Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 1×277 Review – “Disappearing Lives”

Boruto anime episode 277, ‘Disappearing Lives’, had the characters go through the second experiment. Of course, even more deaths occurred.

‘Disappearing Lives’ opened with Boruto and the rest of the prisoners waiting for Ouga to share details about the second experiment. Turns out, Ouga’s not giving the prisoners any food or water. Naturally, paranoia struck the group as they started questioning each other’s true intentions. They were strangers, after all. Even though Boruto’s a very trusting person, it does backfire on him during certain situations.

That’s why, in a sense, it was fortunate someone like Rokuro was around. He was able to sniff out a mole amongst the prisoners. That particular scene also revealed that Rokuro was able to take control of another person’s brain by sending some kind of bug through their ear. With a mole dying, I still think there’s one more mole left. I continue to side-eyeing Kiseru because of how easily he was able to build a ladder during the first experiment.

Rokuro also called out Boruto for being too optimistic about how the prisoners should proceed. Even if a bunch of people decided to work together, there was no guarantee they would stick with their initial decision when their only choice ends up being putting themselves in danger to save another person’s life.

The second challenge was called ‘Light’ and it involved the prisoners carrying a candle each. The person would die if the flame on their candle went out. Ouga did give the remaining prisoners some leeway, though. You could give your candle to another person for a bit. But if the flame of your candle went out while the other person was holding it, you would still die. He also gave each prisoner a lantern to hold their candles in. What a thoughtful villain!

To make things tougher, Ouga had the prisoners walk through some pipes while being careful not to let the water touch the flames. After that, he had them walk through a desert-like terrain with increased temperatures and a sandstorm.

Both areas led to Boruto encouraging teamwork for his group to survive. I liked the scene where Boruto decided that the ninjas should give their candles to the civilians. And while the ninjas protected the civilians from the incoming sandstorm, the civilians would protect all of the candles.

Even though Boruto’s plan worked, I liked how the writers raised the stakes by making Boruto not realize that higher temperatures meant the candles would burn quicker. Yes, Boruto being careful and treading slowly during the experiment made sense. However, he needed to strike the proper balance between caution and haste to ensure survival.

The final stage of the experiment helped the audience learn a bit more about certain characters. With the two elevators taking too long to reach the pre-determined floor, the prisoners were faced with a decision. It was time for them to steal each other’s candles to make sure their candle didn’t run out of wax before the elevator stopped.

It was obvious that the civilians who had decided to enter the elevator Rokuro and the nameless ninja girl were in were going to die. Rokuro didn’t hesitate for a second to kill and steal the candle being held by the young woman Shamo was crushing on. So, we know that he’s indeed pure evil. The nameless ninja girl, on the other hand, didn’t want to kill two people to ensure her and her employer’s survival. There’s a difference between killing your opponent during a fight and taking an innocent life. I’m looking forward to seeing if the nameless ninja girl will side with Boruto down the line to atone for what she did.

As for the elevator that Boruto, Shamo, Namua, Yatsume, and Kiseru were in, of course, Boruto came up with a plan to ensure they all survived without needing to kill anyone. Boruto played by Ouga’s rules but found a unique way to combine everyone’s candles and hold on to one single flame. Boruto’s genius even surprised Ouga.

At this point, the only civilian alive is the nameless girl ninja’s employer. And with three more experiments to go, I’m looking forward to seeing who will die next. I wouldn’t be surprised if Namua died to protect the others. But let’s see.

With Boruto fighting for his life due to a deranged scientist, ‘Disappearing Lives’ finally showed Salad and Mitsuki trying to figure out why their teammate hadn’t returned yet. Turns out, it’s been five days since the train that Boruto was on had disappeared. While the police were investigating the incident, Salad and Mitsuki took matters into their own hands. They found out that an employee working at the station that day had quit and the police couldn’t get ahold of him.

While I understood why the employee was feeling so much guilt because of what he had done to earn a lot of money, I think the way he ran and basically led Salad and Mitsuki to the tunnel where the train disappeared was a bit too convenient. Everything just worked out in their favor.

Even though the employee triggered an explosion that blocked the tunnel, at least, Salad and Mitsuki know where they should head next.

Also, why didn’t Kawaki accompany Salad and Mitsuki during their investigation? Isn’t Kawaki concerned about Boruto not arriving back in Konoha yet? Kawaki’s absence felt weird to me. Fingers crossed that he will return to assist Salad and Mistuki in the upcoming episodes.

Another scene that I really liked involved Salad letting Mitsuki know that Sasuke had indeed sent her a letter about heading off on a new journey without Boruto. He even told Salad about the area where he parted ways with Boruto. Yes, to my episode 275 fan theory about Sasuke sending his Senri Hawk to Konoha and Salad and Mitsuki growing worried about Boruto’s absence coming true.

Certain fans really need to understand Sasuke better as a character instead of simply stating that he’s a bad father and husband.

While I would be okay with Boruto managing to survive all of the experiments on his own, I wouldn’t mind Salad and Mitsuki (and even Kawaki, if possible) appearing at the very last second to lend a hand.

What did you think of ‘Disappearing Lives’? Who will die next?

Let us know.

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.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary