Boruto: Naruto Next Generations – Part 3 Review

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations Set 3 contains Episodes 27 – 39 of the series and picks up right from where the last set left us, and that’s away from our usual setting of the Hidden Leaf Village and instead in the Hidden Mist Village. Boruto and his classmates are on a field trip to this land, a land whose village was known as an “evil” breeding ground for deadly assassins, and whose leaders (the Mizukage) never played well with other villages. The current Mizukage however is trying to follow in his predecessor’s footsteps and change the perception, which is why he’s accepted the visit from his village’s former rival.

This all seems to be going well as Boruto has acted like his father and drawn a bunch of people around him, specifically Kagura, a Hidden Mist ninja with such talent that he is due to inherit one of the legendary swords of the fabled “Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist”. Sadly, though unsurprisingly, there is a splinter group within the village that want to see their home’s old reputation and ways return, and wouldn’t you know it, they’ve chosen now to put their plan into action. Shizuma is the leader of this group and he soon gets his hands on the other six legendary swords and creates his own “New Seven Swordsmen of the Mist”, trying to convince Kagura that heartless assassination is his destiny.

Now I don’t need to tell you how this story ends, Naruto / Boruto convincing someone to break free of their proposed destiny isn’t a new idea to the franchise, but it does lead to some enjoyable action before the story arc comes to a close in Episode 31. We then get a couple of throwaway comedy episodes that, if this were based on a manga, you’d call “filler”, before we get to Boruto and his pals coming to the end of their school days and having to take a ninja graduation exam. This exam sees the students having to face off against their teacher Shino, the now overweight Anko, and Kakashi, and as the cover shows, it includes a spin on Kakashi’s old “grab the bell off me” challenge from way back at the start of Naruto’s journey. While “Boruto and his friends fail the test and have to become regular members of society” clearly wasn’t where the story was going to end up, it was still entertaining.

Little Glee Monster’s “OVER” is your new opening from the first episode on this set, and carries on through to the end of this set (and beyond). Likewise “I Keep Running” by MELOFLOAT debuts as an Ending on Episode 27 though this time comes to an end on Episode 39, leaving us a new ending for the first episode on Set 4. The extras are a clean opening and ending, storyboards and art gallery, plus an interview with some of the English cast.

Boruto’s third set contains a fun, if not incredibly predictable, end of the story arc and a small batch of episodes moving the cast along in their journey. It’s not going to blow you away or get you really excited for Set 4, but it’s harmless fun.