Boruto Episode 190

Almost Filler

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 190, and probably 191, are almost to the point of being filler episodes. However, you probably shouldn’t think of them that way considering everything that’s going on at this point in the series.

Did anything exciting happen within this episode? I wouldn’t say so. There was no real action and we weren’t even introduced to new information about any of the characters. Well, I guess you could say that Kawaki’s fast healing is new information, but that doesn’t seem to be too important right now.

So, why isn’t this episode filler? Well, I’m not going to say that it’s definitively not filler. But it does appear to be setting up the meeting between Kawaki and Naruto. And as you should be aware from the first episode of the series, their meeting is pretty important.

But, I will concede that Kawaki and Naruto could have met even if Kawaki didn’t escape from the research facility. So with that in mind, and considering that the next episode seems to focus on Kawaki living on the streets with some stray dog, these episodes are essentially filler.

Any time an episode is about a character connecting with some random animal around town, often a dog or cat, you can be pretty certain that it’s not going to be that important of an episode. I do expect the end of next week’s episode to get back on track, though.

And if Kawaki and Naruto do meet at the end of next week’s episode, then we might actually get a fight between them the following week. I don’t see it being a real fight. But I could see Naruto agreeing to fight Kawaki in order to prove he’s strong enough to protect him from Kara.

Kawaki’s Escape

Kawaki’s escape from the research facility was painful to watch. There should have been no way for it to happen. But thanks to the terrible design of the facility, the lack of caution observed by Team 7, and some additional random developments, Kawaki made it out.

Now, the very first flaw that allowed Kawaki to escape is that his cell didn’t have a toilet in it. This means that he has to be let out of the cell whenever he needs to use the bathroom, which voids the durability of the cell entirely.

The second flaw is that not only is there no toilet in the cell, but apparently the nearest bathroom is on the opposite end of the facility. Thanks to this design flaw, Kawaki gets a nice, leisurely tour of the facility so he knows where to go during his escape.

Next, we have the fact that Boruto, Mitsuki, and Sarada weren’t exactly acting with caution. Why did Sarada stay behind to help the researchers pick up the flashbang grenades Kawaki spilled? Kawaki is known to be dangerous — she shouldn’t have left Boruto and Mitsuki on their own with him.

There were some other random developments that contributed as well, such as Kawaki’s gathering of scientific ninja tools. How did Kawaki hide the flashbang grenade he picked up? And how did he put a scientific ninja tool on his wrist? His hands were bound in front of his body in the open.

And lastly, it was previously stated that Kawaki might somehow make Nue go mad. This wasn’t explained at all, but that’s exactly what happened and it allowed Kawaki to make his final escape because Nue broke his shackles. I don’t think that’s ever going to be explained — it was just a Deus ex machina.

The Hokage is Coming

There are a few reasons why Naruto is going to visit Kawaki. The obvious one is that Kawaki is connected to Kara, and so Naruto wants to speak to him. But, Naruto also likely wants information on Koji Kashin specifically. Technically, anyone could have a summoning pact with the toads of Mt. Myōboku, but Koji’s Rasengan makes him suspicious.

Also, Naruto is just a nice guy, so he wants to visit Kawaki because he’s a child. He would personally visit any Kara member who happened to be captured. But Kawaki’s age definitely plays a role here. Naruto recognizes that treating Kawaki as a captive probably isn’t good for his mental health.

However, if we take a closer look at the situation, things start to make less sense.

Why is Naruto really traveling to see Kawaki? Because Kawaki isn’t being held within the Leaf Village. Why isn’t Kawaki being held within the Leaf Village? Because he’s seen as an unknown threat — they don’t know if he’s really allied with Kara and they don’t know everything he’s capable of.

So, if he’s considered to be this dangerous, why is he being held at a research facility where the only shinobi guarding him are three genin? Wouldn’t the Leaf Village be far more secure? It has a lot of jonin, it has holding cells specifically designed for dangerous shinobi, and it has Naruto — the Hokage — right there in case of emergency.

I know that in the first episode we see Kawaki saying that he sent Naruto somewhere, but realistically there’s nothing Kawaki could do if Naruto got involved at this point. Even if Kawaki somehow escaped from the Leaf Village prison, he wouldn’t make it very far with Naruto nearby.

Conclusion

What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 190? Do you think we’ll get to see a fight between Naruto and Kawaki? How do you feel about the circumstances of Kawaki’s escape? And where would you have kept Kawaki locked up? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Boruto Episode 191 is available.