English Dub Review: Boruto “Shikadai’s Doubts”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

The Leaf Genin are formally tasked with helping in taking down the Byakuya Gang, though only in investigating and tracking. Most everyone is ready to go, though Boruto is hesitant after what he learned last time. Another sighting soon occurs, but Iwabe gets too eager and Metal seriously injures himself protecting Denki, letting the thieves get away and their team put on suspension. And to make things worse, the gang’s activities and help to impoverished towns are gaining them more support. The topic of class becomes popular amongst the village, even in Boruto’s home, forcing him to face that while the thieves are breaking the law, they only exist because of the village’s (and by extension Naruto’s) handling of the problem.

The Byakuya Gang, including Ryogi (the boy Shikadai met), plan their next move to steal from a pawn shop with a bad reputation to bolster theirs. But Ryogi still finds time to play Shogi with his new friend, who doesn’t seem to suspect his mysterious background. Soon they start talking about the state of things and whether or not the gang is really on the side of justice, with Shikadai being a bit more understanding about things, but things get a bit harder to hide when Boruto shows up and recognizes Ryogi’s voice. The heist on the pawn shop proceeds that night, with Sumire’s team forced to face them. Temari arrives to help, soon involving Boruto and Shikadai as well, but they all get away, so Temari lectures her son about learning to take risks in the future. It also seems the thieves have gotten help from civilians, meaning their influence is growing.

OUR TAKE

This arc continues on an interesting route, having the topic of class and poverty fully in the forefront and bringing up a lot of complex questions. These thieves, while a bit boring in design, do seem to be causing quite a stir amongst the Leaf Village. It’s true that breaking the law can be wrong, but it’s also true that laws are imperfect, so it could be argued that the Byakuya Gang is simply a product of a flawed or broken system. But do those imperfections put them in the right or are they simply using a noble cause for selfish ends? These sorts of issues are becoming much more prevalent in real life modern society, so I guess it was only a matter of time before they made an appearance in anime, but I sure didn’t expect it to be Boruto of all things.

Unfortunately, I also don’t expect this to go into these themes as far as they probably should. For one, having antagonists who truly challenge the system of the village would involve making Naruto look flawed (or at least more flawed than an overworked Ninja President who doesn’t have time for his kids) and I don’t see this show going there. The leader of the gang also doesn’t seem to be someone who’s going to turn out to be very sympathetic by the end of all this based on…pretty much everything about him, even if Ryogi looks to be filling that quota. And third, based on a major storyline coming up (that was adapted into a movie years ago), this arc is likely not going to have much of an impact on things going forward, meaning most people aren’t going to learn much by the end, if at all.

Still, there’s stuff about this to appreciate, even if it might be wasted later. Shikadai is certainly getting fleshed out a bit through his complicated friendship to Ryogi, even though the two barely have anything in common besides an appreciation for Shogi. It was also nice to see Temari in the mix for once, since she and Sakura are the only female characters from the last series who have gotten a chance to kick butt. Hopefully we get more to like as the arc goes on, which should be likely since we’re not even half way just yet. Maybe this could turn out just fine after all.