Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 1×242 Review – “Seiren”

Boruto anime episode 242, ‘Seiren’, gave us Kagura and Boruto teaming up against a tricky opponent. It also laid the groundwork for Ikada to return to the Funato Clan.

With the war between the Hidden Mist Village and the Funato Clan having begun, I understood why Boruto didn’t want to leave Kagura. Boruto is not about abandoning friends. But as Salad and Kawaki put it, as ninjas from the Hidden Leaf Village, they weren’t allowed to intervene unless ordered by Konoha.

Their current mission was to rescue and bring back the kidnapped Konoha scientists. Nothing more. However, with how things developed in ‘Seiren’, you can tell Boruto and his crew will stay to assist Kagura. And I’m excited to see how the current arc will progress.

I am wondering about the Funato Clan’s plan, though. What are they going to do if Chojuro decides to ask the other Kages for help? The Funato Clan doesn’t have the power to go against such a combined force. Naruto and Sasuke alone would be too much for them to handle.

Similarly, Seiren wanting to kill Boruto made me chuckle. She knew he was Naruto’s son and yet she still wanted to outright kill him. Due to being the daughter of the Funato Clan leader, I thought she would have been sensible enough to leave Boruto alone. Murdering Boruto would be an act of war against Naruto and we all know the Funato Clan won’t be winning that battle.

Having said that, I enjoyed Kagura and Boruto vs Seiren. Her abilities allowed her to release a dark fog from her body. The cover helped her snipe away at her opponents with ease by using chakra arrows. I liked the design of her weapon. It resembled a stingray and she could use it as a harp to detect enemies through echolocation. Not only that, playing certain notes allowed her to control the chakra arrows, making them change trajectory mid-air for surprise attacks.

While Seiren wasn’t the most powerful villain Boruto had ever faced, she was definitely a troublesome opponent to go up against. She was the type of opponent who couldn’t be defeated without an effective battle strategy.

I think the writers did a good job of handling Kagura and Boruto as a team against Lady Funato. Boruto, being a smart ninja, used the sound of natural thunder to disrupt her echolocation and aided Kagura in finding an opening to land a good hit. Boruto might appear reckless to some, but he’s always operating on some kind of plan.

Kagura’s short battle with Funamushi was also handled well. Funamushi’s ‘Imminent Danger’ attack reminded me of Kiba‘s attack pattern. I liked how Kagura made quick work of Funamushi once he realized Boruto’s life was in danger. Kagura is quite strong. He just needs to showcase it more. My only gripe would be Kagura going to help Boruto before locking up Funamushi. But I guess we’ll need to chalk that up to plot convenience because otherwise, Funamushi wouldn’t have been able to run away with an injured Seiren near the end of the episode.

Funamushi’s ability to summon a swarm of leeches to control other people (as long as the leeches sucked their blood) was interesting. I would have loved for the episode to show Salad and Mitsuki try and subdue a leech-controlled Kawaki. But oh well.

Another thing I liked about this episode was the little moments showcasing Salad performing her duties as Team Captain. Even Denki, a Team Captain himself, listened to her. Salad is clearly under a lot of pressure and I hope the upcoming episodes explore her feelings about being Team Captain.

Speaking about upcoming episodes, while I’ve been enjoying the small battles, I hope we get some major confrontations soon. I want to see our heroes going all out against the Funato Clan. I want the fights to be big and explosive! Fingers crossed Mitsuki and Salad get an enjoyable battle sequence.

As for Hebiichigo’s betrayal in the previous episode, of course, Kagura forgave her. He’s just that kind of person. I don’t think she will try and assassinate him again. Also, yay to Metal Lee assisting Hebiichigo when she got attacked by a leech-controlled ninja.

I’m looking forward to seeing what Ikada will do next. Even though he walked away from his family to pursue his dreams of making ships, he still cared for his sister. With Funamushi telling Ikada that Seiren got injured battling Kagura and Boruto, a Boruto vs Ikada confrontation is inevitable. I’m interested in seeing Ikada’s special ability. Also, it’s clear that even if the two will need to fight soon, Boruto will use his Talk-No Jutsu specialty to help Ikada come back to the good side.

What did you think of ‘Seiren’?

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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