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Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Episode 134

by Amy McNulty,

How would you rate episode 134 of
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations ?
Community score: 3.6

The Urashiki fight enters its endgame in an action-packed Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. While Sasuke distracts Urashiki, Jiraiya and the boys make a temporary retreat. However, in his efforts to keep his opponent occupied, Sasuke winds up unconscious and is rescued by a passing Sakura. Before Urashiki is able to finish off Sasuke and his savior, Boruto and company launch their counterattack. After failing to land several attacks on the villain, the gang surmises that he's using time travel to ascertain their moves and plan his responses accordingly. This prompts Jiraiya to perform the Toad Mouth Trap and expose Urashiki to the Great Toad of Mt. Myoboku's deadly stomach acids. Their enemy weakened, the Uzumakis attempt to finish him off with a new combo attack dubbed “Naruto Stream.” However, while Urashiki appears to be down for the count, an ominous hand twitch indicates that this fight is not yet over.

One of this arc's most action-heavy installments, episode 134 sees our heroes going all-out to bring the seemingly unstoppable Urashiki down. Sasuke even resorts to grabbing him and throwing him (and himself) off a cliff after depleting his chakra supply, though the move seems somewhat odd and ultimately pointless since this takes Sasuke out of the picture entirely and barely fazes Urashiki. (Still, the fact that Sasuke's able to pull off such a feat after running out of chakra is a nice testament to his strength.) There's also a moment of narrative clunkiness when Urashiki is searching for Sasuke and Sakura. The villain states aloud that he could use his abilities to instantly locate his targets but is intentionally abstaining from doing so—which feels like a rather ham-fisted acknowledgement that Sakura shouldn't have adequate time to heal Sasuke while the two are in peril.

With Jiraiya's Toad Mouth Trap and the boys' new attack, every member of the team gets a chance to strut their stuff this week. Unfortunately, the action is occasionally marred by choppy animation, but since next week looks to be Urashiki's last hurrah, the staff may be waiting to bring out the big guns. Despite Sasuke's heroics, Sakura's selflessness, and the unveiling of the Naruto Stream, Jiraiya is arguably this week's MVP. Not only does he figure out the trick behind Urashiki's ability, he quickly comes up with the perfect strategy to counter it. Urashiki's bloviating inside the Great Toad's stomach goes on a few beats too long, but his overconfidence makes the eventual payoff all the more satisfying.

Even though Boruto and the gang pulled out all the stops this week, Urashiki doesn't appear ready to throw in the towel quite yet. If next week truly proves to be this particular villain's last stand, here's hoping for an exciting outing. Fortunately, even in its least impressive arcs, the show has managed to deliver satisfying final battles, and since Urashiki has essentially served as the franchise's Big Bad until this point, it's reasonable to assume Boruto will once again stick the landing.

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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