Boruto Episode 79

Boruto Episode 79

Introduction

Before we begin with this week’s Boruto episode review, I’d like to remind you all that there’s currently a poll on Twitter to determine the next series to get the weekly, episodic review treatment. To vote in the poll, simply click on the embedded tweet featured below.

The winning anime will be featured in this upcoming Thursday’s post, and will then be a recurring series on either Wednesdays or Thursdays for the rest of the Fall 2018 season. Also, more poll engagement means a higher chance of future polls to determine what content shows up on this site.

Reunion with Mitsuki

We left off last time with Boruto, Sarada, and Shikadai about to face off against one of Mitsuki’s captors, Kokuyou. Kokuyou seems to have had no issue taking on roughly 10 jonin/chunin shinobi, but since Boruto, Sarada, and Shikadai are main characters, I’m sure they’ll be fine.

To start, Boruto and Shikadai focus on Kokuyou while Sarada focuses on the one golem left standing. However, the trio quickly learn that they’re outmatched by their opponents and change tactics. They then work together to bring down the golem first, before shifting their focus to the main threat.

To do this, Sarada and Boruto throw the golem and Kokuyou at each other, resulting in Kokuyo smashing the golem to the ground. Once stunned, the golem is easily caught by Shikadai’s Shadow Paralysis Jutsu, and Boruto is able to finish it off with a Rasengan to the face.

It’s important to note here that Boruto is suddenly able to make essentially full-sized Rasengan now. We haven’t really seen him practicing this jutsu ever since he was only able to make a tiny one, but you know, Protagonist-no-Jutsu and all that. I think he even did it one-handed.

With the golem out of the way, the trio continue to fight against Kokuyou, but aren’t making any real ground due to the difference in strength between them. Kokuyou even tells them his weakness, as all great antagonists do in shounen anime, by mentioning that he can’t use jutsu.

While Kokuyou’s lack of jutsu makes sense considering we never actually see him use any jutsu, later in the episode, Sekiei hints that Kokuyou actually does possess a jutsu of some sort. Perhaps Kokuyou meant that he’s unable to use nin- or genjutsu, and Sekiei was referring to his taijutsu.

Despite the battle being three against one, the genin are about to be defeated when an unexpected ally arrives! That’s right, it’s Chocho, the hero of the Hidden Leaf. Oh, and Inojin is there too, but he’s basically just a background character compared to Chocho and Shikadai, which is unfortunate.

Now that the Ino-Shika-Cho trio is back in full force, they take over the fight against Kokuyou while Boruto and Sarada continue onward after Mitsuki. I get that catching up to Mitsuki as fast as possible is their primary goal right now, but I still think fighting Kokuyou as a group of five would have been a smarter call.

Meanwhile, Mitsuki and Sekiei are continuing on towards the Land of Stone when Sekiei comments that Kokuyou should have caught back up to them by now. Shortly after, he receives a message from two golems which tell him that two pursuers have made it past Kokuyou and are heading in their direction.

Sekiei takes this to mean that Kokuyou has been defeated, but this isn’t the case. You’d think that if the golems could inform him of the pursuers who made it past Kokuyou, they could also inform him that Kokuyou isn’t defeated, but merely still engaged in battle.

Mitsuki is then left with the two golems as guards while Sekiei backtracks in order to intercept Boruto and Sarada. During this time, the Ino-Shika-Cho formation has failed to bring down Kokuyou, and instead opt for a tactical retreat.

Going back to Boruto and Sarada, when they meet up with Sekiei he confirms that the jutsu he uses is the Detonation Clay Jutsu, which we know as the signature jutsu of Deidara from Shippūden. However, it turns out that Sekiei has no relation to Deidara, and instead had this jutsu implanted when he was created.

Because of his lack of relation to Deidara, Sekiei also lacks the mouths on his hands which were Deidara’s defining feature. But, maybe later on in the series we’ll see his bandages removed and it will turn out he actually does have mouths on other parts of his body after all.

I’m also curious to find out if the Detonation Clay Jutsu was chosen to be implanted into Sekiei because of its relation to Deidara, or if it was simply because it’s a powerful, forbidden jutsu of the Stone. Personally, I’d like for there to be some sort of tie to Deidara.

During the fight, Sekiei asks to see something more interesting from the genin, and so Boruto responds by summoning Garaga. I was surprised that Garaga actually showed up, but then it all made sense once he refused to fight on Boruto’s behalf.

It would seem the will of Manda lives on within Garaga. Luckily for Garaga, his pact is with Boruto and not Sasuke when he was a teenager, because Boruto simply tells Garaga to get lost rather than using him as a human shield.

But, once Boruto tells him to get lost, Garaga goes into a fit of rage and decides to fight against Sekiei “of his own will.” This is likely because deep down he wants to show off his skill and prove to Boruto just how powerful he really is.

While his refusal to fight in the first place was very Manda-like, his sudden change to wanting to prove his strength reminded me a lot more of Gamabunta, who should still be alive as far as I know.

Anyway, with the help of Garaga, Boruto and Sarada are able to back Sekiei into a corner, and just when Boruto is about to deliver the finishing blow, Mitsuki appears to save him. While Sarada recognizes that there’s something wrong about Mitsuki saving his “captor,” Boruto seems to be oblivious.

Mitsuki and Boruto Uzumaki from the anime Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Mitsuki and Boruto

Mitsuki then tells Boruto that his will is to go with the Hidden Stone shinobi, swats hit Hidden Leaf forehead protector out of Boruto’s hand, and hits Boruto with his Snake Lightning Jutsu. Afterwards, he helps Sekiei to his feet and begins to carry him off along with Kokuyou, who has now caught up.

There was a lot going on in this final scene, but since it’s going to affect the future, I’ll continue discussing it in the next section.

Looking Ahead

The next episode looks like it will be taking place within the Hidden Stone village, finally. It appears we’ll be learning more about the mysterious group Mitsuki has apparently joined, and we’ll get to see a fight between the Tsuchikage, Kurotsuchi, and at least one of the members.

I have to say, I think Kurotsuchi is my favorite of the current Kage. We saw plenty of Naruto and Gaara in the previous parts of the franchise, so they don’t really interest me, and I don’t like Chōjūrō because he’s a wannabe Swordsman of the Mist who can only use one nature transformation.

Darui is pretty good, and has the Storm Release kekkei genkai, but I still think Kurotsuchi is better. She also has a kekkei genkai in the form of Lava Release. While Naruto and Gaara also have kekkei genkai, they received them through their tailed beasts, so they don’t really count.

But, now onto the part you’ve all been waiting for, time to speculate about Mitsuki’s future. I’ve been saying for a while that I don’t want Mitsuki to end up as the same character as Sasuke was, not because I didn’t like Sasuke, but because we’ve already seen that before.

However, with his rejection of Boruto’s friendship and the Hidden Leaf, it seems as though this is the path Mitsuki is bound to take. Or, perhaps not.

I still believe that Mitsuki isn’t going to merely be some Sasuke clone. In fact, Mitsuki being an actual clone is what I believe to be the driving force behind his “will.” I think that Mitsuki has no true plans to go against the Hidden Leaf, but instead knows that this is the best way to learn about who he really is.

He’s finally found a group of others like him, that is to say, artificial humans. Mitsuki has been worried that his feelings towards his comrades, the Hidden Leaf, and Boruto in particular aren’t actually his own, but were instead implanted into him, much like the jutsu of these Hidden Stone homunculi.

So, since he doesn’t believe he can trust an answer from his creator, Orochimaru, he’s instead searching for someone else who will be able to answer his questions for him. He believes the leader of this Hidden Stone gang is someone who can do just that, which is why he’s gone along with them so far.

Further, by rejecting Boruto and the Hidden Leaf in front of his new “comrades,” he’s further proven his trustworthiness to them, which means he’ll be able to get the answers he seeks even faster.

But, here’s the thing, if he discovers that his feelings were implanted after all, what will he do? If he discovers that they’re feelings of his own, I think it’s clear that he’s going to rejoin the Leaf, but let’s pretend he discovers that the opposite is actually true for a second.

Some of you may think he would continue with his defection from the Leaf, but I’m sorry to tell you that this probably wouldn’t be the case. I know that Sasuke did that, but that’s part of the reason why I don’t think Mitsuki will.

We also have to take into consideration that the Boruto series is, so far, a much more lighthearted story than Naruto, and Shippūden specifically. And, Boruto is still just as much about the power of friendship as those series were.

Even if Mitsuki learns that his feelings are artificial, I think he’ll decide to make them his own and return to the Leaf and Team 7. I don’t think Mitsuki is one to allow something like artificial feelings, or even fate, to determine what he’ll do with his life. If he wants to be with Team 7, he’ll do just that no matter what.

Conclusion

So what did you think of this week’s episode of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations? What did you think about Garaga’s appearance? How about Mitsuki’s “betrayal?” Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this post, click the like button down below and follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama. You can also join the Discord server if you’d like to be more involved in the community, and there’s a Patreon page for those who want to go a step further.

Finally, remember to vote in this week’s twitter poll by 11:30am EST on October 31st.

My review of the next episode is available here.

Leave a Comment