After Naruto ended, fans were eager to know what Naruto’s life would look like as a Hokage. The excitement of seeing the character’s future was met with a rocky start in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. After years of admiring the character, seeing him get disrespected by his son wasn’t exactly what fans expected.
Initially, there were many aspects of the sequel manga that didn’t sit well with the fans, especially the relationship between the father and son. Masashi Kishimoto confirmed that this aspect of the story was inspired by his own life. This revelation instantly contextualizes the relationship between the two characters, making it more digestible for fans.
Masashi Kishimoto on the Father-Son Relationship in Boruto manga
At the beginning of Boruto, there was a lot of tension between the father-son duo. Boruto resented his dad for not giving his family enough time and always prioritizing his job. He would often disrespect Naruto and get in his way so that he would finally pay attention to him.
Masashi Kishimoto shared (via translation on X) that this aspect of their relationship was influenced by his own life. Saying that ‘family is everything’, he shared that he was experiencing a similar situation at home while working on Boruto: Naruto the Movie.
When I was writing the script for Boruto (movie), my eldest son was in a phase of rebellion.
Given Kishimoto’s challenging job as a mangaka, he must have struggled to maintain a balance between his work and personal life. That might have harmed his relationship with his family to some extent. But knowing that the relationship between the two characters was inspired from real-life explains the realism in it. Even though it was Naruto’s dream to become the Hokage, he fumbled quite hard in his role as a father.
Whereas Boruto was just a child and probably couldn’t comprehend the stress that came with being the leader of Konoha. Despite the initial struggles, they now have a better understanding of each other’s lives. They haven’t become best friends all of a sudden, but rather focus on making gradual efforts to appreciate the other person’s presence, which is a realistic development.
Naruto’s Past Affected his Relationship with Boruto
For the majority of his life, Naruto was completely on his own. He never had any experience with a family. All his life he worked hard to gain the love and recognition of those around him to finally become the Hokage. He had seen the Hokage before him giving it their all in the office, so he dedicated himself to that role more easily because he had a predefined idea of what it was supposed to look like. With no experience and the absence of a dad, he probably didn’t know any better about the familial bonds.
Even now he struggles to properly display his affection, but he loves both his children incessantly. Every time they’re in trouble, Naruto is willing to die for them. We have seen multiple moments where Naruto fought formidable opponents for the sake of his son. During the Kawaki fiasco, he prioritized Boruto over the village when Kawaki wanted to kill the young boy.
Boruto has also risked his life numerous times to ensure Naruto’s safety. Despite the awkwardness and struggle, they have finally figured out a way to be there for each other and we get to see it more often as the story progresses.
Boruto is available to read on Viz Media website.
