Boruto Episode 175
Victor’s Jutsu
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 175 was one of the best episodes of the series. It had everything you could really ask for in an episode. I still wouldn’t say that it was the best episode, but it probably comes pretty close when you consider everything that it did.
For example, this episode had more animation cuts than any previous episode in the series. The animation was great. The fights were great. And the character development was great too. However, I still think I would put episode 65 above this one because watching the five Kage fight Momoshiki was just more fun to me.
One issue that I have with this episode is that it’s only one episode. What I mean by that is that I think it may have benefited from being spread out across two episodes. I know a lot of people don’t want that, but it would have given the Victor fight more screen time.
Konohamaru vs. Victor and then Orochimaru vs. Victor were fights I was looking forward to. And while they were still pretty good fights, I feel like it was cut a bit short. Especially when it came to Orochimaru vs. Victor. I really wanted to see Orochimaru go all out against him.
We were also left with some questions about Victor’s jutsu. However, I think this was intentional and that it will come up again later. For instance, how was he able to master all five basic elemental chakra natures? There have been very few people to ever do that naturally. And what about his regeneration jutsu?
I think this will all tie back to my theory about Kara attempting to artificially recreate the abilities of the Ōtsutsuki clan. Something tells me that Victor’s jutsu weren’t entirely natural.
The Second Tomoe
I express a lot of theories on this blog, and many of them change week after week as new information is given in various series. So with that said, I don’t exactly remember where I stood regarding Sarada’s Sharingan upgrade last time I wrote about it. But, regardless, her Sharingan did finally upgrade this week.
A lot of people, myself included, have thought that Sarada would take a different path than the Uchiha who came before her when it comes to her Sharingan. Normally, Uchiha members awaken and upgrade their Sharingan through the extreme stress associated with loss.
For example, Sasuke originally awakened his Sharingan when Itachi slaughtered the rest of their clan. However, Sarada’s initial awakening was caused by her stressing about the fact that her father wasn’t very present during her childhood. Obviously, that’s a bit less traumatic.
So, the theory goes that Sarada will continue to upgrade her Sharingan through “good” stress compared to bad stress. This second tomoe awakening that just happened is a great example. She didn’t upgrade it due to loss, but instead due to the feeling of wanting to protect her comrades.
And, this is actually something we’ve seen before. In episode 120 of Naruto: Shippūden, Obito awakens his Sharingan in a similar fashion. He awakens it in order to protect his comrades, specifically Kakashi who had just lost his eye.
Also, as we know, Obito is considered to be the “Naruto” of the Uchiha clan. He was the one who always saw the good in things no matter how bad they really were. In the end, he went down the wrong path. But I think we’ll see Sarada continue on the correct path and become the Hokage, which was originally Obito’s dream.
Beyond the Limits
Boruto, Sarada, and Mitsuki vs. Deepa was clearly the highlight of the episode. My main problem with this fight though is that I still don’t like Deepa’s character design. He looks so stupid, and even when he coated himself in armor, that didn’t help.
As much as I like team-based fighting in this series, I think it would have been nice to see each member of Team 7 stand out a bit more. In the end, they defeat Deepa by combining their strength, which was a nice moment. But I would have liked to see each of them hold their own against him before that.
Wouldn’t it have been cool if Sarada actually fought Deepa in hand to hand combat after awakening her second tomoe? Maybe she could have cracked his armor during that time, which would then help Boruto’s compressed Rasengan break through.
But rather than dwelling on what could have happened, let’s take a look at what did happen in the end because I liked it. As we know, Boruto’s compressed Rasengan was specifically developed to pierce Deepa’s armor. However, Boruto didn’t account for Deepa having even more armor at his disposal.
So, to break through all of that, he needed the help of Mitsuki and Sarada. This is where things get really cool. Mitsuki uses his sage mode to transfer more chakra into both Boruto and the compressed Rasengan. This makes the Rasengan stronger and allows Boruto to keep up the jutsu.
Meanwhile, Sarada brings up the rear with her strength. Initially, I thought Sarada was just placing her hands on them to show her support. But after thinking about it, I’m pretty sure she was literally supporting them with her strength and pushing the Rasengan further into Deepa.
Conclusion
What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 175? Would you say it was the best episode of the series so far? How do you think Sarada will awaken her third tomoe? And what are your thoughts on Deepa’s character design? Let me know in the comments.
If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button ❤️ down below. Also, follow me on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any new content. And come join our Discord Server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.
Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.
My review of the next episode is available here.
ダブル様 // Daily anime and manga reviews, rankings, and recommendations since 2017. Join our community.
2 Replies to “Boruto Episode 175”
A good episode overall, but there were things I thought could have been better. Firstly, if you’d have told me the episode premise prior to viewing I’d have expected it to have covered 2 possibly 3 episodes. I felt there was so much more they could have taken from both battles – not that anyone likes fillers, but entirely justified here. More depth to the Oro-Victor fight and possibly even a team up with Konohamaru. Sarada’s 2 tomoe evolution was a side story, she never actually showed it in use which I felt could have been an improvement. It was odd that we didn’t get any sorry backstory of either Victor or Deepa upon their deaths, which is unusual, but in some ways it means they were irrelevant characters. That, or at least in Victor’s case, will be touched upon again in future.
I know it’s been mentioned before, but I still don’t understand why Konohamaru is continually nerfed, both in manga and anime. Bar a couple of basic moves, he didn’t contribute much. Either they’re hiding something huge in his arsenal (like Mitsuki’s Sage Mode) or he’s just not that great a battler which seems odd for a Jonin and a student of Naruto.
I liked the teamed up ending, the music really added to the moment and I had a smile while admittedly metaphorically trying to help them too!
It’s going to be interesting what Boruto can do with his new Rasengan, much like Naturo’s Rasenshuriken, it comes at a physical cost – perhaps he won’t use it as it was only meant for Deepa’s armor. Plus from what I see his chakra level is very low so it’s likely he has to rely on Karma for a power-up. Sarada’s development will be interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing her power-up now as she has 2 tomoe. Will Mitsuki ever be able to use his sage mode without destroying his body? If not, what can he do instead?
Best episode of the series? No. That was episode 65. Although it had already been animated in the movie, the improvements in animation and general action make that for me not just the best of the Boruto series, but possibly the best ever, including all of the main Naruto series.
I agree that this episode could have been expanded into more than one. There was a lot going on that was just skimmed over.
As for Konohamaru, we’ve seen him blast holes through mountains with his Rasengan when fighting random bandits. But then when it comes time to fight a real enemy, he doesn’t seem to do all that much. I think this is mainly so that Konohamaru isn’t just used as an easy way out of otherwise difficult battles.