Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 1×4 Review: A Ninjutsu Battle of the Sexes

This week’s episode of Boruto, titled “A Ninjutsu Battle of the Sexes”, was all about pitting girls against boys but in a fun way.

“A Ninjutsu Battle of the Sexes” opened with the young ninjas learning about the Summoning Jutsu. Immediately, the boys wanted to summon animals that were powerful regardless of how they looked while the girls wanted to summon something cuter like a cat or a dog.

The disagreements between the two sexes escalated when Salad and Boruto decided to buy the same thing for lunch. Even though those two are friends and team members in the manga, it’s fun to see that they couldn’t stand each other in the beginning. I’m all for characters becoming friends over time.

“A Ninjutsu Battle of the Sexes” was action-heavy and that’s why it felt shorter. Shino was the one who decided to hold a competition between the girls and the boys. I get that Boruto is going for a more comedic feel with some darker undertones, but Shino placing traps inside the Ninja Academy felt unwise and reflected poorly on his character. He’s supposed to be teaching the young ninjas, not enabling them to destroy the academy (which they managed to do in the end). That little girl with the explosive tags and her willingness to use them was awesome!

While this episode was a lot of fun, it did move the plot a bit further. I have no idea who or what the snake-like shadowy figure is supposed to be. I was surprised that Boruto was able to summon it. Does it mean that Boruto is cursed? We know that he has a cursed seal in the manga, but that’s supposed to take place at least a year or more after the anime’s current timeline.

Some thoughts and questions!

• I liked how Sakura’s feats were appreciated in this episode and she was placed next to Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikamaru. Though Sakura gets a lot of hate in the fandom, it’s nice to see her being considered as an important character in canon.
• Mitsuki will be appearing in the next episode and I can’t wait.
• When will we get to see the rest of the grownups? What has Sakura been up to?
• Is the shadowy figure related to Orochimaru?
• Chocho deciding to let the boys off the hook after Boruto saved her didn’t make sense to me because he caused the mess in the first pace. But then again, Chocho is awesome so I can’t really complain.

Did you watch Boruto this week? What did you think of “A Ninjutsu Battle of the Sexes”? 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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