Boruto: Ikemoto Needs To Reintroduce Naruto Characters, And Here’s Why

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This post contains spoilers for Boruto.

When Boruto: Naruto Next Generation was first announced, it looked like a promising continuation of the beloved Naruto universe. Many hoped it would successfully build on Naruto’s story, but after several years, some fans are now wondering if the manga was truly necessary.

A lot of viewers wanted the series cancelled. Luckily, the manga hasn’t been cancelled yet, though even fans agree it needs significant improvements.

Ikemoto Needs To Use Naruto Characters More

Older Naruto Characters Will Draw In A Lot Of Fans

  • Ikemoto has not used Sasuke and Naruto properly
  • Other Naruto characters could help improve the sales

As the lead creator of Boruto: Naruto Next Generation, Ikemoto is responsible for keeping the series interesting. Currently, the show is losing viewers each month, and if this continues, it risks becoming forgotten and ultimately canceled. The author needs to find solutions to turn things around.

Fortunately, there’s an easy solution to this issue: featuring characters from the popular series Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto created a rich and expansive world with a huge fanbase, so using these familiar faces in Boruto would instantly attract a large audience.

Ikemoto likely began Boruto hoping to create a fresh story, but it’s clear that hasn’t quite worked as planned. To boost sales, a new strategy is needed. While adding characters from Naruto won’t allow Ikemoto to fully explore a new path, it could reignite fan excitement.

As a long-time fan, I’m really excited about the potential for bringing back some classic characters! Ikemoto has so many great options to choose from – Tsunade, Mei Terumi, Kakashi, even Kabuto, Ino, and Shino! They might not be the strongest characters ever, but each of them brings something unique to the table that could really enrich the story. Plus, let’s be honest, it’s always awesome to see beloved older characters return and play a significant role!

Ikemoto Needs To Treat Older Characters Better

A major complaint among fans of Boruto is how the artist, Ikemoto, has portrayed Naruto and Sasuke. These two characters were essential to the original Naruto series’ popularity. Many fans felt it was disrespectful when their powers were significantly reduced and they were repeatedly defeated by enemies. The loss of Kurama, who Naruto considered a close friend, was particularly upsetting.

It was particularly shocking that Naruto didn’t actually need to lose Kurama; it seemed to only serve the purpose of making him less powerful. Sasuke suffered a similar setback with the loss of his Rinnegan, his most valuable ability. Beyond just weakening Naruto and Sasuke, the author also seemed to remove them from the central plot. While it makes sense the author wants to highlight the new generation of characters, it feels unnecessary to do so at the expense of the original heroes – they could have shared the spotlight.

I’ve noticed a lot of Boruto fans are really hoping to see Naruto and Sasuke return to their former strength. If the artist, Ikemoto, can pull that off, it would be a huge boost for the series, honestly. I think it would even bring back readers who’ve dropped the manga – who wouldn’t be curious to see two anime legends back in action? And if the manga starts selling better because of it, there’s a good chance Studio Pierrot might feel some pressure to finally make a new anime season.

The Boruto anime has been on hiatus for a while now, and a major reason is the large number of filler episodes. While fans don’t mind some filler, the anime had too much and not enough content directly from the original manga. The studio, Pierrot, kept producing filler to avoid overtaking the manga’s storyline. However, this strategy ultimately hurt the show’s popularity. Hopefully, the studio will wait until there’s enough material to create at least 20 to 30 episodes before bringing the anime back.

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2025-11-11 19:37