5 Point Discussions – Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 69: “Super Cho-Cho Love Upheaval”

Team 7 and Team 10 have their backs against the wall, now that one of the actors they’ve been assigned to protect has been kidnapped! Remember, if you like this article and 5 Point Discussions, please share it on Facebook or Twitter! It really helps. And if you’ve got any comments or questions, please hit me up @SageShinigami.

1. The plot of the bad guys is all over the place here. As Tomaru and Ashina get ready to film the final scene of their episode, the assailant from before figures out a way to sneak back in. Only this time instead of trying to simply kill the stars, he settles for kidnapping Tomaru. And despite being vastly outnumbered (and outpowered), he manages to steal away without being seen.
Later, the group gets a letter telling them to bring 20 million in cash to a mountain location. How did we go from “stop filming this show or I’m killing the lead actors” to “give me 20 million”? Who’s plan IS this?

2. Oh. It’s Ashina’s. She tries to fake it by setting things up so she’s the one who has to give the money, but doesn’t count on her accomplice having been caught by Konohamaru. And to be fair to her…I’m not entirely upset. She makes a good point that Tomaru is just some cowardly pretty boy who doesn’t even take acting seriously. Plus they treated her like trash. Its her last episode in the series, and the story was building towards this moment where the two ninja run off together, except her character is supposed to slip and fall to her doom. Ashina suggests if it’s her last episode they should allow her to die sacrificing herself for her true love. They argue that’s “too complicated” , and she should stick to the script and falling off a cliff like a goof, erasing any sense of agency or importance the character might have. Yeah, I’d be pissed too.

3. During their exchange to get Tomaru back, there’s a moment where Mitsuki convinces Cho-Cho that it doesn’t matter what she looks like so long as the essence inside her is pure. It’s cute, and seems to hint at the possibility of a Mitsuki/Cho-Cho romance, which actually doesn’t seem all that farfetched. He’s still got those kind of pretty boy qualities she likes, while she’s the kind of personality that would be constantly interesting to him. And I’d almost believe it, if Mitsuki weren’t so obviously obsessed with Boruto.

4. Despite Tomaru’s coldness towards Cho-Cho, she still has the flames of a crush for her favorite actor for most of the episode. But all that fades away after she realizes it’s better to embrace who she is on the inside. There’s even a moment where Tomaru realizes her two forms are the same person, and he asks which one is the “real” her, which…is actually a fair question. There doesn’t seem to be a time limit on ability to use the other form…but Cho-Cho asks if it really matters–the best response she could have given in her situation.
Tomaru finally seems to come around to realizing Cho-Cho’s just an awesome person in general…but it’s also way too late. He’s only agreeing ’cause she saved his life, but Cho-Cho’s already seen how sadly shallow he is and decided not to be bound by calories…or men. This is absolutely going to result in her being more cocky than ever, and I’m all for it. Cho-Cho is one of a few characters who isn’t a rip off of their parents, so this development isn’t just welcome, it feels like a necessity to keep the series fresh.

5. If someone told me ten years ago one day Orochimaru would bond with their ninja son while they snacked on a bag of knockoff Lay’s, I definitely wouldn’t have believed them. Life has curveballs for us all, I guess. We do learn here Mitsuki apparently doesn’t even need to eat, which is something I feel like we should have noticed before but at the same time also makes perfect sense. Alongside sleeping, eating is easily one of the most inefficient activities humans engage in, and a biologist like Orochimaru who created their own son probably tried to eliminate that first.
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is available for streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu.