Tag: Ranking

Ranking the Monogatari Girls

Ranking the Monogatari Girls

The Monogatari series currently has 15 parts (all listed and linked to in that original post). And across those 15 parts are 11 “Monogatari girls” who I’ll be ranking in this article. It’s time to determine who’s the best Monogatari girl and who’s the worst.

For those of you who aren’t aware of how my favorite anime is set up, let me enlighten you. Each arc of the series typically focuses on a single female character who is being helped in some way by our protagonist, Koyomi Araragi (although this isn’t always the case).

However, despite each arc focusing on a particular girl, that doesn’t mean the titular girl is the only girl featured in the arc, and she may also not even have the most screen time.

If you’ve been around the anime community for an extended period of time, you’ve probably come across at least one of these girls in some form. Perhaps it was Hitagi or Shinobu duking it out in a “best girl” competition, or Nadeko featured in some meme remix of “Renai Circulation”, or Karen having her teeth brushed.

What I’m getting at is, the Monogatari girls have been spread far and wide throughout the community, so it’s about time I made a definitive ranking to decide who’s the best and who’s the worst among them. If any part of this list makes you mad, let me know in the comments below.

1. Mayoi Hachikuji

It should come as no surprise that Mayoi Hachikuji is my #1 Monogatari girl, as I’ve talked about her extensively in other posts and used an image of her as my profile picture both on this site and on my various social media for years. But although I’ve discussed her thoroughly in the past, just what makes her the “best girl?”

Before I can answer that question, let me give you a bit of background information about her character. Mayoi is the titular girl for three different arcs in the series so far: Mayoi Snail (Bakemonogatari), Mayoi Jiangshi (Kabukimonogatari), and Mayoi Hell (Owarimonogatari II). She’s also one of the major recurring characters in the series.

Mayoi is one of a number of the girls on this list who are considered apparitions, meaning they don’t really exist if you want to get technical. When she was around 11 years old, Mayoi was struck and killed by a truck while on her way to her mother’s house and has been wandering the streets as a ghost ever since.

However, despite physically being 11, if she never had died she would currently be around 22 years old. This is an important detail to remember when looking at how she behaves. Sometimes she acts like your average 11-year-old girl, but other times she acts more like an adult.

These two competing sides of her character are what makes her my favorite of the Monogatari girls, along with her character design (especially that giant backpack).

Mayoi Hachikuji from the Monogatari anime series
Mayoi Hachikuji

On one hand, Mayoi, like many child characters in anime, is used for comic relief. There’s the usual slapstick comedy that we would expect from her due to her physical appearance, but at the same time, we also get more nuanced comedy from her, often through the use of wordplay.

On the other hand, she’s a dependable “older sister” type character for Koyomi, despite being physically younger than him. Mayoi has been around for longer and so has learned a thing or two about the world during her travels, which she teaches to Koyomi in his times of need.

It may seem odd for me to say this, but although she’s an apparition, she’s one of the most constant parts of Koyomi’s life. He knows that if he’s ever in need of someone to talk things through with, Mayoi is always somewhere close by (although not as close as Shinobu).

If you’re interested in reading more about the relationship between Mayoi and Koyomi, I broke down the Courage to Tell a Lie scene between these two characters, and I’ve written about her in some of my other posts about the Monogatari series parts.

2. Suruga Kanbaru

Suruga Kanbaru is the titular girl of both the Suruga Monkey (Bakemonogatari) and Suruga Devil (Hanamonogatari) arcs. She’s also the protagonist of Hanamonogatari instead of Koyomi, something I found to be fairly interesting considering how similar she is to him.

I’d like to say that Kanbaru is a fairly complex character, but in reality, she’s a pretty simple character who just has a lot going on. She likes books (mostly of the BL variety), she’s into sports (track and basketball), she’s a pervert (self-proclaimed), and she’s in love with Hitagi (and maybe Koyomi?).

What makes her simple, however, is also what makes her one of my favorite characters of the entire series. Suruga wears her emotions on her sleeve (or her arm bandages, whichever). When she’s excited about something, we can physically see it due to her extremely energetic nature.

Suruga Kanbaru from the Monogatari anime series
Suruga Kanbaru

She basically has two modes: Lying on a pile of books in her room — too lazy to get up, and bouncing off the walls like a kid in a candy shop. This is what I mean when I say that she’s a simple character, and yet she’s just so likable that it doesn’t matter.

While not an apparition herself, Suruga is afflicted by an apparition known as the Rainy Devil in one of her arms. This apparition causes her wishes to come true, but by physically hurting anyone who stands in the way of those wishes.

While I don’t like her character design as much as some of the other girls on this list, her personality more than makes up for it. Although, I do have to say I like the arm bandages. It gives her appearance a bit of mystery without going overboard like Ougi.

3. Shinobu Oshino

Shinobu Oshino, known as Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade in her full-power form, is an apparition you may have heard of before called a Vampire. She’s the titular girl of the arcs Shinobu Time (Onimonogatari) and Shinobu Mail (Owarimonogatari I).

As a shell of her former Vampire self, Shinobu is chained to Koyomi’s shadow and is therefore technically always by his side (except for in one of the arcs, sort of). Because of this, and her developing relationship with Koyomi across the series, these two are my favorite anime pairing.

While at the beginning of the series she and Koyomi weren’t speaking to each other (the backstory of which is explained in Kizumonogatari), they eventually become inseparable partners who have decided to either live or die together (although they’ll still never forgive each other).

Shinobu Oshino from the Monogatari anime series
Shinobu Oshino

I mentioned previously that Mayoi is the main constant in Koyomi’s life, but the same could be argued for Shinobu considering how their fates are linked (as are their physical bodies). That said, since the relationship between Shinobu and Koyomi can be all over the place, it’s not a stable relationship.

Some fun facts about Shinobu are that her favorite food is doughnuts, her family name was given to her by Meme Oshino, an apparition expert, and she’s both the youngest and oldest of the current Monogatari girls. But how can that last fact be?

Shinobu is technically 400 years old, making her the oldest of the girls, however, for most of the series, she’s in her 8-year-old form because apparently her physical age is tied to how much of her full power she has. As she puts it, it takes less energy to maintain a smaller body.

4. Hitagi Senjougahara

While Shinobu is generally seen as a close second, Hitagi Senjougahara is usually considered to be the “best girl” of the Monogatari series (although, as you’ve seen, she isn’t). Her arcs are Hitagi Crab (Bakemonogatari), Hitagi End (Koimonogatari), and Hitagi Rendezvous (Owarimonogatari II).

While I’ve come to appreciate Hitagi for the character she is, I don’t believe she deserves all the love she gets. Sure she’s a tsundere (and yandere at times), but for the most part, she’s just a complimentary character to Koyomi rather than a character I care about on her own.

I won’t say watching her romantic relationship with Koyomi isn’t enjoyable, but I do think that’s the main draw of her character. The scenes with her that don’t involve Koyomi simply don’t hold up, (other than certain scenes with Hanekawa, but that’s for a different reason).

Hitagi Senjougahara from the Monogatari anime series
Hitagi Senjougahara

When we meet Hitagi in the first episode of Bakemonogatari, she weighs only a small fraction of the amount a girl of her size should due to the apparition known as a Weight Crab. The weight crab takes the weight off the shoulders of those it inflicts, both metaphorically and literally.

Later on in the series, we learn more about her backstory and relationship with the apparition expert/con man Kaiki Deishu. While I do think these parts are a bit more interesting, it’s mainly because of Kaiki, not because of Hitagi. I was going to add Kaiki at the end of this list as a bonus Monogatari girl, but I think this post is going to be long enough as is.

Unless there are more arcs focusing on Hitagi in the future of this series, it’s unlikely I’ll ever appreciate her as much as most fans seem to. That said, I think it’s unlikely considering her arcs wrapped up nicely in Hitagi Rendezvous.

5. Nadeko Sengoku

Nadeko has the unfortunate title of “worst girl” for many fans of the Monogatari series, and as I’ve done before, I’m going to explain why this simply isn’t true. First off, I think part of the issue is that she’s underage, but then again, so are half of these girls, so why is it just Nadeko who’s hated?

What it really all comes down to is the fact that people seem to simply not understand her character at the most basic level. She’s a middle school girl who’s in love with her best friend’s older brother (I say best friend because I doubt Nadeko has any other friends besides Tsukihi).

Is she crazy? Yes. Is she your typical middle school girl who just wants to be noticed by the person she loves? Yes. Does that mean she’s a bad character? No. She’s supposed to be that way because she’s an accurate portrayal of a middle schooler who found their first crush.

Nadeko Sengoku from the Monogatari anime series
Nadeko Sengoku

I’ve written more about this concept in my post on Boring Anime Girls, so I won’t go into too much detail here, but the fact that she’s such a realistic portrayal of a middle school girl going through her first crush is what makes her a good character. She’s crazy because they are crazy.

Now, if you think the fact that she’s a middle schooler who has a crush on someone is exactly the reason why she’s a bad character, I have one simple counterargument for you. If that makes Nadeko a bad character, then why doesn’t that make Hinata a bad character in Naruto? Checkmate, Hinata-lovers.

I didn’t mention it earlier, but Nadeko is the titular girl for the Nadeko Snake (Bakemonogatari) and Nadeko Medusa (Otorimonogatari) arcs. In the Nadeko Medusa arc, we see her spiral down further as she becomes the one true yandere of the series, something I enjoyed seeing.

6. Tsukihi Araragi

We’re going to speed up a bit for these next six girls because they’re simply not as interesting to me, and also I don’t want this post to be too long. So to start off the lightning round, we have Tsukihi Araragi, the titular girl of the Tsukihi Phoenix arc from Nisemonogatari.

Tsukihi is the “littler little sister” of protagonist Koyomi Araragi and one of the “Fire Sisters” along with Karen. While she doesn’t have the same desire for justice that her sister has, she enjoys going around with her and playing the part of defender of justice.

Tsukihi Araragi from the Monogatari anime series
Tsukihi Araragi

Compared to her sister, Tsukihi is much more feminine and tends to wear yukata when around the house. That said, she’s also the more aggressive of the two sisters and has no issue resorting to physical violence when necessary (or not necessary).

Tsukihi is also an apparition that we know as a phoenix. Despite being an immortal apparition, however, she and the rest of her family (except Koyomi) have no knowledge of this. Koyomi has also decided that it doesn’t matter if she’s an apparition, she’s still his sister.

7. Yotsugi Ononoki

Yotsugi Ononoki is nowhere near my favorite character in the Monogatari series, but she does have my favorite character design. She’s the titular girl for the Yotsugi Doll arc from Tsukimonogatari (which could have been a good name for the part about Tsukihi as well).

As you may be able to tell from the name of her arc, Yotsugi is a living doll made from a corpse (you probably couldn’t tell all that just from the title). Both her outfit and personality reflect the fact that she’s a doll as well, unlike the other apparition characters.

Yotsugi Ononoki from the Monogatari anime series
Yotsugi Ononoki

As for her speech, she tends to speak in a monotone voice much like a robot and yet has little quirks which appear to be her attempt at sounding more human. One of these is her affinity for the phrase “Peace, peace!” after her sentences, and another is how she calls everyone else older brother or older sister.

As a doll, Yotsugi doesn’t show any physical signs or emotion, or any facial expressions for that matter, and so to make up for this she adds her expressions into her speech. It also appears that she actually looks doll-like considering Tsukihi thinks she’s just a large doll and drags her around.

8. Karen Araragi

Karen Araragi is the older sister of Tsukihi and the “bigger little sister” of Koyomi. She’s also the titular girl of the Karen Bee arc from Nisemonogatari. Unfortunately for her, she’s known to many people who haven’t seen the Monogatari series solely due to a single scene of her getting her teeth brushed.

And, unfortunately for the series as a whole, the first introduction many people have to this series is that exact scene, thus turning them off from it before they even give it a chance. But, Karen is more than just a girl who gets her teeth brushed.

Karen Araragi from the Monogatari anime series
Karen Araragi

She’s the other half of the Fire Sisters along with Tsukihi and has a strong sense of justice. She’s also similar to Suruga in that she’s the sporty type, although her sport of choice is martial arts, not track or basketball. It could have easily been Karen who took up Koyomi’s mantel after he graduated, but I’m glad it was Suruga instead.

The apparition Karen was afflicted with was a bee (I forget the actual name of it) which is essentially a fake apparition that becomes real simply because someone believes in it. Now, that’s kind of how all apparitions work, but this one takes that to the extreme in that it’s based solely on someone’s belief in it.

9. Tsubasa Hanekawa

I’ve never tried to hide my dislike for Tsubasa Hanekawa, but in this section, I’ll try to put my feelings about her into words. She’s the titular girl for three arcs: Tsubasa Cat (Bakemonogatari), Tsubasa Family (Nekomonogatari Black), and Tsubasa Tiger (Nekomonogatari White).

Tsubasa’s main attraction is that she’s more physically developed than any of the other girls in the series (except for Shinobu in her adult form), but I see this as a curse, not a blessing. When the main attraction of a character is their physical appearance, that’s how you know you’ve got a boring character.

Tsubasa Hanekawa from the Monogatari anime series
Tsubasa Hanekawa

Tsubasa’s whole gimmick is that she’s too nice for her own good and that she’ll help anyone in need to a fault. And she’s smart. That’s it, that’s her entire character. Koyomi is the same way, but at least he has actual reasons for his actions and is a better-developed character all around.

Along with her bland character comes a bland backstory and apparitions. The apparitions that affect her all have to do with how she’s an outcast in her own family, and we get three arcs of this. I could have done with just one arc about Tsubasa’s sob story, not three.

10. Sodachi Oikura

Sodachi Oikura is near the bottom of this list mainly because there isn’t that much to talk about in regard to her compared to the rest of the girls. She only appears in the two arcs named after her which are back to back, Sodachi Riddle and Sodachi Lost (Owarimonogatari I).

Sodachi is interesting solely because she’s the one Monogatari girl so far who wasn’t afflicted by an apparition, and isn’t an apparition herself. She was simply Koyomi’s childhood friend who he didn’t help in her time of need (because he was also a child at the time).

Sodachi Oikura from the Monogatari anime series
Sodachi Oikura

This led to Sodachi’s life spiraling downward and ending with her living with the body of her dead mother for a pretty long amount of time (I want to say two years, but I forget). While all the arcs of this series involve mystery, I found hers to be the most “standard” in that they didn’t involve the supernatural.

Luckily for Sodachi, Zoku Owarimonogatari did her character some favors. I won’t say that it actually added anything new to her character, but it gave her some good content. Sodachi probably gained the most of any character in Zoku Owarimonogatari, but she also had a lot to gain.

11. Ougi Oshino

It’s finally time for the official “worst girl” of the Monogatari series, Ougi Oshino. Ougi is the titular girl for both the Ougi Formula (Owarimonogatari I) and Ougi Dark (Owarimonogatari II) arcs, although she’s not always depicted as female in other parts of the series.

She’s an apparition, much like Mayoi, Shinobu, and Tsukihi, but she’s a man-made apparition of sorts. The big twist at the end of the Ougi Dark arc (spoilers incoming) is that she’s actually an apparition created by Koyomi’s self-doubt. When she’s depicted as male in Hanamonogatari, it could be that she’s then a representation of Suruga’s self-doubt.

Ougi Oshino from the Monogatari anime series
Ougi Oshino

Ougi’s last name, Oshino, also comes from the apparition expert Meme Oshino, who she claims is her uncle despite him having no known family. And, like Oshino, she “helps” Koyomi help himself when mysterious cases involving apparitions arise.

Everything about Ougi’s design is set up to be a mystery, and that’s probably in part what I don’t like about her. She’s too over-the-top in her mysteriousness, from her cold, black, shark eyes, to her sleeves which cover her hands, to her gender-fluidity between parts.

Conclusion

So what do you think about my rankings? Am I wrong for not putting Hitagi Senjougahara as my #1 girl? Are you an Ougi Oshino fan? Or do you have good taste in Monogatari girls like myself? Let me know in the comments.

I’m planning to write a post about the viewing order for the Monogatari series anime in the near future, so if that’s something you’ve always wondered, why not subscribe to my blog (in the sidebar on PC or down below on mobile), or follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama to be notified every time a new post goes live.

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Ranking the “Boruto 12”

Ranking the “Boruto 12”

Introduction

In the original Naruto series the “Konoha 11” was the name for Sasuke’s classmates who decided to chase after him. Since in Boruto nobody has run away from the village (yet), I’ve decided to refer to their group as the “Boruto 12.”

These twelve shinobi make up four different teams. Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki make up Team 7, Metal, Iwabe, and Denki are on Team 5, Inojin, Shikadai, and Chocho (Ino-Shika-Cho) are Team 10, and finally Wasabi, Sumire, and Namida form Team 15.

Along with these four teams, there are two others which haven’t gotten any screen time since the teams were first formed, so they don’t count as main or major supporting characters. In fact, I wouldn’t even know how to rank them since we know nothing about them.

Finally, before I get into the rankings, I want to make it clear that these rankings are from everything up to episode 66. It’s possible that episode 67 will change everything (I doubt it), but so far only 66 episodes have aired so that’s what I’m working with.

1. Mitsuki

Mitsuki from the anime Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Mitsuki

It should come as little surprise to anyone that Mitsuki is currently the strongest of the “Boruto 12.” For starters, he’s one of the three main characters, so that alone is one reason for his abilities to be above par, however, being a main character isn’t enough on its own.

As Orochimaru’s son, Mitsuki has a jutsu which allows his body to stretch much like Orochimaru can in his snake form. Mitsuki is also able to turn parts of his body into, as well as summon multiple, snakes, further highlighting his connection to his parent.

But that’s not all, he’s also shown to be fairly proficient at both Wind and Lightning chakra releases. Typically, a genin would only be able to use one chakra nature type, but as you’ll see, this generation is a bit more advanced than their predecessors in that department.

Finally, Mitsuki is able to use Sage jutsu, although it’s unknown what type yet (I’d guess some sort of snake or other reptile though). Other prominent Sage jutsu users are Hashirama (the first Hokage), Orochimaru, Kabuto, Jiraiya, and Naruto (the seventh Hokage). So, as you can see, it’s quite a high level ability to have.

Even though we haven’t seen Mitsuki truly use his Sage jutsu yet, simply the fact that he has the ability to use it this early on puts him a step above his comrades. Of all the new characters in the Boruto series, Mitsuki is the one I’m looking forward to see grow the most.

2. Shikadai

Shikadai Nara from the anime Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Shikadai

You may recall that Shikamaru was the only genin to be promoted to a chunin after the exams in the original Naruto series. Well, his son, Shikadai, is essentially the same character so it only makes sense for him to be one of the strongest genin at this point in Boruto.

While I liked Shikamaru’s character, I actually don’t like Shikadai that much simply because he’s so similar to his father. I want the new characters to actually be somewhat new, not just carbon copies of their parents.

However, as I mentioned, it’s the fact that Shikadai is so much like his father that makes him such a powerful shinobi at this point in time. He may not be the most physically strong, or have the most powerful jutsu, but Shikadai has the ability to out-think just about any of his classmates.

Unfortunately for him, Mitsuki is also a pretty smart shinobi, but can also back up his smarts with some powerful jutsu which Shikadai doesn’t have access to. I’m hoping Shikadai learns some new techniques in the near future so that he can continue to compete for the top spots on this list, because otherwise he’ll soon be overtaken by the next two characters.

3. Sarada

Sarada Uchiha from the anime Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Sarada

What happens when you take two of the strongest Hidden Leaf jonin and make them have a child? You get Sarada Uchiha.

Now, I know there are a lot of people who will try to argue that Sakura isn’t one of the strongest Leaf shinobi, but I’ve already laid out how she is in various other posts such as Sakura vs. Hinata. I also don’t think anyone needs me to explain how Sasuke is one of the two most powerful shinobi of the Leaf, so I’ll skip over that here too.

Sarada is essentially a combination of her parents (as you might expect a child to be). She has the chakra control (and therefore superhuman strength) of Sakura, as well as the Sharingan and jutsu techniques (such as Shuriken and Fireball Jutsus) of the Uchiha clan.

However, those abilities alone probably wouldn’t be enough to place her above the fourth shinobi on this list, so what else does Sarada have going for her? Well, like her parents again, Sarada has exceptional intuition when it comes to combat. She doesn’t plan as many steps ahead as Shikadai, but she’s able to effectively read her situation and surroundings.

For something that seems like it should be common for shinobi, reading your situations and surroundings isn’t something many genin appear to be able to do.

As Sarada increases her abilities throughout the series (especially her Sharingan), I predict she’ll surpass Shikadai. Since she’s a main character, this is all but confirmed, but even if she wasn’t, the nature of her character’s abilities allow for more growth than Shikadai’s do.

4. Boruto

Boruto Uzumaki from the anime Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Boruto

In fourth place we finally get to the protagonist of the series, Boruto. Now, if I include Boruto’s use of the Scientific Ninja Tool, then technically I would have to put him above both Sarada and Shikadia, but since that isn’t his own power, and isn’t something he uses anymore, he’s below them.

Boruto is special in that he’s able to use three different chakra natures fairly easily. I mentioned earlier that Mitsuki’s ability to use two was impressive, so the fact that Boruto can use three makes him a prodigy (Sarada can also technically use three, but I’m not counting specialty natures like Yin release).

While Boruto’s proficiency lies in Lightning style, he can also use both Wind and Water. He’s also able to use some of his father’s signature jutsu such as the Shadow Clone Jutsu and Rasengan (although not at the same level as Naruto).

Further, Boruto has his Jōgan which has yet to be fully explained, but works similarly to a Byakugan by allowing him to see chakra. Although he has this Dōjutsu, he doesn’t yet have the ability to activate it at will, and so it doesn’t really count for much.

During the last arc he also gained a seal of some kind on one of his hands which is likely to become important later on in the series, but since it doesn’t do anything yet, this also doesn’t count for anything. That said, Boruto will have a lot of potential growth going forward because of these two mostly unknown abilities, which is why he’ll surpass Shikadai, and probably Sarada.

However, while Boruto has exceptional abilities, he doesn’t yet have a good grasp on how to effectively use them in combat, which is why he’s this far down on the list. Really, I’d like to see Boruto drop even further down in order to let other characters shine, but that’s unlikely to happen.

5. Iwabe

Iwabe Yuino from the anime Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Iwabe

Iwabe is a more standard genin than the four who came before him on this list. For starters, he’s only able to use one chakra nature: Earth, which is how genin are supposed to be (although there are always exceptions). I’m looking forward to Iwabe in the future because Earth style jutsu hasn’t ever gotten much attention in the Leaf village.

Unfortunately for Iwabe, although he has exceptional strength and understanding of his own jutsu, he doesn’t really think about things ahead of time in battle. Sure, when paired up with others such as Denki he can bring out his full potential, but on his own he only has his skill to rely on.

That said, it’s not as though this makes Iwabe a weak shinobi, he’s in the top half of this list after all. What makes him so strong is really just his understanding of his Earth style jutsu as I mentioned. He’s able to use it both offensively and defensively in efficient ways.

When he’s attacking, he tends to create a giant hammer out of stone. When defending, he creates walls out of the Earth much like Kakashi does. We’ve even seen him use his Earth style to restrain his opponents, showing that he understands a variety of ways he can use his jutsu.

While I want Iwabe to become a stronger shinobi, and I’m sure he will to some extent, the fact that he makes a good team when paired up with someone like Denki hints at him never really becoming anything special. Since he has someone else who compliments his fighting style, he doesn’t really need to change or adapt.

6. Chocho

Chocho Akimichi from the anime Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Chocho

I was never a fan of Choji, and I’m not a fan of Chocho either. And yet, Chocho has successfully made it into the top half of this list. I think that says more about the characters ranked beneath her than it does about her own abilities.

While we often saw Choji use the full-body Expansion Jutsu, Chocho typically only uses the Partial-Expansion Jutsu, which I actually think is more useful and dynamic. However, much like Iwabe, Chocho tends to rely on her brute strength instead of first formulating a plan of attack.

Unlike Iwabe, though, she doesn’t yet seem to have as good of a grasp on the various ways she can use her jutsu. This could be due to the fact that Iwabe is a couple of years older than the rest of the “Boruto 12.”

For now, Chocho’s brute strength is enough to put her in the sixth position of this list, but it’s likely that she’ll drop as the series continues on. I’m interested to see if she starts using the pills that Choji used to enhance his abilities later on in the series, but I’m not sure if I would count the use of them as her own power.

7. Inojin

Inojin Yamanaka from the anime Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Inojin

Remember how Sai was an elite shinobi who was part of both the Foundation and ANBU Black Ops? Well, his son isn’t quite as good of a ninja as he was despite using the same jutsu (but now in color!).

He’s also able to use the Mind-Transfer Jutsu like his mother, but that doesn’t appear to be his specialty and so is more of a gimmick he could potentially use if needed rather than a true, combat-ready ability. This means that he almost exclusively relies on his Super Beast Scroll Jutsu, which should be enough.

I don’t know exactly why it is, but despite Inojin having jutsu which were proven to be powerful when used correctly, he’s just not a very competent ninja. This lack of competence is something you’ll see more of as the list continues on, especially when we get to Metal and Namida.

Out of the six Hidden Leaf shinobi to advance to the final round of the chunin exams, Inojin was the first one to lose a match, signifying how he’s not as strong as his teammates or the members of Team 7. You could argue that since Iwabe didn’t even make it to the final round, Inojin should be stronger, but that’s just because overall Team 10 works better together than Team 5.

8. Wasabi

Wasabi Izuno from the anime Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Wasabi

Team 15 is basically a joke, much like Tenten, but of this joke team, Wasabi is potentially the strongest. I say potentially because this team hasn’t really gotten the chance to shine much outside of Sumire who had an arc about her near the beginning of the Boruto series.

I’ve given this character a lot of flack in the past for being named Wasabi and having a green character design, but out of the three members of Team 15 she’s the one I’m most interested in. While you probably wouldn’t guess it, Wasabi specializes in sealing jutsu.

That said, she doesn’t typically appear to use sealing jutsu to seal her enemies, but rather uses it to seal abilities which she can later summon, much like how Tenten used scrolls to summon weapons. However, unlike Tenten, whose jutsu was the summoning of weapons, Wasabi’s jutsu is actually what she summons, not the summon itself.

By using her Cat Cloak Jutsu, Wasabi is able to gain the traits of various types of cats. Some are fast, some are strong, some are good at tracking, so her jutsu has a fairly wide variety of uses which I’d like to see explored more in the future. I also just like the way it looks when she uses it.

9. Metal

Metal Lee from the anime Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Metal

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Metal comes from a long line of exceptional shinobi, and yet he’s all the way down here in ninth position on the list. In case you’ve forgotten, or simply aren’t aware, I’ll briefly go over his predecessors for reference.

Might Duy, although still a genin as an adult, was able to master the Eight Inner Gates technique which has been passed down the generations of his students ever since. By using this technique, he was able to defeat all seven of the Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist single-handedly despite being a genin.

Might Guy, son of Might Duy, was the first to have the Eight Inner Gates technique passed onto him. By using this technique, he was able to fight head to head with Madara Uchiha in his ten-tails Jinchuriki form and almost defeat him. He was one of the strongest jonin in the Leaf.

Rock Lee, student of Might Guy, was the next to have this technique passed down to him. Despite having no ability to use ninjutsu, Rock Lee was able to become an exceptional jonin rank ninja solely through taijutsu and the Eight Inner Gates technique. By Metal’s age, he had already gone head to head with Gaara, who was then the one-tail Jinchuriki.

Unfortunately, Metal is nowhere near the level of his predecessors. He’s not a competent ninja by any means and he gets stage fright easily, meaning he can’t perform well if people are watching him. This is a problem since there’s always someone watching (at the very least, his opponent).

If he’s ever able to overcome his stage fright, metal has the potential to be a fairly powerful shinobi, but until then he’s going to stay toward the bottom of the list. I also don’t think he would ever rise up to be higher than position six anyway.

10. Sumire

Sumire Kakei from the anime Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Sumire

Okay, I know what you’re thinking, “Sumire was basically the antagonist for one of the beginning arcs and she gave the Leaf village as a whole a lot of trouble, so therefore she should be considered powerful.” Well, technically you’re right, but it wasn’t really her who gave the Leaf trouble, it was Nue.

Now, I know you’re going to say, “but Nue is Sumire’s summon so that should count as her power.” Well, you see, summons are often just one thing certain shinobi can do, not the only thing they can do, but for Sumire, all she can do seems to be summon Nue.

Further, when she summons Nue normally, he isn’t nearly as powerful as his unrestrained form which attacked the Leaf Village. This implies that she’s unable to control his full power, and if she can’t control it, I can’t consider that power to actually be hers.

She’s basically in the same boat as Metal, and Inojin to an extent. These characters have the potential to be powerful, but for one reason or another they just simply aren’t yet. If Sumire was actually a powerful shinobi, just the fact that she can summon Nue should have been enough to get her team through to the final round of the chunin exams.

11. Namida

Namida Suzumeno from the anime Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Namida

Namida is in a strange position. She’s technically pretty strong, but her jutsu affects her comrades as well as her enemies so it isn’t practical in too many situations. She also simply refuses to use her jutsu most of the time for whatever reason.

The jutsu she uses is a sound based one which she uses by crying (which is pretty lame). She sends out a loud sound wave which is capable of knocking out anyone nearby, so she’d probably be the perfect one to fight against Yodo of the Sand who has exceptional hearing.

Like the others at the bottom of this list, however, she’s just not a competent enough shinobi. The fact that she actively tries not to use her jutsu means that she simply can’t be strong in terms of combat. If you never fight, you can’t be considered good at fighting.

Although her jutsu also negatively affects her allies, I’m not going to count that against her at this point because I’ve mainly been talking about how each of these characters ranks individually, not as a team. That said, hopefully in the future she’ll be able to focus her jutsu more effectively so as to not hurt her teammates.

12. Denki

Denki Kaminarimon from the anime Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Denki

I feel bad for Iwabe, he has to have both Metal and Denki on his team. There’s a theory floating around that Iwabe is actually Kawaki from the opening scene of the Boruto series, and honestly, I’d probably turn against the Leaf too if I was paired up with those two.

It’s hard for me to actually refer to Denki as a ninja. Sure, he technically does some ninja-like stuff such as throwing kunai or walking up trees, but he’s not really a ninja. He’s just a nerd.

Denki doesn’t even have any jutsu of his own, or of his family. He just uses a laptop to hack into cameras and the like around the city. Now, I understand that it’s pretty useful to have someone like that in the modern world of Boruto, especially if they’re in one of the cities, but overall it seems pretty lame.

What’s Denki going to do when he and his squad are out in the middle of a forest, hack into the trees?

I know that every jutsu or ability is situational (to an extent), but they can typically still be used in any situation, the user just needs to figure out how. In Denki’s case, however, his abilities actually become completely useless if he isn’t in a modernized city.

I’d like to see him add some other gadgets to his collection going forward. Sure, his laptop is useless in a forest, but since he’s the tech guy, maybe he could use a drone which connects to his laptop and can then be used for reconnaissance. He needs something to make him more useful.

However, no matter what gadgets Denki gets in the future, I don’t think he’ll ever rise above 12th place on this list. He’s an information gathering shinobi, not one who’s meant to fight on the front lines, and so he simply doesn’t need to be strong in the same way the others do.

Conclusion

So what do you think of my rankings? Do you agree with me or do you think I don’t know what I’m talking about and have learned nothing from watching the 786 episodes of this franchise? Leave a comment below to let me know.

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