Naruto's New Sequel Will Officially Fix Boruto's Biggest Problem

The upcoming anime, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, should have one less problem than its Naruto predecessor. This anime series, based on the manga of the same name, will follow up on the now-concluded Boruto: Naruto Next Generation, picking up after a three-year time jump. It's a similar sort of reset to what we saw with Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden, and, combined with the Two Blue Vortex manga, it gives us a good idea of what to expect. The manga Boruto: Two Blue Vortex kicked off in 2023, with new chapters released monthly. The ball has already started rolling with the anime adaptation, which is expected to premiere sometime between 2026 and 2027. The most exciting tease we've gotten so far is that the upcoming show won't contain any anime-original content. Boruto was full of filler episodes, but Two Blue Vortex will align faithfully with the manga. Therefore, we can expect the new Naruto show to finally fully pass the baton to its new major players, just like the manga.

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Finally Passes The Baton To The New Generation

The time jump between Boruto: Naruto Next Generation and Boruto: Two Blue Vortex means that Boruto and his peers will be far more mature in the latter series. Their strengths and abilities will, therefore, be far more developed, and their various conflicts more mature and less superficial. This should mean a much grittier anime, just as Naruto Shippuden was grittier and generally more "adult" than the original Naruto.

This is great news for a handful of reasons. This next generation of characters will generally be more interesting to follow, as they will have finally shed their more childish antics. Still, the greatest benefit to this shift is that Boruto: Two Blue Vortex will no longer have to depend so heavily on the original Naruto characters.

Despite being called Boruto: Naruto Next Generation, this first Naruto spinoff had no choice but to lean on its legacy characters. Boruto and his peers just weren't developed enough as fighters, so to keep up the intensity of the franchise, Naruto, Sasuke, and the rest had to be repeatedly brought in to carry the series. Sure, the "next generation" was there, but the Naruto characters were the stars of the show. This meant that, in many ways, Boruto just felt like a lesser continuation of Naruto.

Now, the new generation of fighters in Boruto will finally be able to hold their own. Naruto's generation won't have to swing in to save the day (in the same old ways they did in Shippuden), and newer, more intense arcs can be explored for Boruto and co. It's a solution that this franchise desperately needed.

Boruto's Best Moments Were The Ones Featuring Naruto Characters

Boruto has been pretty divisive as a Naruto spinoff. It's been great fun to see how far Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and the rest have come since the end of Shippuden, but the confused split focus between this generation and their children has drawn significant criticism. Many of the best moments in Boruto: Naruto Next Generation centered on original Naruto characters as they engaged in battle or developed as individuals. This meant that their children's arcs were kind of a bummer.

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex bridges the gap between Naruto​​​​​​'s two generations. The younger group can now engage in truly epic battles and move along more mature arcs, while Naruto's generation continues to be epic from the background. It's once again similar to what we saw with Naruto and Naruto Shippuden. Generations previous to Naruto's still had their times to shine, but they weren't at the center of the story.

Will Two Blue Vortex Save Boruto's Legacy?

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex will have a much better balance than its predecessor. However, this won't necessarily solve all the problems viewers have identified in Boruto: Naruto Next Generation​​​. Shifting away from Naruto was and will continue to be a struggle for many who fell in love with his story. Keeping these legacy characters at center stage helped with the transition, but it also meant Boruto himself was regarded as an unpopular distraction.

The Boruto: Two Blue Vortex manga was a turning point for the on-page franchise. The problems that made Boruto and his generation difficult to enjoy were fixed by the higher maturity, and with raised stakes, the intensity is turned up several notches. It's widely considered a significant improvement and has successfully breathed new life into this franchise. Now, the big question is whether the Boruto: Two Blue Vortex anime can achieve something similar.

It should be even easier for the Two Blue Vortex anime to improve on the original Boruto series than it was for the manga. Boruto: Naruto Next Generation was even more unpopular as an anime, since it was made up of an agonizing amount of filler episodes. Two Blue Vortex is expected to strictly follow canon, so it will now have multiple advantages over its predecessor. Only time will tell whether this new Naruto anime will change the tides for Boruto, but it is undoubtedly set up for success.

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  Writer Masashi Kishimoto

  Writers Masashi Kishimoto

  Penciler(s) Mikio Ikemoto

  Inker(s) Mikio Ikemoto

  Colorist(s) Mikio Ikemoto

  Publisher(s) Viz Media

  Years after fleeing his village with Sasuke, Boruto returns to confront the dark changes that have occurred. With memories altered and Kawaki now seen as the hero, Boruto faces a world where he is the outcast. The two rivals must settle their differences as their Otsutsuki powers grow more dangerous.

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  First Film Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow

  Latest Film Boruto: Naruto the Movie

  First TV Show Naruto

  Latest TV Show Boruto: Naruto Next Generations

  First Episode Air Date October 3, 2002

  Cast Junko Takeuchi, Maile Flanagan, Noriaki Sugiyama, Chie Nakamura, Kazuhiko Inoue, Nana Mizuki, Hideo Ishikawa, Yûko Sanpei

  Naruto is a franchise spawned from the manga series penned by Masashi Kishimoto that began in 1999. Generating several tv series, games, movies, and more, Naruto follows the exploits of a young outcast ninja harboring the spirit of a demon fox who seeks to become the Hokage, the leader of his ninja village, to break the stigma against him. Upon the conclusion of the initial series, Naruto expanded into Boruto, following many series protagonists' children and returning faces.