Boruto: Naruto Next Generationsis the sequel to theNarutoseries. Set years after the conclusion ofthe Fourth Great Ninja War, this story takes place when the ninja world is largely at peace. Naruto Uzumaki is the 7th Hokage of Konoha and his son, Boruto Uzumaki, is the protagonist of the series. Boruto sees many shinobi from his era take center stage.
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While the ninja world is at peace, evil organizations start stirring a lot of trouble andthe likes of the Otsutsukiare also involved greatly in the story. With powerful enemies emerging, Boruto and his generation take on the mighty task of stopping them and maintaining the peace that Naruto and his generation fought for.Borutois certainly popular, however, the series often gets inevitably compared toNaruto, being set in the same universe. Years later,Borutohas now had enough time to make an impact on the fans, but whether or not will ever be as popular asNarutois a question that’s certainly very intriguing.
Boruto’s Strengths
As a series, overall,Borutocertainly does do some things better than its predecessor in Naruto. For one, one of the glaring criticisms ofNarutowas that as the story progressed, the focus was thrown only on Naruto and Sasuke. While the series started quite well and, until the timeskip, fleshed out all its characters in a fantastic manner, in the second half of Naruto, that changed.The Uchiha Clan became centralto the plot and most of the story was focused around Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. While theBorutoto manga isn’t much better in that regard, the anime, which many consider to be canon, changes things quite a bit. In theBorutoanime, different characters get their own stories.
Filler or not, these characters are much better fleshed out and stand on their own as well. At the same time, Boruto takes plotpoints fromNarutoand fleshes them out a bit more, such as the concept of the Otsutsuki clan, which was introduced towards the end of the original series. The entirety of theBorutoseries centers around the Otsutsuki and, for that reason, the series is held close to the heart by many fans. However, enjoyable as it is at times, Boruto’s also has its glaring weaknesses.
Boruto’s Weaknesses
Perhaps one of the biggest weaknesses of theBorutoseries is the fact that it doesn’t have enough compelling characters when compared toNaruto. The likes of Naruto and Sasuke are probably two of the best characters in the series and, with time, even their influence fades away. Even the main cast of the series, including Boruto, Sarada, Mitsuki, and Kawaki isn’t as interesting as Naruto or Sasuke. The protagonist falls flat on his face, as do some other characters. The greatest charm of the Boruto series is certainly in the predecessor characters, such as Naruto Uzumakiand Sasuke Uchiha. Being a sequel series, it isn’t a stretch to say that the beloved characters of the old are what attracted fans to Boruto.
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With their influence slowly fading in the series and the next generation taking over,Borutois not nearly as interesting to the vast majority ofNarutofans. At the same time, the plot of Boruto is quite one-dimensional. There doesn’t seem to be much the series has to offer other than lore about the Otsutsuki Clan and powerful scientific technology. At the same time, the series also makes quite a lot of retcons on the original work of the author which, at times is good, but, at others, is quite bemusing.
Will Boruto Be As Popular As Naruto?
Borutois certainly a decent seriesand, as a sequel toNaruto, it does its job of painting the picture of the world that Naruto Uzumaki built and the peace that he fought hard for to achieve. It also showcases the great technological advancements the world has made and paints quite a picture of the futuristic world inside theNarutouniverse. However, comparing the popularity of the two, it is quite clear thatBorutois nowhere near as popular asNaruto.Narutowas popular enough to be considered one of the Big Three, alongside One Piece and Bleach.
Boruto, on the other hand, is a series that isn’t talked about nearly as much. In fact, even years after its conclusion,Narutois still more popular thanBoruto, which says a lot about how the two series compare to each other. That’s not to say thatBorutoisn’t popular. What it does mean is thatBorutowill never hit the heights thatNarutohas. In fact, the story seems to get less and less interesting with each passing chapter, although the recent happenings of the timeskip seem to have changed that to some degree, and, as always, credit where it’s due. But, the downfall of the series is well reflected in the sales of the manga volumes, which is consistently going down.
Borutois certainly enjoyable in both manga and anime forms as both have a certain charm to them. However, when compared toNaruto, it would be insincere to say that the two are anywhere close in terms of quality, character writing, and the overarching story.Borutodoes not have nearly as many good characters, and the arcs are too repetitive.Borutocertainly will leave its own legacy behind but it will certainly not be one that touches the glorious story that was etched by its predecessor,Naruto.
