Boruto -Naruto Next Generations- / First Impressions

「写輪眼vs バーサス雷刀·牙」 (Sharingan vs Raitou Kiba)
“The Sharingan vs. The Lightning Blade, Kiba the Fang!”

Quick Recap: Let me preface this post by saying, I’m so sorry. The delay comes from losing my laptop charger, then having no proper contingency plan in place. Any remaining energy had to be redirected towards similarly affected legal studies, which unfortunately took precedence over Random Curiosity. However, a fantastic person offered me their laptop this weekend, so here I am! Not exactly the ideal scenario, but better than nothing. Now dear readers, if you could forgive me, that would be great. And for these misgivings, I owe everybody an apology. Anyway, onto some actual content.

In a clash of girls whose fathers were not present in their lives, Sarada and Buntan duke it out. It’s quite clear that Buntan thinks that she worked hard to achieve her own strength, and resents the hereditary nature of Sarada’s sharingan. On the other hand, Sarada sees Buntan as being immature and childish for wanting to help facilitate a full-scale revolution. Beyond a keen clash of skills, these things ultimately come down to conflicting ideals. Also, after years of having the Mangekyo Sharingan manifest in every situation, going back to the basics is quite refreshing.

What particularly impressed me was the way in which Sarada attained victory. It’s not like she overly relied on the sharingan, considering a big part of its strength got mitigated by the thick mist. Plus the copious body of water proved advantageous for Buntan’s lightning release techniques, forcing Sarada to rely on her wits. I firmly believe the outcome was justifiably within her limits, and you could see how much of a toll it took on her when she collapsed straight after.

 

「ボルトとかぐら」 (Boruto to Kagura)
“Boruto and Kagura”

Mitsuki further cemented himself as my favourite character in the new generation. He directly asks what we’ve all been wondering this whole time — why the heck is Shizuma so eager to wage war? Turns out it’s for the fun of it, and to be completely honest, I’m a bit disappointed that Shizuma’s reasoning ended up being so fickle. However, it actually makes complete sense in this context, and makes sure that the situation is not entirely inexplicable. I also loved how Mitsuki showed no hesitation in trying to gut Shizuma like a Cornish game hen. While his attempts were met by a mere water clone, and left him utterly floored, the bloodlust was certainly real.

Boruto put in a solid performance too, using a mixture of shadow clones and wind style release to land a rather decisive blow in the form of Boruto Stream. While the technique is still unsophisticated, it’s really exciting that there’s potential for it to develop even further. Anyhow, it was pretty disturbing when Shizuma got consumed by Samehada, and turned into a sharkman hybrid, even though this also happened in Naruto Shippuden. But everything remained under control, since Boruto and Kagura teamed up in charging Hiramekarei with chakra, to finally knock down Shizuma for the count.

Although I’m not too pleased about the general consistency of animation quality in Boruto, episodes like these two packed full of intense fighting are what make the wait worthwhile. We also received a satisfactory conclusion, that leaves open room for continuation regarding Kagura and the Hidden Mist. Vehemently rejecting Shizuma’s mantra of a fate predetermined by blood (SONO CHI NO SADAME!!!), Boruto propositions a world where even weaklings can take control over their destiny, provided they have the willpower to do so. Like his father before him, the boy has incredible talent in the Uzumaki’s Talk no Jutsu, snapping Kagura back to his senses. This would make me interested in seeing Konohagakure return the favour, by hosting a similar field trip for students at Kirigakure, since that would an opportunity for Kagura to fully showcase any progress he manages to make.

Preview

14 Comments

  1. Unless this series will redo the “movie” with their own version, this Boruto seems to be pulling further and further away from the kid that relied on a ninja tool for jutsus because he’s lazy.

    Dude
    Reply

    1. I’m hoping to see how the series can explore the content of the movie in a much more extensive fashion. There are already a couple of things it has done better, so I trust in Pierrot to go about it the right way.

      Zaiden
      Reply

    2. There was an article about this problem somewhere, and while I sort of agree, I also sort of think it’s being made into a bigger problem than it is. Boruto in the movie was also established to already know how to use some jutsu and elemental releases (including water, whcih he hasn’t been shown to know yet here) before using the tool.

      In my estimation, he wasn’t using it because he needed it so much as because he wanted to really shove it in his dad’s face. They’ve shown this in the anime as well. Boruto’s rebellion actually seems proportional to his father’s involvement in what’s happening. If it’s official, has nothing to do with his friends, and is a ‘symbol’ of the village, ninja, and his dad’s job that has taken him from the family, then Boruto will be a selfish prat. If he’s on his own, needs to save someone, or it simply doesn’t involve his father, he’s much more mature.

      Which isn’t unusual, LOTS of kids act less mature in front of their parents, sometimes to a lesser degree and others to a much greater degree.

      KaleRylan
      Reply

      1. one caveat that I don’t even think worked that well in the film; the fact that he cheated at games. That was weirdly out of left field because it seemed completely divorced from the rest of his motivations as they were established in the film. His messed up relationship with Naruto makes sense, and justifies a lot. Cheating at games however, WAS just lazy.

        I get that it was there to provide a sort of shorthand on his overall development, but I feel like it still didn’t mesh.

        KaleRylan
        Reply

  2. I wonder if we will have an arc where Boruto bites off more than he can chew, and starts to doubt his own strength. I too cannot reconcile this Boruto with the less mature movie version.

    5ofSpades
    Reply

  3. i wonder how the parents of each child reacts, when they see in how they come back from an “schooltrip”? Full of wounds and broken bones. Todays parents would sue the Blood out of the “enemy” villains and even want to trow their parents into jail, because they raised so “bad childrens”…

    In german they are called “Helicopter parents”

    But i bet in the US there are also such kind of Parents that sue the hell out of others

    but.. of course the first reaction would be anger…

    Worldwidedepp
    Reply

    1. Question:

      – Would Teacher Kakachi, show or learn Sarada the same “Lightning cutter” technique he show to his Father? With this “cut to everything” she gets an Upgrade in defend herself from harm

      Sasuke learned it from Kakachi right? Why not Sarada, too?

      Worldwidedepp
      Reply

    2. I imagine they would be angry that they got beaten so bad by other village’s kids. Need more training.

      I really wouldn’t compare Narutoverse’s parents with ours. These are all Shinobi, who sent their children to a school where it’s perfectly normal to throw deadly weapons at one another during both lessons and games. As long as you don’t kill someone or do something to send someone for weeks in a hospital, it’s likely seen just as “kids being kids”.

      Lord Nayrael
      Reply

  4. Quick Recap: Let me preface this post by saying, I’m so sorry. The delay comes from losing my laptop charger, then having no proper contingency plan in place. Any remaining energy had to be redirected towards similarly affected legal studies, which unfortunately took precedence over Random Curiosity. However, a fantastic person offered me their laptop this weekend, so here I am! Not exactly the ideal scenario, but better than nothing. Now dear readers, if you could forgive me, that would be great. And for these misgivings, I owe everybody an apology. Anyway, onto some actual content.

    No Worries. All is good, Real Life is important, they pay our Bills

    Worldwidedepp
    Reply

  5. https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%2031%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
    To be devoured by the very power he wanted, a fitting way to mark his defeat.

    https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%2031%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
    Honestly, I don’t know what sort of people would actually expect from a bunch of punks who got easily defeated. Well, when one thinks about it, Peace can cause punks to overestimate their abilities.

    And to Zaiden, no worries sir. Be realistic as possible, focus on Real Life. Random Curiosity should be the least priority.

    L002
    Reply

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