Boruto director: Anime community blames Boruto animator for Blue Lock season 2's abysmal animation

Anime community blames Boruto animator for Blue Lock season 2's abysmal animation

Modified Oct 23, 2024 14:30 GMT

Blue Lock season 2 has not begun the way many had hoped. Following the first season's success, expectations were high for the Third Selection and Blue Lock XI vs Japan U-20s. But they were not met as the animation was dubbed "disappointing" and "abysmal" by many.

Fans are now directing their unhappiness towards Boruto: Naruto Next Generations's animator Shintaro Inokawa. Viewers criticized him for the new season's inconsistent animation and lackluster visuals.

Inokawa's involvement in Boruto is being tagged as the reason for the decline in animation quality and an overall poor start to the new season. However, he was not very involved in this anime at all.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations's Shintaro Inokawa held accountable for Blue Lock season 2's poor animation

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Shintaro Inokawa was tasked with the role of Director for Blue Lock season 2, alongside Yuji Haibara as Chief Director. Now, given the animation witnessed in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, fans have begun pointing fingers at Inokawa.

They have started to vilify him and label him as the reason for the decline in animation quality for the second season of Blue Lock. However, there might be misinformation about his role in Boruto.

Shintaro Inokawa was not a director for Boruto but an animator on the animation team. His involvement in the series was quite scarce, directing only episodes 159 and 168 and contributing to the storyboard for episodes 149 and 159. Again, Yuji Haibara is the Chief Director, so fans' frustrations, in this case, are likely misplaced.

Fans voice their opinions on Blue Lock season 2

A still from Blue Lock season 2 (Image via Studio 8bit)

Blue Lock built a considerable fanbase through its manga and grew it further with the anime adaptation. It has been tipped as the next biggest sports anime, and fans are on the edge of their seats in anticipation. However, since season 2's animation issues, they have taken to social media to criticize Inokawa and his work.

Fans were quick to talk about the Boruto anime, saying it has begun running many series into the ground. They implied that individuals who worked on the series branched off to other anime, and their inclusion brought down animation quality.

However, it cannot be denied that unless leading the team, a single person can influence the overall animation, drawing, etc.

"Boruto anime running everything into the ground," a netizen wrote.

Further, fans exclaimed that this development highlighted why Blue Lock season 2 was off to a poor start. The Boruto animator is being blamed for causing a decline in animation quality and making the anime "a slideshow."

"they ruined the anime," one X user said.

However, a single animator cannot affect the entire anime, and even so, the Chief Director finally approves the work.

"So the director was one of the reasons for it doing so badly huh" - an X user commented.

Fans of Blue Lock were a bit surprised and shocked that the director of Boruto was the reason the show was doing badly. But this is where the facts have been misunderstood — Inokawa was simply an animator for Boruto, directing just two episodes (159 and 168) of the anime and contributing to the storyboard. He was not the anime's main director, so he had little to do with anything.

"They should face jail time for this or forced retirement….," a netizen opined.

Some fans were so upset that they suggested the directors/animators be locked behind bars for their work. This might be an exaggeration and probably stems from their deep love for Blue Lock. But even so, the misleading information seems to have misdirected fans' unhappiness.

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Edited by Shreya Das