Boruto Episode 162

Escaping the Tightening Net

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 162 wasn’t very good. But at least the next episode looks like it will be. There wasn’t any good conflict, plot development, or any other reason for me to care about this episode. It was just Boruto, Sarada, Konohamaru, and Mugino escaping from the town.

So, what do I mean when I say that there wasn’t any good conflict? Well, there are really two parts to it. First, there’s the kind of conflict you’re probably thinking of, which is fighting against antagonists. This doesn’t happen in this episode because the Leaf shinobi are focused more on escaping.

But I wasn’t really expecting there to be much fighting this week anyway. Instead, I figured we were going to get some character-based conflict between Boruto and Mugino. We know that those two don’t seem like the types to get along with each other, and Konohamaru even says as much.

Unfortunately, even after Boruto and Mugino being paired up and Konohamaru’s statement, nothing came of it. Boruto didn’t want to jump into sewage, but Mugino quickly took care of that and Boruto didn’t really complain afterward. And then when Boruto decides to steal the airship, Mugino doesn’t try to stop him.

There were almost moments of conflict, but they resolved before the conflict actually began between the two of them. It’s kind of awkward to watch. Normally an arc like this would end with Boruto and Mugino reaching an understanding with each other, but they basically already have from the start.

Where is there left for their relationship to go?

I can’t see Boruto acknowledging Mugino’s experience in the end, because he already does. And I can’t see Mugino acknowledging Boruto’s out-of-the-box thinking in the end, because he already does as well.

Airships and Perfume

There were two details that came up earlier on in this arc that I could tell would be playing a role later on: The airship and the perfume. However, so far, neither of them has played as large of a role as I had expected. And again, these are examples of how episode 162 was just an all-around disappointment.

Of course, just because an episode or arc doesn’t go the way I expected it to doesn’t make it bad. I love a good twist. But when it doesn’t go the way I expected it to and it ends up much more boring than I expected, that’s when I have a problem. The airship is a prime example of this at work.

From the very first time we saw the airship fly overhead, I knew it was going to be important. That’s just not something you see very often — or ever — in this series, so there has to be a reason for its inclusion. And once we learned that it was parked at the castle our protagonists were heading to, it’s importance was reinforced.

Yes, the airship was used as part of the Leaf shinobi’s escape from the town, but they only used it for a couple of minutes. They didn’t even make it out of the town before it was shot down. What was the point of including it at all? It didn’t actually end up mattering whatsoever. They could have simply run across rooftops faster.

And this brings me to the perfume that was used on Boruto by the quadruplets. The perfume has seemingly played its role by being the thing that was allowing the rogue shinobi in the Land of Silence to track the Leaf shinobi. But it could have played such a bigger role (and it still might).

Isn’t that perfume a major clue pointing to the identities of the quadruplets and where they’re from? It probably wouldn’t take much to track down its origin.

Captain Katara

Katara, the young boy who we first saw roaming the streets as a thief, played a slightly larger role than either the airship or perfume this episode. I mean, he’s not exceedingly important, but his inclusion tied together a few pieces of the plot and then he was able to provide Boruto and the gang with some useful info.

Basically, his importance was about what I expected from some random “filler” arc side character. But, I do get the feeling that Katara may show up again later on. I don’t think he’ll play any sort of significant role, and his role will probably be even smaller than it was this time around, but I don’t think that’s the last we’ve seen of him.

The main role Katara played, though, has nothing to do with his rescue of the Leaf shinobi or his information network. Instead, the main role Katara played was in bringing Mitsuki back into the fold. Katara’s younger sister is the girl who was being treated at the hospital using Mitsuki’s cells.

Once Mitsuki and the girl made full recoveries, the girl led Mitsuki into the Land of Silence to Katara. And since Katara owed Mitsuki a favor for helping to save his sister, he went out and found Boruto and the others at Mitsuki’s request.

I guess you could also say that Katara’s sister fulfilled the same role. She was basically there so that Mitsuki would have a reason (or way) to reunite with the other members of Team 7 after he recovered from his run-in with the Hashirama Cell.

Conclusion

What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 162? Do you think this was a good episode? Do you think the perfume is going to play a larger role later on in this arc? And do you think we’re going to see Katara and his sister again? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.