Boruto Episode 194

Boruto Episode 194

Kawaki’s Goal

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 194 was surprisingly good. It mixed slice of life, some random action, and even important backstory/new information. Considering I thought it was basically going to be filler, I was pleasantly surprised.

One of the big things we learned through this episode is what Kawaki’s ultimate goal is. He wants to remove the Karma from his body. Simply being physically free from Jigen and Kara isn’t good enough if he still has what he considers to be a brand.

Keep in mind, as far as we know, there isn’t a physical downside to having Karma. It’s not as if the Karma is slowly eating away at Kawaki’s lifespan or anything — again, as far as we know. He just wants it removed because of what it symbolizes.

Boruto with his Karma activated from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Boruto with his Karma activated

As Boruto points out, it’s unclear if the removal of Karma is even possible. It probably is. But we can’t be certain of that. I do wonder if you could literally cut it out, though. If Boruto or Kawaki lost their hand that has the Karma mark on it, would they lose their Karma?

Physical removal is a bit extreme (though, you probably wouldn’t need to remove the whole hand). But at the same time, I could definitely see Kawaki going to such lengths. If it turns out that’s the only way to remove it, I think he’d do it.

What I’m confused about right now is how this will lead to Kawaki destroying the Leaf Village. It doesn’t make sense. So, my new prediction is that he’s actually being controlled by Jigen when he does that. I don’t see how Kawaki would go from wanting to remove his Karma to using it to destroy the village otherwise.

The Uzumaki Household

Continuing on with my confusion about what could cause Kawaki to go on the offensive against the Leaf Village, we’re getting to see another side of him with these slice of life scenes. Does Kawaki have some anger issues? Sure. But is he really a bad person? I don’t think so.

Despite what Boruto may think, Kawaki has been shown to feel remorse over breaking Himawari’s vase. He just doesn’t know how to express that or what he’s supposed to do to make up for it. But it’s not as if Kawaki doesn’t feel sorry for what he did.

And, I think in the end we’re going to see Kawaki repair the vase he broke. If you paid attention to the new ED, you may have noticed that there’s a shot of Himawari’s vase at the end. I have a feeling this is foreshadowing Kawaki repairing her vase.

Kawaki relaxing by the river from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Kawaki relaxing by the river

One of the most important things I’ve noticed about Kawaki is that he isn’t really interested in revenge, or even in fighting people in general. He just wants to be left alone so that he can live in peace. So far, this has been illustrated in two ways.

First, we’ve seen that Kawaki doesn’t want to get revenge on Jigen. He doesn’t want to take down Kara or otherwise get revenge for what happened to him. Kawaki just wants to get as far away from Jigen as possible.

Second, we see that while he’s living in the Uzumaki household, he doesn’t actually go out of his way to cause trouble. He gets into arguments with Boruto, but Boruto is usually the one to start things. If it was up to Kawaki, he would run away from conflict, but he can’t right now because he’s under surveillance.

Jigen’s Karma

Jigen’s Karma is probably the single most interesting thing about this episode. The fact that he has Karma isn’t a surprise — we’ve known that ever since the airship carrying Kawaki went down. But, this is the first time we’ve seen it.

So, why is Jigen’s Karma more interesting than Boruto’s or Kawaki’s? For starters, he has full-body Karma. Boruto’s and Kawaki’s Karma only extends from one of their hands up to one side of their face. Jigen’s Karma seems to begin in his navel and extends across his whole body.

This placement of his Karma makes sense when you consider that’s where chakra is supposedly stored within the body. And, this brings me to my main theory regarding Jigen: His Karma isn’t borrowed power like Boruto’s or Kawaki’s.

Jigen with his Karma activated from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Jigen with his Karma activated

Consider how Boruto and Kawaki both acquired their Karma. Boruto received it from Momoshiki and Kawaki received it from Jigen. So not only does Jigen’s Karma look different from Boruto’s and Kawaki’s, but he’s able to transfer it to someone else just like Momoshiki.

Going further, why is Kawaki referred to as a vessel? Previously, I assumed it was because Jigen was trying to make an artificial Ōtsutsuki clan member. But, now I’m thinking that Kawaki is supposed to be Jigen’s vessel.

If Jigen has his own Karma that he didn’t receive from someone else, could that mean he’s closely related to them? He may not be an official Ōtsutsuki, but he may be a descendant of one of the branch families. And, perhaps he wants to create a vessel that has Karma for himself so that he can be immortal in some way.

As I hinted at earlier, this could also explain why Kawaki would attack the Leaf Village. He may be controlled by Jigen via their Karma connection.

Conclusion

What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 194? Was this episode better or worse than you expected it to be? Why do you think Kawaki attacks the Leaf Village? And where do you think Jigen’s Karma comes from? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 195 is available.

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