Boruto Episode 100

Boruto Episode 100

The Predestined Path

It’s the 100th episode of Boruto, and so obviously this is going to be a momentous one. Or not, because we’re still in the middle of a filler arc about geese which teaches us about DNA. Go, science!

It’s arcs like these that really remind me that this series is a shounen series, meaning it’s for a younger, male demographic. When your battle anime is trying to teach you middle school level science, you know you’ve found yourself in a shounen filler arc.

But, what if this arc isn’t just trying to teach us how genes work? What if there’s some larger goal, lesson, or view about the world we’re supposed to take away from this arc? And, if there is such an overarching theme, what is it?

If you’ve been following my Boruto episode reviews for some time then you should be aware that Boruto has a specific agenda when it comes to the lessons each arc teaches. Typically these lessons end with Boruto learning that while technology is helpful, it shouldn’t be solely relied on.

So, what better way to tie this arc about genes into the overarching theme then by having Boruto learn some lesson about the artificial altering of DNA? This is where I’m expecting the current arc to head.

My assumption is that Boruto will learn that gene altering is a thing that exists, and then he’ll suggest using it to cure Jūgo of his curse mark, as well as make the domesticated goose able to fly. But, as he’ll learn, it’s not that simple, and there are a lot of ethical questions that need to be answered.

So, there you have it. That’s my prediction for the remainder of this arc. I can’t wait until this series really starts going off the rails as the writers go more and more down the anti-technology path. Maybe by the time we get to the sequel series Boruto will be an anti-vaxxer.

The Goose Is Loose

The series’ distrust of science aside, in this episode everything begins to go wrong for Boruto & co. First Boruto learns that you can’t fly just by believing in yourself, then all the infected geese they captured get released, and finally Jūgo’s medicine gets stolen and he’s captured by the Land of Rivers.

Skipping over that first problem, the release of the geese, stealing of Jūgo’s medicine, and the eventual capture of Jūgo are all related. Earlier on in this arc I made the obvious prediction that the Land of Rivers was involved with the spread of the curse mark through the wild goose population, and this is confirmed in this episode.

I also predicted that they were after Jūgo so that they could study his curse mark, just like Orochimaru originally did, and thereby perfect their own. Again, this seems to be confirmed, likely to the surprise of no one.

Boruto holding a domesticated goose from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Boruto holding a domesticated goose

However, what was surprising is that the village which requested the aid of the Hidden Leaf appears to be working with the scientists from the Land of Rivers. At this point we don’t know if they’ve been working together from the start, or if this is merely a new development.

What we do know is that this clearly isn’t a mutual relationship. The village seemingly has nothing to gain from working with the Land of Rivers, and the experiments conducted by the scientists are actually negatively impacting the lives of the villagers.

Why would the village trust them unless they either:

  1. Don’t know the Land of Rivers is behind the curse mark “infection.”
  2. Believe that this curse mark research is going to benefit them in the long-run somehow.

Curse Marks

So, what about the curse marks themselves? As we saw, the two Land of Rivers shinobi have devices around their necks which activate them, but why is this? Previously I assumed these were some sort of pseudo-curse mark creating gadgets, but they actually appear to be true curse marks.

And, if they really are true curse marks, then what’s the purpose of the neck devices used to activate them? Theoretically they should be able to activate their curse marks on demand without a device. Are these ninja actually homunculi who need the device in order to fully utilize their powers?

Also, I forgot how stupid full curse mark transformations looked until I saw the two Land of Rivers ninja activate theirs. I don’t like Jūgo’s transformation either, but I tend to think of his as his unique jutsu. For everyone else it just takes their character design, turns up the “edgy-ness,” and then continues to go too far.

Seriously, why did the girl suddenly turn into the animal form of Elias from The Ancient Magus’ Bride?

Complete curse mark transformations from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Complete curse mark transformations

But, going back to how these curse marks seem to be the real deal and not just cheap reproductions, the fact that they can be spread is important. Just as the curse mark developed by Orochimaru was spread via him biting his victims, this new curse mark is spread via biting too as we saw.

After easily defeating both Wasabi and Namida, the enemy shinobi proceed to infect them with their curse marks in this way. However, what’s different with this curse mark compared to Orochimaru’s is that everyone has the same curse mark pattern on their bodies.

With the curse mark developed by Orochimaru, every person infected with it has a unique pattern. So, is this a hint that this new curse mark is indeed an inferior reproduction in some way? Or, is this the artists just being lazy and not designing unique curse marks for each character?

Next Episode

I almost forgot to mention that this week’s episode also included some fairly nice animation. But, while this week’s episode was decent from an animation perspective, next week’s episode looks like it will be decent from a fan service perspective.

And, no, I don’t mean obligatory swimsuit episode kind of fan service, I mean the bringing old characters back kind. Suigetsu and Karin are making a return, this time to rescue Jūgo from his Land of Rivers captors.

We’ve seen these two in the Boruto series before, but they haven’t really done all that much. Every time we see them they’re basically just background characters, not even supporting characters. I’m hoping that this time around it will be different and we’ll actually get to see them in action.

Just thinking of how the two of them would absolutely destroy the two curse mark fakes is enough to give me hope for the next episode. Though, to be fair if there is a fight between the four of them, it may not even be in the next episode, but instead in the one after that.

Conclusion

Overall, this episode wasn’t as bad as I originally thought. Yes, I don’t care about the middle school level science they’re teaching us and I think the curse mark transformations are pretty dumb. But, there was also decent animation and the opportunity for me to theorize a good bit about the future of the arc.

So, what did you think of this episode? Let me know down in the comments. And, while you’re down there, click the like button ❤ if you enjoyed this week’s review. You should also give me a follow over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on my latest content both on this site and elsewhere.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

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