Boruto: Naruto the Next Generation

**Boruto:  Naruto the Next Generation** is an anime series written by Makoto Uezu and Ukyo Kodachi, directed by

    Noryuki Abe and Hiroyuki Yamashita, musically composed by Yasuharu Takanashi, and produced by Studio Pierrot.  It started on April 5, 2017, and is still ongoing to this day.  It's based off of a manga of the same name written by Ukyo Kodachi, illustrated by Mikio Ikemoto, and serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump starting on May 9, 2016 to the present day.  Boruto is a sequel to Naruto which takes place ten years later.

## Plot

The series begins with young ninja Boruto Uzumaki facing a foe named Kawaki during the destruction of his village, Konohagakure. As that happens, Boruto remembers how his father Naruto Uzumaki succeeded in becoming his village's Seventh Hokage and oversaw a new generation in the Ninja World following his marriage with Hinata Uzumaki. Boruto, who felt angered by his father placing the village before his family, has became a part of a ninja team led by Naruto's protégé Konohamaru Sarutobi, along with Sasuke Uchihaand Sakura Uchiha's daughter Sarada Uchiha and Orochimaru's artificial son Mitsuki. Boruto meets Sasuke when he returns to the village to warn Naruto of an impending threat. Boruto convinces Sasuke to train him for the upcoming Chunin Exam to impress his father. During the exam, Momoshiki Otsutsuki and Kinshiki Otsutsuki, the threat whom Sasuke spoke of, appear and abduct Naruto so that they can use Kurama, a creature sealed inside his body, to revitalize the dying Shinju from the dimension where they came from.

Boruto joins Sasuke and the four Kages, the leaders of other ninja villages, to rescue Naruto. But Momoshiki turns Kinshiki into a chakra fruit and ingests it in order to become stronger. Aided by Naruto and Sasuke, Boruto is able to defeat Momoshiki. Though dying, noting his killer's untapped potential, Momoshiki lives long enough to have a private discussion with Boruto and warns him that he will face much tribulation later on in his life. After recovering from his fight, Boruto decides he will become a vigilante like Sasuke in the future while entrusting Sarada with following her dream of becoming the Hokage. As Sasuke interrogates a criminal who knows of Boruto's mark, he reveals to Naruto and his underlings that there is a group called "Kara" (殻 *lit. The Husk*) searching for people with marks. Boruto's team is then assigned to investigate the mysteries behind Kara.

## Why It Rocks

1. Good animation.
2. Great art style and character designs.
3. Great music and soundtrack.
4. Good voice acting in both sub and dub.
5. The story goes back more to the style of the early Naruto manga, for the most part;  later Naruto and most of Naruto Shippuden went away from the samll battles and strategy that made the fights in early Naruto so engaging.
6. Boruto is less annoying than his father was early on in Naruto.
7. Boruto is much more skilled than his father was at that age, which is probably due to growing up with a father, which Naruto didn't.

## Bad Qualities

1. On the account of being stronger than Naruto was at that age, to some viewers this makes it more boring becuase Boruto, at least early on, rarely struggled with fights.
2. In addition, because Boruto didn't grow up with the struggles that Naruto did some viewers might think he's extremely stuck up and annoying in his own right.

## Reception

The manga has been generally well received in Japan, with the compilations appearing as top sellers multiple times. Upon its release week, the first manga volume managed to sell 183,413 units.[30][31][32] The series also has one million copies in print as of January 2017.[33] The manga's first volume has also sold well in North America,[34][35] while the series in general became the sixth best manga series in 2017 according to *ICv2*.[36]

Rebecca Silverman from *Anime News Network* admitted *Boruto* appealed to her despite never having gotten into the *Naruto* manga. She praised how the writers managed to deal with the protagonist's angst without coming across as "teen whining" as well as how Sasuke Uchiha decides to train him. Amy McNulty from *ANN* found it appealing to fans of the original *Naruto* series, stating that while Mitsuki does not have a large role in the story, his side story helps to expand his origins. Nik Freeman, another writer from the same site, criticized Boruto's lack of development while comparing him with his introduction in *Naruto'*s finale, and that there were multiple differences between the reasons why both the young Naruto and Boruto vandalized their city. Nevertheless, Freeman liked Mitsuki's backstory as he did not feel it rehashed stories from the past.[37] Reviewing the first chapter online, Chris Beveridge from the *Fandom Post* was more negative, complaining about the large focus on Naruto and Boruto's poor relationship and the rehash elements of *Boruto: Naruto the Movie* while also criticizing the adaptation of Kishimoto's artwork. Nevertheless, he praised the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke as well as the foreshadowing of an older Boruto fight.[38] Melina Dargis from the same site reviewed the first volume, commenting that she was looking forward to the development of the characters despite having already watched the *Boruto* movie and was also pleased by seeing Mitsuki's role in his own side story.[39] Leroy Douresseaux from *Comic Book Bin* recommended it to *Naruto* fans, explaining how the new authors managed to use the first volume to establish the protagonists' personalities.[40] Melina Dargis from the *Fandom Post* was impressed by the apparent message of the series as she found it was trying to connect to modern audiences with its themes such as parental issues and the use of technology, in contrast to *Naruto*.[41] Leroy Douresseaux liked how Boruto's character had already started developing by the second volume of the series as it helped readers appreciate him more.[42]

The anime was popular with Japanese readers of *Charapedia* who voted it the ninth best anime show of Spring 2017.[43] *IGN* writer Sam Stewart enjoyed the focus on the new generation of ninjas and the differences between them and the previous generation. He also praised the return of other characters like Toneri as well as famous "Eye Techniques".[44] *Crunchyroll'*s Brand Manager, Victoria Holden, joined once to discuss whether *Next Generations* could live up to the success of the old series while still reviewing previous episodes of the series.[45] Stewart enjoyed the characterization of both Shikadai Nara and Metal Lee, seeing their relationship and accidental fight as interesting to watch, and he liked that *Next Generations* managed to improve itself with each episode.[46] Beveridge enjoyed the series' first episode, remarking that he felt Boruto's characterization was superior to the one from the manga.[47] In a more comical article, *Geek.com* writer Tim Tomas compared *Boruto* with the series *The Legend of Korra* as, while sharing themes with its prequels, they were still different.[48] Sarah Nelkin considered *Boruto* as a more lighthearted version of the *Naruto* series, but Amy McNulty acclaimed its 13th episode for the focus on a subplot that had been developing ever since the first episode and how the revelations from it made the series darker.[49][50] Stewart agreed with McNulty, commenting on how the developers reached the climax of the anime's first story arc. The characterization of the revealed villain further impressed the reviewer.[51] Allega Frank from *Polygon* noted that during the start of both the manga and the anime, multiple fans were worried in regards to a flashforward; in this sequence, an older Boruto is facing an enemy named Kawaki who implies Naruto might be dead, so his fate left them worried.[52] The series ranked 80 in Tokyo Anime Award Festival in the Best 100 TV Anime 2017 category.[53]