Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 1×256 Review – “The Ultimate Recipe”

Boruto anime episode 256, ‘The Ultimate Recipe’, took a lighthearted approach after the intense Funato Clan arc. For those of you who don’t know, I enjoy episodes that focus on Chocho.

The previous episode concluded the Funato Clan arc by revealing, much to Boruto’s relief, that Ikada wasn’t going to face any harsh punishment due to Boruto’s friendship. We also got to learn that Kawaki didn’t really kill Araumi. Even though I think he should have. Anyway, here’s hoping Ikada appears soon down the line for a friendly reunion with Boruto and the rest.

Coming to ‘The Ultimate Recipe’, it opened with Chocho and Inojin being impressed by how Boruto and his team were able to make it back to the village in one piece after facing the Funato Clan and experiencing a war-like scenario. Team 7 has been able to complete some high-level missions. So, it’s understandable for the rest of the young ninjas to feel inadequate, especially ninjas like Inojin and Chocho.

Those two, in my opinion, are in a very different place than their peers. Due to Shikadai being a Chunin and quite intelligent like his father Shikamaru, he gets sent out on missions with other capable ninjas, leaving the Genin-level Chocho and Inojin with nothing to do until he returns to resume his duties as their team captain.

I liked how ‘The Ultimate Recipe’ had Chocho and Inojin wondering if they were holding Shikadai back because they failed to become Chunin and weren’t as capable as Shikadai. Perhaps Shikadai would be able to advance faster with different teammates? Feeling useless while being around very skilled people is quite human. I appreciated how the writers handled Chocho and Inojin’s emotions and allowed them to be in a more accepting place by the end of the episode.

With Shikadai being given a mission to apprehend a group of thieves interested in stealing important scientific data from the Hidden Leaf Village, Inojin and Chocho got tasked with finding a rogue ninja, named Jingo, inside the village.

A misunderstanding had caused Jingo to be declared a wanted criminal. Turns out, he had been pardoned and was simply collecting numerous items and ingredients around the village to create the best ramen ever. Jingo’s goal helped Chocho and Inojin deal with their feelings of inadequacy. I think the narrative lesson was that everything and everyone had a particular role to play. Effective teamwork came down to how each member complimented one another, regardless of whether or not the individual members were on the same skill level.

Yes, Shikadai had become a Chunin and was considered a valuable asset by Konoha. However, that didn’t mean that Chocho and Inojin didn’t bring something unique as part of Team 10. Their personalities and abilities worked well together, enabling Team 10 to be quite formidable when it came to showcasing teamwork-focused strategies.

With a new opening sequence debuting in ‘The Ultimate Recipe’ and featuring Boruto sparring with Team 10, I hope that’s a sign that we will get more episodes highlighting Chocho, Shikadai, and Inojin. I like the humor that’s demonstrated whenever Chocho’s onscreen.

Jingo’s love for ramen being developed due to Teuchi‘s kindhearted nature was a nice callback to how Teuchi used to feed and took a stand for kid Naruto decades ago.

Also, I think that the mystery ramen critic Jingo wanted to impress to boost the business of his ramen shop should have been revealed to be Naruto.

What did you think of the more scaled-back nature of ‘The Ultimate Recipe’? Do you want more episodes focusing on Team 10?

Let us know.

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Side-Note: The particular scene below, from the new opening sequence, reminded me of the hilarious The Real Housewives of Konoha series on YouTube.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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