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Really sad to see this get axed. It's hard to deny we didn't see it coming, with how low it always ranked in popularity amongst WSJ readers. But people online who are blaming the MC for the series' failure are out of their mind. Maruo Kaido, the MC, was what made this manga for me. His whole shtick of wanting to be a manga protagonist was super funny and relatable, and made for some amazing moments. There's this scene where he's a child reading a manga, and then he looks up and envisions himself as the protagonist fighting against the villains, which is what we ... as readers are experiencing. And another where they break the 4th wall and you can see the author writing Maruo into the pages of the manga during his final fight. The whole premise of his character was really unique and made for some endearing and hilarious moments throughout the manga. I would have loved to see where they took his character next because he had lots of room for growth and development.

What actually caused this manga's downfall was the incredibly bland story. The first chapter really gets you hooked, but by chapter 2 they take a 180 and turn it into a very generic and lifeless yakuza story. There's this girl who's the daughter of a gang leader and wants to get revenge on them after they killed her father. So Maruo just.. randomly decides to help her for no reason. They go to this city that's run by yokai called Ayashimon and fight a bunch of random people. And that's the entire premise. It's incredibly dry and boring, and all of the side characters feel pointless. They really add nothing to the narrative at all. If perhaps the manga took a different route and made the surrounding cast and story interesting, then this manga wouldn't have been axed. Because the main character was amazing, and the art was excellent. But the rest of the story really flopped in my opinion.

If you want to give it a read, its really fun because Maruo is an awesome MC. But the rest of the story falls pretty flat.

Story: 4
Art: 8
Character: 6
Enjoyment: 8
Overall: 7

Ok so right off the bat: I know this manga gets a lot of hate, and for valid reasons. But the negative public perception is actually what convinced me to write a review, because no matter which way you look at it... this manga is underrated. Boruto gets a bad wrap for its anime counterpart, but the manga itself is filled with exciting action and various homages to its predecessor. As long as you start this series with an open mind I think you'll get some enjoyment out of it.

Story: 5/10
The story certainly isn't the strong point of this series. The plot moves very quickly ... and its mostly action with not much buildup. This makes every chapter exciting to read but at the expense of the overall story. There's not much substance here, and it almost reads like Dragon Ball in a way. The highlights are the hype it builds during fights and not so much the story development. If that's what you're looking for then great, but the story is nothing to write home about. I mean this is a battle shonen after all. It serves its purpose.

Art: 6/10
At the start I'd say Ikemoto's art was a 3/10... But over time he has made some great improvements and really done an excellent job at replicating Kishimoto's style while still adding his own touch to it. Sure there's nothing adventurous or unique about it, but after the first dozen chapters or so you can almost immediately notice a different in the quality of the art. It sticks to the classic Naruto formula. If you're used to reading Naruto then you'll most likely enjoy the panel artwork here. The mangaka does an especially good job with fight choreography which I appreciate.

Characters: 8/10
The characters are actually really enjoyable. Naruto and Sasuke's characterization as adults is depicted brilliantly, and Boruto is a fun twist on Naruto's character being less of a nucklehead and more serious and playful like his grandfather Minato. The best character by far is Kawaki, a boy who plays the rival role in this manga. His character development throughout the series is fantastic and fixed all of the issues I had with Sasuke in Naruto. The villains are also exciting and dark, with their own personalities and mysterious origins. Amado is my personal favorite thus far. However one gripe I do have with Boruto is that the side characters don't get to shine nearly as much as they did in Naruto. While I understand this is a byproduct of being a monthly manga that barely puts out 40 pages a chapter, it does feel like the cast is quite small and revolves around Boruto and Kawaki too much.

Enjoyment: 8/10
Boruto is an enjoyable manga. Yes, it can be frustrating watching your favorite characters from Naruto get cast into the background. And yes the rapid powerscaling and absurdity of some fights is a bit jarring when you remember that this is still the same Narutoverse we've always known. But if you want to read a fun and hype-oriented battle shonen then its a quick read and a fun one as well. The Vessel Arc (Chapters 24 to 55) has become one of my favorite in the entire Naruto franchise, and that's saying something. Overall, I'd say the Boruto manga is a 7/10. I also highly recommend watching the anime adaptation of the manga canon because Studio Perriot did a fantastic job.

Overall: 7/10