English Dub Review: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations “The Hokage’s Son”

This week: elementary school violence.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Boruto’s first day isn’t going well, having gotten into trouble on the first day of school because of his shenanigans in the prior episode. Yet, because he hasn’t gotten into any real trouble, (Being the Hokage’s son)  he’s earned some ire from his classmates, who think he’s getting special treatment. One boy, in particular, Inojin, gives him and Denki a lot of backhanded comments for being irresponsible and stupid.

After their break, Boruto gets the negative attention of a classmate who has been held back in the ninja academy for some time, Iwabe. Iwabe tries to bully Boruto, and when Denki sticks up for him, ends up challenging Boruto to a fight. Boruto accepts, and the two get ready for a smackdown in the training room as all their other classmates watch.

The fight between the two of them pushes both of them to try their hardest, but eventually, Boruto’s speed and an uncanny ability for his age allow him to conquer Iwabe, who ends up forfeiting the match by cheating, having tried to bring a weapon in the chaos of their weaponless match. Having beaten Iwabe, Boruto earns his class’s respect, along with Iwabe’s, who tries to be a better student from here on.

Our Take:

Things aren’t going great for the beginning of this fledgling sequel to the immensely popular “Naruto.” With the first episode not doing a tremendous job at introducing us to Boruto and his nerdy pal Denki, this episode doesn’t do much to pick up the slack, getting bogged down in a cast that’s a bit too big for this early in the show, while not endearing us to Boruto and his struggle in the way that the original series did so well.

There’s quite a bit that happens in this episode since Boruto is at ninja academy and surrounded by his peers. We see a few new characters introduced, some of them the recognizable children of important leaders in the village. Among these characters is Inojin, a character who immediately strikes one as being an unlikable jerk. This makes his a sharp contrast to Boruto, who’s so capable and friendly that he too, is somewhat unapproachable. I don’t know why Boruto needs to create such huge character extremes, but it isn’t working for the story.

The main issue here is that Boruto so far feels like a teenage soap opera taking place in an elementary school. We’re only two episodes in, and characters are acting so sentimental and dramatic it’s enough to make WWE blush. Things need to slow down and develop, or the plot will be lost completely to the desire for this show to keep things moving. Not to mention, I don’t find annoying kids being stupid a particularly enjoyable thing to watch. In the original series, this worked better since the main characters were put together better, but that’s not the case here.

This series is going to rely on Boruto being an interesting character to watch, since the series is all about him, after all. But here we are, and when the show should be trying to endear its audience to the titular protagonist, its wasting time on schoolyard fights. This doesn’t tap into any emotional frequency, it just feels downright cringey. Like watching a Naruto fanfiction full of self-insert characters. Boruto is an absolute Mary Sue, whose biggest problem is that his dad has to work late and sometimes he has to deal with bullies at school. Where’s the heart? Where’s the sincerity that propelled “Naruto” to change the world of anime? Without those essential traits, this show simply cannot succeed.