English Dub Review: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations “Boruto and Sarada”

Like father, like son.

Overview (Spoilers Below)
With Sarada returning to Konoha, things proceed as they usually do in everyday school lives of
Boruto and his classmates. But everyone is abuzz over the Five Kage Summit, a meeting of
kages from all the different villages at Konoha, where the most powerful ninjas in the land
discuss their alliance and matters of great importance. Lee and Yuino argue over their favorite
kages while Boruto and Sarada compete with each other in target practice with shuriken. Sarada,
who has just unlocked her sharingan, is proving to be more than a match for Boruto in ninja skill.
Time passes, and the different kids go their different ways during the day. Lee and Yuino chill at
the ramen shop watching the arrival of the kages, while Sarada goes to train her sharingan with
Chocho. Boruto, taking after his old man, decides now would be a great time to deface the cliff
face with the faces of the different kages on it.

Sarada’s training goes well, and she even gets advice on how to use the sharingan from
Konohamaru, who, in his adult years, has become quite the ninja. Meanwhile, the kages finally
meet in Naruto’s office to discuss what they came here for. Naruto explains what he’s been
learning from the conflicts with the pale people recently. He concludes from his intelligence
gathering that their world is going to be invaded by ninjas from another dimension. This is grave
news, since it means more war, and what’s worse, the kages don’t seem to have faith that the
generation after them is capable of fighting a war like they did in years past.

As if in defiance of that point, Sarada comes across Boruto trying to graffiti the kage faces and
tells him to knock it off. Boruto, of course, isn’t interested in that, so Sarada tries to teach him
with force. They fight, and the two are evenly matched. Eventually, Boruto lets up and tells
Sarada the match is a draw, only to reveal that he’s already defaced the image of his dad.

Our Take:

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations puts on a good show this week, despite my expectations.
We’re finally finished with that embarrassing arc about Sarada trying to find out who her “real”
mom is, and we’re back to things that matter. In fact, I’d say that this episode marks the first time
in the show I’ve been genuinely interested in what’s going on. The reason for this is simple:
conflict. For the first time in the show, it feels like we have actual conflicts in this show with
weight and consequences. Considering how this feels like the start of the first major arc in the
show, I’m wondering why the meeting between the different kages wasn’t the start of the series.
Not just because it’s more interesting to see the kages discuss matters of global importance, but
because they actually get into the themes of a “generational” difference between the ninjas of
“Naruto” versus their children in Boruto. For the first time, it feels like this show has a reason to
exist other than to make money for anime producers.

Character conflicts are more tangible here than ever before, and they involve physical conflicts
that reflect their importance. Boruto and Sarada are developing a kind of crush/animosity towards each other that drives the story a bit. As Mitsuki says, they do look like they’d make a good couple, but you can see the spark of an ideological difference between the two. Sarada believes in the legitimacy of Naruto and the village, while Boruto thinks his dad is a weak old
man. The fight of these two isn’t just a fist fight, but a fight over ideas. It might seem like I’m
reading too much into it, but I don’t think them fighting over Boruto trying to graffiti a sacred
village monument is a coincidence.

The difference between this episode and what has come before it is night and day. My initial
complaints that this is a story of bratty elementary school kids arguing with each other is giving
way to a story that has a little bit more weight. It all depends on how Boruto takes it from here,
but if they make this story about the impending approach of the invading forces from another
dimension then there is a lot of potential for a good plot here. However, it’s also very possible
that the show could lapse into “filler-esque” slice-of-life stories with no weight or substance. For
now, at least, this was a good episode, and I suppose that’s all I can ask for week-by-week.