A New Path, but the same old story.
Warning: The following review has full spoilers for the episode.
After last week’s episode it seemed like we were finally ready to leave the Ghost Incident story behind us, but Boruto has one last loose end it wants to tie up before moving on to something new. “A New Path” is a transitional episode that sets the stage for the show’s next adventure, but makes that maneuver in the most uninteresting way possible.
“A New Path” splits its runtime between the past and future. Half of the episode is spent with Boruto and the students as they assemble their ninja squads and prepare for the Chunin Exam, all the while distracted by the absence of their class rep Sumire. The other half of the episode follows Naruto and the adults as they deal with the fallout from the Gozu Tenno.
I understand the show does this to make things as tidy as possible before moving on, but it ultimately just spreads itself too thin with a storyline we are all ready to see go. Shino’s dedication to helping rehabilitate Sumire has the potential of a great little story, but because of the rushed nature of this episode, it only gets a few minutes of screen time. Same goes for Sumire’s rehabilitation itself, which after a few short discussions seems to take care of itself and she bravely returns to class at the episode’s end. Maybe the show didn’t want to dwell on her any longer, but it’s hard to believe her lifetime of internal struggle was remedied by a few nice words from Boruto.
The highlight of this episode ends up being another capture the flag battle between the student teams. Like usual the battle scene is short, but seeing Naruto and Mitsuki’s teamwork is always a treat, and gets me excited to see what will happen once the Chunin Exams start for real.
Once Sumire’s story is wrapped up the show moves onto a tease of what’s to come. Another short scene of Toneri on his moon prison, as well as a quick appearance from Sasuke. These scenes foreshadow a coming danger, which it quickly reveals to be Momoshiki and Kinshiki, the villains from the Boruto movie. It appears Boruto will be retelling the events of that feature (a common practice as of late) which originally served as the introduction to these characters. Who knows if they will follow the same story as the movie, but I am looking forward to the Chunin Exams, which should offer plenty of chances for more great action scenes.
“A New Path” feels like a necessary evil. The show needed a way to transition to the next arc, but the way it rushes through storylines makes the whole shift feel sloppy. I’m happy with the direction the show is going, but I hope it learns to make better use of interesting characters like Sumire moving forward.
The Verdict
“A New Path” fumbles the transition between the Ghost arc and Chunin Exams, rushing through good storylines and packing too much into one episode. The ending promises a new arc based on the Boruto movie, but based on the handling of this episode I worry there is plenty of filler in store along the way.
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