Boruto -Naruto Next Generations- – 38

「スリーマンセル、結成…?」 (Surii manseru, kessei?)
“Formation of the Three-Man Squad?”

Direct Appeal

Okay, I’ll confess this made very little sense to me. All of a sudden, by the edicts of the story, Boruto and Sarada are unable to work together, somehow forgetting the various occasions where they teamed up to kick ass. You can’t call this development, so much as regression, and I’m seriously blaming the scriptwriters, because introducing drama is unnecessary where it ends up contradicting what has already been established. While I appreciate attempts at character building, tearing down the progress made up till this point is outright lazy, if not completely counterintuitive from the viewer’s perspective. Then again, kids will be kids, and it’s a silly reaction that isn’t implausible. That said, I’m not happy with the direction they chose to take in this episode.

A Lesson in Teamwork

When your Pokemon accidentally forgets a really important move, the only thing you can do is go back to the Move Relearner and cough up that Heart Scale. Fortunately, shinobi kids aren’t bound to video game mechanics, so it will just take a good challenge to knock sense back into them. To that end, Mirai is there to obstruct them from easily accessing Naruto, doing her best Gandalf impression on the wooden bridge. While she’s easily one of the coolest characters in recent times, showcasing some impressive skills during the fight, she ultimately underestimates her opponents.

I have no doubt that she’s actually stronger than Boruto and Sarada – that much is clear when Sarada couldn’t detect any exploitable weakness through her Sharingan. This is simply speculation, but assuming she could have infused chakra into her blades, Mirai could have easily sliced Boruto’s kunai to bits. Instead, she falls for the trap, and pays the price by being left to hang under the bridge. I hope Mirai gets an opportunity to redeem herself in the future, because she’s shaping up to be a really awesome character, and I have concerns that this loss probably decreased people’s estimations of her actual capabilities.

Concluding Thoughts

Wanting to do better than the original Team 7 isn’t something I would consider an achievement. Though the members were no doubt some of the strongest shinobi in their generation, their accomplishments as individuals far outweighed their successes as a team. In fact, we shouldn’t be forgetting how Sasuke tried to kill both Naruto and Sakura. And apart from Kaguya, I’m fairly sure that they never ever fought together against a significant antagonist. When passing down the legend, I get that some details need to be fudged, so that Sasuke can go back to living an ordinary life in the village following his evil crimes. But I’m disappointed that the older generation chose to be selective in their representation, with Sarada seeming to have absolutely no inkling about the truth. One day, the beans are going to get spilled, and ain’t that gonna be a pretty sight?

Though I have criticised the scriptwriters in this episode, some praise should be allocated where deserved. So far, despite clearly having incredible powers, the script absolutely refuses to have Mitsuki bail out the story, whenever the going gets rough. That’s something worthy of admiration, because it shows a dedication to properly forging ahead with making this Boruto’s story. Incidentally, Mitsuki Gaiden seems to be next on the agenda. Although I’m up to speed with the manga, I’m super excited to see my favourite character finally receiving the limelight.

Preview

P.S. – With the academy days drawing to a close, RIP Shino