Boruto Author Mikio Ikemoto Explains How His Villains Are Different To Kishimoto’s

Considering how compelling and thought-provoking many of the villains were in the original Naruto series, a lot of fans wondered whether Mikio Ikemoto, the author of Boruto, would be able to replicate a similar roster of high-quality and memorable antagonists in his own story. Both of these series take place in the same ninja world and revolve around similar characters, but by far the biggest difference setting the two apart, aside from their style and aesthetics, are the villains, which is something a lot of fans have picked upon over the years.

During a public presentation in Paris as part of the Konoha Experience, Ikemoto and his mentor, Masashi Kishimoto, were able to openly discuss the similarities and differences between their series, and, of course, it was only a matter of time before the topic of villains was brought up by the audience. The authors weren’t shy about highlighting the major deviations that make the villains of their respective stories unique and interesting, so without further ado, let’s see exactly what they said, and how this impacts the story as a whole.

Boruto’s Villains Are ‘Unreasonable Antagonists’

Unlike The Villainous Ninja Seen Previously In Naruto

• It’s hard to sympathise with Boruto’s villains.
• This marks a stark difference between them and Naruto’s antagonists.

Any Boruto fans out there who might have started to wonder why the villains in the series are so cruel and merciless have finally got a clear answer from author Ikemoto himself. The interviewer begins the question by pointing out the observation that the villains Boruto and his friends face off against don’t possess the same sense of “humanity” compared to the ones seen in Naruto, even making specific mention that a lot of them aren’t given their own backstories or flashbacks.

While it would be easy to assume that Ikemoto simply didn’t have the time or effort to explore these characters in great depth, his answer reveals that there’s a much deeper reason why his villains are presented in such a way. According to Ikemoto, Kishimoto had already explored a plethora of intriguing characters who all end up following the path of villainy due to what they’ve experienced in their own lives. In fact, he feels that Kishimoto has “exhausted” the number of ways this story can be told, and considering Boruto is his own standalone series, he didn’t want to simply create a villain who would feel more appropriate for belonging to that previous story.

As a result, he opted to create villains that would be seen as “unreasonable antagonists”, without any sympathetic backstory or flashback that could potentially make them seem at least somewhat reasonable. Instead, the author strives to present his villains as obstacles that must be overcome by Boruto in order to protect human lives, and to say that he succeeded in creating this kind of portrayal would be putting it mildly.

Boruto’s Villains Are As Merciless As They Come

The Series’ Villains Come Across Like Truly Unforgivable Monsters

Unlike many of the villains seen in Naruto, Boruto’s villains don’t tend to have at least some kind of justifiable reason why they commit such heinous acts. Instead, many of them will be driven by their own selfish desires, which often come at the expense of others, and the most well-known example of this is the first major villain group that appears in the story, Kara.

This absurdly powerful batch of mysterious warriors are dedicated to getting their hands on Kawaki by any means necessary. This isn’t so that they can save and protect the young boy though, as instead, their ultimate plan is to steal away Kawaki so that he can be used as a vessel for Isshiki Otutsuki, with the group having no regard for Kawaki’s safety or well-being, simply seeing him as an ultimate weapon.

Once fans are shown Kawaki’s tragic upbringing, they are given a much clearer idea of just how vicious and cruel these villains truly are, to the point where they were willing to experiment on the young boy just for their own gain. Kara is a clear example of how Ikemoto likes to create his villains, making them truly unforgivable while also making sure not to provide them with any backstories that might bring them some level of sympathy. While this might make these types of villains easy to hate, why exactly do they differ so much from those seen in Naruto?

Naruto’s Villains Weren’t Completely Evil

They Had Deep Motives Behind Their Actions

• It’s easier to see where Naruto’s villains are coming from
• Many of them have hopeful goals, but go about them the wrong way

Alongside the compelling story and lovable cast of characters, another aspect of Naruto which has been highly praised over the years is the villains, and more specifically, how well they are all written. As Ikemoto mentions in the conference, his villains are the exact opposite of Kishimoto’s, as the latter of the two will always try to give his antagonists a believable reason why they would end up causing so much pain and destruction in their lives.

For example, Pain, who shows up to destroy all of Konoha, believes that the world can only end its vicious cycle of war once everyone in the world has experienced what true pain feels like. Another example is Madara, who seeks to bring everyone in the world under a state of hypnosis to stop the constant fighting, believing this will create a peaceful world where no more blood needs to be shed. Of course, the way these villains go about achieving these goals is what ultimately makes them villains, but it’s also clear that they are not villains who simply want to call chaos for the sake of it; they each have a deeper meaning to their actions and that’s what prevents them from becoming completely heartless.

Kishimoto has actually gone on record in the same presentation, stating that he doesn’t believe his villains were born evil, but instead, became the monsters that fans would see in the main story due to their upbringing and environment. Ikemoto, on the other hand, is entirely focused on making them as repugnant and dangerous as humanly possible, so while both series have their own set of memorable villains, it’s completely up to the fans which roster of antagonists they prefer.

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations

Release Date

2017 – 2023-00-00

Network

TV Tokyo

Directors

Yusuke Onoda, Tazumi Mukaiyama, Michita Shiraishi, Youichirou Aoki, Shigetaka Ikeda, Taiki Nishimura, Rokou Ogiwara, Mitsuo Hashimoto, Hikaru Sato, Akira Shimizu, Norihiko Nagahama, Takashi Asami, Hodaka Kuramoto, Kiyomu Fukuda, Yoji Sato, Masatoyo Takada, Hazuki Mizumoto, Natsumi Yasue, Hideaki Ōba, Masaaki Kumagai, Mihiro Yamaguchi, Shigenori Kageyama, Nanako Shimazaki

Writers

Masaya Honda, Atsushi Nishiyama, Hideto Tanaka, Touko Machida, Kyōko Katsuya, Kiyomune Miwa, Ukyo Kodachi, Masahiro Okubo

Franchise(s)

Naruto

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  Yuko Sanpei

  Uzumaki Boruto (voice)

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  Cocoro Kikuchi

  Uchiha Sarada (voice)