving, rubbish is not left behind, but handed to the cinema staff outside in person. Very...civilised. Speaking of, it seems that here, like England, when edging past someone in a cinema or theatre, one typically faces away from them. Apparently only in Russia is it thought more polite to face the person you're disturbing.

At any rate, the review follows. I'll try to make it accessible to non-fans.

In brief, Naruto Shippuuden: He Who Inherits The Will of Fire is the story of how the hologram of a rogue ninja, formerly from Konoha (one of the five great ninja villages, and the protagonist's home), appears over said villages and proclaims that, now that his special ninja technique (hereafter "jutsu" for conciseness) is complete, he needs only the fifth of five specially chosen victims to become immortal and unstoppable. For some reason, this causes everyone and everything to turn against Konoha (instead, of, say, uniting to wipe him out ASAP), and Konoha's ninja must "resolve the incident" before the Fourth Great Ninja War breaks out.

Good points:

Tying into canon backstory: the movie makes ample use of material from the Kakashi Gaiden Special (the origin story of Naruto's squad leader) as well as elements of the last canon arc, which lends it much-needed extra depth when it comes to character motivation. Previous movies failed to do this and ended up feeling even more shallow than otherwise.

Good action sequences: this is from an action series, after all, and it does not disappoint. Most fights are relatively short (thank God; the second half of the last movie was one long fight, and got irritating), and involve creative uses of the characters' familiar signature moves. That said, the same cool factor makes some fights look much too easy for the good guys.

Moral conflict: it's not much of one (this is still a kids' movie), but we do get an explicit and long-overdue confrontation between Konoha's prevailing philosophy ("better to sacrifice the few for the many than to risk losing everything") and Naruto and Kakashi's "no man left behind". It builds up gradually over the course of the movie, and is given an unexpectedly sensible resolution - whereas within canon Naruto usually solves the problem by ignoring it until it gives up and goes away.

Well-distributed screentime: For the first time in forever, everyone in the younger-generation cast (16 people) gets a moment in the spotlight, by the highly-successful approach of keeping individual fights short and showcasing some brilliant teamwork and combination jutsu (another thing canon tends to conspicuously lack - these people have been training and fighting together for years, and their total power skyrockets when used strategically, so why are most canon fights one-on-one?).

Bad points:

Poor villains: this always happens with the Naruto movies. The main villain's motivation - "I was the runt of the litter, but now with my new powers of evil, I'll show them all!" - is painfully cliched, and his characterisation minimal. Not to mention that it overlaps worryingly with the series' archvillain Orochimaru's methods, origins and objectives. His three minions, meanwhile, have neither backstory nor personality.

Too much moralising: Based on what I've seen of the media, the Japanese have a naturally higher tolerance for unselfconscious proclamations like "I will fight to protect the children who will inherit the future!", but to my Western mind there's just too much of this in one movie, and towards the end it tips over the limit of my patience.

Minimal character development: This is pretty standard for anime movies (which, after all, are non-canon), and doubly so for Naruto (where even canon character development is excruciatingly slow or absent). Though this movie improves on its predecessors by drawing on flashbacks of canon to justify seemingly out-of-character behaviour (one of the hallmarks of a complex character being that they can act totally unlike themselves), in the end everyone is pretty much the same as at the beginning. But you didn't really come here for the characterisation.

Plot holes: I admit that at least some of this might be covered by the Japanese I didn't catch. However.
1) Why does the appearance of a rogue Konoha ninja cause everyone to turn on Konoha? It's not like Konoha doesn't already have evil rogue ninja (the Uchiha siblings), or like there aren't already rogue ninja from all the villages seeking ultimate power (the Akatsuki organisation). Besides, he's not in Konoha, so what good would levelling it do?
2) Why does one ninja's assertion of invincibility, plus approximately one defeat in battle, cause everyone in the five great ninja villages to act as if he really can't be beaten and resort to sitting on their hands/preparing for inter-village war? Especially when he himself has announced that he has yet to perform the immortality-and-power-bestowing ceremony. He might as well say out loud "come kill me while I'm still searching for the fifth victim".
3) OK, the villain's master jutsu (which absorbs others' powers and then throws them back at double strength) is pretty spectacular. But how does it get defeated in the final showdown? By ingeniously finding a weakness? No, Naruto uses a technique which is "too powerful to absorb". That's it. They might as well just say his power level is over 9000 and go home. Did I mention this is a technique that, according to canon, he is forbidden to use under any and all circumstances due to its adverse effects on the wielder?

Conclusion:

I don't know to what extent this is influenced by the superior cinema environment and glorious subtitle-free immersion, but this is probably the best Naruto movie I've ever seen. That said, this only means that fans may find it a fun way to spend a couple of hours when they have nothing better to do. It's well-made for what it is, but you'll probably forget it by the time the next one comes out (which may well be what the producers are after). As for those new to Naruto, while Yuya (who watched the film with me) enjoyed it with minimal prior knowledge, I can't help feeling that a fair bit of the fun comes from familiarity with the characters (which the film rather assumes, though not in a plot-critical way).

OK, that's enough of that. On to Chuukagai, Yokohama's Chinatown - the biggest in Japan (I seem to be saying that a lot recently; it really didn't feel like it, though), where we went for a farewell meal at the apparently famous Manchinro restaurant. However, there's not that much to say about restaurant meals. It was well-planned (everyone picks a dish, and the waiter splits each dish into one bowl per person when it's brought), the service was slow but courteous, the atmosphere quiet and peaceful, and the food variable (some meals were very nice, including the fish; others made me choke, such as the egg-coated noodles which tasted like someone had left them in oil for a few days; then there were those I didn't go near, such as the jellyfish). Incidentally, local Chinese cuisine seems to have wholeheartedly adopted the Japanese motto of "if you're billing it as food, make sure there's a dead creature in it, even if it's a tofu or vegetable dish". I kid you not - some entirely vegetable-based dishes seemed to have things like "powdered shrimp" thrown in just for the hell of it.

A shrine gate, Chinese edition.

Within is the shrine of a Chinese ascended-human-type goddess with special responsibility for safe travel, as well as smaller shrines to deities of learning, binding (i.e. relationships) and women (?). I duly prayed to the first three, but was not invited to the fourth.

A typical Chinatown street, except less crowded than usual. At first sight, the only differences from a popular Tokyo district are the height of the builings and the number of dragons.

A very cool decoration. Look carefully at the building itself in order to get a sense of scale.

Chinatown's karaoke bars take a particularly forceful approach to participation.

And, at last...

All four of us together at Manchinro. Yes, that pose is still cool in Japan.

P.S. You may have noticed a relative absence of photos with me in them. These do exist (partly due to Michiko's insistence), but to be honest, I can't abide those typical "tourist standing in front of famous site" or "tourist posing with someone interesting" photos. I don't need them - I don't even use photos to remember things that much, and when I do I'd rather remember what I saw and what I felt, not what I looked like (an exception being photos specifically of friends, where the experience of being together is a key part of the photo's value). As for photos taken for the sake of others - like now - a good narrator doesn't get in the way of the story (which I do quite literally when I'm in the frame). In other words, to see Japan through my eyes can only be a first-person view.