“Boruto: Naruto Next Generations” Manga Issue 75 Review: The Domain of Gods

Boruto manga chapter 75, ‘The Domain of Gods’, was a very information-heavy installment as Amado shared a lot about what he knew.

‘The Domain of Gods’ opened with Amado quickly explaining how Eida and Daemon’s powers worked. The panel where Kawaki decided to test Daemon’s ability to reflect attacks made for a fun scene. Kawaki’s clearly annoyed by Daemon and with Amado saying that Daemon’s reflective capabilities were dependent on certain factors, I think we will get to know about a counter to his powers soon enough. Also, we got to learn that Eida’s supposed to be 16 years old. I don’t know about you, but I really thought she was older because of how she’s been drawn.

One of the things that have confused me, and most of the fandom, about Eida and Daemon’s powers was how someone like Amado managed to create said abilities in the first place. Accelerated healing, shooting lasers from your eyes, absorbing chakra, etc., are powers that can be explained away by using the rules of science that exist in the Naruto/Boruto franchise. However, Daemon’s Reflection Power and Eida’s Senrigan are on completely different levels.

I liked how Naruto brought up this particular mystery in front of Amado. And boy, what an answer we got!

Turns out, there was an Otsutsuki name Shibai who went through so many evolution cycles over several millennia by eating Chakra Fruits that he ascended to Godhood. Amado used DNA from Shibai’s remains to implant the OP abilities in Daemon and Eida’s bodies.

‘The Domain of Gods’ really changed up what we already knew about Naruto/Boruto lore. According to Amado, Shibai had access to what Amado called Shinjutsu. Shibai was able to demonstrate abilities without needing to weave Ninjutsu hand signs. Shibai could generate storms with a wave of his hand and summon thunderbolts with an angry roar.

Shinjutsu was also separate from Sage Mode. Amado described Shinjutsu as being equivalent to divine miracles. Along with Eida’s Senrigan and Daemon’s Reflection Power, Code’s Claw Marks and Kawaki’s Sukunahikona and Daikokuten were all also Shinjutsu. Even the Karma Mark was Shinjutsu. Amado called Ninjutsu (accessible to humans) basically a pale imitation of Shinjutsu.

With Shibai being a God-like being, I liked how Shikamaru asked how someone like that could die or be killed. I don’t know about you, but I think Amado’s theory about Shibai deliberately leaving his physical body to access some higher dimension made sense. I think Shibai’s still out there somewhere.

Amado continued to share details about his motivation behind working for Jigen and how he later decided to work against the Kara organization. After the death of his daughter Akebi around 12 years ago (she died at the age of 24), Amado did everything he could to revive her. His plan involved creating a clone of Akebi and then downloading her consciousness into the clone.

We also finally got confirmation related to a longstanding fan theory. Yes, Delta’s a clone of Akebi!

The entire thing reminded me of how the current X-Men comics have been dealing with resurrecting dead mutants by creating new bodies and then downloading their memories into the bodies from Cerebro.

While Amado was able to create clones of his daughter (the reason behind there being more than one Delta) and download Akebi’s memories into the new bodies, he was unable to tap into Akebi’s humanity. Delta had Akebi’s memories but Delta was a stranger to Amado. That’s why Amado was so interested in using the Karma Mark to properly resurrect Akebi because it allowed for a person’s humanity/personality to be transferred into a new vessel.

Even though Amado turning against Jigen made sense (why work for someone who would destroy the world?), I couldn’t help but side-eye him as he continued to share details about what he knew. I don’t trust him wanting to use Kawaki’s Karma Mark to resurrect his daughter. I think there’s something else going on here.

He’s already implanted Akebi’s data into Kawaki’s Karma Mark without telling the young boy. So, would that mean that Kawaki should be able to tap into Akebi’s memories? Also, if Kawaki did transfer his Karma Mark onto a new body for Akebi, would Akebi be able to use the Karma Mark to access Otsutsuki abilities? Would Kawaki transferring the Karma Mark mean Kawaki would have to die in the process? Hmmm. I have a bunch of questions and I appreciated Shikamaru confirming Amado’s story by bringing in Katasuki and Eida.

Momoshiki didn’t trust Amado either and he also warned Boruto about him. Momoshiki agreed with what Amado shared about Shibai Otsutsuki, but according to Momoshiki, Eida’s ability to make people fall in love with her wasn’t Shinjutsu. And the fact that Amado didn’t mention this particular fact meant he shouldn’t be completely trusted. I do feel that Eida’s Charm Ability can be explained by in-world science by linking it to pheromones. But let’s see.

Another revelation involved how Boruto and Momoshiki’s thoughts were seeping into each other. And Momoshiki wasn’t a fan of that happening. He and Boruto are at risk of becoming the same person. So, here’s hoping our young hero finds a way to keep Momoshiki at bay. At least sharing such a strong connection with Momoshiki allowed Boruto to look into the near future.

From the couple of future-related panels that were shown, something big is about to happen. We got to see a group of random ninjas trying to find someone. There was a panel of Chocho, Inojin, and Shikadai being worried, with Shikadai saying how friends don’t do this… whatever this is supposed to mean. There’s a shot of Salad running and saying how Mitsuki found him, followed by a shot of Mitsuki activating Sage Mode and stating his anger. There’s also a shot of Kawaki tapping into his Karma Mark.

Now, from the look of things, it might feel like everyone was chasing after Kawaki. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the future events dealt with Boruto, under Momoshiki’s control, going rogue or deciding to run away from the village for some reason.

Also, with Boruto having seen Mitsuki’s Sage Mode in his vision, do you think he will ask Mitsuki about it?

While I found the future-centric panels to be interesting, in retrospect, they did come across as a gimmick, especially when there have been complaints about Boruto having pacing issues. I don’t know about you, but personally, I don’t consider such creative choices to be an example of strong writing. Having Boruto see the future felt like the creative team’s way of asking the readers to stick around because things might get more interesting soon.

Heck! The very first Boruto chapter opened with a flash-forward showcasing an older Boruto and Kawaki standing over a destroyed Konoha. In a sense, the current chapters are basically a flashback working its way to that particular older Boruto vs Kawaki moment we saw during the debut issue years ago. It’s just weird and again, feels gimmicky.

Some other thoughts and questions:

• The scenes involving Delta wanting to see Eida were funny. She’s down bad for Eida. Poor Sumire had to run all the way to where Mitsuki and Salad were stationed to shut Eida down.
• Yes, Mitsuki you should be wary of Eida’s powers to make other people fall in love with her. Compared to how he acted in the previous chapter, Mitsuki seems to be handling himself well… for now.
• The look Eida gave Boruto after he saw the vision of the future was interesting. I think she suspects something might be up. In a sense, their powers (Boruto can see the future and Eida can see the present and the past) do seem to be linked.
• I think one of the main themes in Boruto is likely going to be accepting death as a natural part of living.

What are your opinions about ‘The Domain of Gods’?

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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