Summary
The Boruto manga implied that Sarada’s initial problems with the Sharingan were due to her father’s prolonged absence, but the anime rectified that by showing many training sessions with Sasuke. However, this means that the anime portrays Sarada as an ineffective kunoichi, because she can no longer blame her father’s absence for her shortcomings. While the Boruto anime often rectifies some of the manga’s problems with the depiction of certain characters, this sadly doesn’t happen with Sarada’s issues with the Sharingan.
Compared to anime, Boruto The manga’s failure to fully represent certain characters often reflects poorly on their overall personality, but there is one instance in the anime where more time is given. Sarada received actually left her in a worse state. In this case, the lack of context in the original manga established that Sasuke was a bad father because he did not teach his daughter how to use the Sharingan, but the anime portrays Sarada as an even less effective kunoichi. .
In both the anime and manga, Kawaki is able to instruct Sarada on how to effectively use her clan’s Sharingan against their opponents Boro after learning about the technique just moments before. On the surface, Kawaki’s ability to overcome Sarada reflects poorly on her, but since the manga never shows her father Sasuke with her, the impression is that it’s really Sasuke’s fault.
As her father and an Uchiha member, it was Sasuke’s duty to educate her, but he failed because he was never there for her. However, the anime has many scenes of Sasuke training her on how to use the Sharingan effectively, meaning that Sarada’s subsequent defeat falls squarely on her shoulders.
Sasuke trained Sarada how to use the Sharingan in the Boruto anime
Sarada’s training with Sasuke in many volumes (from #168 to #200) proves that Sarada has more than enough training to know how and when to use the Sharingan. So when Kawaki later told her how she could use the Sharingan in episode #207 reflected poorly on her as a shinobi and a ninja. Fans can no longer blame Sarada’s defeat on her father not being there, as he spent a lot of time training her.
Ironically, episode #206 completely recreated a similar event in the manga for Sarada’s benefit. In the manga, Mitsuki asks Sarada to use her Sharingan to help them identify Boro’s Black Mist. The anime only sees Mitsuki come to a conclusion on her own after collecting a few samples during battle. While particularly anime-savvy viewers may have realized that Sarada may have helped with her Sharingan, at least the anime doesn’t directly call out Sarada.
Sarada’s lack of expertise with the Sharingan affects her more severely in the Anime
Regarding Sasuke, he could have been portrayed as a better father thanks to the anime’s additional scenes where he trained his daughter, but unfortunately that came at the expense of Sarada. This is especially so because she, along with most female shinobi in both Naruto and especially Boruto, are either looked down upon or forced to participate in unfortunate and outdated tropes that portray women as less favorable. more favorably than their male counterparts. Sarada certainly receives less ridicule than other characters like Hinata, but that doesn’t warrant the need to disrespect her any more.
General Boruto Anime usually treats female characters better like Sarada respectfully and even points out the manga’s worst points, but this case is definitely an unfortunate exception.
Boruto: Naruto Next Generation available on Crunchyroll.
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