Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40745 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-12-15
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 300 minutes

Synopsis
In the battle-torn Hidden Leaf Village, the Third Hokage and the Leaf ninjas make their final stand against Orochimaru and his minions. In the aftermath of Orochimaru's attack, the village mourns, but the life of a ninja goes on! An eager Naruto departs on a training mission with Jiraiya to find a legendary kunoichi. Meanwhile, two unwelcome visitors arrive in town. Why does this trouble Sasuke? And why are they looking for Naruto?

Customer Reviews

The Chase Begins
Naruto series 5 part 1 sees the show take a darker and more serious approach than any of the other installments. After quickly tying up the Land of Tea filler arc in the first few episodes, the series faces one of it's biggest and crucial story arcs - 'The Sasuke Retrieval Arc'. Annoyed and frustrated with the growth in his comrades abilties and strength Sasuke abandons the hidden leaf village and heads towards the malevolent Sound Ninja Orichimaru in the hopes of attaining more power. This is where Naruto and a newly appointed chunin ninja in the form of Shikamaru as well as Neji, Kiba and Choji come in. This newly formed team aptly named the 'Sasuke retrieval squad' set out to bring back their rogue comrade. But things aren't as simple as that. Standing in their way are the Sound Ninja 4; an elite group of ninja who are under the command of Orochimaru. These powerful ninja posess a curse mark (alike to the one Sasuke recieved earlier in the series) which greatly amplifies their powers. The leaf village ninja's skills are going to be pushed to the limit as they face off agsainst their most powerful enemies yet.
After the slower land of tea story arc, the plot really kicks into gear with this DVD set. The episodes contained on these discs contain plenty of great action that Naruto pulls off so well. On top of this there is a fair bit of characterisation to some of the side characters such as Neji and Choji, but more importantly there is an interesting relationship between Naruto and his rival Sasuke that makes the earlier episodes in this set very compelling. In episode 107 Naruto and Sasuke face off properly for the first time in one of the most epic and emotionally charged battles yet seen in the Naruto series. Series 5 part 1 shows that Naruto can continue to surprise and entertain even after such a long run of episodes. Not only is the characterisation and action on top form, there is an air of tragedy and some true emotional weight to the story and characters. After the Naruto vs Sasuke fight, comes more non stop action in the form of battles between the retrieval squad and the sound ninja four. Although the fights sometimes last several episodes, they are still incredibly gripping to watch and they flow nicely so that they never seem to drag.

Naruto series 5 part 1 contains another 13 episodes. These are:

105.A fierce battle of rolling thunder
106.The last leg: A final act of desperation
107.The battle begins; Naruto vs. Sasuke
108.Bitter rivals and broken bonds
109.An invitation from the sound
110.Formation! The Sasuke retrieval squad!
111.Sound vs. Leaf
112.Squad mutiny: Everything falls apart!
113.Full throttle power! Choji ablaze!
114.Goodbye old friend...! I'll always believe in you!
115.Your opponent is me!
116.360 Degrees of vision: The byakugan's blindspot!
117.Losing is not an option!

As usual Naruto is a series that has always been beautifully animated with great artwork and bright vibrant colours. The music is also as enjoyable as ever with a funky opening and closing theme song and the usual catchy tunes in the episodes. Like the previous releases, this volume contains the English dub as well as the original Japanese voice over with subtitles. After this volume, there is series 5 part 2 and a tiny bit of series 6 left before the series becomes entirely filler (not in the original manga) material. Naruto series 5 part 1 is an important addition to any Naruto fans collection as it begins the countdown to the enevitable final battle between two bitter rivals and paves the way for a truly epic conclusion to a fantastic story. So if you have been collecting the Naruto DVD releases so far, then you definetly need to get this one as it is one of the best volumes yet with a great balance of characterisation, action and drama.

Naruto
This is a brilliant dvd series but it runs better in Japeneze with english subtitles.

excellent
excellent dvd, been a naruto fan for a while and it still up to the same grade if not better in this series. you have a choice between english and japenese voices, ad subtitles as well so you can watch in the style youfirst watched or something new.