Boruto Outshines Naruto—And Not Just With Strong Female Characters
Boruto is doing what Naruto didn’t—put powerful women at the center. With Sarada and Delta leading the charge, the sequel delivers where its predecessor stumbled—and it reveals a key dynamic most fans have missed.
If you grew up on Naruto, it is very easy to treat Boruto like bonus content you will get to someday. But if you actually look at what the newer show does, it quietly fixes a bunch of the old pain points while leveling up the parts that needed it most. And yes, that includes how it treats its female characters.
Where Boruto actually improves on Naruto
- Villains with a plan from day one: Naruto saved a lot of its best antagonists for later, so the early going missed some punch. Boruto plants compelling threats early. Deepa, Ao, and the Kara Inners are not just scary; they introduce ideological clashes and tech-driven 'scientific ninja' ideas that push the world forward instead of replaying the same old conflicts.
- Smoother power scaling: Naruto jumps pretty hard from academy scraps to god-tier monsters and Tailed Beasts. Boruto starts grounded with smaller missions and messy in-team friction, then steadily escalates to big-picture stakes (yes, up to the Boruto/Kawaki endgame) so the leaps feel earned.
- An ensemble that actually gets used: In Naruto, plenty of Chunin Exams favorites got benched fast. Kiba, Tenten, Shino — all crowded out after their big arc. Boruto gives consistent focus to its wider cast out of the gate, including Shikadai, Mitsuki, and Sumire, and keeps weaving them into the story instead of leaving them on the sidelines.
- Modern animation, consistently: Boruto benefits from newer pipelines across the board. Naruto: Shippuden wrapped in 2017 and only really pushed its look at the very end. Boruto launched right after and, unsurprisingly, looks cleaner and more polished from episode to episode.
The women in Boruto are actually allowed to be terrifying
Compared to the old days, Boruto treats its female characters like real powerhouses. That includes veterans: Sakura and Tsunade feel like their fully realized selves instead of occasional support cannons.
Delta is the big example. She goes toe to toe with adult Naruto — not just surviving, but pushing him. She is built like a boss fight: brutal regeneration, high-output beam weapons, and eyes that shut down healing. That combination puts her near the top of the franchise's threat chart and gives the series a very different kind of antagonist to play with.
On the new-generation side, Sarada Uchiha has the tools and the trajectory. She already has her Mangekyo Sharingan and Chidori in the kit, and the show keeps signaling there is a lot of ceiling left for her to hit. And Boruto is setting up more future heavy-hitters: Sumire, ChoCho, and Tsubaki are all positioned to matter, especially with how Mikio Ikemoto has been writing the newer roster.
Quick info
Title: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Studio: Studio Pierrot
Genre: Action, Adventure, Shonen
Release date: April 5, 2017
IMDb rating: 6.3/10
MyAnimeList rating: 5.98/10
Where to watch: Crunchyroll (all episodes)
The bottom line
Boruto does not erase what Naruto did well — it builds on it, and in a lot of ways, it delivers the version of that world fans wanted back then. Better early villains, steadier power growth, more attention to the whole squad, and female characters who actually get to be terrifying. If you skipped it for nostalgia reasons, it might be time for a reconsider.
What do you think Boruto actually does better than Naruto? Or was Naruto already exactly what it needed to be?