I binged Boruto the past few days, and I am really enjoying it. I saw the anime a while ago and wasn't a fan of the filler-not-filler, but I could tell there was something substantive underneath it. I finally took the leap to read the manga after seeing that frame of Sasuke in a tree, and I'm hooked
But what makes me sad is how much hate the series gets. Is it different from Naruto? Yes. Did it have a weird release schedule with the anime-only content? Yes. Was the art rough? Yes. But holy cow, they've done such a good job at creating a story that is deeply tied to the roots of its predecessor while also creating a whole new story
A lot of hate is directed at the Ohtsutsuki specifically, but I was surprised at how well they worked. Before reading, I assumed based on Reddit comments that they were just stronger, planet-scale enemies that induced unmaintainable powercreep to the story. And while they are certainly powerful, they aren't so centralizing that they make other levels of power irrelevant. The whole body-switching thing they do adds a ton of nuance both by making the power scaling less linear (Isshiki's weak host) and adding long-term stakes even after they're gone (Boruto's karma).
A lot of people say that Boruto wouldn't work if it wasn't attached to Naruto, and I feel like that's obvious. Without Naruto, Boruto wouldn't be what it is. It relies on your understanding of past character dynamics and plot events from Boruto. But it serves to elevate them rather than retread old ground. For instance, Shikamaru as the 8th is great because we get to see his intelligence that was established in Naruto, but in a new and greater context with Boruto. Or how the recent chapters have Inojin using jutsu we haven't seen since Naruto's chuunin exams, but in a creative new way. And Boruto's whole journey is explicitly paralleled with Naruto's, giving us a better appreciation for both sides
While I was reading people's reactions to each chapter, I saw a lot of hate directed at 'OP enemies'. But with the explanation of shinjutsu, I think it's a really great addition. Of course the ninja world would have jutsu far beyond our understanding. This would necessarily require the strategizing and politicking that we see happening in Boruto as a natural consequence. This is literally what people wanted from Naruto, coordination of multiple characters and their ninja arts to take down an impossible foe, instead of the "friendship and gundams" that we got
As far as antagonists go, I feel like we've gotten a good range. We got the basic "evil and competent" Momoshiki who turns into Boruto's version of Kurama, we got the "initially threatening but kind of a loser" Code who drives the plot while failing upwards, and we got "understanding humanity even though they're our enemies" Jura. Jura is honestly one of my favorite antagonists from any series so far due to his curiosity and respect. I always loved Meruem from HxH for his curiosity and wanted more screen time for that, and I'm hopeful that Jura can be an extension of that
All that is to say that Boruto is fire and the random complaints don't really feel like it justifies putting down the entire series. Like yeah, there hasn't been a double-spread in TBV so far. But is that your metric for a good story? Boruto may lack a bit in visuals compared to other top manga, but it's telling a genuine and compelling story and I wish the main subs would recognize that at least a little
Anyway, happy to be along for the ride