Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 1×174 Review – “The Revival of the Divine Tree”

‘The Revival of the Divine Tree’ gave us an explanation behind how Victor was able to create a fake Divine Tree. It also set things up for some exciting battles in the next episode.

It was quite clear that Konohamaru and Mugino were incapable of stopping the Divine Tree on their own. So, Konohamaru’s plan to have Mugino take the Feudal Lord to safety and then alert the Hidden Leaf  Village made sense. With our main cast of characters not being as strong as Naruto, Sasuke, or Sakura, seeing them unable to get out of trouble with an attack or two has been quite interesting to watch.

Also, for certain fans who continue to say that Sakura’s useless because all she’s good at is healing people, I have to roll my eyes. I think Boruto Episode 174 served as a good example of how important it is for a team to include a Medical Ninja. If Konohamaru or Mugino knew Medical Ninjutsu, Mugino’s injury could have been healed.

And I have to mention that giving Konohamaru a weird nerf didn’t make any sense to me. The previous episode showed Kono’s arm being trapped by the tree’s Chakra-absorbing wrappings. So, Kono being unable to immediately move his arm, after he freed it, made sense. However, this episode had Mugino’s entire body being trapped by the wrappings. But after releasing himself, Mugino’s able to move around while Kono’s arm’s still just hanging on his side. The episode gave no explanation about why Mugino was okay, but Kono’s arm wasn’t.

I mentioned how this episode set the stage for upcoming fights. Kono’s ready to take on Victor while Brotuo and Salad will face Deepa again. I enjoyed Deepa laughing at our young heroes. While Boruto and Salad have gone through vigorous training, it’s obvious they still didn’t have what was required to fight Deepa.

As for Deepa’s future, he still hasn’t appeared in the manga. So, the fandom thinks he’ll die in the anime before the series adapts the ‘Ao’ arc from the manga. In my opinion, Deepa’s one of the better anime-only villains we have received. He clearly doesn’t care about human life. His main goal’s to experience unique tastes in the world. That’s why he’s interested in the Chakra Fruit the Divine Tree will create.

Now, I might be wrong, but I think he’s okay with eating people, too, just to get a sense of how the human body tasted when a person died while coping with fear. Deepa’s very creepy, and I’m here for it.

The biggest surprise in ‘The Revival of the Divine Tree’ involved freaking Orochimaru deciding to enter the situation. His first action was to disintegrate the ninja about to kill Mugino. I was hoping to see her in action, but I’m okay with her dying, too. I mean, there was no way such a character was going to stand a chance against someone like Orochimaru.

As for the masked figure accompanying Orochi, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s revealed to be Log. I think the anime team deliberately tried to throw viewers off by showing a height difference between Mugino and the masked figure. I think the anime team wanted the viewers to think the masked figure was Mitsuki. Frankly, I would be very surprised if Orochi brought his injured son to such a fight.

According to certain fans, Orochi will help Kono fight Victor. While that’s happening, Log will go and aid Boruto and Salad against Deepa. I’m ready to see some exciting battles in the next episode. And yes, I’m appreciative of the anime allowing an older (canonically queer) character like Orochi getting some time to shine because the manga doesn’t seem interested in focusing on anyone else except for Boruto, Sasuke, Naruto, and Kawaki.

Some other thoughts and questions:

• I think Victor creating a Divine Tree in his lab by using a piece of the original Divine Tree (from the Fourth Great Ninja War) made sense.
• Who do you think will kill Deepa?
• Mr. Anato’s wife better not die!
• I liked how Konohamaru shared information about the Divine Tree with Boruto and Salad. Seeing him not being able to recognize it sooner was beginning to look weird.

What did you think of ‘The Revival of the Divine Tree’?

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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