I love how Kakashi’s old training lessons, the bells, now serve as tasks for an entire group of academy students striving to become genin of the Hidden Leaf.
This week’s episode of Boruto is the build-up I’ve been waiting for since the end of the Mist Village field trip. The graduation exams are finally about to begin! In the original Naruto, graduating from the academy was a simple as accomplishing a transformation jutsu. In Boruto, the graduation exam seems similar to the chuunin exams held in the Naruto series. The way that Boruto, as a series, plays off of its past is always interesting.
For instance, the comparison on the graduation exam to the chuunin exam. In a time where war is in the past, their graduation exams are even harder. With white headbands representing their lives, the students must get past Anko, Shino, and Konohamaru and still the bells from Lord Sixth, Kakashi. While this doesn’t make much sense to me, Kakashi explains that it is because the need for shinobi is low and that they can “afford to fail every student here”. Not to get too political or economical here, but if the need for shinobi is low, shouldn’t there be a little less focus on training a room full of children how to be one? And maybe that’s the point, as the very first episode of Boruto had the flash forward showing the villain stating that it was the end of the shinobi.
Then there’s the fun stuff like, like seeing nods to Ino/Shika/Cho in their respective children. It was fun seeing them at the beginning of their teamwork stages, nostalgia kicking in as I remember the cool moments shared by the trio’s parents. Seeing them fight Anko, an old instructor who’s put on a little bit of weight, is icing on the cake. There’s another brief moment when Sarada, Mitsuki and Boruto are traversing the treetops together – a nod to the next rung in a generational ladder of teams representing the 3 legendary sannin. These moments have me excited for what is in store for the series.
I wish that the Mitsuki / Shino fight would have been sequenced. I can appreciate them wanting to keep Mitsuki, ‘child’ of Orochimaru, wrapped in mystery. However, it would be nice to see a little more than basic wind and lightning attacks from the ninja who is very clearly much more than he appears. As the scene shifts back and we see Mitsuki standing over a panting, defeated Shino, I found myself that much more curious about the strange ninja. Being in relation to Orochimaru, the writer’s of course play into the fact and attempt to make him look evil any opportunity that they can. I think Mitsuk will ultimately end up breaking the chain of being the snake of the group (pun intended), however.
One other obvious comparison the shows will continue to make, both implicitly and explicitly, are those between Naruto and Boruto. The fact that Boruto excels at school, even being able to pass the test he should have to cheat on, got a smile out of me. The whole series, Boruto has made a point about wanting to be better than his old man – schooling being something he’s clearly already surpassed him in. Whereas Naruto struggled with work in the academy and had a hard time making friends, Boruto excels at academy work and has a problem thinking about his life without his friends. Entirely opposite upbringings in an entirely new era of ninja.
It will be interesting to see where Boruto goes from here, as his problems center around his lack of ambition (a problem his father never struggled with). Naruto had a constant goal that drove him, and Boruto hasn’t found that yet, but it will be exciting to see what it is. Boruto’s way of the ninja!
Overall it was a decent episode that really gets most of its points for nostalgia’s sake, but that’s okay! The real episode will be next week, as Kakashi teaches Boruto about the resolve of the shinobi!
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