Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 1×188 Review – “Awakening”

While a bit slow in progressing the overall plot, ‘Awakening’ gave us information about Kawaki’s past and how he found himself being part of the Kara organization. 

The latest Boruto anime episode showed Jigen buying Kawaki from his biological father. We didn’t get all of the details behind Jigen being interested in Kawaki. However, it’s clear that Kawaki, as a kid, got experimented on by the Kara organization against his will. Ever since he found himself being controlled by the Kara organization, Kawaki’s been trying to run away. The blimp crashing, in the current timeline, gave him the perfect opportunity to finally be free of Kara.

‘Awakening’ had Boruto and his team find an unconscious Kawaki and trying to figure out what to do with him. I didn’t like the episode basically repeating said scene because we already saw quite a lot of it last week. As I said, the plot progression slowed down.

As for Kawaki, I understood him not trusting the Hidden Leaf Village ninjas. As far as he’s concerned, he just wants to be left alone. But, of course, Boruto and the rest couldn’t allow that. At least, Kawaki told Boruto that the mark on both their palms is called Karma. The writers also showed the two sharing a connection because of the Karma mark. I’m looking forward to seeing that explored more in the anime.

Another thing I liked about ‘Awakening’ is how the writers fleshed out Kawaki’s background with the Outer member Garo during a flashback. Both of them were experimented on by the Kara organization. However, Garo’s body couldn’t handle the experience. He lost his arms and got fitted with limbs made of Scientific Ninja Tools. He’s also tasked with taking care of a kid Kawaki. A little altercation between the two led to Kawaki activating his Karma mark and burning Garo’s face. The particular moment helped explain why Garo’s not a fan of Kawaki in the present and wants to take him down.

With Boruto learning about the Karma mark, the current episode also had Delta (who decided to come to the location with Garo to capture Kawaki and keep an eye on Kashin Koji) learn about Boruto having said mark on his palm. Without spoiling things for anime-only fans, such a revelation is going to have an impact on Kara’s plans.

What did you think of ‘Awakening’?

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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