“Naruto: The Symphonic Experience” took the stage at Miller High Life Theatre on March 29. “Naruto” is an anime and manga franchise that focuses on a boy ninja named Naruto who aims to be the Hokage. The title of “Hokage” refers to the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto’s home.
The story focuses on him going from an underdog orphan to being in this position and achieving his dream. The clear appeal of, not only “Naruto” but other anime, was so prominent during this concert and clearly displayed that other anime need to have symphonic shows made for them.
The show consisted of a live orchestra performing music from the original “Naruto” series. Footage from the series played on a big screen above the orchestra while they were performing in time with the scenes. The footage consisted of an abridged retelling of the original “Naruto” series that condensed the story into a two-and-a-half-hour show. In addition to the orchestra, there were two singers who came out and performed songs from the series at different points throughout the show.
As someone who grew up watching “Naruto,” this concert was essentially made for me; however, I admit that I did have some reservations when I first heard about it. I had never been to a symphony concert, let alone one for anime. I did not know what to expect or whether I would like it; fortunately, I was wrong.
The music of “Naruto” is one of my favorite aspects of the series. Toshio Masuda’s score added heartfelt emotion, excitement and an overall great dimension to experiencing the story. “Naruto” would not be as memorable or iconic without it.
Some standout songs were, “Wind,” “Strong and Strike,” “The Rising Fighting Spirit,” “Need to be Strong” and “Heavy Violence” — with “Heavy Violence” being my favorite due to the fact that it played during Naruto’s final battle with Sasuke, his rival.
I also loved the audience reaction when certain characters showed up on screen — cheering, clapping and even booing ensued. A good portion of the cheering and clapping occurred when fan favorite characters such as Rock Lee, Jiraiya and Itachi showed up on screen. Boos were verbalized when hated characters such as Mizuki and Sakura appeared. Since I am one of the fans that dislikes Sakura, that reaction especially made me laugh.
As much as I loved the show, I disliked how certain scenes and fights were excluded from the show — this is a mere fan nitpick but was definitely something that I noticed. I felt that it made the editing of the footage look odd to me since they had to condense a story told in 220 episodes into a two-and-a-half-hour show. Scenes being skipped made the story potentially hard to fully follow for newcomers. Because of this, the show may not appeal to people who are new to “Naruto” or not fans.
The great music, fan interaction and overall fun atmosphere of “Naruto: The Symphonic Experience” proves that other anime should have similar live shows made for them. The immense popularity of anime nowadays and its passionate fanbase make this obvious. I was surprised to learn that this symphony concert was a rare one of its kind — despite “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” “Final Fantasy” and “Sonic the Hedgehog” also having live symphonies. Even though “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “Final Fantasy” are video game franchises and “Avatar: The Last Airbender” is technically not an anime, these franchises appeal to the same nerd and geek audience that anime does.
Overall, “Naruto: The Symphonic Experience” is one of the best shows that I have been to in a long time. Music is one of the best aspects of anime and should continue to be showcased in such a big way for audiences — we should even try it on “Bleach,” “Attack on Titan” and “My Hero Academia.”
This story was written by Christopher Hayden. He can be reached at christopher.i.hayden@marquette.edu.
