Boruto: Naruto Next Generations reintroduced the Otsutsuki Clan as the major villains for the Naruto sequel series, and the writer and artist behind it all revealed why they had to bring them back for the new entry. Boruto: Naruto Next Generations first introduced fans to a future version of the Hidden Leaf Village where Naruto Uzumaki went on to become the Hokage and had a family of his own. The series then follows his son, Boruto, as he takes on his own foes. But soon enough, it was revealed that the Otsutsuki Clan would be playing a massive role in the sequel.
Originally introduced late into the run of Masashi Kishimoto’s original Naruto manga series, Boruto franchise series writer and artist Mikio Ikemoto opened up about the Otsutsuki Clan playing a big role during a special fan event (as noted by @howlxithree on X) and explained that they were brought into the sequel because they didn’t get a lot of time to explore them in the original series. And frankly, when Ikemoto tried different villains, it didn’t have the same impact as the Otsutsuki Clan.
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Why Boruto Brings Back the Otsutsuki
“In Naruto, the origins of Otsutsuki were not explained,” Ikemoto began. “But for me they were aliens from the beginning. After the Great Shinobi Wars, we pushed the limits of the universe to find new antagonists. We did tests with other human characters, but the result was not convincing.” So as Ikemoto breaks it down, he and original creator Masashi Kishimoto likely tried out different ideas for villains but it was the Otsutsuki Clan that ultimately seemed to provide the most “convincing” villainous element.
The Otsutsuki have proved fruitful for Boruto, however, as not only has the clan provided many big opponents over the course of the sequel, their reintroduction has also served to expand their lore and the lore of the franchise as well. Boruto himself has been given a major ticking clock as the Otsutsuki power continues to take over his own body, and it’s something we’ll see develop over the course of its own time skip sequel, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex too.
The latest arc of the series has taken this even further by expanding on the Divine Tree with even more foes, so clearly bringing the Otsutsuki Clan back as many villains has been paying off for the franchise so far.
