Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 288

Seeing Through Time and Space

In Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 288, we learned a lot about Eida. Specifically, we learned what abilities she has and what her goal is. To start this review, I want to first take a look at her abilities.

The most unique ability Eida has is her knowledge of everything. But, how exactly does this work? Is she simply a genius? Not quite. The way she’s able to know everything is that she can see everything that happens everywhere. As long as something exists at the same time as Eida, she can see it.

As an example, she uses this power to see what Kawaki’s up to, and she sees him fighting with Boruto. When she does this, we see one of her eyes change to look like outer space. But, she implies that this ability is actually active at all times. So, how does that work?

If Eida can see everything all the time, why does she have to do something specific to see Kawaki? My guess is that’s just how she zeroes in on a particular person or place. If she doesn’t do that, she sees everything — like she’s looking at CCTV footage of the whole world at once.

Now, the other part of this ability has to do with time. Eida can’t only see the present. She can also see the past (as long as she was alive). So, if she wants to see what Naruto was doing the day she was born, she can.

As far as we know, Eida’s eyes are artificial, not natural, dōjutsu implanted by Amado. But, that’s not the only ability he gave her. He also gave her the ability to charm anyone who sees her. And, this charm ability is always active.

Training to Defeat Code

In the middle of the episode, we get to see Team 7 training to defeat Code. But, their chakra control training session goes gets derailed thanks to Kawaki. He’d rather be doing combat training because he thinks that’s what’s most important.

There are 3 important things to take away from this scene. The first is that Kawaki wants to get stronger at any cost. That seems very similar to how Sasuke felt as a teenager. But, the difference is that Sasuke wanted power for revenge. Kawaki wants power so that he can protect people.

Next, Kawaki said something interesting during this fight. He said he’d defeat Boruto here so Boruto can’t fight (and lose to) Code later.

Finally, during the fight, Boruto cuts Kawaki’s forehead protector in half. This seems to be foreshadowing his break from the shinobi path that we know will happen.

So, what does this all mean? Well, first, Kawaki’s desire to get stronger no matter the cost could be how he regains his Karma. In my Episode 287 review, I theorized that Code could implant his Karma onto Kawaki. But, what if Kawaki actually gets Amado to reactivate his Karma?

Also, maybe I’ve been thinking of the opening series the wrong way this entire time. Kawaki might never swap sides and become an enemy of the Hidden Leaf Village. Instead, what we saw in Episode 1 was Kawaki protecting the village in his own way.

During that fight, he tells Boruto that he’s going to send Boruto to where he sent the Seventh Hokage. But, what if that doesn’t mean killing Boruto? What if that literally means sending Boruto somewhere out of the way so Kawaki can fight Code on his own?

Eida’s Love

Eida’s ultimate goal has to do with her ability to charm anyone who comes in contact with her. According to her, there are only 2 kinds of people who aren’t affected by her charm — blood relatives and Ōtsutsuki.

Code is a failed Ōtsutsuki, so he’s still susceptible to Eida’s charm. And this fact is pretty obvious considering how cringe Code acts when he’s around Eida. But, because Isshiki was an Ōtsutsuki, he was immune to Eida’s charm. This is how he was able to order her destruction. Unfortunately for Isshiki, though, Boro was not immune.

Now, the problem for Eida regarding her charm ability is that she can’t tell if people actually like her. Everyone she interacts with loves her. So, how does she know if they really like-like her? She doesn’t — unless they’re an Ōtsutsuki. And that’s where Kawaki comes in.

That’s right, Eida’s ultimate goal is to have a romantic relationship with Kawaki. I really thought she was a cool character up until this point. Well, her charm ability was never that cool. I’d rather it be that she can win people over by using her galaxy brain to tell them what they want to hear.

However, now that we know all she wants is love, she’s kind of lame. That’s not a very engaging villain origin story. But, what’s most disappointing is that she’s not going to be able to carry Code now. Code is a terrible character. I wanted Eida to make up for that.

I guess the last thing I want to bring up about Eida is her comment about blood relatives. Why would she say this? Could the kid we see with her and Code in the OP be related to her?

Conclusion

What do you think of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Episode 288? Do you like Eida’s ability to see through time and space? Do you agree with my new assessment of Kawaki’s actions in Episode 1? And does Eida’s goal make you like her less? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 289 is available now.