Boruto -Naruto Next Generations- / First Impressions

「ゴースト事件、捜査開始!!」 (Gousuto Jiken, Sousa Kaishi!!)
“The Ghost Incident: The Investigation Begins!”

Given that Boruto himself coined ‘ghost’ to name this phenomenon, I think I will adopt it from now on to describe people being possessed. It’s not really the best description per se, but I think it could be a pretty solid improvement compared to my pretentiously phrased ‘dark chakra shroud’.

The boys spend a week on lookout in the hopes of pre-emptively catching out a ‘ghost’ transformation. Ignoring dry eye antics, it was truly heart-warming when Mitsuki says he enjoys Boruto’s company, because ‘it’s never boring when you’re with Boruto‘. Reflecting on the statement, I have to agree. So far the series has really impressed, and I hope it can continue like this.

MOTHERS’ FURY

Mitsuki’s ‘convincing’ sickness note lies, with the cough added at the end for extra effect, failed to bypass the all-seeing Byakugan. We also got to witness exactly why Boruto is so scared of Hinata. Imagine coming home, and seeing this first thing through the door? It could have been easily worse, considering how Shikamaru got slapped by Temari. It’s hilarious how that makes two generations of the Nara clan, where the wife completely whips her son and husband.

I’m surprised that Hinata just let Boruto get away from the disciplinary teacher meeting. It should be an easy matter for her byakugan and shinobi skills to swiftly to catch her son. Boruto purports Hinata to be a fearsome mother, yet she seems awfully lax on him. To be honest, I was also expecting more from the subsequent interactions between Shino and Hinata. Considering they were on the same team for many years, it seemed odd that the two were quite stiff and formal. I do suppose professional conduct should be observed where teachers and parents are concerned, and the two were always rather introverted.

BORUTO’S WORK EXPERIENCE

While there has been criticism of Shino’s teaching in previous episodes, he did an admirable job finding a middle ground, that enabled Boruto to strive for his objective in a productive manner. This was done by having the students find some work experience of their choice, which allowed Boruto and the gang to find a legitimate cause to substantiate their operations. So the gang choose the post office, since it allows them to cover an effective range across Konohagakure in anticipation for potential ‘ghost’ outbreaks. However, in his relentless pursuit to solve the mystery, I do think Boruto has lost sight of important matters relevant to daily life – not everything is a kid’s game.

When Boruto pretty much belittled the post delivery job, I was shaking my head in disapproval. Call it unwanted pride, but who wouldn’t be frustrated if they heard an 8 year old kid say that their job was easy? Obviously bumping into Naruto would affect his emotional temperament, but it was disappointing that after choosing to call the job ‘easy’, Boruto goes on to make a mess of it by recklessly delivering various items. Not only has it caused inconvenience for people, but hard workers like the man they were shadowing have to put in an extra shift to make up for their irresponsible behaviour. Anyhow, despite my criticisms, I’m pretty excited. You know what these kind of shortcomings mean? Yup, considering that Boruto is a young whippersnapper, it means huge room for character development. He’s actually a pretty good kid, who will come to realise and feel guilty for how he has wronged others, upon solid introspection.

NARUTO AND FAMILY

Naruto points to his lack of a father being the reason as to why he struggles to interact and communicate with Boruto. But Iruka is as good as a father figure in Naruto’s life and provided emotional crutches where needed. For starters, take your son out to eat some Ichiraku Ramen or something! Then again, Iruka wasn’t preoccupied by such a tough and time-consuming job like being Hokage, so the principles on the matter could vary in terms of applicability.

Anyway, the NaruHina moment was fabulous, especially when the two looked over a sleeping Boruto together in such a loving and tender way. I wish we got to see more NaruHina moments given how rewarding they are to fans of the original Naruto, but I’ll settle with what we currently have. There are still many episodes left, with ample opportunity where the two can exhibit genuinely lovey dovey displays.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

It seems pretty evident given the evidence presented this episode, that either a revived Root, or a subsidiary of Root, has been identified as the causal link between the victims and the ‘ghost’ transformation. The Hashirama Cell proves to be a prevalent tool driving the plot, and I look forwards to seeing how the potential threat of Wood Release genetic experiments looms across the overarching storyline. It seems for the first time, the ‘ghost’ transformation has caused serious collateral damage, with the water purification plant being heavily damaged and students of the Ninja Academy getting badly injured. Speaking of the water purification plant, I think it’s entirely possible that it was strategically targeted for contamination, to consequently widen the spread of the ‘ghost’ outbreaks.

Judging by the previews, Naruto wants to resolve this issue of the attacks using skilled operators such as the ANBU, whereas Boruto seems angry that his desire for vigilantism will be denied. I can understand that Boruto desires vengeance regarding the injury of his classmate Sumire. But you can really see that Naruto not only has Boruto’s interest at heart in keeping him safe, but also Konoha’s greater interest by searching for the most capable task force that can handle the matter. If Boruto’s ocular abilities had come to light, then it would have been pretty easy for Naruto to have given Boruto a backline role, assessing the conditions of people susceptible to ‘ghost’ using his special eye. But until Boruto can manage a more convincing way of reliably manifesting his power, which I suspect will be a long time off, he will be stuck with breaking the rules in order to satisfy his own sense of justice.

Preview

13 Comments

  1. Actually, Naruto’s fatherhood duties seem too conveniently hidden behind that excuse of being Hokage.

    While it is nice to have a young and charismatic leader at the helm overseeing the whole village as a whole, it is too much burden on one person, and given the number of domain experts existing in this village of talent, its not too much to fill a boardroom with people and start delegating.

    You don’t see the Sarutobi or Tsunade constantly stuck behind the desk with a mountain of paperwork. Neither does Kakashi.

    If anything, this seems to represent the typical Asian phenomenon where the father is working all day and does not have time for kids, and coming from a dadless kid, you’d think Naruto would be more enthusiastic about the challenge of being a father he never had than just escaping to his Hokage role.

    Dude
    Reply

    1. For a person who seems progressive in some respects, Naruto seems hard stuck in certain traditions. I don’t necessarily view his fatherhood duties as being conveniently hidden behind the excuse of being Hokage, rather Naruto seems to hold an antiquated belief that there is a particular way a Hokage should be. However, fundamental changes to the way in which society works in the Shinobi world, following the Fourth Shinobi War, have redefined the way in which the Hokage role is carried out, which I shall go on to explain.

      From what I could gather, it seems Naruto bears the burden of the office by himself as a sign of respect to the former Hokages, who carried out the role alone. What he doesn’t seem to realise is that the shinobi world has entered a new age. Prior to the industrialisation and quasi-globalisation following the Fourth Shinobi War, there was not much need for bureaucracy and administration. However, new times call for new ways of being a Hokage, and I just wish Naruto wouldn’t be so stubborn about it. That would also explain why the previous Hokages didn’t struggle as much with paperwork. They didn’t have to deal with paperworks carrying so many complex laws and trade deals that would be entailed with the influx of industrialisation. Admittedly it makes an assumption on Kakashi, who we do not really see operate as Hokage.

      Anyway, I think the problem is that even if experts reside in the village, this kind of socio-economic shift is so unprecedented that even said experts may not necessarily know how to handle proceedings. That said, there should be even more onus on Naruto to implement reforms to the system that would allow him to efficiently and effectively run Konohagakure, that will also allow him to spend more time with his young family. But as I previously stated, Naruto stubbornly adheres to his old and romanticised notion of how a Hokage should be, and was pretty much rewarded the Hokage role for his heroics in the Fourth Shinobi War. In my opinion, it will be down to a Hokage from Boruto’s generation to bring the modern changes and reformations desperately needed by Konogakure’s political system.

      Zaiden
      Reply

      1. Can you really blame Naruto for it? Instituting change is not an easy feet even when you know exactly what you need. Naruto needs to know his job well enough before he can just start thinking on what should change, before he can start contemplating on how and hen build a system from ground-up with his advisors, after which they have to persuade the other higher-ups that this change is good, which they won’t as best they can do is a compromise which will require a redo of all plans. And then comes the implementation.

        Organization is commonly viewed as obvious, but frankly it is much harder to progress than technology… not to mention that it tends to have serious consequences if you fail.

        Now I doubt that this franchise would ever go into so much detail, but it still needs to be understood that you can’t get it by just saying you will do it.

        Lord Nayrael
        Reply

      2. @Lord Nayrael
        Good points, but have we actually seen Naruto trying or planning to change the government organization? Rather, what we have seen is him using his shadow clones to try to carry the same way of work as Hokages from the past, but tenfold. The shadow clones can be counted as an attempt to change the situation, indeed, but it ultimately boils down to the ruler doing all the work by himself. It’s just that there are many himselves around this time XD

        In fact, I’d dare to say that Naruto’s overreliance on shadow clones actually prevents change. A person without such a clone army would have already realized that they can’t and shouldn’t be expected to do all those tasks alone.

        Mistic
        Reply

    2. Tsunade was ALWAYS stuck behind a desk full of paperwork. She spend most of her term trying to escape & grab a drink at the bar, but Shizune would always be there to remind her of her responsibilities.

      Adam
      Reply

    3. It does make me wonder if Naruto would take a different role fundamentally as Hokage had he not spent his childhood at the frontlines of every major threat against the village. Ignoring his desire for acceptance growing up for a moment, he pretty much was forced to grow up at such a young age. It makes me wonder had he had a normal childhood and took a less turbulent path to Hokage would he be any different?

      Lyfe
      Reply

  2. Suddenly, a wild Hashirama Cell appeared! Honestly, I didn’t see that plot coming.

    For all the lack of Hinata in previous epsiodes, she was the star here. Finally, Boruto was proven right; just because Hinata is sweet and caring, it doesn’t mean that she can’t get seriously angry and scary when her son needs to be disciplined. Then her conversation with Shino (almost forgot they were old comrades) and that jewel that was the NaruHina moment.

    But that moment also highlighted the problems of Naruto’s family lofe.

    In that movie about the dreamland of Naruto and Sakura, Naruto was proud of the parents that sacrificed everything to protect the village even if that meant abandoning their child. But will Boruto understand it as Hinata claims? Friends can know Naruto and choose to support him (or not), but children can’t choose the parents they have, nor the option to have parents or not. If the preview is to be believed, resentment will increase, not decrease, in the foreseeable future.

    But you can really see that Naruto not only has Boruto’s interest at heart in keeping him safe, but also Konoha’s greater interest by searching for the most capable task force that can handle the matter.

    If the original series has taught us one thing, it’s that children with poor training, who can’t control their powers properly and have serious emotional issues are always best to solve problems than adults, who are either ineffectual or part of the problem XD

    If anything, Boruto’s problem is that, despite his daddy issues, he’s too emotionally balanced and his special power can’t destroy Konoha. If he’s not a traumatized security risk, he’s not good enough.

    Mistic
    Reply

  7. It seems that after an exaggerated amount of episodes that served to introduce each and every character available with the stumbling grace of a drunk elephant, Boruto decided to get things done. Yay, finally, keep going, these last two episodes were pretty solid.

    So, I’m guessing that in the long run, we will see Boruto possessed by the “ghost” due to his father issues; meanwhile, the post office worker will probably be the next in line. Despite all, I have to say that this “villain” just became mildly more interesting. Thanks Hashirama, you endless source of trouble xD

    Kiritsugu
    Reply

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