jude.gerlach - 2013-03-16 20:04:55

Animation

As a first in the Naruto series, this special utilises a cel-shaded CG approach similar to that in Penguin no Mondai and Gokujou Mecha Mote Iinchou. I generally despise this style of animation when it comes to anime due to its hit and miss nature, and The Cross Roads does nothing to change my mind on this.

On the plus side, realistic movements such as Kakshi squatting down seem almost like live action footage, while details such as the zip on Naruto’s tracksuit swinging and the jiggly bounce action displayed during the ‘Sexy Justu’ brings an added believability to the visuals. Likewise, the higher number of frames per second gives the action scenes a more vivacious nature as each ninja speeds across the screen and every exploding tag detonates. Sadly wherever there’s a positive, a bloody great lumpy negative is never too far away. In this case, there are times where characters flop around the screen like unloved rag dolls, but the award for most horrendous aspect of this anime’s visuals goes to the dreadful lip-synching. Though not consistently out of time, often characters have a level of lip movement that a Thunderbird puppet would be ashamed of – that is if they don’t simply leave their mouths open as words fall out, while occasionally making an ‘ooo’ shape that looks like they’re performing fellatio on some invisible phantom. Against such smooth body motion, this clunky attempt to make the cast speak drags the overall effect of the animation down.

Sound

With Toshio Masuda’s score from the main series carrying over into this special, along with the same cast of voice actors, The Cross Road’s soundtrack remains at the usual standard expected from any incarnation of the Naruto franchise.

On a particular plus, the main series’ second opening theme, “Haruka Kanata” by Asian Kung Fu Generation, makes a welcome come back as the special’s ending. Not only does this add to the nostalgia of it all, but also provides ample opportunity for a bit of headbanging.

Character

Since this special takes place early in the main series’ timeline, its cast’s personalities stay relatively simple; Naruto’s crude nature shines through as he continues to use his ‘silly’ techniques to abnormally great effect; Sakura remains as useless as ever – but since she spends most of the anime off screen or unconscious we don’t have to put up with her yelling ‘SASUKE!’ every five minutes; and as for the egotistical Uchiha boy, well he’s just as annoyingly emo as ever. The Cross Roadsdoesn’t attempt anything particularly ingenious to develop its central protagonists, so if looking for a deep insight into their souls then go read some SasuNaru fanfiction instead because you won’t find it here.

The supporting cast introduced in this special leaves no impression at all and are just as dull as Sakura’s desperate crush on her emo teammate. This trio of stock bad guys start out as “mysterious”, and remain just as much of an enigma twenty minutes later when the credits roll. Not only do these unknown shinobi encourage little curiosity about their identities and motives, but two of them in particular are such a waste of pixels that they don’t even receive names.