Three of the best shonen anime movies ever have quietly arrived on Netflix

Netflix has added three of the finest Shonen movies recently, giving new fans a chance to check them out and old viewers the power to revisit at will.

The three anime movies are part of the Naruto franchise, one of the largest and most recognizable properties in the whole medium. But don’t let that put you off – they stand on their own.

The films are the most recent trilogy: Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie; The Last: Naruto the Movie; and Boruto: Naruto the Movie. They were added on July 7, 2024 for subscribers in the US. Each offers thrilling fight scenes that’d tickle any martial arts or action movie enthusiast, on top of some top class animation.

Road to Ninja features our hero being transported to another universe, whereas The Last involves the protagonists preventing the Moon from crashing into the Earth. The third, Boruto, gives us a good look at Naruto’s son, who has now inherited the franchise as the main hero.

All three stories are written or co-written by Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto, keeping them in line with the overall property.

Naruto might be long-running at this point, but these films aren’t as hard to understand as you might think. You’ve got heroic ninjas – the title character and his friends – who have to face certain enemies and struggles. Most of the problems are solved through kicking ass. Rinse and repeat.

They’re not unlike watching one of Jackie Chan’s Police Story sequels or an Ong Bak installment or an Ip Man film. There are clearly defined heroes and villains in a broadly sketched out troubling situation, and then everyone lets rip on the kung fu and other fighting moves.

If you’d like a more specific recommendation of the three, Road to Ninja is probably the easiest for a newcomer to get. Be careful though, you might find yourself a Naruto fan by the end and start ninja running through the other two.

That reference will make sense after you watch, promise. If you’re up to date on Naruto, and already watched these releases recently, check out our guide on Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 12 for what’s going on in the manga.