“Boruto: Two Blue Vortex” Manga Issue 25 Review: Those Girls

Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issue 25, titled ‘Those Girls’, allowed the dust to settle after the action-packed previous chapter, with certain characters focusing on their journey ahead.

‘Those Girls’ opened with Konohamaru, Himawari, Chocho, Shikadai, and a fully recovered Inojin using the Thorn Bulb to release Moegi from her tree-prison while Boruto analyzed the situation from the sky. Even though she’s free, Moegi needed to rest up because the tree had been feeding on her chakra. According to Sakura, Moegi should feel fine soon enough.

As for Gaara, Shikamaru received a report that he and Shinki were going to be okay, too. There was no mention of Yodo. So, I think I just have to accept that the creative team really did decide to kill her off to give Salad the required push to tap into her Mangekyo Sharingan against Ryu. Sigh!

Coming back to Sakura, with Naruto and Sasuke being sealed away, I understand why she occasionally pops up as the sole member of the previous Team 7 still in play. However, in my opinion, Sakura’s cameos feel shallow. She could have easily been replaced with a nameless medical ninja during the hospital scene and it wouldn’t have changed a thing.

We know that the tree was absorbing Moegi’s chakra. She’s apparently been trapped for a couple of days and her chakra flow had already weakened. In contrast, freaking Sasuke’s been trapped inside a tree for a couple of years, and Sakura’s shown no concern to rescue her husband, especially after Hidari (sharing the same chakra signature as Sasuke) recently showed up inside the Hidden Leaf Village. I know Sasuke’s chakra reserves are massive, but come on now! It’s been years!

The narrative could bypass the issue by stating the tree doesn’t begin to sap a person’s chakra until a humanoid Shinju has been created. But even still, Sakura showing no concern whatsoever for Sasuke’s fate makes no sense to me. The same can be said for Salad. She knows Hidari’s a humanoid Shinju created from Sasuke. And yet she’s quite calm about wanting to ask Boruto about Sasuke’s whereabouts and finding a way to release Sasuke from his slumber. Heck! Salad and Sakura haven’t even had a single conversation about Sasuke, Hidari, and Boruto. Like I said, Sakura’s current presence in the story rings hollow, and Salad’s focus on aiding Boruto instead of wanting to rescue Sasuke feels weird.

The entire thing was exasperated with ‘Those Girls’ having Salad and Sumire clearing the air between them over Boruto (Salad! Your father is still out there!). After having defeated Ryu to save her teammates, Salad finally found the courage to accept that she harbored feelings for Boruto. Apparently, she thought constantly obsessing over Boruto and wanting to help him (even though he had to run away from the village) was a sign of weakness and made her unworthy of becoming the future Hokage. However, Salad now realized that wanting to help Boruto meant she had it in her to become a Hokage because she was looking out for her friend, or a crush, depending on how you looked at the situation between the two young ninjas.

Sumire, already being aware of Salad’s feelings for Boruto, appreciated the young Uchiha telling her the truth. Being someone who has had a crush on Boruto for years, Sumire wasn’t going to back down just because Salad shared similar feelings. In a sense, both girls were going to work together because they wanted to help Boruto instead of falling into the trope of experiencing jealousy over liking the same boy.

Now, am I disappointed that Salad (the freaking female lead of the story) has been given a primary objective of protecting her male love interest? Yes. However, knowing that Kishimoto isn’t the best at writing female characters, I’m at least glad the narrative didn’t make Sumire and Salad enemies.

With Eida not appreciating the two girls having such an emotional conversation about Boruto without her, I’m kind of looking forward to seeing her interact with them. The conversation might finally reveal why Salad and Sumire were immune to Eida’s ever-active power of making people fall in “love” with her.

I wonder how the narrative will handle Mitsuki’s feelings for wanting to assist Boruto, even though they went against Omnipotence. I don’t see Kishimoto being “brave” enough to properly address the queerness surrounding Mitsuki in such a manner, but I would like to at least get some kind of development with Mitsuki stuck between Boruto and Kawaki.

As for Himawari, I liked seeing her train with Baby Kurama inside the astral plane the two shared. Baby Kurama wanted Himawari to improve her chakra control. Also, according to Baby Kurama, Himawari was more similar to him and Jura than a typical Jinchuriki. Of course, we didn’t get any more details accompanying the Nine-Tails’ statement because the story has to keep certain questions unanswered for major reveals down the line.

The most interesting moment in ‘Those Girls’ for me was Boruto deciding to talk to Momoshiki in the astral plane they shared. Fans have been waiting for them to interact in Boruto Two Blue Vortex, and I think the latest chapter didn’t disappoint. Even though he used to be obsessed with taking over Boruto’s body, we saw a very different Momoshiki in chapter 25. This version of Momoshiki regretted stepping in to save Boruto’s life when Kawaki killed him. As of right now, Momoshiki was unable to take control of Boruto’s mind. That’s why he had no other choice but to wait for our young hero to die so he could be free of the astral prison and disappear into nothingness.

However, Boruto made an offer that piqued Momoshiki’s interest and pulled him out of his state of depression. According to Boruto, if Momoshiki helped him defeat Jura, Boruto was willing to give Momoshiki full control of his body and mind.

Seeing Boruto willingly make such a deal emphasized just how dangerous Jura was as a threat, even though our characters were taking a bit of a rest inside the village. We saw Boruto ensure Moegi was safe. He also observed Himawari meditating during her training with Kurama. He was clearly going to do whatever possible to protect the Hidden Leaf Village, and so Boruto was okay to sacrifice himself to ensure just that.

I mean, he likely had a contingency plan to guarantee a Momoshiki-possessed Boruto didn’t go on a rampage and destroy Earth. I wouldn’t be surprised if Boruto felt Kawaki and his teammates would be able to defeat Momoshiki if he ever took over his body once Jura was dealt with. But still, the scene between him and Momoshiki did make me feel for the titular character, considering how full of life and joyous Boruto was years ago.

What did you think of Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issue 25 ‘Those Girls’? What do you think Eida will say to Salad and Sumire?

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.

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