General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Blood Prison

Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Blood Prison (劇場版 NARUTO -ナルト- ブラッド・プリズン, Gekijōban Naruto: Buraddo Purizun) is a 2011 Japanese animated film, the eighth theatrical feature based on Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto manga and the fifth drawn from the Naruto: Shippūden television series¹. It was released in Japanese theaters on July 30, 2011, distributed by Toho¹.

Key fact	Detail
Japanese release	July 30, 2011 (Toho)¹
Position in series	Eighth overall Naruto film, fifth Shippūden film¹
Director / screenplay	Masahiko Murata; screenplay by mystery writer Akira Higashiyama¹
Running time	94 minutes per the Japanese Film Database; 108 minutes per JustWatch's US listing¹^•²
Setting	Hōzuki Castle (Hōzukijou), an escape-proof criminal containment facility known as the Blood Prison²
Main voice cast	Junko Takeuchi (Naruto), Masaki Terasoma (Mui), Mie Sonozaki (Ryuzetsu), Yuichi Nakamura (Muku)¹
Production	Naruto the Movie Production Committee (TV Tokyo, Shueisha, Pierrot, Aniplex, Dentsu, Bandai)¹

Spoilers

Plot

Naruto Uzumaki is captured for crimes he did not commit: an attempted assassination of the Raikage, leader of Kumogakure, and the killing of jōnin from Kirigakure and Iwagakure. He is sent to Hōzukijou, a criminal containment facility on a remote island known as the Blood Prison². The castle's master, Mui, uses an imprisonment technique that strips prisoners of their ninja power, and Naruto's chakra is sealed away². According to the studio Pierrot's synopsis, the seal burns an inmate who uses chakra or strays too far from Mui, and after failed escape attempts Naruto is sent to the punishment cells, where mysterious inmates, including the Kusagakure ANBU Ryuzetsu and the enigmatic ninja Maroi, approach him³.

Naruto notices that someone is trying to kill him, and the story becomes a battle to uncover the truth behind mysterious murders at the castle and prove his innocence². The JFDB synopsis adds that the hidden, tragic truth about the deadly castle leads the ninjas to a final battle¹. A short feature, Chunin Exam on Fire! Naruto vs. Konohamaru!!, depicting Naruto retaking the chūnin exam, was screened alongside the film³.

Setting

Hōzuki Castle stands on an isolated island and is presented publicly as a prison for dangerous criminals. According to the franchise reference material, Kusagakure originally built the castle to hide the Box of Ultimate Bliss, a relic said to grant wishes, with its prison function as the cover story⁴. In the film, the villains seek Naruto's jinchūriki (person hosting a tailed beast's power) chakra to break the seal containing the box, and Mui tests Naruto's loyalty to his home village by questioning whether he would slaughter innocent people if ordered⁵.

Production and cast

The film was directed by Masahiko Murata with a screenplay by Akira Higashiyama, a mystery writer, and character designs by Tetsuya Nishio, Hirofumi Suzuki, Hiroyuki Yamashita, and Koji Yabuno¹. Music was composed by Yasuharu Takanashi with the group Yaiba, and the theme song was performed by Yusuke³^•⁶.

Junko Takeuchi voiced Naruto Uzumaki, with Masaki Terasoma as Mui, Mie Sonozaki as Ryuzetsu, Yuichi Nakamura as Muku, Hisao Egawa as Killer Bee, and Takaya Kamikawa as Maroi¹. Supporting cast listed by JustWatch includes Chie Nakamura as Sakura Haruno, Rikiya Koyama as Yamato, Kazuhiko Inoue as Kakashi Hatake, and Masako Katsuki as Tsunade².

Release and home media

The film opened in Japan on July 30, 2011¹. The official Japanese DVD release followed on April 25, 2012⁷, and a Region 1 DVD from Viz was released in 2014⁸.

Reception and availability

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has no Tomatometer reviews; its Popcornmeter audience score stands at 69 percent from more than 50 ratings⁹. Audience reviews on the site praise the prison premise and early mystery while some criticize the final act's shift to large-scale monster battles⁹.

As of late 2026, the film streams in the United States on Netflix, including the ad-supported tier, and free with ads on The Roku Channel and YouTube; it can be rented or bought on Amazon Video, Fandango At Home, and the Apple TV Store, and is available on DVD and Blu-ray². In Germany it streams with a German dub on RTL+ and Aniverse¹⁰.

Place in the series

The film is unusual among the Naruto features in that Naruto is not joined by his Hidden Leaf Village friends for most of the runtime¹¹. Its prison setting, Hōzuki Castle, is treated in the franchise's wider reference material as a location with its own history, built by Kusagakure to conceal the Box of Ultimate Bliss⁴.

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026