Boruto Confirms Premiere Date of Next Big Arc

Fans of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations having hoping and waiting for the anime to dip back into the manga source material, and recently they finally got their wish. Boruto’sanime recently adapted the manga’s “Mujina Bandits” arc, which is the big precursor to the series main storyline, the “Kara Arc.” That storyline has introduced the mysterious group Kara, and revealed the true meaning behind the Karma Seal that was left imprinted on Boruto’s hand. Well, the Boruto anime is taking a much longer path to get through the manga storylines, but now we seem to have confirmation of when the Boruto anime will finally begin the “Kara Arc”!

“WAIT A MINUTE! WE HAVE A DATE FOR KARA ARC?? Look at the top! 5-17 is May 17. In may 17 Episode 157(which is written) supposedly airs(if there’s no delays) 157 is the first episode of Box Set 9. This all adds up! If there’s no delays because of Corona KARA ARC STARTS IN MAY 17!!” —Boruto4Life

Basically, the thought process here is that Vol. 9 of the Boruto anime box set will begin the Kara Arc. Vol. 9 begins with episode 157, which is slated to air on May 17th – ergo, the anime version of the Kara Arc begins on May 17th. There’s sound logic to it, if not concrete confirmation yet.

The question now is how the next few weeks of Boruto will play out. Given how the anime will likely approach the “Kara Arc”, we’re probably in for a few more weeks of filler episodes before the anime gets into the “AO Arc” that begins Kara’s story.

In the manga, the “AO Arc” was the second, bigger, lead-in to the full “Kara Arc” storyline. The AO Arc introduces the mysteries organization and sets the main premise for their conflict with Konohagakure, while only giving Boruto and Co. a small first taste of what makes Kara so very different (and deadly) of a threat for the shinobi of Hidden Leaf. It also introduces one of the key players of Boruto’s tale, Kawaki, whose presence has been openly teased in Boruto’s opening credits. We know that work on the Boruto anime AO Arc was already done before the Coronavirus Pandemic delays, so that will be some great excitement for anime fans hoping for new content.

Boruto streams weekly on Hulu, Funimation and Crunchyroll.