Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 2 – “Tree” Review

The first chapter of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex was one of the strongest chapters with Boruto Uzumaki as the lead character of the franchise. The time jump was something that the Boruto series desperately needed and it showed immediately. Not only did it raise the stakes but elevated characters other than Boruto and Kawaki almost immediately. The ending does give Boruto a dramatic entrance as Code attacks Konoha. How will the first chapter be followed up? Let’s find out with Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 2.

CREATIVE TEAM

Creator and Supervisor: Masashi Kishimoto

Artist: Mikio Ikemoto

SYNOPSIS

After Code does not listen to his demand to leave Konoha, Boruto Uzumaki tells Sarada Uchiha to go help others in the village.

Elsewhere Chocho Akimichi, Shikadai Nara, and Inojin Yamanaka work together against several Claw Grimes while protecting Himawari Uzumaki.

When more Claw Grimes appear Kawaki shows up to help Team 10. Even when using his Kama abilities Kawaki can’t stop the Claw Grimes rapidly growing numbers.

Back where Code is at, Boruto shows his improvement by quickly taking out a group of Claw Grimes with his sword. Boruto then warns Code against the terror of the Ten Tails.

Elsewhere, Sara uses a combination of Fire Ball Jutsu and Chidori to take out two Claw Grimes quickly. She is then defended from another Claw Grime attack by Soegi. The Claw Grime absorbs Soegi’s chaktra to become a tree. Sarada notices the Claw Grimes doing this to other shinobi nearby.

Back where Code is at, Borut once again warns Code against using the Ten Tails power is something he can’t control and the Claw Grimes will eventually no longer listen to him. Code does not listen as he is dead set on his plan, which includes killing Boruto.

Done talking Boruto walks towards Code while activating his new jutsu called Rasengan: Uzuhiko.

REVIEW

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 2 was exactly what it needed to be. It was a showcase for how far Boruto, Sarada, Chocho, Shikadai, Inojin, and others have come. At the same time, it further progresses where things stand with Code’s story.

There isn’t much development when it comes to what has been going on during the time jump period. While it’s to early to judge, one of the weaknesses of the first Boruto series was its usage of time. Because of the monthly release nature we saw the series come down to focusing on Boruto and Kawaki. There are hints here that may still be a concern for at least Boruto: Two Vortex’s manga could fall down a similar trapping.

That concern aside, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 2, titled “Tree,” works as a compliment of the first chapter. Whereas the first chapter was very character focus to establish the time jump status quo, this second chapter was all about action. This was very much a showcase for Mikio Ikemoto’s art ability. Ikemoto gets plenty of time to give tease how the battles in Boruto: Two Vortex will only be getting bigger from here.

Though we don’t spend much time with them it was good to at least know that Chocho, Shikadai, and Inojin have grown stronger. They barely got attention in the first Boruto manga series. Establishing that they can at least take on the Claw Grimes through the use of their teamwork was refreshing. It helps to create a believability to them being able to be of some help for Boruto and Sarada. Which would help Boruto: Two Blue Vortex improve on where its predecessor faltered.

Similarly, Sarada doesn’t get much more time than Team 10 but at the very least we do see that she has grown considerably stronger. Whereas Team 10 needed to work together against the Claw Grimes we saw that Sarada is capable of defeat two alone in quick fashion. This will hopefully means that Sarada is being elevated to the third star of the series.

The one concern on the Sarada side is that we do see her drop her guard long enough to be surprised by a Claw Grime. This is a rookie mistake on Sarada’s part that did diminish the badass she was shown to be just a few panels earlier. It does show there was some lack of growth on the decision making from Sarada, especially compared to what we see from Boruto.

Speaking of, if his time skip design didn’t convince you than Boruto’s fighting skills in this second chapter should confirm the young Uzumaki has become a badass. Ikemoto does an excellent job at putting over how Boruto is indeed Sasuke Uchiha’s protégé. Everything about Boruto’s fighting style invokes how we saw Sasuke fight at a similar age. Even the way his massive growth is portrayed reminds us of the way Sasuke was put over after the time skip in Naruto.

The Sasuke influence is even seen in the new jutsu Boruto begins to use at the end of this chapter that’s called Rasengan: Uzuhiko. Immediately what comes to mind when we see Boruto activate the Rasengan: Uzuhiko is the similarities to Sasuke’s Chidori Nagashi jutsu, also known as Chidori Current. While we still haven’t seen it in action the Uzuhiko variation will likely work like the Chidori Nagashi of channeling the power of the Rasenga into Boruto’s physical abilities.

This entire showing by Boruto does make Code look bad. It does not seem that Code took the time jump period to refine his plans for achieving Godhood. Rather he is just sticking with what he knows with the overwhelming power, believing no one could catch up to him. Which does make Boruto’s showing be a wake up call for one of the two main antagonist of the series. Given Code’s nature there is a big question around if he will learn from this, if he survives.

The other interesting development was with Kawaki. While he wasn’t very present in Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 2 what we do see from Kawaki threw up a major red flag. Because, while we know that Kawaki is powerful it does not appear that he used the time skip period to gain battle experience. We see this with how he freezes up when more Claw Grimes appear. This does indicate that, like Code, Kawaki had a bit of a comfort level with Boruto being gone for as long as he was. Knowing that eventually we will get a Boruto vs Kawaki fight, seeing how the latter refines his battle senses could be a major plotline for Two Blue Vortex.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 2 was more of a showcase of Mikio Ikemoto art abilities. This does balance out the more character focus first chapter of the series. Though with that there are a few worrying signs from weaknesses of the original Boruto manga that pop up in this second chapter. Those signs hold back Boruto: Two Blue Vortex Chapter 2 from hitting the pure hype level it was looking to reach.

Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10