Boruto -Naruto Next Generations- / First Impressions

「波乱の修学旅行!!」 (Haran no Shuugakuryokou!!)
“A Turbulent School Trip!!”

School trips provide a valuable education experience that go beyond the regular curriculum. Pair that up with strengthening ties between the Leaf and Mist, and you’ll get an exchange. When there’s academic and diplomatic reasons are satisfied, that’s shooting two birds with one stone. Efficient work from Naruto, if only things were actually so straightforwards.

Sarada’s Ambition and Boruto’s Convictions

I have to echo Boruto’s sentiment. If Sarada is so intent on becoming Hokage, why isn’t she stepping up to the leadership role? Throwing Boruto under the bus was extremely petty, and that kind of behaviour is not befitting of a future Hokage candidate, so I’m pretty disappointed in how Sarada chose to handle the situation. Conversely, I’m quite surprised at how well Boruto adapted, though Denki played a large part in pacifying him. Instead of moping around, he rises up to the task placed upon him. What’s more, he doesn’t mind being subjected to rude behaviour, but flares up like a badass when Iwabe faced violent confrontation.

Sarada has stated her ambition to be Hokage, and even though Boruto has been a bit of a brat, he’s shown many more qualities I would associate with one. As someone who is cheering her on, I’m seriously asking Sarada to step up her game here, and hope that she tries to understand his perspective instead. Sure, he really pissed her off last episode with some underhanded behaviour. However, a Hokage must rise past these slights, and as such I expect much more out of Sarada. No doubting that Lord Hokage is cool, and his kid can be petulant. But so much of Boruto’s hurt and anger towards Naruto comes from seeing Hinata and Himawari getting neglected. That can’t be easy for anybody, and I know that given her own experiences, Sarada will eventually come to understand once she’s given some more development.

Concluding Thoughts

Anyhow, Konoha sure are risking a lot by agreeing to Kirigakure’s program. This episode highlighted that the village has got two high-profile kidnapping targets. After all, Boruto and Sarada may as well be kryptonite for their extremely important parents. We also get two new characters, who are likely to be our antagonists in this arc. Shizuma and Hassaku don’t look like good news for Boruto and Co, and could be the S-Class worthy villains that some people have been demanding.

On the other hand, Kagura seems like a nice and humble guy, so I can see why all the girls are fawning over him. But I would like to see more of him before making any sort of conclusion on his character, although I’m most curious about how he might be linked towards Yagura. Looking towards next episode, it looks to me like Kagura will be getting his fair share of screentime, which should grant ample opportunity for him to shine. Perhaps Chou Chou’s reference to his inside is a cryptic tell indicating that he might possibly be a Jinchuuriki. If that’s indeed the case, maybe Boruto will finally be able to understand more about the difficult life his father led.

Preview

P.S. Apologies for the delay of this post, ongoing issues with wifi. Shout out to Takaii. Thanks for helping me cap!

16 Comments

  1. Well, some Example:

    – the Refrigerator is always full, and when something gone broke, the parents can buy a new. But why is always Daddy not at Home?

    – daddy is the best, he plays with me the entire time, but our Refrigerator is empty, and the other kids in school has the cool stuff i do not have. Why is it that i am so poor?

    Well, we know it now. But as an Kid, did you think in this way? come on, try to remember

    Worldwidedepp
    Reply

    1. also there are other stuff that are important:

      – grown up in a City, Village… or even Alone on a isolated farm…
      – keep quiet at Home, because Daddy needs to work

      and so on.. Life is not easy as reading an Book..

      Worldwidedepp
      Reply

  3. https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%2025%20-%20Large%2004.jpg
    Oh, I wonder how this feels to be upside down like this. I was hoping that Boruto would evolve.

    https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%2025%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
    Mmmmm. Has long hair, seems menacing, and a lot of other typical factors. So, Yep, definitely the villain type character.

    https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%2025%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
    Whatever did happen to Zabuza’s sword?

    L002
    Reply

  4. I know he’s training to be a ninja and this is “peace time” but Boruto goes to a foreign land and there isn’t even the slightest bit of security for the son of the Hokage? Not even a single special ops ninja keeping an eye on him from a distance to prevent something like, oh I don’t know… lets say Boruto wandering into a dark and secluded alley and almost getting his ass kicked?

    qwert
    Reply

  6. Aw heck. Not the Harry Potter theme of school trip turns into Death Eaters 😛

    Hope there is some actual training like Ura no IRA …. Ways underneath the underneath … Hidden meaning for trip is a cover for Chuunin exam and the kids are getting tested by adults from lots of villages. At the end they get the forms to decide.

    I wanna see more field trips to other villages and some kind of test.

    Will of Fire testing @ konoha
    Veil of Mist testing @ Kirigakure
    Blast of Sand testing @ Suuna gaakure
    Bolt/Crash of Cloud testing @ Kumo gakure

    etcso it becomes a test for Chakra affinities and Kermit I mean Hermit and Sage training much later on

    man_iii
    Reply

  7. “I have to echo Boruto’s sentiment. If Sarada is so intent on becoming Hokage, why isn’t she stepping up to the leadership role? Throwing Boruto under the bus was extremely petty, and that kind of behaviour is not befitting of a future Hokage candidate,”

    I disagree. Being a Hokage isn’t about doing everything yourself but knowing when and whom to delegate responsibilities. Sarada and Boruto do have that kind of preteen mutual antagonism that tends to lead towards mutual attraction. She may not like Boruto now but she knows him enough to know what he is and isn’t capable of. Sure, Sarada is pushing a responsibility onto Boruto she could have done but she is also helping Boruto grow.

    Think of it this way. After the conclusion of Naruto Shippuden Kakashi became the 6th Hokage. However, it’s fair to say that at that point Naruto was the strongest ninja in the village. So why wasn’t he Hokage? Because the Hokage can’t do everything himself. Naruto was still too immature and not ready to lead the village. He was the bullet to Kakashi’s rifle.

    Bob
    Reply

    1. Thank You. This is largely what I came here to say.

      We need to accept for one that Sarada is going to be a very different Hokage (and Hokage candidate) than Naruto was, both due to the in-universe reasons that she has a very different personality, and due to the simple reality that she’s not the main character, Boruto is.

      Naruto’s version of becoming the Hokage was taking everything on himself, but she can’t because she’s not the protagonist, so yes, she’s far more likely to delegate, connive, and generally just lead from the back than Naruto was.

      It’s also important to remember that while Boruto isn’t interested in being Hokage, that doesn’t stem from him not caring about others, or being a bad leader or weak combatant (relative to his age). He simply doesn’t like how the responsibilities get in the way of specifically helping those you care about. So he WILL very likely continue to seem rather “hokage-ish” as he is naturally courageous, friendly, and determined, to say nothing of the fact that he’s inherently far more talented than Naruto ever was (I’m not judging, this is an actual plotpoint). He just doesn’t want the job.

      KaleRylan
      Reply

    2. Plus, Sarada nominating Boruto is actually a pretty smart move on her part so that he doesn’t go off the reservation and it really matches up with the sort of leader she wants to be.

      Jackpot21
      Reply

    3. Exactly! At first I was like Zaiden and thought “Sarada missed her chance, what the…?”, but when she explained her reasons, it all made sense. Let’s be honest: she’s right, Boruto is the troublemaker in chief of the class and this way he’s forced to behave and keep an eye on his most problematic friends. It was dishonest and underhanded, but it was effective.

      When Sarada had the chance to showcase her leadership skills, she chose instead to do what was best for the whole group. She understands what it means to be a Hokage: it’s not about being the boss, but about helping and protecting everyone. If only that was the goal of every ruler in the world!

      And Konoha definitely needs someone like her. As understandable as it is for Naruto to want to do his best for everyone in every situation, he can only keep up with his current workload because he has a shadow clone army behind him. Any other person would have realized that the new Konoha requires Hokages to delegate more and more responsibilities.

      Mistic
      Reply

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