Jan 17, 2018
As continuation: 2
As fantasy genre, if you forget about Boruto being continuation: 4
As shonen genre: 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Current episodes are CANON! All episodes, manga, some of the fillers, 2 movies, books and novels are canon in ninja world becouse it was affirmed by author. Very minor spoilers in this review for Boruto, clearly stated start and end of one minor spoiler for Naruto.
And no, the scores will not change even if the series become let`s say 200 episodes long. Too much is destroyed already, and introducing action will close and remove the possibility of correcting poorly done peaceful background. Also it
...
will create uneven pace of story. And it will be so, as we can see from the scene at the beginning of anime.
I was one of the people who defended the idea of Naruto`s world evolving into „modern”, peaceful setting, because I `m aware that peaceful world has it`s own tragedies including, but not limited to mafia, gangs, poverty, psychological illnesses and disorders stemming from less then perfect conditions in which young people of modern world live. 15 years after war was a good place to show how older people cope with baggage from their childhoods and war. It was also a place to show problems of younger generation fighting for their own dreams, against new kinds of troubles, in conditions created by older generation. And aberrations of modern world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First part of review concerns this anime as continuation of Naruto, second as “fantasy/slice of life” which it is.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As continuation.
There is no logic behind construction of this world, especially looking at the origins. In any aspect. It is disney. Older generation is fully stable, without any disorders from past events, living in harmonious relationships, including people badly scarred and closed in emotional field. Yes, they also have families. All of them. And very happy ones. I mean this.
-----------------------------
Destroyed rules of fight (spoilers for Naruto):
There was great construction of power in Naruto, which meant that we were never sure if ninja rated 20 in terms of abilities (databooks) would kill ninja rated 10. Example? All genins of sasuke rescue mission were about 10, apart from Neji. Their enemies - 20. Genins were able to stop/kill stronger ninjas, despite power imbalance, by actually sacrificing their own lives. Weaker ninja fighting in far distance had a chance against close distance fighting stronger ninja. The elements were weak against one, and stronger against another. And so on.
End of spoilers for Naruto.
There is no such thing in Boruto. Overpowered pre-genins fight with older ninjas using elemental techniques incorporating various elements. Older, random ninja are able to wield legendary artifacts and lose to overpowered pre-genins. And this was most ambitious fight of the series so far. Tactics, planning your move do not exist (think about fights with akatsuki and long fights in Naruto, showing the characters of opponents). Also annoying disneyish rule that every time sth is supposed to harm you, you will be safed in last minute. In Naruto you were coughing up blood, and crawling on the ground before that happened. It removed any tension.
-----------------------------
Destroyed “getting better at your chosen field” theme.
We don`t see how they become so strong. They do not train.
-----------------------------
Destroyed world (swapped with bleak default background):
“Modern” mean homogenous according to creators. And it is not end, because if you read manga, you can sense foreboding of sci-fi elements. The surroundings are tame and predictable. The forced “threats” (when they exist) absolutely forced, out of blue and beneath overpowered pre-genins. They introduced science as another measure and way of life to choose, but so far, we only know, that the second measure is present, and we are closing on episodes constructing the world. So far it is not explained.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As fantasy genre, if you forget about Boruto being continuation:
World: we land in peaceful city without cars, set in green forest. Communication, public transport, television, telebims, computers and so on do exist. The world is not original, because it rides coattails of older series. However, there are no distinguishing features to this world compared to other anime series, only lack of thereof.
-----------------------------
So maybe the strength lies in story? Unfortunately not.
The children have something close to elemental magical power which they use as they see fit. They spend their time being at school, school trips and at home. They are not driven to achieve their aims/goals. They don`t have them. At one point they state their aims. And go back to their routine. There are no obstacles to fight against, and they live in perfect environment. Also the children are incredibly strong. We do not see their training. So far for “shonen” genre. We got also lack of purpose in their lives which is unusual even for slice of life. Not to mention modern real life. Adults are living their perfect lives - do not watch older series, if you don`t want to measure your capacity of incredolusness looking at scarred, emotionally closed characters being ideal parents.
-----------------------------
Characters
The characters are pre-genin, incredibly strong. The fights are short, and do not require tactics. There is no suspense behind fights becouse the spirit of fight is disneyish - no tactics, simply exchange of fire; there is no construction of power known from older series. We got two rules: main characters win without destroying their hair style, and every time when something is to harm them, their friends will intervene. Characters are the strongest part of the show. Authors learned from the Sakura mistake. So far they are not annoying, but we can`t say much about them becouse they weren`t tested out by any meaningful event. Too bad I`m one of the people who are impossible to get bribed this way. I value the story and the world the most. I don`t care much about quality of animation; I take notice of style. There is no great soundtrack as it was with Naruto. No memorable melody. Animation quality is ok, similar to Naruto`s nice style.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have too much time and hadn`t seen older series, you may try it. Don`t watch old series or Boruto will lose any taste for you. May you find any enjoyment. If you saw older series, stay the heck away. And remember in both cases, that manga is ... and is bound to get animated.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
