Years have passed sinceBorutoleft its audience on a massive cliffhanger, effectively canceling any continuation of its anime in early 2023. Although no official announcements were ever made, the release ofBlack Clover’s movie andBleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warindicated that the studio, Pierrot, may have placedNaruto’ssequel under hiatus to allocate resources to those other franchises. It was the best decision it could have made asBoruto’sanimation was beginning to suffer under intense production needs and scheduling.
Love it or hate it,Borutowas iconic for bringing a beloved anime back into the mainstream. Many fans were looking forward to how their favorite characters fromNarutowould grow up and what kind of adult lives they would lead all while the story featured their children following in their footsteps. The anime was extremely popular when it first debuted, achieving similar heights asNarutoyears prior. But as time went on, its flaws only became that much more apparent.
Boruto Was Quickly Running Out Of Material
There Wasn’t Enough For Another Season
The largest issue surroundingBoruto’sanime was that it was developing in tandem with the manga, releasing episodes a year after each chapter. Because of this, there were many times when the show would be ahead of its source material, resulting in the series focusing on filler episodes instead of the canon.It isn’t uncommon for an anime to air so soon after a chapter is completed, but shows likeFull Metal Alchemisthave suffered in the past due to quickly adapting the story before an original blueprint became serialized.
Borutois another case study of this phenomenon, with the series being unable to keep up with the demands animation creates under the time constraints of annual episodic releases. The anime’s cancelation couldn’t have come at a better time. It allowedBoruto’smanga to take a brief hiatusso that later in the year, writers Masashi Kishimoto and Mikio Ikemoto could play catch up and properly conclude Part 1 ofNaruto Next Generations.
“I Try Not to Duplicate Naruto”: Boruto’s Author Explains Why His Villains Are Different (And Why Some Fans Don’t Like Them)
Boruto’s villains are very different from those of Naruto, and the reason for this makes sense as explained by the creators of the series.
Today the manga is ahead again, with the Code and Prophecy arc yet to be animated.Boruto: Two Blue Vortexhas also been consistent in updating chapters, leaving more breathing room for the anime to return. By the time Pierrot is ready to pick up the series again, there will be plenty of source material for a proper flow of canon content.
Boruto’s Anime Is A Victim Of Terrible Pacing And Inflated Filler
The Anime Has Canon Moments Not Included In The Manga
When comparing the anime to the manga, there are a lot of unaccounted-for storylines that have givenBorutoa bad reputation for being mostly filler.Narutowas also infamous for having a high percentage of arcs that weren’t present in the original manga, but its successor is believed to have an astonishing 70% of filler episodes. When looking at the chapter-to-episode ratio,Borutohas only 80 chapters inNaruto Next Generationsin comparison to the 293 episodes of its anime, begging the question of where the source originated from.
The biggest difference between the two franchises is thatBorutodoesn’t take inspiration from just its manga.At the time when the anime was released, there had only been 10 chapters inNaruto Next Generations,which wasn’t nearly enough to supplement a full series. Instead, the story builds up to the point in the manga by following Boruto’s time at the Ninja Academy as represented in the light novels. This helped to give the new main characters their moments to shine while allowing the writers time to create the blueprintBorutowould eventually follow.
Most ofNaruto Next Generationscan feel like unnecessary padding. ButBoruto’sfiller is essentialbecause it serves as a lens for fans to observe the ninja world that has now drastically changed thanks to technological advances.Boruto’scanon stems from more than just its manga.The anime and light novels have helped to carve out the sequel’s own identityin a way that is more sci-fi fantasy than the traditional formNarutocharacterized.
What Boruto May Need Is A Change In Production
Seasonal vs. Annual Episodic Releases Could Help
Borutowas an annual anime, so episodes were released weekly all year round to ensure the popularity of the franchise never had a chance to die down. This can do wonders and harm to a show because,while the product may be delivered quickly, there are no guarantees that it will be good.Annual anime likeOne Piecedo well because the manga itself has always served as a blueprint to pave the way, though it isn’t an exception for resorting to using side stories to pad out times when the weekly releases would catch up.
In comparison,Borutohad to resort to filler more often because there simply wasn’t enough of the source material to pad out that extra runtime. The production itself was also beginning to suffer, with the anime’s quality taking a dip in later seasons due to the tight time constraints weekly releases fell under. For this reason, fans have suggested that Pierrot should switchBoruto’s format to a seasonal anime,since it would only serve to benefit the sequel.
As a Naruto Fan, I’ll Say It: Boruto Gets Way More Hate Than It Deserves
It is time for Naruto fans to admit that the Boruto series, despite its flaws, never deserved the amount of hate it received.
Although this would mean waiting longer for each update,shows that are released seasonally are known for better quality in animation and have an easier time pacing their storythrough fewer episodes.Boruto’smanga could continue to publish chapters at its own pace while the anime focuses on wrapping up the conclusion ofNaruto Next Generations. This would solve one of the biggest problems withBoruto. Seasonal releases don’t require as many filler episodes because production can focus solely on the story.
It would serve the narrative better for Pierrot to conclude Part 1 just before the skip so that fans can feel a similar sense of time passing before the anime expands toBoruto: Two Blue Vortex.
In a way, this would also tie in withBoruto’sfuture time skip. LikeShippuden,Boruto: Two Blue Vortexwill take place a few years after the events ofNaruto Next Generations. Pierrot still has yet to fully adapt the Code and Prophecy arc from the manga, so onceBorutoreturns, the season will continue where the anime left off. It would serve the narrative better for Pierrot to conclude Part 1 just before the skip so that fans can feel a similar sense of time passing before the anime expands toBoruto: Two Blue Vortex.
Pierrot canceling the anime was the right call.It allowed the manga to get ahead again, marking a clear direction for the story, and gave the studio time to experiment with the success of seasonal shows such asBleach: Thousand-Year Blood War. The anime couldn’t succeed with the amount of pressure that weekly releases placed on its fragile foundation, but under a new format,Borutocould come back strongerthan ever and finish the tale of his unique ninja journey.
