Team 7 continues to peel back the layers of the mystery surrounding Kokuri and Tsukiyo in a ninja-flavored whodunit. Having established that one of their three cellmates is responsible for stealing the keycard, Boruto and Mitsuki set to work deducing who the guilty party is, and with Benga threatening to place both the culprit and all of his cellmates in solitary and extend their sentences, time is of the essence. Arai quickly takes the reins of this investigation, first accusing Kamata and then Kedama of the crimes in question. Although both serve as suitable red herrings, Arai eventually gives himself away as the culprit and is subsequently apprehended and taken to solitary. However, with Benga more suspicious than ever about the connection between Boruto and Kokuri, Tsukiyo immediately seeing through Sarada's cover story, and many questions remaining about Kokuri's true nature, our heroes can't afford to let their guard down just yet.
With the exception of a few short scenes, episode 143 is set entirely in Boruto and Mitsuki's prison cell, which imbues the proceedings with the air of locked room mystery. All the ingredients for this type of setup are fully present, with Boruto and Mitsuki occupying the detective role, the various cellmates serving as suspects, and Arai acting as a serviceable fake-out character. While the true culprit shouldn't be hard to ascertain for anyone familiar with this genre, the episode does a decent job of keeping the audience guessing and establishing that none of the suspects are completely trustworthy. This may not be a particularly intricate mystery, but provided you're not looking to Boruto for top-notch detective fiction, it's an entertaining enough 23 minutes.
Since the latest installment is essentially a bottle episode, there isn't much going on visually this week, and the direction doesn't really attempt to offset this by injecting eye-catching visuals or unique framing. This isn't a deal breaker by any means, but given how drab and unadorned the cell is, any attempts at adding eye candy would have been appreciated. On the plus side, the ease with which Arai is brought to justice suggests that twists and turns of a more intricate nature are in the pipeline, and with many of Kokuri's crimes left vague, it would be interesting to discover that this unassuming nerd is a far more sinister figure than his demeanor suggests. (As Arai points out, he was in the Mujina Gang, after all.)
With a limited setting and complete lack of action, the Mujina Gang arc's third chapter isn't as exciting as the two that preceded it, but it does involve the boys solving an integral part of the overarching mystery. Both the ominous ending and post-credits preview suggest that more surprises await, and in light how entertaining this arc has been thus far, the forthcoming endgame is likely to prove memorable.
Train to the End of the World and Voice Actor Radio are getting a lot of love these last few weeks! Discover which other series stand out in our weekly user rankings!― Let's have a look at what ANN readers consider the best (and worst) of the season,
based on the polls you can find in our Daily Streaming Reviews
and on the Your Score page with the latest simulcasts. Keep in mind that these rankings...
Crystal Kay previously sang themes for 2004's Fullmetal Alchemist and Nodame Cantabile― Recently, Anime News Network was able to sit down with singer-songwriter Crystal Kay and talk about not only her involvement with anime over the years but also what it was like to grow up in Japan as the child of a Korean-Japanese mother and an African-American father. Anime fans likely know of Crystal Kay throug...
The plot is excellent in the romance camp. Everything that happens is to get Eui-joon and Gunwoo together, and it works pretty well.― You can read The Dangerous Convenience Store in English two ways. The first is to read it on the manhwa site/app Manta, which has all seventy-five chapters and four bonus stories available. The second is to read Seven Seas' print (or ebook) edition, which, as of this ...
Some older mysteries inch closer to resolution as the true nature of the Abyss slowly comes into view, and long-posed questions start to be answered.― Sometimes, being a fan of Akihito Tsukushi's acclaimed Made in Abyss series means acclimating to suffering. Like many Western devotees, I was introduced to this bizarre, squishy, disturbing world via the 2017 first season of Kinema Citrus' fantastic a...
60th, final episode of previous anime streamed on YouTube on Friday― The official Twitter account for the anime of Penguin Box's Odekake Kozame (Little Shark's Outings) manga announced on Friday that the manga will get a new anime series. Update: The staff revealed a visual for the new series in a press release on Saturday. The previous anime series debuted on YouTube last August, and its 60th and f...
Recently ended manga follows middle school student living with mysterious bird-looking creature― Shogakukan announced on Friday that Akira Konno's Kujima Utaeba Ie Hororo manga is inspiring an anime. The "bird(?) home comedy" manga's story starts when first-year middle school student Arata Kōda meets a mysterious bird-looking creature named Kujima in autumn. Hungry and craving Japanese food, Kujima ...
As Slam Dunk reached its final stretch, I can see why this series is considered the sports classic that it is today.― This is the largest batch of Slam Dunk episodes that I've reviewed thus far. Originally, I wanted to review the show in more even seasons, but given its overall pacing and release, it wasn't easy to find a moment where it felt right to stop and start again. However, as we approached ...
James and Lynzee discuss the latest episode of Yatagarsu. Plus, GoHands keeps making anime, and we don't know WHY.― Yatagarasu Gets Violent! James and Lynzee discuss the latest episode of Yatagarsu, in which Wakamiya plays his hand to find out the truth behind his older brother's scheming to obtain the throne. Plus, GoHands keeps making anime, and we don't know WHY; Hunter x Hunter manga is on its ...
Making a sequel to Code Geass is a daunting task. But with its fantastic main character and a story that doesn't undercut what came before, Rozé of the Recapture is on the right track.― Making a sequel to Code Geass—especially one set close to the end of the series—is a daunting task. Any story that involves an ongoing war massively undercuts both the finale of the original anime and the sacrifices ...
The Switch sequel console is finally happening! The details are scarce, but you can find out more in this week's column. Also: an interview with El Shaddai's Sawaki Takeyasu, Microsoft layoffs, and more.― Welcome back, folks! What a wild week this has been for the gaming industry. We'll go further into it, but jeez. This past week also saw the disappearance of Capcom's Dark Void and Dark Void Zero. ...
The Code Geass creator discusses his new project with Web3 company Azuki, Enter the Garden, and his hope that this new path could help the medium evolve.― Los Angeles-based Web3 anime-styled brand Azuki and advertising conglomerate Dentsu debuted the first nine-minute episode of their joint anime endeavor, Enter the Garden, on April 30. The episode, which has already racked up a quarter of a million...