In the anime fandom, no series brings up stronger feeling then Naruto. Some people believe it was the best series of all time, while others consider it to be one of the worst. While not being a fanatic about the series, I enjoyed the tales of the boy who held the Nine Tailed Demon Fox in his body. I was surprised to learn that a equal series existed which deals with his son. Boruto: Naruto Next Generation is about his son as he attends ninja training school and has to contend with some of the same problems his father once faced.
The Hokage’s Son
It has not been easy for Boruto, being that his father was one of the best ninjas of all time. Deciding to attend the same school, Boruto makes some friends and some enemies as he attends his classes. He also must solve a mystery in that his right eye can see other’s chakra. He must balance his own life with the responsibility that his father believes is his birthright.
It is said that the best curse a person can have is to have a child who is exactly like them. Boruto looks like his father, but also acts like he did when he was younger. There are some differences, as Boruto does not have a demon inside of him. He rebels because he wants to be his own person, not the son of the great Naruto. It might have been easy to just have Boruto be a copy of his father, but the differences make him a more interesting character. The manga begins with Boruto already a great ninja, so the anime series is more of a prequel that shows how he got to this point.
A New Path
One of the strongest parts of Naruto has been it’s supporting cast. There are fans who will tell you that Naruto is the worst character, but the supporting characters are why they are fans of the show. Baruto follows this by having characters who are interesting and well thought out. Mitsuki is a mysterious boy, whose calm attitude hides a huge secret. Sarada, a childhood friend, might be even more powerful then expected. These and many other characters form the friends Baruto will keep for his entire life.
The enemies is not a person, but rather a dark force that seems to be able to posses anyone it chooses. It also takes the person’s chakra, leaving Boruto as the only one who can fight it. In later episodes, it seems that this force is being controlled by someone. Deciding who can be trusted and who can’t is one of the fun parts of this anime. Friends might become enemies and only Boruto’s power, which he does not know why he has, might be the only force strong enough to stop it.
A Shinobi’s Resolve
The art style is in the same as Naruto. The action scenes are fast paced and the quieter moments are illustrated beautiful. One thing that I noticed was that their are very few filler episodes. Everything seems to move at a natural pace, and even the stories that don’t seem to move the plot forward have a scene that relates to the main story. If you were not one of the fans of Naruto, some episodes have very little of his son. The series is on Hulu and Crunchyroll. Head back to ninja school and see how the next generation stacks up to the original.
