Featured Review: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Vol. 1

 Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Vol. 1

Writer: Ukyō Kodachi

Artist: Mikio Ikemoto

 

We’re changing it up this week. I only bought two comics this week and it doesn't make sense to split them into two separate posts. Because of that, I'm taking a look at a different kind of comic: Volume 1 of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. While it was not my first anime (That’s Pokémon) or the first one I fell in love with (Gundam Wing), Naruto was the series that acted as my gateway into the anime—and eventually manga—industry as a whole. It holds a very special place in my heart both for that reason and because it is a (mostly) well-crafted story with memorable moments and characters. As I’ve been in the mood for shounen battle manga lately, it seemed like a good opportunity to try out Boruto.

Full Spoilers for the issue. You’ve been warned.

The first thing to know about this series is that, based solely on this volume, it is less a new series set in the world of Naruto and more a direct continuation. The villains here are directly related to the final antagonist of Naruto and her name is mentioned several times. The dynamics and dialogue between the older characters play out as though readers should know the history behind them. None of this prevents the story from being comprehensible but new readers may be slightly confused by some smaller aspects of the story.

As for the volume itself, it contains the first three chapters of the series and Naruto: The Path Lit By The Full Moon, a one chapter story that tells the origins of Mitsuki, a small character in these chapters but one poised to take a much larger role in the future. There is not much in the way of story progression here, but the volume excels at establishing the setting and characters.

Naruto’s setting was always one of the more interesting in the genre. It had modern lightbulbs and construction techniques but no guns or phones. This seeming contradiction gave that series a distinct world to look at. By the time Boruto begins, there is something of technological revolution afoot. Trains have arrived and Boruto’s mentor Konohamaru is seen testing a device that stores ninjutsu to be used at a later time. This allows any ninja to use any technique as long as they have the appropriate ammunition, something Boruto takes advantage of to cheat an exam. Ninja now use earpieces to communicate during missions and they even have email! Technology has advanced quite a bit the intervening 15 or 20 years.

The focus here is on the relationship between Boruto and his father, something well established in the first seven pages. Naruto is so busy leading the village that he has little time for his family, to the point he sends his temporary clones to spend time with them in his stead. Because of this, Boruto resents him, especially where it concerns his sister, Himawari. She and their mother Hinata seem to be all that Boruto openly cares about. He does everything he can to take care of them. Of course, he also cares about gaining his father’s approval but would never admit that. He does, at one point, insinuate that his ultimate goal is to kill Naruto, although that seems more like some moody pre-teen posturing than an actual goal. And moody pre-teen is truly the best way to describe Boruto at this stage, although the opening flashforward indicates he will become a powerful ninja dedicated to protecting the legacy of his predecessors.

Another new character that gets a great deal of screen time is Sarada, daughter of Naruto’s former teammates Sakura and Sasuke. She presents an interesting foil to Boruto as she is much more like Naruto than he is in many ways while Boruto is more like Sasuke. Not only does Sarada dream of becoming Hokage like Naruto, but she is almost entirely consumed with achieving that goal. Well, that and teasing her mother about how excited she gets when Sasuke—who is often gone at the behest of the Hokage—is around. It’s a very cute dynamic that, again, stands in contrast to Boruto and Naruto’s. Sarada is also the top of her class and shown to be very smart. Hopefully she gets more opportunities to show that in the future but for now her one showcase serves to set the character on the right path.

The final new character of note is Mitsuki, the third member of Boruto and Sarada’s team and the star of the final chapter in this volume. His personality is… lacking thus far. That is most likely because he is treated as mystery here and, presumably, will be expanded upon after his history is revealed. About midway through this volume, there is a tease about Mitsuki’s parents as no one knows where he comes from or who his parents are. That is paid off much faster than I expected. It’s at this point new readers are likely to be confused as Orochimaru was a major antagonist in Naruto and the fact he’s making clone sons is a huge deal. Here, he’s portrayed as using suspect methods to work towards the greater good, something I have doubt about.

Overall, this is an excellent start with much promise. That’s not a surprise given Mikio Ikemoto was an art assistant on Naruto for years and Ukyō Kodachi co-wrote Boruto: Naruto The Movie. They know this world and these characters. They seem to have their story at least somewhat planned out in a way that Naruto’s obviously never was and makes me hopeful about the future of the series. I look forward to continuing this manga and recommend it to anyone interested.

As always, feel free to give your thoughts in these comments or on Twitter at @alexraysnyder. And if you like what you read here, consider throwing a couple bucks my way on Patreon to help cover costs.