Naruto Is Sabotaging Its Next Anime With One Disastrous Choice

Warning: Contains spoilers for Boruto: Two Blue Vortex chapter #34.The Naruto franchise’s return with a new Boruto anime is more of an inevitability than anything else, and it’s hard to be excited about it. On the one hand, if it follows the model of more modern anime that go for shorter seasons to maximize quality, then the new Boruto anime will likely be a visual marvel with great pacing and no tedious filler, but on the other hand, that won’t erase the constant narrative shortcomings of the Boruto manga, so it will still be hard to sit through no matter how good the anime looks.

Any excitement that might be had from a new Boruto anime is immediately killed by how disappointing the manga is, and that only gets worse when going into its sequel, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex. Despite some notable improvements in action and character writing, Two Blue Vortex still has many of the same problems that have plagued Boruto from day one, and after its last chapter, it’s hard to feel hyped for the anime’s return in any regard.

Boruto Wasted A Perfect Chance To Save Its Worst Story Arc

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex’s latest arc was about Mamushi of the Divine Trees invading the Leaf Village to kill Eida, and it was probably the worst arc in the manga to date. Not only did Mamushi’s lackluster power set make him an incredibly boring villain, but the arc ending with his death only made the Divine Trees look more pathetic, even by the usual standards of Boruto’s terrible villains, and it’s hard to find anything particularly enjoyable about it.

The only potential saving grace of the Mamushi arc was in how he was defeated; Mamushi was defeated when Inojin used the Mind Transfer Jutsu to possess Mamushi and have Daemon kill him by destroying his eyes, and since that damage would be transferred to Inojin, it seemed like Inojin would become blind as a consequence of Mamushi’s defeat. Unfortunately, that was immediately undone in Boruto: Two Blue Vortex chapter #34, when Himawari used her healing powers to fix Inojin’s eyes as if they had never been destroyed in the first place.

Naruto’s Next Anime Is Threatening To Kill The Original Series’ Most Controversial Character

With the very soul of one of Naruto’s most iconic characters caught in the balance, future arcs of its next anime will need to tread carefully.

Himawari saved Inojin from death when she first gained access to Kurama’s chakra, and even back in Naruto, Naruto made Kakashi regrow a fully functioning eye, so there is a precedent for this in the franchise. However, Naruto was in Six Paths Mode, and Inojin’s previous injury was just to set up Himawari’s new powers, so it’s not the same; above all else, with how much attention was given to how big a deal Inojin’s actions were, it’s disappointing to see it resolved so easily, and that anticlimax perfectly captures how utterly disappointing the Mamushi arc was.

Boruto’s New Chapter Highlights The Biggest Problems With Two Blue Vortex

Manga panel from Boruto Two Blue Vortex chapter 1 shows a colored double page spread of Boruto standing with his cape blowing in the wind and obstructing part of his face. A yellow background with blue specks behind him. He's glaring towards the viewer with his one blue eye. — Manga panel from Boruto Two Blue Vortex chapter 1 shows a colored double page spread of Boruto standing with his cape blowing in the wind and obstructing part of his face. A yellow background with blue specks behind him. He’s glaring towards the viewer with his one blue eye.

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex having zero consequences for Inojin’s sacrifice was a terrible decision, and above all else, it highlights the biggest problems with the manga. Despite the story trying to sell itself as Boruto taking a tense and serious turn, Boruto always gets out of danger with relative ease, Code and the Divine Trees are largely unthreatening outside of Jura, and even serious injuries are unlikely to stick. In short, the series never succeeds at selling its tense atmosphere because of how easily the heroes deal with everything, and the Mamushi arc is the biggest offender yet.

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex’s attempts at being a more serious story are utterly undermined by its penchant for anticlimax, and at this point in the story, that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. That style of writing only further emphasizes how far it’s strayed from what made Naruto work, and that doesn’t change, then there’s no reason to be optimistic about Boruto: Two Blue Vortex’s eventual anime.