Boruto Episode 187

Boruto Episode 187

How Kara Should Be

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 187 is the first episode that made me feel like Kara is a true antagonist organization. But, it would actually be better to say that it made me view Koji Kashin as a true antagonist. I’m sure Jigen is going to be similar to him. But as I’ve previously said, Kara as a whole just doesn’t feel like a threat.

Is Delta actually going to be a dangerous adversary when she eventually has her time to shine? Yes, probably. But I don’t view her that way because of her neon yellow and pink character design. She just doesn’t fit the model of a dangerous villain in the Naruto series. If this was One Piece, I wouldn’t be saying this.

Jigen, Boro, and Koji Kashin are all intimidating to an extent. But Delta, Deepa, Victor, Amado, and Code are all just kind of there. I don’t care about any of them and it’s hard for me to see them as threats even if I know they’re strong.

Koji Kashin from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Koji Kashin

So, why is Koji Kashin different from Deepa and Victor, the other two Inners that Team 7 has already fought? First, I think he simply has a much better character design. Deepa was basically a clown and Victor was a rickety, old man. Koji Kashin looks like a capable “shinobi” by comparison.

Also, with Koji Kashin, we’ve seen some strong jutsu that aren’t simply signature abilities. He can summon toads, he can use offensive fire-style jutsu, he can use lightning-style sealing jutsu, and he can use the Rasengan. Deepa, on the other hand, just had some unnamed ability that let him harden his skin and create cue-shaped projectiles out of carbon.

The Tragic Tale of Konohamaru

If I have one complaint about this episode, it’s that, once again, Konohamaru was thrown under the bus. We know that Konohamaru is a strong shinobi. We’ve seen his Rasengan blow away large swaths of forest and carve holes through mountains. He also has access to two different summoning pacts.

I get that he was already injured by the time Koji Kashin showed up. But I’d like to see Konohamaru actually put up a fight for once. The only time I remember him putting up a good fight was against Jūgo. Every other fight either doesn’t matter, like when he fought a single White Zetsu, or is one in which he gets beaten.

Imagine if Kakashi had the track record Konohamaru has — fans wouldn’t think he’s nearly as cool if he was defeated this frequently. To be fair, I do think that Kakashi is significantly stronger than Konohamaru. But even so, Konohamaru fulfills the same role in Boruto that Kakashi did in Naruto.

Koji Kashin using the Rasengan from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Koji Kashin using the Rasengan

Another problem with Konohamaru is that he’s effectively a generic jonin-rank shinobi. Let’s look at the jutsu he uses to explain why this is the case.

The fireball jutsu is one of his most common — this is an extremely common jutsu in the Leaf Village since it’s located within the Land of Fire. I’m also pretty sure he’s used the mud wall jutsu a few times, which is like the most basic earth-style jutsu imaginable.

Konohamaru’s use of the Rasengan would make him unique if not for that already being the signature jutsu of Naruto, Boruto, Jiraiya, and Minato. It’s kind of old and boring now.

The only things that really set Konohamaru apart are his summons. He can summon toads and monkeys. Unfortunately, he doesn’t do this very often. And even if he did summon toads more frequently, they would almost feel like the Rasengan does. The monkey is truly unique to him, but I think he’s only summoned it once or twice briefly.

Karma

Boruto’s Karma was supposed to be the big reveal of the episode. However, I think it got overshadowed by Koji Kashin’s various jutsu which make him seem more and more like Jiraiya. I still don’t think he is Jiraiya, but he’s probably a homunculus created based on Jiraiya as I discussed last week.

Now, although I think Karma was overshadowed in this episode, it is an interesting revelation. I already knew Boruto’s mark on his hand was Karma, but previously what exactly Karma was hadn’t been made clear in the anime. All we knew was that Karma was something Jigen was able to use.

Now that we know Karma is the mark on Boruto’s hand, we can theorize about it a bit more. For example, we know that Boruto received this mark from Momoshiki. And we know that Jigen and Kawaki have similar marks. So where did those two receive their marks from?

Koji Kashin and his Steam Toad summon from the anime series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Koji Kashin and his Steam Toad summon

Assuming that these marks solely come from the Ōtsutsuki clan, that means that, at the very least, Jigen should have come into contact with one of them. I’m also going to assume that each Ōtsutsuki clan member can only give this mark to one person, which eliminates Momoshiki from giving it to Jigen.

That leaves Kaguya, Kinshiki, Toneri, and Urashiki — as far as Ōtsutsuki clan members we know of. It wasn’t Kaguya either though, because, from the time she was unsealed to the time she was resealed, she was fighting against Naruto and Sasuke.

Toneri, Kinshiki, and Urashiki all could have given Jigen his Karma. Toneri could have done so on one of his trips to Earth when Jigen was much younger. Kinshiki could have done so while he and Momoshiki were searching for Naruto. And Urashiki could have done so really at any point he was around.

While I think Jigen’s Karma is the real deal, I don’t think the same is true for Kawaki’s Karma. I think Kawaki’s is an artificial Karma created by Jigen in an attempt to replicate the power he was granted.

Conclusion

What do you think about Boruto: Naruto Next Generations episode 187? Which Kara Inner do you like the most? What are your thoughts on Konohamaru’s track record against strong opponents? And how do you think Jigen and Kawaki received their Karma? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

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