Is Boruto ‘Guilty’ of Having Overused Shōnen Tropes?

There are many things that fans of the Boruto series aren't happy about. Lack of character exploration of the villains, hyperfocus on the main characters, and dissatisfactory writing of the female characters, but what Boruto: Two Blue Vortex and the whole universe overall do well is not heavily relying on typical shōnen story tropes. Let's discuss this further.

Shōnen Tropes That Get Boring Very Quickly

The shōnen genre is one of the most, if not the most, popular genres of manga readers across the world. Despite focusing on male teenagers, shōnen is very well-liked by young adults as well, who more often than not notice the same old tropes and story shenanigans that are developing throughout the series. The same tropes are repetitive throughout most of the popular titles, and they get boring and annoying very fast—for example, the dead parents, the power of friendship, and everyone's favorite, the love triangle.

The Naruto series was very guilty of those tropes, and after 400 episodes of hunting Sasuke and Naruto refusing to punish his murderous friend, the whole thing got really boring quite quickly. Now, all of us saw that series until the end and witnessed what happened to the main cast, but it still needs to be said that shōnen story tropes overwhelmed the whole length of Naruto. Although many people will say that the original series is better than the spin-off in Boruto, one thing is for sure—Boruto doesn't fail for the same old story shōnen tropes.

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Does Boruto Fall Into Typical Shōnen Tropes?

Many times we discussed the pros and cons of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, and the issues would almost always return to the same things—lack of characterization of the villains and poor writing of the female characters. However, what really needs to be praised and noticed by the critics and the fans themselves is the lack of reliance on very predictable shōnen tropes.

Boruto Uzumaki should be a great example of the main character, due to him not relying on the mentioned story tropes and the way his presence is strong enough to carry the series without falling into the same traps. Boruto is smart, has family and friends, and doesn't have 'inner demons' that could potentially arise and destroy everything. He is similar to Bleach's Ichigo in that regard, hence why many fans love him even today. Now, the series is guilty of 'love triangle' tropes, which are almost always used in the shōnen series, but when it comes to the main character, the Boruto series has a good example of how shōnen should present their characters in the future.

Conclusion: Boruto Is a Unique Shōnen Character

Now, this might be a controversial take, but Boruto Uzumaki is an example of the main shōnen character done right—he doesn't have a tragic past, demons that will ruin him and everyone around him, and finally, the power of pure friendship that will prevail against any threat. Of course, those are deep in the core of the shōnen genre, and maybe people over twenty years of age shouldn't commentate that much on the series focused on the teenage age group, but still, after some time, there needs to be a place for change and adaptation on fans' preferences—frankly, seeing same old premises and stories 'is not it.' Despite deficiencies in the story pace and some might say the quality, Masashi Kishimoto created a very solid lead in Boruto Uzumaki.

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