Boruto anime episode 221, ‘The Chunin Exams Resume’, decided to bring some brightness to the series after the seriousness of facing a threat like Isshiki Otsutsuki during the previous handful of episodes.
Due to his Karma Mark, the fandom had been wondering about whether or not Boruto would be allowed to participate in the new Chunin Exams. Turns out, because of Amado’s pills apparently stopping the Otsutsukification process, Boruto could take part. I’m looking forward to seeing if the Karma Mark would be able to override the effect of the pills if Boruto found himself in a life-threatening situation during the exam.
The Chunin exam this time around is different in two key ways. For one, each village is hosting its own Chunin exam. This is absolutely major as a change. The Chunin exam, back in the Naruto series, was something ninja touted as a means of peaceful competition between nations. Just like the Olympics, different villages hosted, often alongside others. This time Leaf ninja are competing amongst themselves. Secondly, the phases are a bit different than last time. This change is one I actually enjoyed. The first round of the exam is the classic test with plenty of cheating. Round two, unlike the team-based capture the flag of last time, is an individual challenge to rescue injured ninja.
The Chunin exam this time around is different in two key ways. For one, each village is hosting its own Chunin exam. This is absolutely major as a change. The Chunin exam, back in the Naruto series, was something ninja touted as a means of peaceful competition between nations. Just like the Olympics, different villages hosted, often alongside others. This time Leaf ninja are competing amongst themselves. Secondly, the phases are a bit different than last time. This change is one I actually enjoyed. The first round of the exam is the classic test with plenty of cheating. Round two, unlike the team-based capture the flag of last time, is an individual challenge to rescue injured ninja.
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Looking at this exam holistically, I have two complaints so far. One is a bit more meta and about the series from a viewer angle. The other is more about what happens within the world. Looking at the in-the-world problem, this exam seems pathetically easy. Bolstering ranks and promoting Chunin does seem great on paper. But, having Chunin die in missions far too hard for them seems far worse for morale. Plus, every other village is conducting their own exams as well. If they manage to advance beyond what the Leaf manages to, then that poses each village to start mentally making plans for battle apart from each other. For any Otsutsuki level threat, survival will require cooperation. And given the other Kage’s discomfort with Naruto’s decisions around Boruto and Kawaki, I am incredibly surprised the characters would make the choice to go solo.
My meta complaint has to do with pacing. Back in the original Naruto series, the first phase of the exam was several episodes. The second was an entire arc. Early Boruto had a pretty fast Chunin exam and this was an opportunity to correct that. Instead, the pacing is even faster and the structure of the exam barely gave any characters a chance to shine.
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Moving forward, I hope one of two things happens. Either the battle portion of the exams needs more attention or the filler arcs after this need to be good. The manga releases too slowly for the Boruto anime to catch up any time soon. Given that, we’re likely going to get an incredibly long run of filler. The series had a great spike in appeal during the previous arc. Bad filler will potentially ruin all of that and doom the arcs to follow.
It looks like the Chunin Exams arc will continue into November. I’m okay with it because I’m interested in seeing how strong the rest of Boruto’s class has become. According to the supervisors, the samurai Tsubaki (an exchange-student and Wasabi and Namida’s teammate) already had the technical skills of a Chunin.
What did you think of ‘The Chunin Exams Resume’?
