Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is deep into its Mitsuki Retrieval arc, and episode 73 brought some significant Naruto callbacks along with it’s storyline. The episode saw Boruto and Sarada infiltrate the lab of mad scientist Orochimaru, in order to learn more about Mitsuki’s past and hopefully locate their Team 7 teammate before the warriors of the Hidden Leaf get to him first.
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The episode’s highlight was no doubt the first meeting between Boruto and Orochimaru, but there were also some familiar faces from the Naruto saga that made a big return for this new Boruto era – including the timely return of Karin!
Orochimaru’s subordinate hasn’t been seen all that much in Boruto. Orochimaru’s screen time has largely been spent either with Mitsuki and his clone brother Log, or in the company of Naruto and the small cabal of Hidden Leaf leaders who knew about Naruto and Orochimaru’s alliance, long before Mitsuki blew the secret wide open with his departure. Karin has been left out of the mad scientist’s slow-burn storyline, but her return in episode 73 (“The Other Side of the Moon”) was pitch-perfect!
Karin shows up after Boruto and Sarada have hatched a strategy: Sarada impersonates Mitsuki to lead the Hidden Leaf guards away, as Boruto sneaks into Orochimaru’s lab. In order to buy Boruto time, Sarada/Mitsuki has to lead the Hidden Leaf guards on merry chase through the woods – a task that eventually becomes too much for her to keep up. As Sarada takes cover in hiding to try and catch her breath, she’s surprised by Karin!
Longtime Naruto fans should get a major thrill out of this brief but pivotal scene: Sarada recognizes Karin in a callback moment to her own arc earlier in Boruto, where she doubted Sakura was her mother, mistakenly believing it could be Karin, due to an old Taka gang photo, and the glasses Karin passed on to Sarada as a gift. When finally getting to speak, Karin and Sarada quickly form a bond, with Karin happy to see the daughter of her longtime crush (Sasuke) grown up strong liker her father – a worthy inheritor of those iconic glasses. Sarada in turn got to see Karin’s protective inclinations toward her, as the latter took over impersonating Mitsuki so Sarada could escape and go help Boruto.
All in all, callback scenes like this are just one reason why Boruto is becoming the greatest installment of Naruto thus far, uniting past and present (and setting up the future) in ways that dedicated longtime fans can deeply appreciate.
Did you like seeing Karin back?
Catch new episodes of Bortuo: Naruto Next Generations Thursdays streaming on Funimation, Hulu, and Crunchyroll.
