The comeback of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations anime is stirring up lots of talk. Studio Pierrot teased that it might make a big comeback with a small but key change in its schedule.
Even though the anime got mixed reviews for having tons of filler episodes, it still has a bunch of loyal fans. They’ve been eagerly waiting for its return since the Boruto: Two Blue Vortex manga came out.
The anime ran from February 5, 2017, to March 26, 2023, picking up after Naruto Shippuden. It focused on Boruto Uzumaki, Naruto’s son.
But, it didn’t always get a warm reception. Since it aired continuously without breaks, Boruto had to fill in a lot of extra episodes, known as filler, to wait for new chapters of the manga to come out.
In a chat with Comic Natalie, Studio Pierrot’s CEO, Muchiki Honma, spilled the beans. They saw how well Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War did and figured out that the seasonal style might work better for anime.
They thought this could be the way forward for projects like Boruto. Fans got pumped up because it meant Boruto might ditch those filler episodes for good.
The future looks promising for Boruto
Demon Slayer’s big hit made Honma think twice about how Pierrot makes anime. Before, they kept cranking out shows like Naruto, Bleach, Black Clover, and Boruto without a break each year.
But that rush affected the quality. Demon Slayer did things differently with its seasonal format. Ufotable, the studio behind it, could really focus on each season, pouring in lots of effort and time.
It paid off big time Demon Slayer became super popular worldwide, one of the best anime ever. Studio Pierrot gave the seasonal format a shot with Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War, and wow, did it pay off! People couldn’t stop raving about the awesome visuals and amazing animation.
This success sealed the deal for Pierrot they were sticking with this production style. Boruto’s anime kicked off just a year after the manga, so there wasn’t much material to work with.
Since the manga only came out once a month, the anime quickly caught up. Pierrot had to toss in filler stuff that wasn’t part of the main story to give the manga some breathing room.
While some of Boruto’s filler episodes did add cool stuff to the tale, most fans weren’t big fans of them. Now, with a seasonal format, Boruto will have enough material for 12 or 24 episodes at a time.
Then, there’ll be a break of about a year before the next season starts, letting more manga chapters come out.
Boruto is going seasonal, the team will have plenty of time to really polish things up and make the quality top-notch.
Even with its imperfections, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations has a loyal fanbase who stick around. Imagine how amazing a seasonal Boruto: Two Blue Vortex could turn out with all that extra time for quality.