Boruto Episode 221

Boruto Episode 221

Chunin Exam #4

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 221 seems to be the start of a fairly lengthy string of filler episodes. I hope I’m wrong about that and it’s only a few filler episodes. But considering all of the main story content we’ve had recently, I doubt that’s the case.

Luckily, Episode 221 was quite a good episode as far as filler is concerned. The preview for Episode 222 doesn’t make that one seem very interesting, but we’ll worry about that next week. For now, I’m satisfied with the filler we got.

The Chunin Exams are some of the most exciting parts of the series because it’s effectively just a tournament arc. And, this is actually the fourth Chunin Exams (not including flashbacks) we’ve had since the start of Naruto. But, there’s something different this time around: Each village is holding its own exam.

Team 7 taking the first Chunin Exam test from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Team 7 taking the first Chunin Exam test

With the current exam only being made up of Leaf shinobi, it’s a bit less exciting than the previous exams. What usually makes the exams so entertaining is that we get to see a lot of new characters show off unique jutsu. We aren’t getting that this time.

With that said, these Chunin Exams are really just here as an homage to the original Chunin Exam from Naruto. The first test is the same and the second test takes place in the same location.

I’m glad we basically skipped over the first test. That’s the least interesting of the three. It would have been nice to spend more time on the second test, though. That’s where we get to see the characters in survival situations they normally aren’t in.

Chunin Exam Test 2

If you’ve seen the original Naruto series, you’ll be very familiar with the location of the second test of the Chunin Exam, the Forest of Death. But, you may also have noticed that this time around we’re just getting a “lite” version of the second test.

Aside from the fact that this exam only features Leaf shinobi, it’s also much shorter. Moegi mentions that the entrants have 45 minutes to locate one of 10 injured allies within the forest and bring them to safety.

That’s very different from the original test at this location. It’s a much shorter time limit, it prioritizes individuals over teams, and it doesn’t necessitate that entrants compete directly against one another.

Tsubaki Kurogane participating in the second Chunin Exam test from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Tsubaki Kurogane participating in the second Chunin Exam test

In the Naruto Chunin Exam, the time limit was 5 days. It was also team-oriented and forced the teams to compete directly with each other. Each team had either a heaven or earth scroll and had to steal the opposite scroll from another team. Once a team had both scrolls, they made their way to a tower in the middle of the forest to complete the test.

That’s a much more interesting setup for a test. It involved team-based combat and allowed for more variability in how teams approached the test. For example, some teams continued to hunt down scrolls within the 5-day limit even after having one of each. They did this simply to weed out more teams from the final test.

I guess technically someone could rescue multiple people from the forest in the current exam. But unless you know that your teammates have already rescued people of their own, this would just be hurting your allies.

Also, while Kaito Kawanami laid a trap to steal Boruto’s rescuee, that doesn’t seem to be the norm. When Iwabe and Wasabi found the same person, they argued over who found them first rather than just fighting.

Chunin Exam Final Test Predictions

Due to the 10 rescuee limit of the second test, a technical maximum of 10 genin could make it through to the final test. However, since we saw that Boruto passed despite technically not completing the test, it’s possible that more than 10 could have made it.

If Boruto showed up carrying another injured test entrant instead of one of the 10 designated “injured allies,” he probably would have still passed. So, that would make 11 genin who passed. And that’s the thing about the Chunin Exams — they’re very subjective.

But, we do only have 10 genin who passed. These are Tsubaki, Houki, Inojin, Chocho, Denki, Wasabi, Iwabe, Mitsuki, Sarada, and Boruto. That means two members of Team 5, all three members of Team 7, the two genin members of Team 10, two members of Team 15, and one member of Team 25 passed. Better luck next time, Team 40.

The Chunin Exam finalists from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
The Chunin Exam finalists

Now, the stated structure of the final test is that it’s five 1v1 matches, meaning half of the remaining entrants will pass and half will fail. But, considering how the Chunin Exams actually work, we can’t take that at face value.

Sarada and Mitsuki seem like obvious chunin candidates. Boruto is a toss-up, though. Yes, he’s a capable shinobi, but he’s also Boruto. And since he was just saying to Kawaki that he’ll have more money soon, that seems like a flag setting up for him to fail.

Of the rest, I could see Wasabi, Denki, Inojin, Chocho, and maybe Houki passing. Wasabi seems like the natural leader of Team 15, as does Denki for Team 5. Inojin and Chocho are both competent enough, like Sarada and Mitsuki.

And as for Houki, well he’s the only member from team 25 to make it this far so I’d like for him to pass. He’s also the de-facto leader of his team like Wasabi and Denki are.

Conclusion

What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 221? Do you prefer this lite version of the Chunin Exams over another full version? Or would you have preferred a more fleshed-out second test? And who do you think will become chunin in the end? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 222 is available now.

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