Boruto - Episode 65 (Review)

By: Mithrandiel

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Summary

After absorbing Kinshiki, Momoshiki Otsutsuki is now more powerful than ever! He quickly gets to work, knocking out the other Kage in a flurry of relentless attacks.Soon, only Naruto and Sasuke remain. They see that his powers have increased dramatically, and so they decide to get serious as well. What follows is a thrilling confrontation against one of their most challenging enemies yet.For a while, they both appear to have Momoshiki on the ropes, delivering complex combination attacks that bewilder the "God" before them, and landing a number of solid hits on him.Unfortunately, just as Momoshiki is starting to slow down, the bumbling scientist Katasuke appears and launches a barrage of powerful, haphazard chakra attacks in his direction, which Momoshiki easily absorbs to regain his strength.Momoshiki then locks down Naruto, Sasuke, and the recovered Kage in a version of Shikamaru's "Shadow Prison" technique while Boruto looks on. Boruto recalls the lessons that Sasuke taught him on the value of his "Ninja Way", and encourages him to take action against Momoshiki. To Naruto's surprise, Boruto spins up a tiny Rasengan and launches it!The rasengan appears to dissipate in mid air before even reaching Momoshiki, but as he's mocking Boruto for such a weak attack, he's suddenly struck across the face with powerful force, releasing the shadow prison on Naruto and the others. Sasuke tells Naruto that his son has done something interesting with the Rasengan technique, shifting the chakra to make it disappear as it travels.Naruto can't help but feel pride at his sons creativity, just as Momoshiki re-doubles his efforts to destroy them all. Naruto asks if Boruto's ready to create another Rasengan, but he doubts his strength to make one powerful enough to beat Momoshiki.Naruto encourages him to create the Rasengan, and then channels his own chakra into the attack. In a series of brief flashbacks, the Rasengan grows larger and larger as we see shadows of the past such as Jiraiya, Minato, Kushina and others. The result is a devastatingly large Rasengan, primed to take out Momoshiki!After another series of feints from Boruto and the others, it comes down to a contest of wills between Momoshiki and Boruto as their attacks collide. His arm damaged, Boruto shouts through the pain and pushes the Rasengan into Momoshiki, destroying him as he takes off into the atmosphere along with the attack.Before he fades out of existence, Boruto sees Momoshiki in his mind, and he warns him that once someone kills a "God", their life will never be the same. After his chilling words, Momoshiki finally vanishes and is defeated for good.In the aftermath, Sasuke claims to have "won" this round, alluding to Boruto's promise and ability under his tutelage. Naruto concedes the victory, but reminds Sasuke that they're "tied" now.

Review

To say there's been a lot of hype for this episode leading up to today would be a bit of an understatement. Fans of the manga have long anticipated this episode, which contains what many consider to be one of the top fights of the series overall - Naruto included.In order to bring this episode to life, a number of notable animators contributed their expertise in constructing the epic battle, led by Chengxi Huang. This included guest talent including Hartova Maverick and Spencer Wan from Castlevania. The result is easily one of the most impressive episodes in the Naruto franchise to date. The action doesn't lag for a moment as the fight starts almost immediately, and occupies the majority of the air-time. The hand-to-hand exchanges are reminiscent of the remarkably smooth Kakashi vs Obito fight, and the massive scale of the battle reignites a sense of wonder and awe that is rare to experience in a shonen series where flashy confrontations are a weekly affair.It's not just the fight that takes center stage, however. In the rare moments of quiet, we get some sincerely touching moments between Boruto and Sasuke, Naruto and Boruto, and longtime fans of the series will no doubt be overwhelmed with nostalgia and longing as echoes of the past ring particularly loudly throughout the episode. There are maneuvers which call back to Team 7's confrontation with Zabuza 15 years ago. (This is the part where you lean back into your rocking chair, take a puff on your pipe and nod) We also see lost figures like Kushina, Jiraiya and others which will certainly pull at your heartstrings a bit as well.It all culminates with Naruto and Boruto's joint-Rasengan technique. More than just a symbolic "passing of the torch", this episode will no doubt indicate a turning point in Boruto's development as a character. Near the end of the episode, he confidently calls out that he knows he's a "human child" - the child of Naruto Uzumaki. The Kage are all impressed with his ability as well, and Momoshiki's warnings will no doubt cast a shadow over the arcs to come as fans recall the very opening segment of Boruto, episode 1. There are bigger, badder fish out there to fry...but for the meantime, the threat of Momoshiki is behind us.