Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 1×200 Review – “Becoming a Student”

After the two-episode long fight with Delta, the Boruto anime returned to somewhat calmer pacing with episode 200, titled ‘Becoming a Student’. While I appreciated the moments showing Kawaki bond with Naruto and getting to relax a bit, of course our heroes are still in grave danger.

Even though Naruto was able to defeat Delta, the confrontation involved Kawaki having to sacrifice his right arm to protect Naruto and Himawari from Delta’s destructive eye beams. One of the things I liked about that particular battle was how the anime team did a better job than the manga to showcase that Naruto was in a league of his own. He could have ended his fight with Delta in a second if he wasn’t trying to gain information from her and the plot didn’t require certain things to occur. The moment he got serious, after Delta threatened Himawari’s life, I knew it was over for her.

With Delta’s destructive eye beams negating regenerative abilities, ‘Becoming a Student’ showed Katasuke explain how it would take a while to create a new arm for Kawaki, especially due to the fact the scientific ninja technology used by the Kara organization far succeeded the scientific progress the Hidden Leaf Village had made. It’s Naruto’s empathic nature that led to him suggesting Katasuke used the prosthetic arm he made for Naruto while they waited for Kawaki to get his own. However, in order for it to be attached to Kawaki, the arm had to be continuously infused with Naruto’s chakra. This meant that while Naruto’s asleep, the arm would detach from Kawaki.

Considering Sakura’s supposed to have perfect chakra control and her Byakugou Seal training would include continuously infusing chakra even during sleep, I wonder if she would have been able to keep the prosthetic attached to Kawaki if given the chance.

Anyway, the entire scene served as a great bonding moment between Kawaki and Naruto. It was the least Naruto could do to repay Kawaki for the role he played during the battle with Delta. Naruto also helped Kawaki understand the importance of chakra and how it’s used to forge connections with others. Kawaki’s interest in chakra and wanting to use ninjutsu is what resulted in Naruto accepting him as a student.

Naruto also mentioned how Kawaki reminded him of his younger self. And with how the episode closed with Kawaki getting to meet Kurama (because of sharing a link with Naruto’s chakra due to the prosthetic arm), get ready for Kurama telling Kawaki about Naruto’s lonely childhood and the hurdles he had to face.

I liked their training sessions. Kawaki, instinctively, accessed the power of his Karma seal against Naruto while sparring. The scene where Naruto took a Karma Energy Blast right in the face and it didn’t even faze him was cool. Kawaki’s got a lot of training to do to break such a habit and rely on using chakra instead.

The episode also focused on Kawaki growing closer to Boruto, with the two bonding over collectible ninja cards. He’s also been fixing Himawari’s vase he accidentally broke. Repairing the vase is more or less related to Kawaki readjusting to his new life and basically allowing a different version (a truer version) of himself to come forward. Yes, similar to the vase, there are cracks in Kawaki’s body and soul, but he’s changing for the better, and that’s what matters the most.

While Kawaki trained with Naruto, Boruto, and Mitsuki, I liked seeing Sasuke taking the time to train Salad. With her now having a two tomoe Sharingan, she’s ready to start practicing the Chidori. I think Salad, someone who dreams of becoming a Hokage, liked that it was a jutsu that Kakashi (a former Hokage) created and taught her father and now it was her time to learn it. The jutsu is all about being extremely fast and precise. Salad’s going to level up big time during her current training sessions. I can’t wait to see her use such an attack in actual battle.

As for the rest of the plot developments, Sasuke got called away on a secret mission by Sai. With how the anime’s been doing a great job fleshing out the events occurring in the manga, I hope to get some interesting information during Sasuke’s mission. 

Shikamaru asked Konohamaru to be part of the team keeping an eye on Kawaki. Even though Naruto’s very trusting of Kawaki, I liked Shikamaru (being Naruto’s advisor) state that Kawaki needed to be put under surveillance. Sometimes being too trustworthy can come with drawbacks and it made sense for Shikamaru to be cautious.

Jumping to the Kara side of things (yes, I know, a lot happed in ‘Becoming a Student’), Amado was able to run an in-depth check on Boro. From the past couple of episodes, we learned that Boro’s a cult leader. He’s all about reaching out to the needy and offering them something better (even if it’s a lie). I’m ready to learn more about Boro and his cult. As far as my opinion goes, I wouldn’t be against the anime doing an arc where the other young ninja teams go out to stop said cult. I want to see Shikadai, Chocho, Inojin, Iwabe, etc. get to do more in the overall narrative, especially because it’s been years since we saw them do anything in the manga.

A major reveal in this episode was the fact Delta had more than one body. Even though the version of Delta that attacked Naruto self-detonated after being defeated, the drone (containing all of the data) returned to Kara’s base of operations and worked its technological magic to activate another version of Delta. The Kara organization is made of cyborgs after all. So, it made sense Delta would have more than a single body to use.

She’s the one who told her team that Boruto’s got the Karma Mark from Momoshiki. Such news took everyone, including Jigen, by surprise and I’m looking forward to seeing what he will do next. Kashin Koji’s still in the Hidden Leaf Village. And while I feel the Sensory Team not being suspicious of his presence is an obvious plot convenience, I’m liking how the anime’s been slowly sowing seeds about his true nature and possible motives. 

What did you think of ‘Becoming a Student’?

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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