Title: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Vol. 20
Author: Masahi Kishimoto (Creator), Mikio Ikemoto (Art), Ukyo Kodachi (Story)
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Digital
Pages: 216
Genre: Shonen, Battle
Publication Date: August 6, 2024
The Story
We are finally here at the 20th and final volume of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations; however, my review is in the standard format rather than just starting with Final Thoughts and recapping my experience. Why? Because after 20 long volumes, this is only the end of part one! The series continues with Boruto: Two Blue Vortex so nothing is over yet!
Here, all hell breaks loose! That’s about the best way to sum things up. Code is using parts of the ten tails to build himself an army of 1,000 “Claw Grimes.” While he’s sitting back and plodding, Eida wants to talk to Sarada and Sumire about girl stuff… mainly what she’s feeling inside of her chest when she thinks about Kawaki. This cute little moment is the catalyst that causes everything to spiral out of control. While they are talking, Boruto receives a message from Momoshiki. He’s talking to him through thoughts and Kawaki catches on and accuses Momoshiki of plotting something. He runs off and pays a visit to Naruto, asking him to talk.
Kawaki has made up his mind. He informs Naruto that he plans to rid the world of every last Otsutsuki… including Boruto. He declared war on Boruto and, of course, Naruto isn’t going to sit back and take that lightly. Kawaki seals Naruto and Hinata away and disappears. The search for Kawaki is on; however, when Eida joins the search, she comes across Kawaki and then suddenly… well… I’ll let you read the rest for yourself but everything about what happened to Boruto, why he and Kawaki were facing off in an ultimate duel at the very beginning of this series gets explained… even right down to the way Boruto looks.
See you in Part 2!
Characters
Typically, in a final volume, no development is to be had as everything is meant to wrap up but not here! There is still a LOT of character development happening even as part one comes to a close!
First off… congratulations on silently confessing your love, Sarada! Sometimes, words don’t need to be said as her actions and reactions to the news of what happened to Boruto were enough to confirm that she truly has feelings for him. I’m not going to say much here but… the Uchiha Clan and feelings have had a history… if you get my drift.
Kawaki going rogue could have been seen from a mile away. We were just waiting for the moment for it to happen and now that it has, it did not disappoint… much. I will say that it felt very abrupt for him to jump up, grab Boruto, and get enraged by him still having an Otsutsuki inside of him when Momoshiki’s been there this whole time. Like… it was a bit on the corny side for Kawaki to just now notice it when Boruto hasn’t exactly made it a secret. Nevertheless, Kawaki’s war on the Otsutsuki has some merit and even he curses the fact that one of them is inside Boruto. He’s not doing this to Boruto for any particular reason aside from just trying to eliminate all of the Otsutsuki from the world. Even Kawaki wishes there was another way which is a nice take because it doesn’t truly make Kawaki evil. There is some benevolence there; however, his decision to wage this war is based on the sole reason of it being for the greater good and sometimes, painful sacrifices need to be made. He doesn’t want to make them but he knows there is no other way. Nothing is better than a villain that has a legit reason to do what they are doing.
Eida is still a mixed bag. It’s a bit hard to go into specifics because it plays spoiler to a lot of things but I truly don’t believe she is evil. Momoshiki even explains things and it makes you realize that her power truly is a curse that she regrets. Her only desire is for her to be with Kawaki; however, despite there, there’s a moment at the end of the volume that truly shows that she is remorseful for everything. Makes you wonder what kind of role she is going to play in the sequel but it was interesting. Daemon on the other hand is still a brat that needs to get smacked a few times.
I still don’t trust Amado. It seems like every time he opens his mouth, another convenient solution falls out of it that just so happens to be withheld until the perfect moment. I still don’t buy the story about his daughter but this is what’s making him a great character. It keeps you guessing if he’s genuine or not and that mystique is keeping him interesting. If he is truly pulling the strings, it will validate your suspicions but if he has been truthful this entire time, it’ll surprise you when everything is all said and done. The worst outcome is if his character has been carrying a death flag this whole time and he dies before we even know the truth about him or not. To never have our thoughts validated… that would be the best ending for a character like Amado!
Final Thoughts
What a finale for the first part! It shows just how fast things can spiral out of control and I have never seen the deck stacked against a single character quite like this in a long time! The only thing that bugs me is that while the circumstances are much different, this feels like another time skip training arc which is exactly what they did at the end of Naruto before going into Shippuuden. Jiraiya’s not here this time around, though but someone else is and if Boruto is going to get stronger, he’s paired up with that perfect someone.
The first volume is going to be interesting to see how everything is handled and while I haven’t read it, I know it did come out in Japan and, of course, the internet is the internet and I did get a glimpse of what is to come but knowing that I was going to eventually pick the series up, I resisted the temptation to spoil myself completely. So, I do know there is a time skip but I don’t know what happens exactly after it except for one thing and I felt that this volume did a nice job of teasing that one thing when Daemon had a run-in with Himari. How it pertains to Himari and how any of it is even possible is something I have yet to spoil myself on but I am looking forward to it.
As for part one… there were a lot of similarities between this and Naruto. I can’t say that the entirety of the series felt original as it did feel like a copy/paste based on what worked the first time around but it’s not as if they were playing it safe on purpose. I could see that the nostalgia moments were done with a purpose and there was enough original story here to make this feel like a true sequel rather than a rehashing with new characters. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Overall Score for Part 1: 4/5
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This item was provided for review by VIZ Media.
