Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 1×292 & 293 Review – “Hunger” & “Farewell”

After delivering a whole lot of action and emotion in episode 292, ‘Hunger’, and episode 293, ‘Farewell’, the Boruto anime has gone on an indefinite hiatus.

With Momoshiki taking over Boruto’s body, ‘Hunger’ was all about BoruShiki making Code realize that he was no match for a veteran Otsutsuki. The animation team did an awesome job of visualizing how powerful BoruShiki’s attacks were. From the massive Rasengans to the hand-to-hand choreography, everything looked amazing. I really enjoyed the scene where Code tried to runaway away with Kawaki, but BoruShiki put a stop to that by using the Rasendan! So good!

Even though BoruShiki was beating up Code, it didn’t mean that he and Kawaki were allies. To BoruShiki, Kawaki was food for the Ten-Tails so it could produce the Chakra Fruit for Momoshiki to eat and destroy the planet in the process. There was no way BoruShiki was going to let Code kidnap Kawaki. Also, BoruShiki made it very clear that he needed Kawaki alive, but that didn’t mean that BoruShiki wouldn’t break Kawaki’s limbs if the young man didn’t cooperate.

As I have mentioned in my reviews before, Momoshiki is a very messy character. And all of that messiness escalated when Naruto and Shikamaru entered the battlefield. BoruShiki hadn’t forgiven what Boruto and Naruto did to him during the events of Boruto: Naruto The Movie. With Naruto unable to move (to save Shikamaru’s life), Code had given Momoshiki the perfect opportunity to use Boruto’s body to kill Naruto. A son being forced to kill his own father! Momoshiki lives for the drama, and I’m here for it!

Seeing Naruto’s life in danger in such a manner is what led to Kawaki activating the Karma Mark. It’s revealed that Amado was never going to give Kawaki a choice in the matter. Amado had already implanted the Karma Mark inside Kawaki when he replaced Kawaki’s arm. Kawaki just needed a push to activate the Karma Mark and use it as a weapon. And the possibility of Naruto dying did the trick.

BoruShiki vs Kawaki was so much fun to watch. Even Naruto was speechless as Kawaki demonstrated how easily he could tap into the Karma Mark to utilize Isshiki’s attacks. ‘Hunger’ gave us one of the top fights in the Naruto/Boruto franchise.

The biggest moment in ‘Hunger’ dealt with Boruto finally regaining control of his body to tell Kawaki to go ahead with the contingency plan they had talked about. It’s a fact that BoruShiki is a threat to all of humanity. It’s also a fact that Naruto’s unable to face such a threat because Momoshiki currently resided inside his son. That’s why someone like Kawaki had to step up to accomplish the task of ending Boruto’s life and saving everyone.

I liked the scene where Boruto showcased his resolve. He was ready to die to protect his father and the rest of the world. And he knew that only Kawaki could grant his wish because of everything he’s gone through due to the Karma Mark and his devotion to protecting Naruto. Yes, Boruto and Kawaki were brothers. But Momoshiki had to be dealt with once and for all.

The anime team really decided to elicit the right type of feelings from the audience in ‘Farewell’ as the episode featured flashbacks of Naruto holding Boruto as a baby for the first time, seeing him grow up, and more. Naruto couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed. I liked the scene where a shocked Naruto thought he was experiencing a bad dream. He kept asking Boruto’s dead body to wake up. So good!

And while I understood Shikamaru trying to get Naruto to step back into his role as Hokage and mourn Boruto’s death later, I think it made sense that Naruto, as a character, was way too emotional to think rationally after such a traumatic moment. There was no way Naruto would have the strength to get up and aid Kawaki against Code.

After Code got thrown around by BoruShiki in ‘Hunger’, Kawaki also decided to teach Code a lesson in ‘Farewell’. The scene where Kawaki used his ability to shrink Code’s Claw Marks so he couldn’t retreat made me laugh. Code was in real trouble. Kawaki was ready to kill him, too.

Even though Code’s not the smartest villain out there, at least he was smart enough to think of a way to save himself from Kawaki. The moment when he pulled out a sleeping Daemon from one of his Claw Marks to deflect Kawaki’s attacks took me by surprise, even though I had watched the fight play out in such a manner in the manga.

With Code finding the opportunity to run away and Kawaki being knocked unconscious, ‘Farewell’ featured the most expected to developments. Yes, Boruto’s still alive. I mean, the anime is named after him.

We got an entire explanation about how Momoshiki decided to use the remaining parts of the Karma Mark to reconstruct Boruto’s heart and lungs. However, the drawback was that Momoshiki couldn’t fully resurrect using Boruto’s body anymore. But it was a sacrifice Momoshiki was willing to make because if Boruto had died, Momoshiki’s soul would have disappeared. Also, it was a one-time thing. Momoshiki won’t be able to bring back Boruto the next time he died. (Unless the plot demanded another similar reveal, I would assume).

With Boruto and Kawaki back in Konoha, ‘Farewell’ showed the brothers sharing their goals for the future. Kawaki was still going to keep an eye on Boruto. If there was even a hint of Boruto becoming a threat to Naruto again, Kawaki was willing to kill him… again.

As for Boruto, he decided to prove to Momoshiki that the prophecy he saw about how Boruto was going to lose everything soon was false. Well, good luck with that, Boruto! You’re going to need it!

Momoshiki, who is more than 1000 years old, is really out there fighting with a 12-year-old child. I can’t!

Some other thoughts

• Eida’s not in the mood to play around with Code. If he did something to hurt Kawaki or she thought Code wasn’t of use anymore, she will dispose of him.
• I get that Code should have killed Shikamaru the moment Naruto moved to save Boruto from one of Kawaki’s attacks, but hey, plot!
• Naruto’s willingness to support Kawaki after he had just killed Boruto in front of him goes to show that Naruto meant it when he said that Kawaki was part of the Uzumaki household.
• While I understood why the final moments of ‘Farewell’ had the scene between Boruto and Kawaki, to me, it kind of felt out of place. There was something off about the way the two interacted with each other.

What did you think of ‘Hunger’ and ‘Farewell’? When do you think the Boruto anime will return?

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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