It’s been several years, but finally Boruto is actually pretty good.

Upon Naruto ending, the sequel series, Boruto: Naruto the Next Generation released a year later. Upon release, it received mixed reviews from fans and audiences alike. A big part was caution that it’s going to fall into the same trap Naruto fell into.

Naruto suddenly went from a show about ninjas to aliens almost overnight. The leading theory being that Kishimoto made Madara too powerful and needed a way to take him out. Of course, this resulted in the creation of the alien goddess Kaguya being created. She served her narrative purpose of killing This turning point of course didn’t resonate well with a lot of fans for obvious reasons. There was very limited setup

There was one massive concern the turned many fans away pretty quickly. Within the first year of Boruto being on air, it became quickly apparent that there was a massive problem. Boruto quickly became a fusion of a slice of life and a monster of the week anime. Monster of the week anime, is an anime without an overhanging plotline nor consistent villain. From rogue ninja,doing the Boruto movie, class reps (cliche anime trope), etc, that what the anime became. Some monster of the week plot lines where pretty good porting, especially Sarada’s and Mitsuki arcs. But until very recently, it did not have a single overriding plot line or long term arc

There’s nothing wrong with being a Monster of the Week anime, there are many great anime with that style. Card Captor Sakura, Inuyasha Ushio and Tora, etc are all great Monster of the Week anime. The problem of course, comes in with the fact that it’s part of a story based franchise with a lot of lore. When you have a franchise that just introduced aliens, reverting to Monsters of the Week won’t sit well. Of course, this hits back to why Boruto is finally consistently good.

Kara

Kara is akin to Akatsuki, an evil secret organization bent on world domination. While the Akatsuki was a mercenary organization to hires it’s services to the highest bidder, Kara functions closer the the fictional Illuminati. It operates through having it’s members undermine governments, proliferate weapons, and general corruption. Within Kara’s ranks, it holds politicians, merchants, and others who agree with their view points. With their main members (called Inners) coming into action, the story finally has a narrative focus.

Kawaki

Kawaki is effectively Naruto’s adopted son, who acts as the Sasuke of the series. But more importantly, he likely single-handedly saved the franchise with how good of a character he is. Everything wrong with Boruto himself, was corrected with Kawaki. Though sadly, it’s another case in shonen where the main character is out shined by a vastly superior character. Without going into massive spoiler territory, he plays Sasuke’s Part 1 role perfectly in every meaning of the phrase. Acts as the main character’s adopted brother, has an engaging backstory, and a massive chunk of the plot revolves around him. That’s right, his whole existence is the foundation for the plot itself.

Congratulations Boruto and Kara, you helped turn an otherwise me mediocre shonen into something rather enjoyable. No longer does it take a lot of headcanon and hand waving to defend Boruto, good days are ahead. Now that you are done reading this, why not vote on who strongest Uchiha is?