Fans have long believed their beloved Naruto characters have been severely “nerfed” in both the Boruto Anime and Manga. But how has the artwork for the latest Boruto anime and manga changed? Here is an in-depth look at Mikio Ikemoto’s Boruto anime and manga artwork.
Mikio Ikemoto’s Artstyle
Mikio Ikemoto’s art style is heavily influenced by Dragon Ball and Kinnikuman, as confirmed by Ikemoto himself. He uses a Criterium mechanical pencil on IC paper for the sketches, and for the finished drawings, he uses ink. Ikemoto, too, uses Copic markers for the colored pages, as Kishimoto did for Naruto.
Boruto Anime and Manga: Why Is Ikemoto’s Artstyle Hated By The Fans?
So what irks fans the most about Ikemoto’s art style?
The lack of characteristics on his characters’ faces, including the harsh lines that are absent in Ikemoto’s sketches of the Naruto and Boruto anime and manga characters, with the overt sexualization of the female characters, offends the fans in general.
“The body portion aren’t the best, like the heads are too round and big, whilst torsos are thin. He’s fashion sense is extremely subjective, personally it doesn’t resonate with me. He tends to overly sexualize he’s female characters, the major ones at least. Little background. Releasing this level of art on a monthly basis is the final nail to the coffin.”
u/MakimaMyBeloved
I love Boruto and Sasuke's relationship so excited to see what it will be like after the time skip pic.twitter.com/ExYniYR9qo
— ندى / Misaki (@Nada20010338650) August 7, 2023
“The lack of individually styled eccentric looking characters is abysmal. Also most of the different body types I’ve seen are strictly reserved for villains. Outside of Chocho, there’s no one. Sure, they should all be relatively fit Bc ninja, but even in Og Naruto stuff, characters had different muscular builds and stuff.”
u/Green_Cauliflower27
The post-time-skip artwork for the anime’s main protagonists was recently made available via Boruto: Two Blue Vortex. Fans are excited to dive into the Boruto time skip just like they did back in the days for Naruto Shippuden.
8 DAYS LEFT UNTIL THE BORUTO TIME SKIP!!!🗣 pic.twitter.com/w51Km88sQF
— Youngwiz (@YoungwiMn) August 8, 2023
Boruto: Two Blue Vortex has shown Sarada, who would now be 14 years old, in an explicit manner, according to the fans.
“why is a teenage ninja girl wearing a bdsm collar and a tube top like,,, I have no hopes for the full look but I can only hope it’s not any worse than the initial preview. Sarada’s hair and the new glasses look good but Ikemoto has 0 taste for her outfits”
@tachipaws
A Reddit user observed that Ikemoto’s illustration might have evolved from his lousy drawings in the initial chapters.
” For anyone claiming Ikemotos art hasn’t changed, i’m not particularly a fan of his art or do I feel it’s good enough for Boruto, just that certain people fail to even acknowledge how it has changed”
u/Hungry_Passenger85
Fans have opinions on how Boruto anime’s characters do not match the manga characters.
“For official reference Himawari’s only 2 years younger than Boruto and was 138cm tall (4’5) in the movie compared to Boruto’s 145cm (4’7). If you think that sounds a bit tall, the anime agrees with you since they shortened her to 123.8cm (4″) but that’s still not toddler sized like in the manga.”
Few fans, however, believe that he needs to improve further in terms of the paneling and background work, and in particular, consider adding double panels and working on the character’s emotions.
“I like Boruto’s current art because it combines the unique style and design of Ikemoto with more Kishimoto esque art. I just wish the panelling and panel progression were better to make the reading experience feel more active and fluid. Boruto’s art is sometimes almost empty because there is too little change and emotion between panels. Ikemoto needs to get more creative and experimental.”
u/basi_CF_unction
Final Thoughts:
Fans are looking forward to the time-skip storyline of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex. We hope the upcoming episodes and chapters of Boruto Anime and Manga live up to the fans’ expectations.
