Then it came to an end and Kishimoto moved on to other things, and I wondered what I would do with my Thursdays and Fridays, not to mention all the hours I spent discussing the latest developments with online fans. Now Kishimoto is returning to write Boruto, the sequel to Naruto. Shueisha wanted the author to oversee the project several years ago.
But he rejected their offer. He pointed them in the direction of Mikio Ikemoto, his former assistant. Mikio spent so many years drawing the Naruto manga that you could not ask for a better successor for Kishimoto. The drawings you see in Boruto today are not exactly carbon copies of Kishimoto’s work but they are reminiscent of the original manga.
The anime adaptation was assigned to Ukyo Kodachi. Kishimoto, for his part, went on to write the science fiction manga Samurai 8, which went largely unnoticed. The obvious conclusion is that Kishimoto is only returning to the world of Naruto because Samurai 8 was a relative failure. However, Shueisha argues that
Kishimoto’s return was always planned; not only was he supervising the anime adaptation, but his work on the manga was supposed to commence once Samurai 8 ended, which it has. The truth does not really matter. Ultimately, this reeks of desperation.
Boruto: Naruto The Movie, which Kodachi wrote, was a massive success that brought Sasuke and Naruto’s story to a close whilst also deftly introducing the new cast. The Sarada-centered mini-series that Kishimoto published in the months that followed was also well-received. Some have argued that the Mitsuki one-shot was even better.
Kishimoto gave the Boruto franchise everything it needed to succeed. However, the decision to spend the first 12 months recreating Boruto: Naruto The Movie repelled a lot of longtime Naruto fans. The arc that followed introduced a technological aspect that attempted to re-energize the story.
However, the manga’s treatment of the old cast drove even more fans away. I don’t think anyone hates Boruto. Like me, many are indifferent. And once spoilers regarding Jiraiya’s resurrection reached me, I lost interest. I cannot imagine a dumber plot twist. Interestingly enough, of the two mediums, the anime always felt superior.
It went out of its way to tell interesting stories. As so many people have argued, the public would not hesitate to embrace the show if it were not a Naruto sequel. Comparisons with the original show have hurt the anime. I defended Boruto vehemently during the first 60 or so episodes, but I too lost interest. The show was never terrible.
But I cannot sit here and argue that Kishimoto’s return is a good thing. I neither read nor watch Boruto. For all I know, both mediums are probably telling the best stories the Naruto universe has ever seen; in which case, Kishimoto is coming in to disrupt a good thing.
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