Boruto manga's biggest flaw is endlessly getting in its own way

Modified Nov 12, 2024 23:46 GMT

While the Boruto manga is quite good and has been on an even better run since the Two Blue Vortex manga began, there is something seriously wrong with it plot-wise. It has been observed several times in the manga as to how the characters end up getting in the way of the plot, making it more complicated than it has to be.

For instance, it has been very well established that Boruto and Kawaki are a threat due to their Karma. Nevertheless, the story was tailored in such a way that the characters never treated the route cause but tried to work around it. Such plot developments effectively left fans questioning the characters they have known and loved all these years.

Disclaimer: This article may contain spoilers from the Boruto manga and reflects the author's opinion.

Boruto's poor plot execution has the manga get in its own way endlessly

Shikamaru Nara as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

As mentioned above, the Boruto manga has a good plot. However, the way the manga has executed it is really poor. For starters, as fans may remember, Shikamaru Nara was a very calculated character in Naruto. This meant that if he knew there was a problem lurking, he wouldn't just stand there and let things go by but actually find a way to deal with the same.

This was not seen in the new manga, especially in the plot surrounding Karma. After the protagonist turned into Borushiki twice, Kawaki was highly concerned about the protagonist being a threat to the Hidden Leaf Village and its Hokage Naruto Uzumaki. However, Shikamaru is never shown considering Kawaki's concern. Momoshiki was clearly planning his return but Shikamaru took no action against it.

Borushiki as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Clearly, this was just a plot development to reinforce the idea that Kawaki was right. He did try to warn others about the dangers of the protagonist's karma, but with no one taking him seriously, he was forced to take action himself. In this case, he sealed away Naruto and Hinata and went after their son's life. While it makes sense for Kawaki to go this route, there were better ways to reach this point.

Many fans could argue that the reason Shikamaru let go of Boruto's karma being a threat was due to Naruto. Despite knowing that Kawaki was a potential threat to the Hidden Leaf Village, the Seventh Hokage wanted to look after him. At the time, Shikamaru tried to warn Naruto but to no avail. The difference here is that both Naruto and Shikamaru behaved the way they would have.

Kawaki as seen in the anime (Image via Studio Pierrot)

This was not the case for the plot surrounding Boruto's karma. Momoshiki Otsutsuki had taken over his host's body twice. At that point, the protagonist wasn't even an impending threat but was a threat personified.

Nevertheless, no character took charge and tried to deal with the Karma. As fans may remember, Eida's Omnipotence saw Kawaki and Boruto switch places. So, despite having Kawaki, who in his eyes should be Boruto, Shikamaru did nothing to keep his Karma in check for the three years he was the interim Hokage. Therefore, it seems pretty clear that the manga's biggest flaw is the way it only gets in the way of making things complicated rather than straightforward.