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“Team 7: The First Mission”
The Struggle between Father and Son
To me, the primary aim of adding hostile interactions between Naruto and Boruto is clear. The series is angling towards a tension that might serve as a foundation for the inevitable breaking point, one that will lead down a predetermined rabbit hole. Movie watchers and manga readers, you will know exactly what I’m referencing. But for the sake of those unaware, I won’t explain everything that’s on my mind. For better or worse, it seems that Boruto is finally working to bring consistency with future events, rather than fully retconning source material.
That aside, I think that Naruto sees painful similarities between himself and Boruto. From what I can tell, he actively distances himself from any association with his early past. Where’s the charisma of datteba-yore? The burden of responsibility has clearly deprived Naruto of his fun-loving spirit, and I’m actually disappointed with the way he’s chosen to address his dysfunctional father-son relationship with Boruto. His stone-cold approach to Boruto’s cockiness feels like an emotional reaction. Has Naruto forgotten how he was an even bigger punk, sitting with his back turned to the Hokage as protest? From this, we can see that Naruto seemingly lacks the tolerance and empathy we often saw from Sandaime and Iruka. He might not have had a father himself, but how could he forget their kindness, and how it saved him? While they would chide him, you could feel the understanding and care in their words. Instead, Boruto gets a whole load of nothing in terms of his emotional validation. Yeah, the boy needs some serious ass whoppin’, because he sure as heck drove everyone crazy this episode. However, I feel quite sorry for him. When you don’t see your father most of the time, and he coldly brushes you off like that, wouldn’t you feel really hurt as well? You love your father, who seems unhappy to see you, and from that perspective, I can understand how badly it hurts Boruto.
Bridge Village 2.0
I got hit by some serious deja vu after spotting a bridge. As expected, rogue ninjas make their entrance, suddenly throwing some complications into one of Team 7’s starting missions. Huh, now where have I heard that one before?
Anyway, I like how the situation has unfolded. A plucky girl by the name of Lady Kiri is the village chief, and her right hand man may as well be Denki’s long-lost older brother. Knowing that it’s a huge source of revenue, the neighbouring village are interested in stealing the bridge’s deed, hiring out bandits for the task. Enter our young ninjas, who are suddenly in prime position to kick some bad guy booty. However, the execution of the premise is rather underwhelming. When our trio see an innocent man getting stabbed through the heart, I get that medical ninjutsu can do wonders. But I’m amazed that nobody batted an eye, where it looked like someone ran the serious risk of dying.
That said, it didn’t take away from the following action sequence, where the blades did more than simply clash. You could visualise the force and inertia behind each swing, particularly the way in which it was overwhelming Boruto. If this is a mere indication of what is going to come, I’m super excited for future action scenes.
Concluding Thoughts
While I know that Sasuke operates from the shadows, I found it hilarious how he was excluded from Konoha’s ‘strongest’ lineup. Even Kiba was included, and I’m pretty sure the creators know exactly what they were doing.
My prayers have been answered, and we finally get a calculated villain. Rather than openly engaging in battle, he strikes from the shadows, launching a pre-emptive night attack against Neo Team 7. As well as leaving them in a tough spot, he also achieves his goal of kidnapping Kiri. Most of all, I admire how he isn’t stupid enough to think he can directly take on the Hidden Leaf’s veteran ninja. These kind have clearly become a rare and dying breed, and I just hope the scriptwriter don’t find a way to ruin his promise as a villain. So far, it’s looking pretty good though, and I look forwards to finding out more about his motives.
ED4 Sequence
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ED4: 「デンシンタマシイ」(Denshin Tamashii) by ゲーム実況者わくわくバンド
Preview
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Perhaps you are right, with the comparing about “naruto’s” first Mission arc. But lets see… right now they do not want to hide that this Arc has Dead bodies… and seems like they stay dead
Lets see what impact this has on the audience
Yeah, I also notice that the anime is preparing the stage for the Movie Arc.
What Naruto represents here is a very common trope: the young maverick who has turned into a responsible adult and doesn’t want his child to make the same mistakes he made. And it’s not as if they don’t have good reasons to fear so, as Simba pointed out in the sequel to The Lion King:
Ironically, I’d say that both Naruto’s and Simba’s children are generally more well-behaved than they’re given credit for, and that their fathers may be projecting their own experiences on them. Add the burden of responsibility and a position of power, and their first reaction is to impose rules. It may seem hypocritical, as you mention, but it’s also a very human flaw: in a rush to avoid past mistakes, the lessons of the past are forgotten.
Well, not always. My favourite moment was when Boruto asked Hinata about her first mission. It was not only a gentle reminder that Boruto has another ninja role model beyond his father, but that different people had different experiences. For Hinata, missions were associated with war. And that isn’t fun.
I’m actually really pleased with the scriptwriters, because I think it introduces these human flaws that are totally worth exploring. My disappointment is basically towards Naruto as a person, since it feels like I’ve known him for over a decade at this point.
Personally, I also really enjoyed Boruto’s interaction with Hinata. The way haphazardly brushes over missions often involving life/death scenarios was telling. But while Hinata can provide some degree of guidance towards Boruto, I think many young men feel as though they need a masculine role model in life. Whether it is ingrained within our genetics, or conditioning induced by societal outlooks, nothing is filling up the gap that Naruto has left in Boruto.
I wonder if regular ninjas don’t know about Sasuke. Also feels like Boruto is having a fall out with Sarada too. They were cool an arc ago, but now with Sarada going full “I am going to be Hokage, you stay out of my way”, Boruto’s team work with her also suffers.
I honestly wonder how do people forget about Sasuke. Surely his infamy would have rivalled Hitler/Stalin from WW2?
As for Boruto/Sarada, I’m not too worried. Agreeing with Mitsuki, seeing them bicker like that is a sign that they get on well. Sarada also showed concerned for Boruto when the rogue ninja tried to slice his throat, meaning she definitely cares for him.
While I think she’s got the wrong idea of how to get to her goal, that’s what being a genin seems to be all about. No one in the new generation has a clue about how they’re going to achieve what they want, so through a process of making mistakes and learning, they’re slowly figuring it out.
“However, the execution of the premise is rather underwhelming.”
The execution is absolutely horrible. I know the world has been at peace for a while but the fact that the village leader, and whoever else was involved in calling for a ninja squad, saw no harm in flat out lying about the actual severity of the problem to the point that they ended up with a team of children on their very first mission?
If this weren’t ostensibly a children’s show, and team 7 weren’t protected by enough plot armor to survive a dip into the sun, everyone except for Konohamaru and Mitsuki would likely be dead before this arc ended.
I am really hoping that even if just for the sake of realism they don’t get through this entire arc without Konohamaru sending for backup, even if said backup doesn’t arrive until after the bad guys have been miraculously beaten by the power of friendship and determination.
Perhaps Sasuke told/teaches his daughter an Family Blood secret to defend herself in danger since last arc.. Well lets see
Also, can Boruto also summon this big toad like Naruto?. That would help a bit out
Same reason that Kazuna lied about the threat of Zabuza/Haku in Naruto. The Bridge Village probably couldn’t afford to hire out shinobi for a B+ rank mission, so I wouldn’t be too harsh on the fact that Kiri lied about the severity of the problem.
These rogue ninjas don’t look anywhere near as threatening as Zabuza/Haku either, and if original Team 7 could defeat the previous duo despite possessing much less talent, I have no doubts that Neo Team 7 can defeat these rogue ninjas without too much of a problem if they figure out how to work together.
https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%2040%20-%20Large%2002.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%2040%20-%20Large%2005.jpg
https://randomc.net/image/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations/Boruto%20Naruto%20Next%20Generations%20-%2040%20-%20Large%2020.jpg
Kiri-chan kawaiiiii
Mhm. She’s a cutie alright!
I want her in my harem