Boruto: Naruto Next Generations — A Guide to the Sequel Series

A Direct Sequel to Shippuden

Naruto Shippuden ended on March 23, 2017, with its episode 500. Two weeks later, on April 5, 2017, TV Tokyo launched Boruto: Naruto Next Generations with episode 1, " Boruto Uzumaki!". Production remains with studio Pierrot, as it was for the two previous series. The transition is therefore immediate: no reboot, no change of universe. Konoha has simply moved on to the next generation, that of the children of the war's veterans.

The lead trio is set from the very first episodes: Boruto, Sarada Uchiha and Mitsuki, supervised by Konohamaru Sarutobi, now a jonin instructor. This new Team 7 replays the original formula while shifting it. Naruto is Seventh Hokage, and therefore absent, consumed by his office. Sasuke comes back intermittently, as a scout. The central conflict is no longer a war, but the distance between a father and his son.

The setting has changed, and the series insists on it. Konoha is modernized: trains, screens, laboratories. The scientific ninja tools, which make it possible to use a technique without having learned it, crystallize the debate between the old school and the new one. The subject runs through the entire series and acts as the trigger for the Chunin Exams.

Finally, episode 1 opens on a flash-forward: Konoha in ruins, an older Boruto facing Kawaki. The manga did exactly the same in its chapter 1, published in May 2016. The first part of the anime ends without having caught up with that scene, which explains much of the frustration felt at episode 293.

The 2015 Movie and the Arc That Readapts It

It all starts with a feature film. Boruto: Naruto the Movie was released in Japan on August 7, 2015. It is the first film directed by Hiroyuki Yamashita, from a screenplay supervised by Masashi Kishimoto, and the last movie in the franchise to date. It took in about 2.62 billion yen at the Japanese box office, close to 38 million dollars worldwide.

The movie recounts the Chunin Exams held in Konoha, Boruto's cheating with a scientific tool, then the arrival of Momoshiki and Kinshiki Otsutsuki, Naruto's abduction and the rescue expedition led alongside Sasuke and the Kage. It closes on the Karma mark, placed in the palm of Boruto's hand.

The anime readapts it nearly three years later, in the Versus Momoshiki arc, episodes 51 to 66, broadcast from March 28 to July 26, 2018. Episode 51 is titled "Boruto's Birthday", and episode 66 closes the arc. The series format makes it possible to stretch out the trials, to develop the rivals coming from the other villages and to bring back elements dropped from the original screenplay. A few shots from the movie are reused as is.

Practical consequence: the movie is not required viewing. The 51-66 arc contains its story in full, in a longer and better-prepared version. The reverse is not true: watching only the movie means missing the setup of the exam and the Byakuya Gang arc that immediately precedes it.

Original Arcs, Novels and Spin-Offs

A large part of the series is written for the anime, in order to let the monthly manga build a lead. These episodes are not all filler. The time travel arc, episodes 128 to 136, sends Boruto and Sasuke back to the era when Naruto was still a genin, alongside Jiraiya: it was the series' contribution to the twentieth anniversary of the original manga.

The spin-off novels have been brought to the screen as well. The Konoha Shinden cycle had already supplied the Steam Ninja Scrolls arc, in the spring of 2019. Above all, Sasuke Retsuden occupies episodes 282 to 286, broadcast from January 8 to February 5, 2023: Sasuke and Sakura investigate in the Land of Redaku to cure Naruto.

On the print side, the most visible spin-off is Boruto: Saikyo Dash Generations, by Kenji Taira, published in Saikyo Jump from April 1, 2017 to April 1, 2021 and collected in four volumes. Deformed characters, short gags, no canonical value: it is a diversion, not a companion read.

The final arc, devoted to Code, covers episodes 287 to 293, from February 12 to March 26, 2023. It returns to the manga's storyline and leads to the confrontation that closes the first part, with a Momoshiki growing ever more intrusive and a Kawaki pushed to his limits.

Where the Sequel Stands

The manga has built a large lead. Its first part ends with chapter 80, published in V Jump in April 2023, after twenty volumes. The series had moved from Weekly Shonen Jump, where it had started on May 9, 2016, to the monthly V Jump in July 2019, which explains its pace. Ukyo Kodachi wrote its script until November 2020, before Kishimoto took the pen back; Mikio Ikemoto has been drawing it since the first chapter.

After a three-month break, the sequel came back under a new title: Boruto: Two Blue Vortex, launched on August 21, 2023 in V Jump. The story picks up after a three-year time skip. The roles have been reversed in Konoha: Boruto is a fugitive, Kawaki has taken his place, and new opponents born from the God Tree (Shinju) enter the stage.

Publication is monthly, around the 20th of each month. As of the summer of 2026, the series is at chapter 36, released on July 20, 2026. About thirty pages a month: that is the main shock for a reader used to the weekly pace of the anime.

For the anime, the situation is simple. Episode 293 remains the last one broadcast. A part 2 was confirmed by the studio as soon as the first one ended, but no official broadcast date had been announced as of the summer of 2026. Anyone who wants to keep going therefore has to switch to the manga: the anime stopped at around chapter 66.

Summary Table

FAQ

• Do you need to watch the Boruto movie before the series?
  No. The Versus Momoshiki arc, episodes 51 to 66, covers the entire story of the 2015 movie and expands it. The movie remains worthwhile for the animation quality of some scenes, not for the story.
• How many episodes does Boruto: Naruto Next Generations have?
  293 episodes for the first part, broadcast from April 5, 2017 to March 26, 2023. No new episode has aired since that date.
• Where do you pick up the manga after episode 293?
  The anime stops at around chapter 66. That leaves the end of the first part, up to chapter 80 published in April 2023, before moving on to Boruto: Two Blue Vortex.
• Who writes and draws the manga?
  Mikio Ikemoto on art since the launch in May 2016. On script, Ukyo Kodachi until November 2020, then Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto.
• Is a season 2 of the anime planned?
  A second part was confirmed as soon as the first one ended, but no official broadcast date was known as of the summer of 2026. The manga, for its part, comes out every month.

In summary

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations forms a coherent block of 293 episodes, framed by a 2015 movie that it readapts itself and by a manga that is now more than three years ahead of it. Seen this way, the order of discovery is simple: the series from episode 1, with the 51 to 66 arc standing in for the movie, then reading the manga from the end of the first part and on to Two Blue Vortex. That leaves the only real unknown, the animated part 2: confirmed, awaited, but still without a date.