Summary
Boruto: Naruto Next Generationsis the sequel to theNarutostory and has been going on for quite a while now. This manga sees the story of ninjas continue through Naruto’s son, Boruto Uzumaki. In an era of peace that was established byNaruto, Boruto has to find his own path and become a ninja that he can be proud of.
Of course, the story ofBorutosees a lot of threats emerge, even though the story is set in an era of peace. The Otsutsuki Clan makes their moves and at the same time, new villains emerge in the form of Kara. Currently, the story of Boruto is being continued in the sequel manga to the original one, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex. While the story has been somewhat interesting, one of the glaring weaknesses of the story is how badly it treats the original characters that are responsible for this series, in the first place.
3Boruto’s Story So Far
Borutohas been quite an exciting story for the fans to follow in some aspects so far. In many ways, the story ofBorutohas only added more depth to theNarutoworld. This is especially true when one thinks ofthe likes of the Otsutsuki Clanand the lore related to the 10 Tails. These are questions that fans would ideally have wanted more answers to and they certainly got them in the Boruto series. As such, one cannot say that the Boruto series is completely bad. The story has greatly expanded on the Otsutsuki lore from the very beginning.
At the beginning of the story, fans got to see more Momoshiki and Kinshiki arrive on planet Earth and this ties in directly to why Kaguya wanted to build a White Zetsu Army in the first place. Furthermore, as these threats are dealt with, newer powers of the Otsutsuki are revealed, such as reincarnation through the Karma. The Karma is explored in great depth in the Boruto series and that is something that the fans have come to enjoy.
Newer villains have emerged and answers about the whereabouts of the Otsutsuki clan and their godly powers have also been answered with time. New villain organizations, such as the Kara, have been central to the Boruto story as well and Boruto Uzumaki and his team have fought very well against them, curbing their evil influence and saving the villages of the world by doing that. It is clear for the fans to see that Boruto has had some interesting plotlines that fans have certainly enjoyed being expanded upon in the story. However, the downsides of the story greatly outweigh anything positive that it brings.
2The Treatment Of Naruto Characters In Boruto
One of the worst things that theBorutoseries is doing and has done since the beginning is trying to benefit off of the popularity of theNarutoseries. TheBorutoseries in itself is greatly profiting off ofNaruto. HadBorutobeen a standalone series, it is quite possible that not many fans would have paid attention to it. It is not a greatly compelling story and it certainly isn’t something that would attract fans’ attention either and the declining sales of the manga are proof of that.
The biggest source of popularity for Borutois the Naruto series and that is why the comparisons that are often made between these two series are, more often than not, very valid. Boruto stems from Naruto and exists in the same world and that directly opens room for comparison. Regardless of that, Boruto hasn’t just profited off of the fact that it is a sequel to Naruto, which is a story that fans loved all over the world, but it has also tried to do that with many Naruto characters.
When speaking of the villains in theBorutoseries, fans have seen manyNarutocharacters return and, in this process, have their legacies ruined. For instance, Ao, who ended up dying a heroic death in theNarutoseries, was brought back in Boruto as a villain and, in doing so, was made a traitor to his own village and had his character arc completely ruined.
Another character, Onoki, was completely mistreated in the anime ofBorutoand made into a villainous figure who,even after the 4th Great Ninja War, started doing acts that compromised the security of the entire world. Jiraiya, yet another character that was killed off in Naruto, was brought back in a way, using a clone in Kashin Koji. The idea was to get the fans’s attention and strike at more nostalgia so they would keep reading the story.
These aren’t the only characters that have suffered in Boruto because of mischaracterization. The vast majority of theNarutocast that exists in Boruto is simply non-existent. While they are present in the world, they don’t really play any part in the story at all. In fact, not even Boruto’s own side characters play much of a part in the story. The story seems to be completely focused on the likes of Boruto Uzumaki and Kawaki, and on very rare occasions, Sarada. The rest of the characters are completely cut out as if they don’t even exist in the world. Worldbuilding is non-existent in this series and, at the same time, the other villages and ninjas stemming from those villages are not even touched upon, which is absolutely horrendous.
1The Treatment Of Naruto And Sasuke In Boruto
While all that is something that fans can endure, the biggest disrespect that theBorutoseries brings is to the main characters, such as Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. When speaking of Sakura, she has barely played any role in the series and if she were to be completely cut out, no difference would be made to where the story is right now. Sakura has faced a very harsh fate in Boruto, however, what happened to Naruto and Sasuke is even worse. As for these two characters, they have been disrespected by being stripped of their powers and made irrelevant in a world that they created by themselves. Naruto was made to lose Kurama, something that he had a childhood bond with, reducing him to a very weak ninja who needs protection, and Sasuke was stabbed directly in the eye, weakening him greatly. All this was done to give a platform for the next generation to shine.
Any capable author should have it in them to make sure that the next generation shines while the old one has their moments as well, especially if the series that focuses on the next generation is based directly on a series that fans have come to love deeply. What’s worse, after being stripped of powers, Naruto Uzumaki has been sealed away to be completely left out of the story and he will continue to be like that for a significant portion of the story. Meanwhile, Sasuke was dealt an even worse fate as he was turned into a bizarre tree during the timeskip.
Both Naruto and Sasuke have been cut out of the story so more focus is thrown on the next generation, whereas in reality, they should be at the forefront of things and providing opportunities for the next generation to shine even brighter. What’s worse is these characters have had their deaths teased several times so as to keep the fans attached to the story. Yet, the authors absolutely do not go ahead with the plan of killing them off because if they were to do so, they would lose the vast majority of the popularity that they have left. Because of that,Naruto and Sasuke are being used as baitto keep the old generation of fans attached to the story.
Boruto certainly has its strength, however, its biggest weakness is how it treats its older generation and if it is to survive and get popular as a story, it needs to mend its ways. It isn’t a surprise to anyone that Boruto’s sales have plummeted and keep on decreasing with each volume that it publishes. Fans are gradually losing interest in the story and the authors, who everyone knows are capable, need to fix that.
Boruto is available to read via Viz Media. The series can be read by the fans officially and for free on the Shonen Jump and theManga Plusapp. The release date for the next chapter of Boruto, Boruto Part 2 chapter 5, is set to be Jul 24, 2025.
