“Boruto: Two Blue Vortex” Manga Issue 35 and Issue 36 Review: “Cute” and “Parental Love”

Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issues 35, titled ‘Cute’, and issue 36, titled ‘Parental Love’, featured a lot of talking and strategic moves that set up an upcoming confrontation in a very surprising manner.

With our character getting some much-needed downtime after their fight with Mamushi, ‘Cute’ opened with Jura and Hidari having a conversation about why Jura didn’t retrieve Mamushi’s Thorn Bulb from Konoha. It’s a question I had been asking ever since Jura decided not to appear to collect Ryu and Matsuri’s Thorn Bulbs even though Jura had enough time to do so. He did that for Hidari, so why not for the rest of the humanoid Shinju? Was Jura not worried or angry about losing his teammates?

Well, it turns out that Jura collected Hidari’s Thorn Bulb and brought him back to life because, as far as Jura’s concerned, the possibility of living in a world without Hidari in it made him sad.

I mean, that particular scene pricked up the ears of Naruto and Sasuke shippers around the globe. Hidari and Jura shared a lot of similarities with the iconic duo, and with ‘Cute’ having Jura straight up announcing his feelings to Hidari… yeah, I see what you are doing, Kishimoto and Ikemoto. In a perfect world, Naruto and Sasuke would have been endgame (romantically). But alas, we are left with humanoid Shinju, based on Naruto and Sasuke, trying to make sense of their “feelings” toward each other.

Even Eida, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, was like, WTF?!!!

If I were Eida, I would have been tuned in on those two 24/7. Now, kiss!!

It will be interesting to see how Jura and Hidari will react during battle with powerful opponents while also trying to keep each other safe.

The major narrative moments involved Salad and Boruto as well as Amado deciding to take matters into his own hands to forge a future he deemed necessary. Realizing that Code was targeting Salad to use as bait to lure him out, I liked seeing Boruto being honest with Salad about what needed to happen next. He wanted Salad to agree to his plan to allow herself to be kidnapped so Boruto could teleport wherever Code would take her. If they were fortunate enough, Code would take Salad to Jura and Hidari’s base.

It was a bold plan. And of course, Salad trusted Boruto. However, you could tell things weren’t going to go as expected (they never do!). But still, that particular interaction was about Boruto becoming more open with Salad instead of keeping her completely in the dark about his goals to defeat the humanoid Shinju. Boruto was willing to accept assistance, and that was a good thing, even though he wasn’t being 100% honest with Salad.

As for Amado, he continued to operate as a genius scientist who had no qualms about rocking the boat as long as his objectives were met. Not only did he create a program that allowed him to change Kawaki’s Attack and Defensive Stats on the fly, but he had also created copies of Kashin Koji’s toads.

While Kashin Koji was quite intelligent, he was no match for Amado’s cunning. I really enjoyed how Amado used Kawaki and Inojin to reach Kashin Koji to execute a surprise attack. Amado was going to learn more about Kashin Koji’s Pre-Science Ability, and there’s nothing that Kashin Koji could do about it.

‘Parental Love’ continued with Amado’s plan of kidnapping Kashin Koji and tampering with the Pre-Science Ability. Originally, Kashin Koji couldn’t control when he received visions of the future. It could be weeks before Kashin Koji got an update about a bunch of possible timelines. According to Amado, shortening the wait between the updates would prove beneficial in their fight against the humanoid Shinju. And that’s exactly what he did. Also, Amado, being Amado, found a way to see Kashin Koji’s visions for himself. That was a development I wasn’t expecting at all.

Amado’s explanation for taking such measures made for a nice moment. Whatever Amado had done and continued to do was to find a way to bring his deceased daughter back to life. Amado had also created Kashin Koji, Code, Eida, and the rest of the cyborgs to achieve that goal. Amado telling a captured Kashin Koji that he was doing everything for Kashin Koji’s benefit sounded like something straight out of a toxic parent’s handbook. I really enjoyed it because you could tell it was a load of BS and fit so well with the title of issue 36.

Kashin Koji did mention he had never seen a possible future where Amado’s daughter was reborn, especially with how Kawaki would always be murdered. That’s why I’m quite intrigued by how Amado will move the chess pieces around to increase the likelihood of Kawaki’s survival and ensure his daughter’s resurrection.

The political tension increased with Lord Kobu’s mission of proving Shikamaru was in cahoots with Boruto and the humanoid Shinju. Lord Kobu wanted to forcefully take away Shikamaru’s Hokage title and question him for betraying the village. I don’t think the subplot involving Lord Kobu was required, but oh well, I guess the creative team wanted to keep reminding readers that Boruto was still a wanted fugitive in Konoha.

A major development involved Boruto and Salad’s plan concerning Code. Theorizing that Code would attack her in a secluded place, Salad walked into an empty alleyway, and of course, Code appeared. I liked that Salad tried to put up a fight after realizing Code had taken away the tokens necessary for Boruto to teleport to Salad’s location. But it was too late.

We did see a focus on Salad’s MS in her left eye as Code pushed her through his teleportation bands. Fans are theorizing that she had managed to put Code under some kind of Genjutsu. However, I’m not sure about said fan theory. But having said that, the MS-focused panel could be the first step in Salad unleashing her Susanoo. She did mention in issue 35 that she was envious of Boruto’s ability to fly. And, depending on the version she gets, a full Susanoo would allow Salad to fly as well. Hmmm.

With Kashin Koji receiving an update and warning Boruto that his plan with Salad was bound to fail, let’s see how our titular lead manages to rescue Salad from being consumed by Hidari. Also, will Hidari’s feelings for Jura conflict with his feelings for Salad? Hmmm.

Did you read Boruto Two Blue Vortex manga issues 35 and 36? What did you think of them?

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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