Sasuke Retsuden anime refuses to redeem Sasuke as a father 

Many fans of the manga have been let down by the Sasuke Retsuden arc in the Boruto anime. The anime not only had pacing issues, but it also had some pretty unpleasant plot changes. One of them concerns Sasuke and Sarada's relationship.

While Sasuke showed many fine qualities, such as being a great friend to Naruto, a loving and attentive husband to Sakura, and generally being kind to Meno and Jiji, it appeared that the anime purposefully opted not to present him as the loving father that he is in the source material.

It is not like the creators wanted to show that Sasuke was completely emotionless as the anime depicted the Sasusaku moments quite beautifully. Thus, it seems unusual that they would choose to leave out all of the dialogue concerning Sarada, especially given how important she is to the series, and may end up becoming the Hokage.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers.

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Sasuke remains a detached father in the Boruto adaptation of Sasuke Retsuden

Is Sasuke a bad father?

Sasuke and Sarada's weird interaction in Boruto (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Naruto and its sequel Boruto have a plethora of bad, negligent, or simply absent fathers. Unfortunately, although in keeping with the series' established pattern, Naruto and Sasuke have both turned out to be terrible fathers, shirking their parental responsibilities in order to devote their time to the village.

For the longest period, Sarada had no idea how her father was, and was visibly bothered by his absence. She even fantasized about what it would have been like to have Naruto as a father.

When Sasuke and Sarada finally met after such a long time apart, Sasuke could not recognize his daughter and attacked her. Fans also noticed how awkward it got when he tried to connect with her. While not as horrible as someone like Kokatsu, who sold his son Kawaki to Jigen, the bar is on the floor.

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Why Sasuke’s words about Sarada should have been included?

The lake scene from Boruto's Sasuke Retsuden arc (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Both the Sasuke Retsuden light novel and manga do an excellent job of dispelling the myth that Sasuke is detached and cold to his family. However, this is where the anime falls short. But fans are treated to heartfelt exchanges between Sasuke and Sakura.

Sasuke presents Sakura with a ruby ring to give her some mental peace during his prolonged absences, and later expresses how much he misses his family. What is omitted are the conversations about Sarada.

When Sasuke first meets Sakura in the Sasuke Retsuden manga, for example, he becomes anxious about Sarada's whereabouts and well-being. Unfortunately, this is not present in anime.

Then there is the scene in front of the lake, which is just breathtaking in the anime.

But the creators chose not to include Sasuke's wish that his daughter, who is very interested in the cosmos, could also enjoy the sight. Thus, the Sasuke Retsuden arc came to an end without doing much to improve Sasuke's reputation as a father.

Nonetheless, it must be acknowledged that the anime in general has attempted to rehabilitate Sasuke with some heartwarming father-daughter moments. When he is around Sarada, Sasuke is protective of her and sincerely tries to be a good parent.

But the harsh truth is that nothing can make up for the lost years.