Production
The film was directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi.[3] Masashi Kishimoto provided the story concept, character designs and complete editorial supervision.[4] Since the story takes place two years after Part II and several years before the epilogue, the characters were redesigned with clothing suitable for missions and more-mature facial features.[5][6] The film contains homages to Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's In Praise of Shadows, Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night, Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958), and Nobuhiko Obayashi's Lonely Heart (1985).[7] A new character, Toneri (voiced by Jun Fukuyama), appeared in the film.[8]
Screenwriter Maruo Kyozuka said that he wanted to depict a love triangle between Naruto, Hinata and Toneri in the film. Although Naruto is initially clueless about Hinata's feelings for him, during the film he begins to acknowledge and respond to them. Hinata's character was also developed in the film, with Kyozuka saying that she had to put aside her feelings for Naruto to accept Toneri's proposal so she could find Hanabi. During this scene, Kyozuka wanted to depict Naruto at his lowest after his rejection by Hinata. He then returned Naruto to his brave self, with the character resolving to continue his mission regardless of the cost. Toneri was developed as a despicable villain.[7]
After seeing the staff's initial work on a film about Naruto's relationship with Hinata, Kishimoto decided to oversee the project.[9] He enjoyed seeing Naruto and Hinata's romantic scenes, even those not written by him.[10] Kishimoto acknowledged his discomfort at writing romantic scenes, and he admitted he was not sure if he would be able to look at the scene depicting Naruto and Hinata's kiss.[11] However, upon watching the scene, he felt a mixture of satisfaction and sadness due to the two characters' growth since Naruto's beginning; they had become like his own children.[12] In making The Last: Naruto the Movie, Kishimoto based the idea of Hinata wanting to make a scarf for Naruto on what his wife had actually once done for him; this elicited laughs from the staff as they worked on the film.[13][14] Animator Chengxi Huang, who had been working on multiple episodes of Naruto Shippuden beginning in early 2014, thanked Kishimoto for being a part of the animation team of The Last, as he had wanted Naruto and Hinata to become a couple since Part I of the manga, and thus enjoyed working on this film.
Hinata's Japanese voice actress, Nana Mizuki, was surprised at the attention her character received. After seeing Hinata as an adult, Mizuki was amazed by how womanly Hinata looked and acted, feeling the same way about Naruto's young-adult self. The character's personality and unwillingness to give up, regardless of the situation, attracted Mizuki to Hinata. According to Mizuki, her favorite scene in the film was when Naruto tells Hinata he loves her. While being happy at Hinata's joy, she thought the character behaved rather coldly when Hinata went to Toneri.[7] Naruto's Japanese voice actress, Junko Takeuchi, was happy with the story and had hoped that Naruto would end up in a relationship with Hinata. Takeuchi was reminded of Naruto's late godfather, Jiraiya, when she read the script. She thought that although Naruto's declaration of love was the most important part of the character's growth, his true nature had not changed at that point. Satisfied with the story, Takeuchi thought that the audience would agree with her view.[7]
The jazz fusion duo Sukima Switch performed the film's theme song, "Hoshi no Utsuwa" ("Star Vessel"), after producer Takuyuki Hirobe had asked them to compose a song which invoked a gentle (yet powerful) world view. The single was released on 3 December 2014,[17][18] at the same time as the film's soundtrack.[19] A character CD song for Hinata, "Fuyu no Owari ni (冬の終わりに)" ("At the End of Winter"), was recorded by Nana Mizuki.[20] Two additional CDs were Even in a Future Day and The Host: Naruto the CD.[21]
