Today marks 5 years since that day a new generation of shinobi came to television with Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, an anime that although it has not finished convincing the most closed fans of Masashi Kishimoto’s original work, we cannot deny that it has given us a new path to follow full of learning, action, fun, padding and a lot of nostalgia.
The end of Naruto: Shippūden It was undoubtedly very hard for everyone, and not because it ended in a sad or disastrous way, but because it seemed like the final goodbye to a series with which many of us grew up for years along with its protagonists, especially along with the blond ninja, who in the end ends up marrying Hinata, although he still hasn’t fulfilled his greatest dream: to become the Seventh Hokage.
We cannot deny that the story of Naruto really gave us a good closure in 2017 with which all the fans would have agreed. However, the return of the not so young Uzumaki to the small screen seemed imminent, because even before the grand finale of the anime of Shippuden, in 2016, Boruto was already beginning to tell his own story in the pages of Shonen Jump.
5 years ago Boruto began his ninja path | Photo: Pierrot
And in fact, at least in Japan, not even a year passed before Boruto: Naruto Next Generations It will be released through the TV Tokyo network, exactly on April 5, 2017, so it did not take long for fans to begin to know the adult life of Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and all the ninjas with whom we grew up, although in the background because now was the time for a new generation of shinobi mostly made up of the children of the four teams with whom we live great missions and adventures.
Although of course it didn’t go well at first for the new little warriors, because starting with Boruto, we faced a spoiled, rebellious and ungrateful child who gave us more headaches than pleasant moments throughout the first chapters. All this added to a rather simplistic animation by Pierrot, and an argument with which in general, he painted to be a very insignificant series that would never stick to the greatness of Naruto.
However, it was enough with some patience, many filler chapters and hope on the part of the fans who stayed to see Boruto, to realize that this series was actually not bad at all, because among its filler we came across great and nostalgic moments again and again. On the other hand, we have been able to see a great evolution in its main charactersabove all, in the Hokage’s son, who went on to become a really interesting subject with a very different goal than his father when he was little.
Boruto’s life changed drastically since his meeting with Momoshiki Otsutsuki | Photo: Pierrot
And of course, we cannot deny that at certain points the series has been absurdly repetitive, but in the end that is what has allowed us to stay and see the evolution of this anime, which after five years of life, has led us to faithfully remember how was to watch and enjoy the series Naruto, which beyond having us biting our nails for what could happen in the next episode, taught us to enjoy a program in which anything could happen, where it didn’t matter if it was a chapter full of action and revelations or a filler more that it did not contribute much to the plot; in the end they enjoyed themselves in the same way and something very similar happens in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
On the other hand, It has been great over these 5 years to also see the development of this new generation of shinobi, and how some have followed the same path as their parents, while developing their own personality. For example Sarada the daughter of Sasuke and Sakura who inherited the best of her parents to become an incredible kunoichi currently Chunin, or how about Mitsuki, the son of Orochimaru who from his coldness and indifference has known how to give us some of the best and most thoughtful lessons within the series.
There is also Shikadai, the son of Shikamaru and Temari who, in addition to inheriting his intelligence, aims to follow the same path as his father, ChoCho, the daughter of Choji and Karui de la Nube, who in addition to mastering the techniques of the Akimichi clan and having inherited the same appetite as his dad, he’s one of the coolest characters in Boruto being a symbol of female empowerment, and let’s not forget of course Inojin, the son of Ino and Sai who can make use of the techniques of the Yamanaka clan, although his greatest inclination as a shinobi is in the domain of the Scroll of Giant Beasts his father’s.
The new Ino-Shika-Cho led by Moegi Sensei | Photo: Pierrot
Similarly, although with less attention we have Metal Lee, the son of Rock Lee whose mother is believed to be Tenten, although that is just a theory. This last character under the tutelage of his father and Maito Gai himself has been in charge of keeping alive the power of youth within anime. Among many other characters Boruto such as the jounin versions of Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon, as well as Mirai Sarutobi, daughter of Kurenai and Asuma. The series has taken it upon itself to form its own squad of new ninjas that They have allowed us to live great stories of a totally different flavor, but with all the very essence of Naruto.
And speaking of Naruto, along with the new generation of shinobi, we can continue to see closely the growth and evolution of the most powerful ninjas on the blade, who have not ceased to surprise us, such as the Seventh Hokage with his Baryon Mode, which marked one of the most relevant moments in his life as a ninja (and the saddest in all anime), or Sasuke himself, who has taken on the role of protector of the Leaf Village, although from the shadows, al just like his brother Itachi, a fact that has even led him to lose his Rinnegan.
In the end, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Perhaps it has not matched after 5 years the first adaptations based on Masashi Kishimoto’s manga, and in the eyes of every true fan of the ninja world, possibly it never will. But we can’t deny that Naruto’s son series has been showing great improvement over the years and in all its aspects: plot, character evolution, animation, etc.
It would be great if Boruto Shippuden arrived in the future | Photo: Pierrot
As in Narutowith Boruto We have laughed, cried, learned all kinds of lessons related to issues of family, friendship, companionship, self-love and self-improvement. We’ve gotten angry when we don’t like something, and we’ve suffered a bit with the padding, but isn’t it precisely all those details that make an anime great? Isn’t it because of all this that we throw more than 700 chapters from the beginning of Naruto until the end of Shippuden?
Or what do you think? 5 years after the premiere of Boruto:Naruto Next Generations, What has been your opinion of this anime and its new generation of shinobi?
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