Boruto Episode 224

Wasabi vs. Iwabe

Maybe this is going to be obvious to everyone who watched Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 224, but I’m disappointed in what we got. I was looking forward to an actual fight between Wasabi and Iwabe, and we didn’t get that.

Though, my prediction regarding the winner of the fight did turn out to be correct. I always thought it was clear that Wasabi was going to defeat Iwabe. It’s what makes sense for both of their teams.

Team 15 needs a chunin leader, and Wasabi is the obvious choice. And in Team 5, Denki makes far more sense to be the chunin leader than Iwabe. So, in my mind, it’s only natural that Wasabi would defeat Iwabe here and become a chunin.

I guess I do have to go into their “fight” a bit in this review. Okay, so I get that both Wasabi and Iwabe are anime-original characters and so their fight doesn’t really matter. But they both have cool jutsu that I’d like to see used more in combat.

Unfortunately, what we got instead was the fight stopping after Iwabe learned that Wasabi doesn’t think either of them is special enough to become Hokage one day. Iwabe then takes this opportunity to teach Wasabi a lesson about dreams.

I actually did like when Iwabe told Wasabi that the reason she couldn’t use her clan’s legendary jutsu or become Hokage was that she didn’t believe she could. That’s a great lesson. But I would have much preferred if he pushed her to believe in herself through combat.

Creating a giant cat out of stone is great and all. But maybe Iwabe could have just gone all out against Wasabi instead? If he pushed her into a corner where she needed to use that jutsu, maybe she would have.

Team Shinki

It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Hidden Sand shinobi of Team Shinki, but they made an appearance in this week’s episode. In case you don’t remember, the members of Team Shinki are Shinki (obviously), Yodo, and Araya.

The current Chunin Exam is supposed to be held behind closed doors. Only a select few people are allowed within the stadium, including the jonin overseeing the exam and the families of the participants. But, I guess as the adopted son of the Kazekage, Shinki and his team are allowed entry.

You may recall that during the previous Chunin Exam, Shinki defeated Chocho and then won his match against Mitsuki due to the latter’s forfeiture. Araya defeated Inojin before being defeated himself by Sarada. And Yodo was defeated by Shikadai.

Personally, I don’t think Team Shinki is here to play any major role in the current (filler) arc. I don’t think this Chunin Exam is going to be interrupted or anything. Instead, they’re just here so we can see their reactions to the matches involving the members of Team 7.

The first of these Team 7 matches is coming up next, with Sarada vs. Chocho. If you think Chocho is somehow going to defeat Sarada here, I think you’re crazy. It’ll be insane if I’m wrong, but I think this is an easy victory for Sarada.

Boruto’s and Mitsuki’s matches are a bit more up in the air. Will they be against Tsubaki and Denki? Or will Tsubaki and Denki be next, with Boruto and Mitsuki facing each other in the final match?

Considering this does seem to be a filler arc, I’m now considering that both Boruto and Mitsuki get disqualified for not showing up. And hopefully, that still means we get Tsubaki vs. Denki.

Cat God Possession

The only thing there was to look forward to throughout the episode once it became clear that we weren’t really getting a fight was Wasabi’s legendary Monster Cat jutsu. I never doubted that she would pull it off. But, I was expecting a bit more from it.

The fact that it resembles a maneki-neko (those lucky Japanese cat statues) was severely underwhelming. I was hoping for something more along the lines of Matatabi, the Two-Tailed Beast. the Monster Cat just isn’t all that monstrous when it’s not attacking.

I guess the appearance of the Monster Cat jutsu takes more influence from the fact that it’s a “Cat God Summoning” than the name of the jutsu itself. In this context “Monster” could simply refer to the monstrous strength of the Cat God that’s summoned.

Let’s also be honest; we’re either never going to see this jutsu again, or it won’t be for another 75+ episodes. So, in reality, what the Monster Cat jutsu looks like isn’t all that important. The next time it shows up will be in another filler episode focusing on Team 15.

I guess while we’re on the topic of the Cat Cloak jutsu, I should also remind you that this is a summoning jutsu. However, instead of summoning a physical being, Wasabi summons its chakra and uses it in much the same way that a Jinchūriki uses the chakra of their Tailed Beast.

This is important because it seems to imply that Wasabi herself can’t train to make her various cloaks stronger. Instead, she would need to train up her summoning jutsu to allow her to summon stronger cat spirits.

And why does that matter? Because this Monster Cat is “legendary.” Summoning it might actually be the peak of the Cat Cloak jutsu.

Conclusion

What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 224? Were you hoping for a real fight between Wasabi and Iwabe? Who did you think was going to come out on top? And what are your thoughts on the Monster Cat jutsu? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 225 is available now.