Posted by OP3 Sequence
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OP3: 「It’s all in the game」by Qyoto
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“Sasuke’s Shadow”
General Impressions
Protagonists aren’t the only ones who can have new upgrades and transformations. White Zetsu returns, bigger and better, taking Neo Team 7 for a really rough spin. This latest form is designed for combat – three nature transformations, overwhelming strength, and limited intellect being the only downside.
Of course, people in a similar tier to Naruto or Sasuke would obviously make short work of these critters. But I don’t see why Kaguya didn’t bust these out during the previous war. This version of White Zetsu would have caused far great problems for the Allied Shinobi forces, and could have tipped the conflict in her favour, considering how badly Konohamaru struggled. Anyway, I would like to go on a tangent.
For someone who aspires to be the next Hokage, Konohamaru consistently disappoints. Though not quite on the level of some other characters, a qualified and prodigious jounin like himself shouldn’t be struggling against that kind of enemy. As team leader, he also lacked foresight, suggesting that everyone split up while he went on a suicide mission to defeat the threat. What would his death have achieved, and what would he have done, if the White Zetsu decided to target the genins? And I’m surprised he didn’t think of alternative methods, such as using a toad informant.
In terms of overall strength, forget the Sarutobi legacy. He struggled to defeat White Zetsu 2.0, despite the fact it only required a single rasengan to obliterate. What made him spam kunais, when he could easily have resorted to top class ninjtusu? And it was utterly embarrassing when he couldn’t do anything about Boruto being trapped, and stood there helplessly watching, while Mitsuki pulled out the clutch save. When top secret information about Sasuke and the Sharingan are completely restricted in Konohagakure, I expect it to be extremely confidential. Why would Konohamaru choose to reveal sensitive information like Sasuke’s secret mission or the Rinnegan with such ease? Nothing is gained from spreading highly classified information like this. There is little practical benefit for genins to gain from this knowledge. And I don’t know why you’d trust 12 year old kids to not tell their friends. Usually, I’m okay with joke characters like Kiba, becoming fodder and the butt of jokes. But when Konohamaru gets thrown under the bus in such a ridiculous way, it really irks me, especially if the writing was poor.
Concluding Thoughts
To wrap off my misery, the new OP theme absolutely sucked. It wasn’t just the fact that the music and visuals were subpar. Who in flying tarnation thought that panning over the ground for 6-7 seconds could ever a good idea? Pierrot really dropped the ball here, and I can’t believe we’re going to be stuck with it for another few months. Rest assured, I will pretty much skip it every week. Oh man, was there anything good about this episode? On the plus side, I suppose Boruto bit off far more than he could chew, which could potentially teach the lad some humility. Also, in case you didn’t bother watching past the ED theme, MAKE SURE TO CHECK THE POST-CREDIT EPILOGUE. Show Spoiler ▼
That is all for now folks, so thanks for reading, and see you next week!
Epilogue:
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ED5 Sequence
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ED5: 「Kachou Fuugetsu」by Coala Mode
Preview
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The good thing about the ep is what it built up to: it added to Boruto’s anxiety (which is what makes him act like his movie self even with all his past developments), made him more trusting of the technology (which will lead to him using it in the movie arc), and it made Boruto learn about Sasuke (thus starting his growing interest in him), and so on.
As for why Konohamaru did not use a Rasengan immediately, I presume that it is because he was not sure that he could hit White Zetsu. It takes a while for Rasengan to form, it can harm the user’s chakra channels when not used properly, it consumes a great deal of chakra, and if Zetsu saw it then he would have become much more cautious and harder to hit with it.
And yeah, the OP sucks. The ED is better, especially the middle part where those three villains stare at Boruto, but even it is not their best one. I guess that Pierrot is saving on the budget.
I know that they’re trying to improve canonical consistency. However, I don’t think it needed to be at the expense of Konohamaru, especially because he showed up as an incompetent instructor + too weak to defeat White Zetsu 2.0 by himself.
He didn’t use Kage Bunshin no Jutsu once and definitely could have used a clone to help him mould rasengan chakra.
As for Pierrot, I hope they put that saved budget to good use. Likely not, since Tokyo Ghoul:re is also airing and that needs some love as well, but one can hope.
To me the opening didn´t seem so bad, I admit that his visuals weren´t the best, but the music was good.
Although, the ending is one of the best I’ve seen in my life, and the anime of Boruto.
(At least in my opinion)
I’m looking forward to Wednesday, and at the same time I’m afraid it will come with that, as it will be time for a real break between Naruto and Boruto.
(T_T)
My favourite ED so far is Sayonara Moontown. That said, the new one was really good, and definitely better than the new OP.
Where did their main animation team go? The opening song was not that bad, but the bad animation ruined everything. Boruto is comparing himself with people way ahead of him, and getting the anxiety of a child who aced high school but found university a lot harder.
It’s wholly possible that the main animation team went off to work on Tokyo Ghoul:re’s first episode. I’ll double check on ANN.
Boruto’s so desperate for daddy’s approval, and wanting to be apart from him, that he gravitated towards Sasuke?
Is there no other reason why he’d want to train under him?
That wouldn’t make sense too why he’s want to train in Rasengan when Chidori is Sasuke’s signature move as well.
A big part definitely comes down to winning Naruto’s recognition, without relying on him for help, which would indirectly call upon Naruto’s legacy. Boruto wants to distinguish himself from depending on such a heavy legacy, and it’s understandable. You get kids like Jaden Smith being crushed under their parent’s fame, and looking to make a name for their own, so it’s not like Boruto’s behaviour is that erratic. For this situation, external help is required, and it’s true that at the moment, only Sasuke is a match for Naruto in the current shinobi world. There is no one better to ask.
The other reason comes down to similarity in personal philosophy, which I think will be properly explored much later on, but I’ll go into detail when that time comes.
https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%20ED5%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
So, do we know anything about the guy in the left?
I’m just glad the previous OP is out of the window. God I loathe that song.
I imagine Konohamaru isn’t doing his full 100% because he (read: the writers) needed to give neo team 7 a chance to shine, or show them their lack of power compared to jonin level.
They didn’t really shine though. Mostly, it is to make the situation tense.
I’d like to think that Konohamaru would be giving it his all when Boruto’s life was in danger, and even then, he couldn’t do a thing. Then as Nayrael noted, Neo Team 7 didn’t really shine, and the power of a jonin seems rather diluted.
Very true, they didn’t shine. I just hope that was the intention, because otherwise they butchered Konohamaru’s strength for nothing. That guy took down one of the Pain’s as a kid!