English Dub Review: Boruto: Naruto Generations “Boruto and Mitsuki”

Boruto really doesn’t like his dad.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Mitsuki continues to make contact with his nighttime benefactor. Though the one receiving his messages is unknown, his snake crawling around on his neck somewhat gives it away. The next day, Boruto and his friends train on an obstacle course. It looks like Denki won’t make it through and be expelled, but Naruto and Mitsuki assist him in making it through in the last moment. Boruto and the others congratulate themselves on dealing with the ghost problem. (Since it seems to have dissipated)

Mitsuki, in an effort to understand Boruto better, asks his friends what it is that makes Boruto tick and why he is the way he is. Afterward, he goes to meet with Sumire, whom he comforts with wise advice about coping with stress. Later that night, Mitsuki comes back home to see Boruto at his place and even decides to stay for dinner. Mitsuki sees a picture of Naruto on the wall and is immediately impressed, but Boruto just sees him as another parent. Dad first, person second.

At dinner, Mitsuki and Naruto get along well, but Boruto is still unsatisfied. Mitsuki confronts him on an overlook above the village where Boruto rants away his frustration about his dad not being there for him. After listening to Boruto’s impassioned anger, Mitsuki reveals to Boruto that he knows who’s been behind all the ghosts lately.

Our Take:

Yuck, as if Boruto couldn’t find ways to be more boring, here’s an episode that demonstrates just how shallow and uninteresting an episode of anime can be. The problem here is simple: this episode has the distinct problem of not doing anything of importance. A great deal of the episode is just retreading on things we already knew, with Boruto’s friends talking him up and explaining how much they like him. After all, there’s nothing that makes a disillusioned audience find empathy for your main character like a lecture about how cool they are from their friends. This is an episode that starts slow and goes on and on and on until it just drifts away from you, landing on its final weak note.

One would think that this episode would have been about Mitsuki and who he actually is, or at least have Mitsuki do things that have substance to deepen their bond. I remember back in the original “Naruto” when bonding with a friend meant enduring trials or fighting ninjas together, activities that strengthen the connection between characters more than mere words can. But Boruto doesn’t seem to like those things. Boruto wants to tell its story in the cheapest way possible, so it has Boruto and Mitsuki adventure unto little more than a playdate. There are many things I think of when I think of the world of “Naruto,” but cozy playdates over nice dinners in happy families aren’t on that list. And furthermore, can Boruto stop pretending that his dad is some kind of horrible monster? I get that there’s a disconnect between the two, but nothing this show is doing is going to convince me that Boruto’s complaints are little more than bratty short-sightedness coming from a dumb kid.

There’s no reason for this level of poor quality in this show. I want Boruto to be a show full of life and interesting characters, complete with an exciting world to explore filled with key players from the original to connect the new series with the old. But week after week, its becoming clearer and clearer that that is simply not what we’re getting. Instead of a shounen, we have a soap opera, and instead of a cool new setting, we get a facsimile of Japanese suburbia seemingly free of any real problems. Get it together, Boruto, you’re just embarrassing yourself now.

Score
4/10