Boruto Episode 182

Boruto Episode 182

Kara Karma

For the second week in a row, I need to start my Boruto episode review off with a correction. Last week, I said that Amado is either going to be the VIII (8th) or IX (9th) inner of Kara because Kawaki is the X (10th). After seeing the OP again, I’ve realized that’s incorrect.

Kawaki is actually the IX (9th) member, which means Amado would have to be the VIII (8th). I stand by everything else I said about Kara’s Inners in last week’s review, though.

Moving on to this week, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 182 introduced two new pieces of information. First is the existence of a power known as karma. And second is the idea that the vessel is unable to move itself, and therefore had to have been tampered with by someone.

Jigen from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Jigen

Starting with karma, the name doesn’t seem to fit with the ability Jigen describes. The word karma has to do with fate. But Jigen claims to have sensed the vessel move with his karma. So my best guess is that karma is some sort of “enlightened” form of sensory jutsu that Jigen is able to use. It is notable that he doesn’t use the word jutsu, though.

As for the movement of the vessel, Jigen claims that someone had to interfere with it in order for it to move. That implies that the vessel can’t move on its own. Additionally, it’s implied that karma is needed to move the vessel, both by the fact that Jigen’s karma sensed it and by Jigen stating that Victor couldn’t have done it.

Additionally, if I understood those implications correctly, it would mean that there are other Inners who can use karma. And perhaps Jigen confides in Amado because Amado can’t use karma, so he knows Amado wasn’t the traitor.

At this point, I’m going to guess that the vessel (which is pretty clearly Kawaki), awakened karma on its own. I don’t know how because we know literally nothing about karma at this point. But that’s my guess based on nothing.

Scientific Ninja Tools Have Gone Too Far

I’ve written about the advanced technology within the Boruto series multiple times by now. But there was something in this episode that made me need to revisit this topic. Of course, I’m talking about Konohamaru’s scroll USB flash drive.

When it comes to most of the advanced technology in the Boruto series, I can accept it. Holographic monitors, bio-engineering, and scientific ninja tools are all fine in my book. And although it’s odd, I’ll even accept that despite having all of these advancements, they still don’t have long-range communication.

But the one thing I can’t accept is Konohamaru pulling a scroll USB flash drive out of his back pocket like it’s nothing. Honestly, when he pulled out the scroll, I thought he was about to use it to summon a flash drive of some sort. So you can imagine my shock when he popped the cap off to reveal that the scroll itself was the flash drive.

Konohamaru using a scroll USB flash drive from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Konohamaru using a scroll USB flash drive

There’s just something about the technology in this series that doesn’t add up. How can they be so advanced in some aspects, such as medical technology, and be so primitive in others, such as communication technology? The scroll USB is the definitive example of this problem.

The Leaf Village’s top scientists developed USB technology. That’s good. But rather than making it compact like our modern USBs, they opted for a full-size scroll design.

I guess the idea here is that shinobi are already used to using scrolls. After all, scrolls are used to store and summon a variety of things. And flash drives are used to store and “summon” data. So naturally — at least in their eyes — the flash drive should be a scroll. What’s next? Are they going to invent guns that look like kunai because those are the weapons shinobi are used to?

Ao’s Mission

At the end of the previous episode review, I mentioned that Ao appeared to be an Outer of Kara. Originally, I didn’t think that this would turn out to be the case. But the preview for this week’s episode made it pretty clear. And now that we’ve seen episode 182, we know for certain that it’s the case.

Why Ao would join Kara as an Outer is still unclear. He fought alongside the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Great War, so I don’t see him now allying himself with a group that wants to destroy the peace. That means the ultimate goal of Kara is probably a “noble” one, even if a bit twisted.

Of course, you could also always say that after the war, Ao felt that the peace made shinobi like himself useless. In that scenario, perhaps he would have sided with an “evil” organization. After all, the only thing he really knows is war. He was one of the premier assassins for the Hidden Mist Village.

Ao from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Ao

We may not know why Ao would join Kara, but at least it’s now been confirmed that he was the one who obtained the scientific ninja tool leaks from Katasuke. And, this also clears Katasuke of any involvement with Kara.

Although Katasuke had previously been cleared by Naruto, I wasn’t convinced. Now that we know Ao erased his memories of their encounter and was planning to kill him if he remembered, I can finally say he’s cleared for real. And I also have to say that Ao must really believe in Kara’s goal if he’s willing to kill the man who saved his life after the war.

As for Ao’s new mission, he’s been tasked with retrieving the vessel and killing anyone with knowledge of it — Konohamaru and Mugino. I’m interested to see how Ao stacks up against them considering, as he mentioned, he hasn’t seen real combat in 16 years.

With a wounded Mugino to protect, I think Konohamaru will be at a disadvantage. But if Mugino was out of the equation, Konohamaru wouldn’t really have to worry about Ao at this point. Ao is past his prime and Konohamaru is in his prime. And while the series doesn’t like to paint Konohamaru as all that strong, we’ve seen on a few occasions that he really is.

Conclusion

What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 182? How do you think karma is awakened? What other modern technologies do you want to see used in absurd ways? And how do you see this mission ending for Ao? In my opinion, he has to switch sides at some point and help fight against Kara.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

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