Yes, this is the end of the line for the first series, and even though it's been a long time coming, the final episodes of Naruto are looking to impress with an eventful, epic conclusion. Do these episodes succeed in doing so, or do they fall short of ending the series on a good note?

We begin with Naruto, Sakura, and Rock Lee, who have been sent on an escort mission to help out a prison ship. They have to protect and transfer a prisoner named Gantetsu (a member of a group called the Ninja Dropouts) to the capital where he will be judged upon. The leader of the police guards, Todoroki, has a grudge against Gantetsu and has urges to end his life, but is stopped by Naruto. However, at the same time, other Ninja Dropouts attack and split the ship into two halves to separate the prisoner from the majority of the guards except for Naruto and Todoroki, so it's up to them to get Gantetsu to the destination.

As the arc progresses you start to see a lot of character development between Todoroki and Gantetsu, you find out why the officer is so bitter towards Gantetsu (past events are revealed in flashbacks) and you also begin to feel that Gantetsu isn't what he's made out to be. The episodes start off at a slow pace and suffer from repetitive flashbacks but the arc makes up with good action and suspense.

In the next story, Naruto, in search of ingredients for his local ramen shop, discovers a boy lying unconscious by the river. The boy - who has lost his memory - is sent straight to the Hidden Leaf Village hospital, where Naruto visits him and gives him the name Menma. Naruto and Menma then set off to find out how he lost his memories.

Menma's character is interesting and mysterious because once he is found to be a powerful ninja, the Hidden Leaf don't trust him, yet his good nature towards helping them contradicts their suspicions. This filler arc is well done, with teamwork and tragedy mixed in; I found it to be entertaining - but it's strange that it ends so quickly.

Then we come to the final chapter where the Sand Village creates a Ninja Academy for young students. Gaara's student is seized by Rogue Ninja who are attempting to capture Gaara's power to revive the ultimate weapon. Naruto, along with the Konoha 11, are determined to help Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari save the student, not only for the Alliance, but as thanks for helping them in their major fights against the Sound Four. This proves the highlight of the DVD, with multiple fights and some great moments as the action holds up right to the end, although the final climax is disappointingly weak.

These episodes are more serious than previous ones with very few cheerful parts. Considering most filler arcs I've seen, I felt that Hayato Date and the creators wanted to end the series on a more mature note, which is understandable, considering the next series, Naruto Shippuden, has the same feel.

In my Naruto #16 review, I mentioned a technical problem that occurred when I skipped the opening credits; instead of taking me to the beginning of the episode, it went straight to the middle. This problem still remains in this DVD and I found myself pressing that damn fast-forward button quite a lot because of it. However the English subtitles looked spot-on when watching in Japanese.

Extra content includes trailers for the Death Note and Bleach series, including a movie trailer for Bleach: Memories of Nobody; there are also trailers for the first two Naruto movies: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow and Legend of the Stone of Gelel.

In Summary

Overall, this makes a good finish to the first Naruto series and even with the problems I've mentioned, it's still engaging and fun to watch, a good build-up if you're looking forward to the Shippuden series.