Boruto: Naruto Next Generations - Worthy of the Uzumaki Name?

Written by Shiggins

Requested by Kudakwashe Timba.

2017 was the introduction of Naruto's sequel anime Boruto, starring... well, Boruto! I hadn't ever bothered watching it because Studio Pierrot isn't exactly the first name that comes to mind when I think of a good anime company. (In other words, I think they suck). However, with recommendation comes possibility and so, I gave it a watch. Is Boruto any good? Does it surpass the original Naruto series in any way? Well...

Well, at least it's already looking better than that shitty Shippuden anime.

I'm going to immediately begin by calling out the manga as a pile of shit. Not only is the art unbelievably ugly, the art is also ugly. And it is quite ugly. And did I mention it was ugly? Because it is! Even if the chapters weren't ugly, they are mostly boring. First, it follows the plot of the film, which would be fine if it shortened it like Dragon Ball Super's manga, but it doesn't. So I don't feel like it deserves any credit for copy-and-pasting that story. After that, it is mostly just typical episodic stories that is eventually meant to carry into the foreshadowed event where an older Boruto fights a generic villain in a destroyed Konoha.

Nobody can tell me the art doesn't matter in a visual story, and not expect a Glasgow Kiss!

The anime is more interesting, although that admittedly isn't saying much after what I just said about the manga. In the anime, Boruto is just doing several different adventures and enjoying the company of his fellow team members and the others in his generation. While it sounds like just a repeat of the manga, the anime is just better written and has some nice colours and animation to go along with it, providing a much more appealing spectacle for the eyes.

The best things that the Boruto series has given us, by far, are Sarada Uchiha and Mitsuki. The Sakura and Sasuke of this generation, they provide some interesting developments and a few good laughs here or there. Of course, the most interesting episodes about them are thanks to Kishimoto's manga chapters he released a while ago but they are still worth mentioning. The highlight of the anime is when it adapts the ten chapters involving Sarada trying to find out if Sakura is her real mother or not.

Why am I suddenly reminded of Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 2?

I suppose we should start comparing it to Naruto though, since the point of this article is to see how it stands as a sequel/spinoff to the original. In short, no. There is no way this ever stood a chance to being on the same level as Kishimoto's work, and I almost feel like a bully for comparing the two. That isn't to say there is nothing Boruto does better...

Boruto's treatment of old characters, like Naruto and Sasuke, is half and half. On the one hand, Naruto is awful and feels absolutely forced to be the way he is because of the story. Not because it naturally occurred, but because Boruto needed a dad character to piss him off. Naruto himself is nothing like he was before, and his development into this is almost insulting. On the other end of the spectrum, we have Sasuke who has actually greatly improved thanks to his new role as Boruto's second master, almost like Jiraiya once was, and it certainly comes across as more natural.

When fans said they wanted Uchiha x Uzumaki, they meant Sasuke and Naruto!

The one thing I think Boruto does better than Naruto ever did is the focus on the side characters. While they aren't especially deep, Boruto at least manages to have Metal Lee, Shikadai and others frequently appear without it feeling like cringing filler that has Ino dress up as a princess and get pissed on... fuck me, I hate the filler. Yes, that actually happened!

Fuck you. Fuck Studio Pierrot. Fuck anyone who liked this episode. Fucking fucker fuck you,  fuck.

In the end though, Boruto fails at what made Naruto so great for me, and that is the emotional struggle of Naruto. For many, he is the pinnacle of underdog and many anime to this day are wishing they could replicate the same feelings we had for the orange-wearing champ. Boruto is nowhere near as sympathetic to me, because his motivation is just not that strong. Even if it was, the writing of his father Naruto, as previously mentioned, is mishandled and unnatural so the conflict between them is never going to feel connect to me.

Boruto is a series with some good elements to it, but nothing strong enough to hold them together. The story is nothing special and the characters, while more frequently used, just come across as pale attempts to recapture the magic of the past. To bring up a comparison, Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Super both at least developed the characters we cared about and wrote them accordingly. Boruto comes across as fanfiction and I just don't think it is worth my time.

Oh Mitsuki... At least I'll always have your smile to cheer me up.

The series isn't awful however. On its own, Boruto is fine, but as a sequel to the Naruto series, it falls flat. If you just want more ninja fights and some nice animation, you'll get it. There are countless anime I would rather watch first, but it isn't a bad watch. Just an uninteresting one.

Naruto Gaiden Chapter 1 Review - CLICK HERE

Naruto Gaiden Complete Review - CLICK HERE

Naruto Side Story Review - CLICK HERE

Boruto Chapter 1 Review - CLICK HERE

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch an anime sequel done right!

Sadly, due to the way Naruto was structured, we'll probably never see Team 7 and pals be as free as these characters were.

Shiggins:[Admin]
  .

Born under the stars of the Dark Gods, Shiggins owns the power of the Great Eye and is utterly magnificent in his omniscience. If you dare to discover more about someone as great as him, then go ahead. And to all my friends and family members, YOU are wrong and I should be disappointed! Not the other way round!,. You can find out about him or ask him stuff on ask.fm/shigginsishere or go to his tumblr page http://otakugajeel.tumblr.com/