Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Vol. 19

Description

The ninja adventures continue with Naruto’s son, Boruto! Naruto was a young shinobi with an incorrigible knack for mischief. He achieved his dream to become the greatest ninja in his village, and now his face sits atop the Hokage monument. But this is not his story... A new generation of ninja is ready to take the stage, led by Naruto's own son, Boruto! Chaos reigns as Eida betrays Code and sides with Konoha Village. Eida’s powers make her dangerous even as an ally, so how will Boruto and Team Seven react? Meanwhile, Code makes his own moves using the power of the Ten Tails. Review: Boruto levels up and so does the series - Volume 19 drops readers into the aftermath of the timeskip with no wasted pages. Boruto, now older and edgier, finds himself in the middle of a three-way standoff that finally makes the new villains feel dangerous. Ikemoto’s line work looks sharper than ever, panel flow is easy to follow and the action beats hit hard. If you drifted away during earlier arcs, this book feels like the moment the sequel finally hits its stride. The paperback itself is sturdy, spine glue holds up to a full cover-to-cover binge, and the matte stock shows deep blacks without smudging. At 180-plus pages it is a quick read but there is enough new lore to spark theories until the next volume. Anyone who grew up with Naruto and wants to see the next generation stand on its own should give this one a shot. Review: Great Developments - Largely the volume was one of those typical setup volumes where the character largely talk to set things up for the next big event. Code did Code things to get back at the Hidden Leaf Village, Shikamaru did Shikamaru things to annoy practically everyone, and Boruto and Kawaki did their thing, trying to find a way to save each other while bickering in the process. Interestingly, Kishimoto did try to work a fight into this but it came off as just horseplaying, I mean looking at the scene nothing was really damaged in the house. On that note, I did like the second half, seeing everyone's reaction to Eida is one of the most hilarious things and while it might be strange for other manga, it just works here, I mean especially in the context of how some folks reacted to Naruto and Konohamaru's sexy jutsu, and Konohamaru here, wow, they went all out with him. Iconic moment. Overall, awesome volume.