Recommended
Just when we all thought that Naruto would finish. Lately, Naruto has been showing signs that it will soon finish. Shippuden is currently in its final arcs and the manga has recently ended at 700 chapters, and considering this franchise has been around since 1999, it’s about time. It is true that Naruto’s story will end, and soon, but when one epic saga is ending, a new one arises. Thus, we have Boruto, the tale of Naruto’s son. While some people view this as a mistake, I view it as a new opportunity. An opportunity to show a whole new story in the same worldthat we know and love, but with a new perspective. A perspective, that, while similar, is different enough that we get a fresh take on the series. A new spin in the world of ninjas that we have grown to love since its inception 20 years ago, and that it’s still going strong today.
Story:
Boruto takes place around when Naruto became the Hokage which means that a huge amount of time has passed from when the original series began, to where Boruto began. Because of this the technology in the ninja world has greatly advanced and the inhabitants now have TV’s, computers and video games which was a nice addition to the world. Everything looks more modern to coincide with how the real world is changing which I found to be a nice touch that made the world feel even more alive that it has before. Even if the whole movie takes place in the Hidden Leaf Village (which is starting to look like the Hidden Leaf City).
Like the original series, Boruto: Naruto the Movie tells the story of a boy that feels alone in the world he lives in. While it may seem like a rehash of the original, it’s very different considering that unlike Naruto, Boruto has a family to live with. While he does have his mother, Hinata, and his younger sister, Himawari to keep him company he is mainly upset that Naruto doesn’t spend enough time with him. This is where most of the problems come from in the story. Because of this, throughout the movie Boruto becomes distant from everyone in the village and acts angry at everyone around him, much like his father at the beginning of the original. People may see this as a problem, but I didn’t mind it. It gives a new perspective on the kind of story that was told in the original and is basically what things would be like if Minato was still alive when Naruto was growing up. Especially to someone who was wondering what Naruto’s life would be like if that happened, it was nice to see this movie tackle that kind of plot. The main problems I have with the story are with who the hell the villain is (I think he’s related to Kaguya but since I haven’t seen a lot of Shippuden I don’t know who she is and what importance she has in the plot. That problem is basically on my end) and a somewhat major plot point that goes nowhere. Without spoiling anything, there’s this device introduced that Boruto uses during the Chunin Exams that gets him in trouble and humiliated in front of everyone. This was all fine except that the whole plot around these things go nowhere and after the final battle, everybody moves on like nothing happened and nobody’s mad at Boruto anymore. It may be because he helped saved the day in the end, but the whole plot surrounding the devices is just forgotten by the end. It’s not like that’s really a bad thing considering they didn’t serve a whole lot of purpose anyway. It still would have been nice if they put some conformation as to what happened with it. In terms of story, Boruto does a pretty good job.
Characters:
Much like how Boruto borrowed quite a bit in the story department from its predecessor, it borrows even more with its characters. But in the end, it’s not really a bad thing. Of course, the characters that you know and love from the original series are back and all grown up and a lot of their kids appear as main characters in this new installment. To start with, let’s talk about Boruto. He’s a lot like his father, hot-headed, angry and stubborn. But unlike his father, Boruto lives a more normal life than Naruto did when he was Boruto’s age. Boruto has a lot more to protect since he has a mother, sister, friends and teachers that all like him. What I like the most is that because his father is busy with being the Hokage, Boruto doesn’t want to be the Hokage, and instead wants to focus on being a strong Shinobi. The Hokage goal is left to his friend and fellow squad member: Sarada Uchiha, the daughter of Sasuke and Sakura. From the decent amount of screen time that she gets, Sarada seems to be a nice mix of Sasuke and Sakura’s personalities, mostly borrowing from Sakura’s side since she seems to have borrowed her mother’s tough personality and signature ‘CHA!!’. Apart from Sarada the only other new characters that we see are Mitsuki, who is Boruto and Sarada’s third team member. Unfortunately, we don’t see a lot of Mitsuki in this movie but he seems like a cool ninja. It’s especially cool when you find out who his parents are at the end of the movie which is hopefully set up for what’s to come in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. We also see other new ninja like Shikidai Nara (Shikamaru and Temari’s son), Chouchou Akimichi (I think she’s Chouji’s daughter but it doesn’t reveal anything), Inojin Yamanaka (Ino and Sai’s son I think) and some returning characters like Rock Lee, Tenten, Kakashi, Darui, Killer Bee and a grown-up Konohamaru who is Boruto, Sarada and Mitsuki’s sensei.
The worst part of the characters is the extremely bland villains. The two villains Momoshiki and Kinshiki Ootsutsuki are bland, boring and seem to only be there to have a plot to this movie. They’re both descendants of the Ootsutsuki clan and they do some bad-ass things but it is never explained why they are doing what they do and why they want unlimited power. It’s unfortunate since they could have made the movie slightly longer and gone into their motives without the movie feeling like a slog. It’s 90 minutes anyway so it’s not like it would have made much of a difference anyway. I only say this because Naruto was always good at giving backstories to minor villains in the series. Characters in the original like Haku, Zabuza, Zaku and Kimimaro could have been left to just be generic villains but where fleshed out during their fights and it made you sad when they all died. Even one of the earlier filler arcs in the original fleshed out it’s villain more, and that says a lot since the Land of Tea Race Arc isn’t that great. This problem could have easily been avoided, which is unfortunate since this is a good movie. Hopefully they’ll fix it if they bring them back in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
Sound:
What can I say, Yasuharu Takanashi returns to compose the music for this movie since he did the music for Shippuden and as usual he did a good job. They’re not the most memorable but they get the job done. I watched this movie in Dub and as usual, they did a fantastic job with this movie. All the same voice actors return to voice the characters they did in the original and the new actors brought in to voice the new characters do a fantastic job. Amanda Celine Miller does an amazing job as Boruto, especially considering she hasn’t done a whole lot in the past. It’s always nice to see newer actors getting big roles and getting recognized in the community. Cherami Leigh does a great job as Sarada, which isn’t surprising since she’s one of my favorite voice actors. The only other notable performance is Robbie Daymond as Mitsuki, who I’m looking forward to seeing more of, if not only for Robbie’s great performance. The Ending Song, Diver by KANA-BOON fits perfectly as the credits theme and almost made me tear up when the movie ended. Further proof that KANA-BOON is one of the better bands doing anime songs for new shows. In the Sound department, Boruto does an excellent job.
Animation:
Never has the world of Naruto looked this amazing. All the colors pop, the world looks vibrant and lively and the fight animation is breathtaking. Even though the only big fight scene is at the end, it is well worth the wait if you only care about watching awesome fight scenes. The whole scene is filled with insane amounts of sakuga and every attack has a nice impact to it that makes you feel every hit that the characters take. The animation is spectacular and is probably the best Naruto has looked. I say probably since I’ve only seen the first movie and the first couple of episodes in Shippuden. In the Animation department, Boruto does an amazing job.
Final Thoughts:
If you are a fan of Naruto and you haven’t seen this movie, you owe it to yourself and to this series to immediately watch it, even if you haven’t seen the whole series. Boruto is a must watch for all Naruto fans, but for anyone that isn’t you should at least try the series out and start the original series. Naruto proves time and time again that it never fails to entertain and tell a compelling narrative, and Boruto: Naruto the Movie is no exception.
Score: 8
Rating: Great
