First of all, sorry for my late reply
I think it was positive. She was happy for Naruto and about to cry. The key message on the whole journey in this movie is that Sakura starting to learn how it feels to live a life as the only offspring of a hero -- much like Naruto.
A hero, who has done a great deed to save the village by sacrificing himself, but wont be able to be there for their family. The hero will be carved in the stone and will always be remembered, but for the child / family who was left behind, what good does it make? They dont need parents who are only carved in the stone, dont they?
At later part, Sakura learned Naruto's hardship by thinking 'Naruto, this must be how you feel all along...' --something along those lines. From that point onwards, I realized that this movie is about Naruto and Sakura learning the lesson of life by switching their place. That's my personal take on it.
...this movie is targeted for general public consumption, not only for Naruto fans. People who dont read the manga can still follow the storyline. It's hard to say whether this is a start of Sakura's change of feeling, but we can always tell that this is more or less what Kishi's intention on how he wants the audience to appreciate his characters.
In particular to Sakura's feeling, the NS fan inside me always thought that this movie shows how Kishi depicts Sakura's feeling towards Sasuke -- it's not the real love Sakura was looking for and she need to learn her lesson. If you're an author of a manga and you have ~2 hours to sum up what your story is all about in an OVA, how else you want to depict it? ---But, that's just me being NS fan.
I think the movie itself is about a journey from imperfection towards perfection, by learning from mistakes. Nobody is perfect and it is very human to be imperfect. But you got to learn from your mistakes and move forward to become a better person. That's what I like from Naruto and Sakura as fictional characters. They have flaws, but they made an effort to fix it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt, but that's where the fun is -- they keep trying.
... I think it's a big lie. I dont know whether it is the truth or not, since I'm not Kishimoto
but the fact is: Kishi stated himself that he's not only drawing the characters, but also writing the story for this movie. Refer to the movie's trailers.
I live long enough in Japan to notice that such claims in advertisement means a serious business. Japanese don't put big names in a product carelessly, be it OVA, video games, fashion design, music, books, etc. If a person name tag is there, it will not be just for fun. They carry a heavy burden and risk -- if the product fails, the named person will hardly get a second chance to be involved in similar projects in the future. People just wont buy it.
So, I think this movie is a make-it-or-break-it moment for Kishi, as well as Naruto and Sakura as fictional characters. I'm glad that this movie becomes the most successful Naruto movie, even though the DVD hasnt been released yet (it'll bring a lot more $$ when the DVD is out).
The success brings a good message to Kishi and his editor at WSJ I think --that NaruSaku bonds/interaction may not be the least favorable in Naruto universe, it may well be the *most* bonds/interaction people looking forward to. Polls/statistics doesnt really matter because they arent really tangible in terms of how much money it will help drive the manga generate more income. We have a solid proof of a successful movie focusing on Naruto, Sakura and family themes. You combine this together, it'll come out as NS all the way
Even one of the member of AKFG says he's looking forward how Naruto and Sakura relationship develop.
I find it interesting that recently Kishi stated in WSJ event, that he completely forgot about Sakura -- yet, he made a full movie in which Sakura gets a major role along with Naruto. Having said that, I'll just take Kishi's interview and comments with a grain of salt
He's very clever at hiding his plans.
Thanks so much for answering!
It's nice to hear that Sakura is so happy for Naruto, and nice that she got to witness such moments between Naruto and his "parents".
I agree with you about the way Kishi depicted Sakura's love in this movie - the Sasuke that Sakura wants romantically isn't the real Sasuke at all; its this romanticized version of him that is all surface and no substance. I think if Sakura's love were meant to be presented as this deeply serious, tragic thing, then she would have reacted more like Naruto does around his parents around Sasuke—disbelieving and untrusting at first, and then really emotional sad and then happy to have him around (almost crying happy like the scene where Naruto comes home and gets all teary eyed before smiling when his parents tell him welcome home).
From what I've seen in trailers and heard from those who have seen the movie, Sakura just acted like her 12 year old self around AU!Sasuke (blushing and fangirly) until she saw him with his other fangirls, and then she got mildly upset (some people have said she runs away crying?) and then focused on Naruto's feelings/situation and missing her parents for the rest of the movie.
I also agree about the lesson being sent to the viewers of the movie - Naruto and Sakura are both ungrateful for what they have in the beginning of the movie, and by the end of the movie they help each learn to appreciate what they actually have in reality and to appreciate each other's position. Sakura's words and actions grounded Naruto back in reality at the end, and Sakura learned to appreciate Naruto's situation as you aptly described.
I especially appreciate your points about Kishimoto's involvement in the movie. That's what I assumed, but I wasn't entirely sure.
I hope you have a point as well about Kishi and his editors taking note about the success of the movie and Naruto and Sakura's prominent role in it. I think this perhaps was reflected as well in the comments chosen and put on the official movie page, since there were two comments regarding Naruto and Sakura's relationship.
And yes, I certainly think that Kishi decided to involve Sakura so heavily because he hasn't been able to involve her as much in the manga. Here's hoping that he will follow through with this in manga after seeing how successful it was in a movie.
