Boruto is Officially Going Further than Naruto Ever Dared (And It’s Exciting)

The successor to the Naruto series, Boruto, continues its serialization with new chapters released every month, and in its latest chapter, the series features its protagonist making a risky move that Naruto never took. The Naruto series is by far one of the greatest anime and manga series ever created, and it established a narrative that was clearly not meant to be picked up easily. Thus, when the sequel series announced that the protagonist of this new series would be none other than Naruto’s own son, fans rightfully rolled their eyes at the choice. However, the series has tried to make its protagonist appear as distinct as possible from the very beginning.

Unlike his father, Boruto doesn’t state that he plans to become a shinobi who seeks all the attention; rather, he wants to become a shinobi who operates from the shadows while supporting the Hokage. Boruto has repeatedly followed this notion, and with the way the events of Boruto‘s first installment ended and the second installment, Two Blue Vortex, began, Boruto has confirmed that his position is different from his father’s. The manga continues to embody this, with the latest chapter seeing Boruto make a choice that Naruto, as a protagonist, would never make.

Unlike Naruto, Boruto Isn’t Afraid to Make Risky Choices That Endanger Others

While Naruto is a great protagonist, his characterization is too positive, as his constant desire to save others without risking anyone and endangering himself is always the first option he takes. Though there is nothing wrong with it, such choices make Naruto’s character feel far removed from reality. A protagonist who constantly wants to save others by sacrificing himself without having an outward flaw feels as though the lens through which the character is viewed is only one-dimensional. This may have been a trend in anime when it was primarily catered toward younger audiences, but with a wider demographic today, such staples may no longer feel as compelling. This is exactly why protagonists who are risk-takers, embodying a more adult outlook on life, feel far more compelling.

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 35, titled “Cute,” sees its titular protagonist making such a choice. It has become very evident that Boruto and Sarada are destined to be a couple and already hold special places for each other. Thus, with Boruto himself proposing a plan for Sarada to get kidnapped, the series makes such a bold and modern move that it is difficult to imagine Naruto making. This is the kind of move cool side characters such as Sasuke would make, and seeing it embodied in the protagonist of such a positive franchise highlights how the narrative is evolving as it progresses.

While fans were initially concerned about what a successor to the Naruto series would look like and even rolled their eyes at Boruto, the sequel has evolved into its own entity. It has done so by addressing elements that were weak in Naruto, such as female characters and romantic tropes. Now, with Boruto emerging as a risk-taker with a far more open-minded outlook than Naruto, it proves that the Boruto series is going farther than the Naruto series ever did, and it is doing so by daring to improve upon the weaker elements of its predecessor.

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