I want to be clear from the start: I’m not saying Boruto is bad. It’s one of my favorite series, and I’ve enjoyed watching it. To clarify, I’ve watched 161 episodes, this post is only in regards to what I’ve seen so far, and I recognize that my opinion could easily change when I’ve completed the anime. But the more episodes I get through, the more I feel like the show reached what felt like its emotional and narrative climax too early with the Momoshiki fight.
Episode 65 did not feel like just another big fight. It felt like the payoff to everything the early series had been building toward. Boruto’s resentment toward Naruto was finally resolved. His insecurity after cheating in the Chūnin Exams was confronted. Naruto helped him create the Rasengan that defeated Momoshiki, making the moment feel like a true passing of the torch from the old generation to the new. On top of that, Boruto and Sarada’s dynamic seemed to take a meaningful step forward, and the strongest known Otsutsuki threat at the time was defeated. For me, that episode felt less like the beginning of Boruto’s journey and more like a version of the climax the series should have spent much longer building toward.
However, after this, it doesn’t feel as though the show escalates, it feels like the progress resets. Once Momoshiki is gone, the show no longer has an overarching direction. There is no clearly foreseeable character arc for Boruto that the story is actively following, nor any major threat that needs to be resolved. We get the Mitsuki Disappearance Arc, the Chocho Arc, the Metal Lee Anxiety Arc, the Namida Arc, and plenty of others, but they mostly feel like isolated stories. For many of them, it feels like they could be placed anywhere in the show and the story would be largely unchanged. They don’t affect one another, they don’t converge, nor do they add momentum to the main plot, which feels as though it’s already been resolved.
I believe that part of the issue is that characters feel as though they stagnate outside of their arcs. Character’s internal conflicts often feel as though they are introduced in a single episode, solely for the purpose of occupying characters, rather than to progress the plot. Boruto characters don’t seem to overcome progressive internal struggles throughout the show that shape their fully realized character. Rather, they generally develop a single time within a few episodes, from an issue which was oftentimes never previously established. The problem is, the show is hundreds of episodes long, so they spend most of their time as a static character.
For example, after resolving his problems with Naruto, it feels as though Boruto hasn’t meaningfully changed again. The same is true of Mitsuki after the Disappearance Arc. Sarada’s last main development was when Boruto said he wanted to support her as Hokage, and she blushed. I assumed from that point their relationship would begin showing growth as time went on. Yet, 100 episodes later, their relationship looks the exact same as it did before, and there hasn’t been a single sign that she ever even began to develop feelings for Boruto.
One of the best examples of character development that is handled properly is Zuko, from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Instead of happening during one isolated “Zuko Arc,” his growth was gradual, conflicted, constantly tested, and integral to the plot. From the beginning of the story, his anger and obsession with capturing Aang was rooted in a deep need for his father’s approval, built upon years of abuse culminating in his banishment. But the show slowly reveals that his idea of honor was built on abuse, shame, and manipulation. Every step in his arc forces him to question something he once believed in, whether it be the Fire Nation, his hatred of the Avatar, his relationship with Iroh, and eventually his own identity. Every step shapes the momentum of the other main characters in the show. When Zuko chooses to betray Iroh in Ba Sing Se, it puts his character in a position where he is forced to grapple with the meaning of right and wrong for the final time. When he discerns this for himself, it puts him in the position to guide the Avatar in the final steps of his training.
Although I feel the show lost momentum after the Momoshiki Arc, I’m not saying that I need every moment to be Momoshiki-level. In my eyes, it simply came too soon, and hijacked the feeling of gradual escalation. Smaller arcs are necessary. Worldbuilding is necessary. But there has to be a purpose to it. Boruto sometimes gives the impression that it’s writing development that should have happened before what is the climax for the majority of the show.
However, it’s just as important for me to express that I don’t by any means consider Boruto a bad show. I’ve watched every single episode up to this point, and I enjoy the attention the side characters that Boruto gives focus too. I do believe the story could have been executed differently, but this doesn’t mean that it isn’t one of my favorite series. Soon, I’ll be nearly 200 episodes into the show and waiting for the release of TBV. I just don’t want anyone to think I hate the show, as I just wanted to share my opinion on what I consider to be an overall great series.