Posted by OP2 Sequence
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OP2: 「OVER」by Little Glee Monster
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「友情のシノビバウト」 (Yuujou no Shinobi Bauto)
“A Shinobi Bout of Friendship”
Kagura’s Bloodline
Poor Yagura and Kagura. Who could have guessed, that a hereditary condition could be such a source of woe in their lives? I have also finally understood. Despite successfully facilitating Kirigakure’s modernisation, via the influx of trade to bolster the economy, Chojuro can do so much better in regards to Kagura. He knows fully well about the boy’s trauma with swords, as a result of berserking and accidentally slaughtering his fellow classmates. Yet he still invites Kagura into the Seven Swords, and grooms him to become the next Mizukage at such a young age. Not to mention, those mental instabilities probably need fixing, or else you’ll just end up with a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
Fortunately, an attempt is being made to help Kagura out. Although reasons for the academy field trip mostly boil down to diplomatic reasons, which include fostering ties between Hidden Villages and trying to prevent a future war, I’d imagine that Chojuro wanted Kagura to make some friends. Being the children of living shinobi legends, it makes sense that the next generation of Konohagakure are not phased or daunted by Kagura’s potentially volatile disposition. They are used to living amongst monolithic titans every single day. But what I want to particularly highlight, is the great attitude Iwabe had towards the situation. Nonchalant though he may have been, I was totally expecting him to further escalate tensions by brushing off Kagura. Instead, he helps cheer Kagura up, and acknowledges him as being different from Yagura.
Concluding Thoughts
Unsurprisingly, my prediction from last episode was correct. Hachiya and his goons ended up becoming cannon fodder for the Hidden Leaf Academy students, despite pulling underhanded tactics. Currently, it looks like Shizuma will be the final boss and the true villain of the arc. If I had to guess, he must be related to Kisame in some way. Even if a baddie like Hachiya died, I’m still amazed that a kid’s series like Boruto would portray such a brutal execution. It sets the tone, giving us a disturbing inkling regarding Shizuma’s true nature. Although his objective of restoring the Blood Mist differs from the feudal lords’ aggressive expansionist policy, promoting war with Konohagakure allows both to achieve their respective goals. This is contrary to the peace that both Chojuro and Mei were seeking, and threatens to undo much of Naruto’s hard work in preventing another shinobi war. As the stakes only continue to rise, it looks like Boruto will have to face off Shizuma, and I sure hope Kagura can overcome his trial in time to help his newfound friend.
ED3 Sequence
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ED3: 「僕は走り続ける」 (Boku wa Hashiri Tsuzukeru) by Melofloat
Preview
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https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%20ED3%20-%20Large%2001.jpg
Who is hiding behind that tree?
Anyway, since Boruto’s classmates are now being given names, we know for sure that they are being “elevated” from “mob characters” to “supporting characters.” But honestly, their names, Kishimoto should be more considerate when naming his characters, I can’t imagine a parent would name their child Wasabi/horseradish. Meh
https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%2027%20-%20Large%2034.jpg
The rumors must be true, this dude could be the son of Kisame Hoshigaki. Anyway, I hope Kishimoto would expand if Kisame Hoshigaki was human; I can’t tell if Kisame was either a modified human or some non-human race.
https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%2027%20-%20Large%2021.jpg
It would be nice if she gets married in later episodes. Seeing a hot woman single “forever” is painful to watch.
Hey L002! I want to make a single clarification.
Kishi merely gave his blessings to Boruto. As far as I know, he has little to no creative input regarding Boruto.
Otherwise, these are some interesting points you raised!
I bet you two cents that it will be someone secretly admiring their crush from a distance.
I wonder how this transition will be managed, because I felt Naruto failed to adequately diversify focus on supporting characters, and that was with a smaller cast!
New opening and ending! In the first one, at last we have a picture of the main trio becoming genin… and is that the back of a teenager Boruto?! And the opening and the ending both give more spotlight to the other classmates.
As always, Mitsuki gets the best line: “Are you really genin?”. Perhaps now I can understand the Kages’ position better: if their genin are so lackluster, no wonder they believe “peace” is making the next generation weak. However, for extra irony, these sorry excuses for Kirigakure genins are of the “let’s go back to the bloody old ways faction”, whereas the OP academy students are from “peace is awesome, why would you need war to become a better ninja?” Konoha.
To be fair though, at least three of them are geniuses, one has been trained in a unique “Art”, and the other is actually Genin-level if not for lack of book smarts. Denki–still mainly just the hacker though.
I would attribute the drop in animation quality to outsourcing the episode. When your in-house animators are all working on the new OP/ED, it’s not hard to see why they needed to do it. So far, I’m still preferring Baton Road and Sayonara Moon Town. Wonder if that will change after a few more episodes.
As for Kirigakure genins being weak, that’s just us being desensitised after being exposed to generations after generation of exceptionally talented shinobi. These kids are literally the children of living legends. Not only have they got the genetics passing on certain abilities, they probably also received some direct training too.
I’m not sure if that was the back of a teenage Boruto, or whether that’s the back of a teenage Naruto. In fact, I actually like this ambiguity, since it shows that the two possess similarities despite how they frequently butt heads.
That’s a fair point, as JohnPeacekeeper also points out. Now I’m reminded of the original chuunin exams and, actually, the presence of recently graduated genin was an anomaly and it seemed they were expected to gather some experience rather than passing outright. Older kids, teenagers and even adults taking part in the exam was the norm.
It would be interesting to see how the other academy students would have fared in the same situation. In the end, you’re right: Boruto, Sarada, Shikadai, Inojin and Chocho are heirs to ninja family traditions, so of course they would do well. Mitsuki is basically a supersoldier. Iwabe is older and has fighting experience; it’s just that he fails the technical exams. Denki is the opposite (and thus he was captured easily). Of the rest, we can only vouch for Sumire.
(You know, I’d really like for the anime to show Sumire’s badass side again; to have her go back exactly to her original depiction is such a waste of character development)
https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%20OP2%20-%20Large%2002.jpg
Persona Style meets Naruto
Sarada will get her Susano persona I’m sure. Maybe it’ll be pink?
I’m glad we actually get to see the rest of the Nations more extensively now. Even with like 18 or something years of Naruto it’s nice to see we still get a lot of worldbuilding.
Meanwhile, I really appreciate the theme of “I’m not my father/grandfather” and it does work together with one of the previous themes of “successors surpassing their predecessors”. Even here. Even later on with the Daimyo’s son.
Really this tale is in some ways the opposite of Naruto (just like UQ Holder with Negima), in that there’s more focus on individual growths than as a team (since the team thing now comes more naturally anyway), finding your own way of life, and forging new paths as opposed to continuing the ones laid down before
I also appreciate the realism in that even during peacetime and between allies, the whims of less intelligent and more greedy allies may drag friends to fight each other, and the tension that comes with it.
I feel like we English speakers missed some symbolism during the card game though :/
And what I do wonder is how did Yagura get laid when he was legit a pure puppet.
Also, I just realized that the boys lack a genuine idiot among them, as each of them has a fine degree of intelligence and/or maturity… If anything I feel like the two girls who hang with Sumire and Sarada fit that gap that Naruto and Kiba left behind better, ironically enough
Symbolism to me seemed like the red representing a blood soaked past, then the overlaying of the red with blue representing a transition to times of peace. I could be oversimplifying things.
Anyway, Yagura was actually a lot older than he looked. That much is apparent in the conversation he had with Naruto, where he gets angry at being referred to as a kid.
As for idiots, I would consider Denki and Iwabe to fill up the slot. Denki sometimes lacks ninja sense, and Iwabe sometimes lacks common sense. Allows them to balance each other out!
https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%20ED3%20-%20Large%2001.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%20ED3%20-%20Large%2002.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%20ED3%20-%20Large%2003.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%20ED3%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
Besides the main cast who are all of these lot?
People in the same year as the new generation. While I expect the vast majority to become genins, I expect very few to make the cut as chuunin.
While it’s easy to assume that as long as everything doesn’t go to shit for Konoha somehow, the main cast should become chuunin (though I’m hoping for Missing Nin Boruto), I would be interested in if/how Denki would make the cut, considering all of his skills and traits lie in technology, hacking, and engineering.
@as everything doesn’t go to shit for Konoha somehow
Way to jinx it for the good people of Konoha. Super bad event in 3..2..1.. 😉