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Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Episode 118

by Amy McNulty,

How would you rate episode 118 of
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations ?
Community score: 0.8

Soma's scheme continues to unfold as Boruto and Konohamaru come closer to unraveling the mystery of Daidai Village in the latest arc's third chapter. In response to his continued interference, the possessed Kankitsu orders Konohamaru to return to the Leaf and files a formal complaint with the village's higher-ups. Following his own encounter with Kankitsu, Boruto has his memories of the last few days stolen by Soma (despite being armed with Remon's memory-protecting hair pin, which was entrusted to him by Asaki) and makes his way back to the Leaf in a stupor. However, through a series of coincidences, Boruto is able to regain his missing memories, prompting him to meet up with Konohamaru, who's currently under house arrest and researching ways to combat Soma. Reinvigorated, the two set off for Daidai Village to settle things once and for all.

As far as mid-arc installments go, episode 118 does its job well enough. Since Soma's machinations have been fairly obvious since last week, the screenwriters are wise not to draw out the villain's official reveal, opting instead to quickly show our heroes what the audience already knows. Similarly, Boruto's memory loss doesn't last much longer than necessary. Although he regains his missing memories in a stereotypical manner, his bout of forgetfulness sets the stage for some funny moments and helps give the audience of taste of what Soma is capable of. However, the show goes a little overboard in replaying various clips from episode 116. Yes, these snippets are meant to represent the memories that Soma has stolen, but at a couple of points, they come off feeling like blatant padding—particularly when Boruto first forgets about Remon.

Konohamaru keeping the full truth of the matter from Boruto and Shikamaru feels off. It's possible that based on their lecture, he believes they wouldn't offer Remon help even if he explained the entire situation—despite the fact that Naruto has never been one to ignore someone in trouble. This narrative choice was likely made so that the story could end with Boruto and Konohamaru finishing what they started on their own, but were Konohamaru to plead his case to Naruto, it's hard to imagine he wouldn't oblige. Stranger still, when Konohamaru returns to the Hidden Leaf without Boruto in tow, Naruto isn't the least bit fazed by this. Furthermore, Konohamaru didn't seem at all concerned with touching base with Boruto before leaving Daidai Village or confirming that he was okay after returning home. Sure, everything more or less worked out in the end, but such a failure in communication seems like it could create big problems.

With Soma on the verge of making his big play, our heroes have only hours to stop Remon and Kankitsu's imminent wedding ceremony. At present, it's unclear whether next week's climax will be an action-packed affair or a matter of brains-over-brawn, but if nothing else, watching the boys battle a demonic entity should prove fascinating, as said entities aren't quite as common in the Naruto-verse as one might expect.

Rating:

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Amy is an author who has loved anime for over two decades.


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