Boruto Vol. #02 Manga Review (original) (raw)

Becoming a true shinobi.

Creative Staff
Creator/Supervisor: Masashi Kishimoto
Script: Ukyo Kodachi
Art: Mikio Ikemoto
Translation/Adaptation: Mari Morimoto

What They Say
Boruto gets through round two of the Chunin Exam and receives praise from his father. But what Naruto doesn’t know is that his son is cheating by using prohibited ninja tools. What will happen to Boruto when the truth is revealed? Meanwhile, darker forces are advancing behind the scenes…

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Naruto is happy his son has passed the second round of the Chunin Exam, but struggles to tell his son how he really feels. The message gets across and makes Boruto secretly happy and also conflicted that he is cheating. In the third round, Naruto is first with a one-on-one battled with the Cloud’s Yurui. With the pressure of his family, friends, but most importantly his father watching in the stands, Boruto resorts to cheating to win. He does this again in his second battle with Shikadai, but his dad catches on and calls him out in front of everyone.

Naruto and Boruto’s fragile father and son relationship is exposed for all to see. However, Katasuke, the ninja tool’s creator, takes this chance to exhibit his creations for all to see publically. His announcement is short lived as an enemy drops from the sky into the middle of the tournament. The entire stadium starts to collapse and all the ninjas struggle to keep people safe. Sasuke enters the fray and saves his daughter from a part of the collapsing building.

Naruto, Sasuke and their children are the only ones left with the two intruders. Sasuke informs that the two are after chakra fruit, which is inside Naruto. They want to make the chakra fruit into pills that increase power and lifespan. Boruto is surprised to see that his dad is so powerful and also begins to realize what the enemy is doing isn’t much different from using ninja tools.

It takes waking and utilizing Karuma’s powers to fight the intruders. The fight is overwhelming and the next thing Boruto knows he wakes up in a hospital with the news his mom, Hinata, tried to stop the enemy from taking Naruto away. She’s injured but will recover. Boruto runs out of the hospital with oodles of things going through his mind, but mostly how much he misjudged his dad. He ends up in his dad’s office and puts on his dad’s old jacket. Sasuke walks and tells him that if he wants to learn more about his dad, he should ask him when they rescue Naruto.

The pep talk is short lived when all the kages enter the room. They are all ready to help get Naruto back. They all arrive with the aid of Sasuke’s transportation ability and free Naruto immediately, but the battle just begins.

In Summary
Interestingly enough in the notes in the beginning of the manga it said Naruto was weekly manga, while Boruto is special and is actually featured monthly. That may not mean anything to anyone, but I thought that nugget of information was intriguing. To me it meant the approach to this series was purposely done differently and with that perhaps a subtle change in the purpose and storytelling. I have not read all of the Naruto manga, so I cannot make a direct comparison. But, I have to say that so far Boruto is directly trying to connect with a modern younger audience. The struggles between parents, the allure of technology and the temptation to take shortcuts are both long-standing, yet uniquely issues of young people deal with today. Naruto didn’t have that. It had the general life lessons of not giving up, yet being kind to others message.

I also want to let people know that, the manga so far, follows the movie more that it does the anime series. That’s good, because it keeps both the manga and anime series interesting to watch and not just a rehash of something already read. While this manga to many others may be just more of the same, the continuation of Naruto (or many say Boruto’s Dad) or just a ploy to exploit fans for money, I think there can be something very valuable to both old and new fans alike. I honestly like Boruto, and maybe that’s because I’m a parent and can value this story, but whatever it is, I think it’s worth your time to sit back, relax and enjoy a good read.

Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B-
Text/Translation Grade: A

Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Shonen Jump (Viz Media)
Release Date: September 5, 2017
MSRP: $9.99