Boruto is an anime produced by Pierrot Studios (known for producing Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, Bleach, Yu Yu Hakusho, among others) which premiered on April 5, 2017.
In summary, the anime's story takes place years after the last Shinobi War and shows Naruto Uzumaki as the seventh and current Hokage of Vila da Folha and as a family man married to Hinata Hyuuga.
The anime centers on the life of Boruto, who is known in Vila da Folha for being the son of the Seventh Hokage.
However, Boruto has a distant relationship with his father as Naruto gives more priority to issues concerning the Village than his family.
This causes Boruto to start messing around the village doing things that anyone who has watched Classic Naruto already knows: Vandalizing the Hokage monument, making pranks and making other mischief, all this to get attention (just like his father did in his age).
And that's exactly what I'm going to address: Anime plot and characters.
WARNING: This article may contain spoiler.
Table of Content
Boruto: Original characters or recyclings?
If we analyzed him, he is Naruto himself with some changes: Impulsive, rude, rebellious, stubborn and always doing shit.
The most notable difference is that Boruto is not as dumb as his father and he has no interest in being Hokage.
But basically it's the reincarnation of Naruto himself because Boruto, like his father, wants to be recognized, wants to surpass his father or his rivals, wants to do everything Naruto has ever done (except be Hokage).
Boruto is difficult to define as an individual, even more so when he is clearly the protagonist because what he does is uninteresting or weightless (no stakes, no risks, just things that relate to him).
In short, Boruto's conception was extremely based (read copied) in his father, added to life without any ambition and distant relationship with his father (although later on, the two reconcile so is one less detail that sets him apart from the other characters).
The other characters in the cast
They suffer from the same problem.
Boruto manages to differentiate himself (a little) from his father by throwing a tantrum with him.
But the case of the others is worse because the other characters are an exact replica of their parents. Shikadai, son of Shikamaru and Temari, is basically a réplica of his father because he has the same mannerisms and the same style of dress.
We're not talking about a character who pulled the characteristics of a relative, we're talking about a clone Shikamaru's child version.
And this applies to the other characters in the cast as well:
- Chocho, daughter of Chouji and Karui (where did this novel come from?), is greedy and only thinks about food, just like your father.
- Inojin, son of Ino and Sai (where did this romance come from?), is calm, quiet and obedient, just like your father.
- Metal Lee, son of Rock Lee and??? (will anyone raise a mother for this kid?), is determined and hot-blooded, just like your father.
- Sarada, daughter of Sasuke and Sakura, has the same temper that the mother and even adopted her verbal tic (ちゃなろう〜〜〜〜〜 lit.: “chanarō-----");
The other characters have no personality of their own. They are mere reminders of their parents' personalities.
Their personalities are pretty much the same as those of the characters in Naruto and Naruto Shippuden, but worse.
Boruto's Plot (If Any)
Boruto's other problem is, what's the point? What is the series' reason for existence, after all?
In the first episode, we see Boruto facing off against Kawaki. That in one timeskip of who knows how many years.
The problem will be how the story will unfold until then considering this:
- Naruto and Sasuke were about 17 years old during the Shinobi War and had already reached a level of power that placed them above almost all the ninjas in history.
- Boruto's story takes place when Naruto and Sasuke are around 30 years old, which means they are not old enough to justify lack of power.
- Actually, at this point, both should have mastered new techniques and become much stronger.
- This is a big problem, because it becomes impossible to have a real danger that can be solved by other characters while Naruto and Sasuke are still alive;
- Should an enemy kill them, it will be too much for anyone to face, as this enemy has already killed the two most powerful ninjas of all;
Anyway, Boruto will no longer have to face a villain that represents a serious threat to the Leaf Village because, well... NARUTO AND SASUKE!
"Ah, but Boruto will be strong by then!"
Do it in a way that makes sense, rather than buff Boruto every episode.
The development of the characters... I mean, of Boruto...
Masashi Kishimoto (author) no longer participates in the development of the work, nor does he supervise it.
Maybe that's a good thing because the script doesn't have to make Boruto inherit the Protagonism from your father.
Shikadai, Inojin, Chocho, Metal Lee, and others will probably take a backseat (remember Tenten and Shino? That's it...).
I don't even see any reason to give importance to any character besides Boruto and Mitsuki.
Oh, and if Sarada wants to have the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, she'll have to gouge out Sasuke's eyes.
The series is still at the beginning and Boruto is already able to do things that a Jounin can do. And he barely left the rank of Genin.
The fact that he was able to learn jutsus easily and applying them gives you a huge advantage over others; even about Naruto.
Not to mention that he managed to learn the Rasengan in two days. RASENGAN IN TWO DAYS.
Furthermore, he does Rasengan become invisible, he has the Cursed Seal of Otsutsuki and who is the sensei? SASUKE UCHIHA.
How will Boruto turn out, after all?
The only problem with how the story is developing is that everything comes naturally to Boruto.
If we saw him training before using some of his jutsu, that would even make sense, but we don't see it. Perhaps, the script develops in such a way that it is possible to have an explanation of why things are.
Or maybe, go buff-it every episode for no reason as Kishimoto sees the legacy of his upbringing being tarnished.