Kawaki

Kawaki (Japanese: カワキ) is a fictional character from Ukyo Kodachi and Mikio Ikemoto's manga Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. Initially appearing in the flashforward in the series' debut, Kawaki is a young man who would become the nemesis of the series' lead character, Boruto Uzumaki. Kawaki is later introduced as a rebellious member from the organization Kara who wishes to escape and have his cursed mark "Karma" (楔, Kāma) removed from his body. In his escape he meets the ninja team from Boruto who take him to their Hidden Leaf Village to protect him from Kara. Boruto's father, Naruto, takes the teenager under his wing, seeking to protect him from enemies, causing him to bond with his family as time passes.

Kawaki
Boruto: Naruto Next Generations character
Kawaki as designed by Mikio Ikemoto
First appearanceBoruto: Naruto Next Generations chapter 1: Boruto Uzumaki.
Created byUkyo Kodachi
Designed byMikio Ikemoto
Voiced byYūma Uchida
In-universe information
RelativesNaruto Uzumaki (guardian)
Boruto Uzumaki (step brother)
Hinata Uzumaki (guardian)
Himawari Uzumaki (step sister)

Kawaki was created by Kodachi and Ikemoto as a major rival to Boruto. Naruto author Masashi Kishimoto suggested Kodachi and Ikemoto the idea of introducing both he and Boruto through a flashforward in order to cause greater impact than the previous film Boruto: Naruto the Movie (2015).

Kawaki's first appearance in the manga and anime of Boruto caused major preocupations within the franchise due to his possible violent actions against Naruto Uzumaki. However, his debut in the present narrative was the subject of praise for his constant interactions with the main character growing from a cold hearted teenager to a more caring person, most notably under Naruto's influence.

Creation and development

In the first few pages of the first chapter Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, an encounter between an old teenage Boruto Uzumaki against another one named Kawaki was briefly shown as a flashforward.[1] The purpose was to attract more fans so they could look forward to the battle as it has a chaotic state to it.[2] When writer Ukyo Kodachi showed artist Mikio Ikemoto the script for this scene, Ikemoto was highly surprised by this scene.[3] The battle against Kawaki was shown instead in the first chapter rather than Sasuke Uchiha's one against Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki from them 2015 Boruto: Naruto the Movie film to generate a different impact within the fans despite sharing the same storyline. Their teenage designs ware first illustrated in little time. As a result, Ikemoto stated that once Boruto reached this moment, the older protagonists' designs might change.[4]

Ikemoto described the character's relationship with Boruto as antagonistic in order to the contrast the flashforward in which it is implied that Boruto and Kawaki have been allies for too much time, giving potential for mystery among readers. Similarly, Kawaki's appearance highly different from Boruto's in a similar way Naruto and Sasuke contrasted each other in the original Naruto manga.[5]

Although Boruto is the protagonist of Next Generations series, Ikemoto stated in early 2019 that the relationship between Boruto and Kawaki will be the most important point in the story as the manga is aimed to reach the flashforward scene from the first chapter where both characters start fighting against each other. While Boruto is shown as a cheerful character when interacting with other cast members, Ikemoto drew both he and Kawaki as more serious resulting in different facial features.[6]

In December 2020, it was announced that Yūma Uchida would voice Kawaki in the anime adaptation of Boruto.[7] Following the announcement, Kodachi expressed joy in seeing Kawaki animated in the anime and thus looked forward to fan support.[8]

Appearances

Kawaki first appears in Boruto's first chapter as a flashforward as he and Boruto Uzumaki two would end up becoming enemies as hinted in prologue of the Boruto series, an older Kawaki appearing to have perpetrated Konoha's destruction as he confronts an older Boruto while declaring the age of shinobi has come to an end.[9] Kawaki is a tattooed youth who became a member of Kara after being brought by Jigen from a drunkard father, bearing a tattoo of the Roman numeral IX under his left eye and bestowed a Kama mark by Jigen to be made into a living weapon for Kara.[10] He was heavily modified with microscopic Shinobi-Ware implanted in his body that give him abilities similar to Jugo's Sage Transformation in altering his physiology at a cellular level. Kawaki leaves Kara and encounters Boruto's ninja team who brings him to the Hidden Leaf. In order to protect him from Kara, Boruto's father, the leader of the village, Seventh Hokage Naruto, adopts him. Initially distant to everybody, Kawaki spends his time with the Uzumaki family repairing a vase he accidentally destroys which Himawari made for Hinata’s birthday.[11]

When Kara's Delta attacks the village to take Kawaki back, Naruto comes to his defense and saves him.[12] Now growing to care his guardian, Kawaki requests the Hokage to train him to become a ninja.[13] Kara leader Jiren attacks the village and kidnaps Naruto in the aftermath, Kawaki joins Boruto, and his allies, Sarada Uchiha, and Mitsuki to reclaim him. Due to Jiren becoming weakened in the previous fight, Kawaki's team instead faces the Kara member Boro who wishes to take both Boruto and him to their group.[14] Kawaki's team is defeated but Boruto's Karma mark causes him to be possessed by Momoshiki Otsutsuki who kills Boro. The team rescues the Hokage and return to Konohagakure.[15]

Reception

Allega Frank of Polygon mentioned that during the start of both the manga and the anime, Kawaki's debut in the flashforward caused multiple fans to worried about his possible future actions against the previous protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki, as Kawaki claims he has already killed him.[16] Despite being bothered by multiple issues in the manga's premiere, Chris Beveridge of The Fandom Post enjoyed the flashfoward between Kawaki and Boruto's as it showed the potential the series had.[17]

Critics also commented on Kawaki's introduction in the series. It has been praised for the impact in the storyline and the rival parallels he has with Boruto in the same way the original manga had between Naruto and Sasuke. Chris Beverdige found Kawaki's rivalry with Boruto too similar their predecessors but at the same time they also have potential for a friendlier relationship and thus looked forward to their future development. Kawaki's Karma abilities were praised by Beveridge for how identical they were to Boruto's as Karma appeared in both at the same time.[18] Leroy Douresseaux expected Kawaki will have a major impact in Boruto's life in regards to his way of fighting.[19] Manga News found that while Kawaki's introduction might come across as forced, his misrelationship might also parallel Naruto's and Sasuke's but it would be hard to reach that level.[20]

Nevertheless, the reviewer found that Kawaki's cold demeanor kept disappearing in the narrative the more time he spends with the Uzumaki family, resulting in interesting calm chapters, most notably with Naruto when he asks him to train him to become a ninja. As a result, Manga News found that since his introduction his character made a major impact to the narrative rather than the actual protagonist, Boruto.[21][22] IGN also found Kawaki's relationship with Naruto as endearing as he was willing to return to Jigen if he does not harm the Hokage, whom the writer compared to the one of an actual father.[23] When Naruto and Sasuke are defeated by Kara, IGN looked forward to Kawaki and Boruto's actions to protect the Hokage, noting their Karma seals might be explored in the future to give them new powers even though the antagonists are aware of such power and are using them.[24]

Game designer Hiroshi Matsuyama from CyberConnect2 praised the debut of Kawaki in the manga due to his involvement in the narrative as well as the fight sequences he takes part of. Matsuyama also praised how Ikemoto designed Kawaki, finding the illustration of him in the cover of the series' seventh manga volume striking.[25]

See also
  •  Anime and manga portal

References
  1. Kishimoto, Masashi; Ikemoto, Mikio; Morimoto, Mari (2017). Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. 1. Viz Media. pp. 5, 8–10. ISBN 9781421592114. OCLC 962009375.
  2. "Jump Festa 2017 Interview – Masashi Kishimoto And The Future Of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations!". Otakukart. 31 January 2017. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  3. "Interview: Boruto Manga Artist Mikio Ikemoto". Anime News Network. February 25, 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  4. "Le manga de la semaine: Mikio Ikemoto commente Boruto, le spin-off de Naruto" (in French). BFMTV. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  5. "Interview: Boruto Manga Artist Mikio Ikemoto". Anime News Network. February 25, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  6. "Special interview with artist Mikio Ikemoto". Shonen Jump. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  7. "Boruto Anime Reveals 6 New Cast Members Including Yūma Uchida as Kawaki". Anime News Network. December 19, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  8. Ukyo Kodachi [@u_kodachi] (December 19, 2018). "カワキと〈殻〉の面々には深い思い入れがあるので、アニメで動くことを嬉しく思います。皆さま、どうか改めてますますのご声援を願えればと思います　#BORUTO" (Tweet). Retrieved December 19, 2020 – via Twitter. |date= mismatches calculated date from |number= by two or more days (help)
  9. Kishimoto, Masashi; Ikemoto, Mikio; Morimoto, Mari (2017). "Chapter 1". Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. 1. Viz Media. ISBN 978-1-4215-9211-4.
  10. Kishimoto, Masashi; Ikemoto, Mikio; Morimoto, Mari (2019). "Chapter 24". Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. 7. Viz Media. ISBN 978-1-9747-0699-0.
  11. Kishimoto, Masashi; Ikemoto, Mikio; Morimoto, Mari (2019). "Chapter 27". Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. 7. Viz Media. ISBN 978-1-9747-0699-0.
  12. Kishimoto, Masashi; Ikemoto, Mikio; Morimoto, Mari (2020). "Chapter 31". Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. 8. Viz Media. ISBN 978-1-9747-0879-6.
  13. Kishimoto, Masashi; Ikemoto, Mikio; Morimoto, Mari (2020). "Chapter 34". Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. 9. Viz Media. ISBN 978-1-9747-1702-6.
  14. Kishimoto, Masashi; Ikemoto, Mikio; Morimoto, Mari (2021). "Chapter 39". Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. 10. Viz Media. ISBN 978-1-97471869-6.
  15. Kishimoto, Masashi; Ikemoto, Mikio; Morimoto, Mari (2020). "Chapter 43". Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. 11. Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-882290-7.
  16. Frank, Allega (6 April 2017). "Boruto premiere leaves fans nervous about Naruto's fate". Polygon. Archived from the original on 8 April 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  17. "Boruto Chapter #1 Manga Review". The Fandom Post. 10 May 2016. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  18. "Boruto Vol. #07 Manga Review". Fandom Post. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  19. "Boruto: Naruto Next Generations: Volume 7 manga review". Comic Book Bin. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
  20. "Boruto: Naruto Next Generations: Volume 7". Manga News. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  21. "Boruto: Naruto Next Generations: Volume 8". Manga News. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  22. "Boruto: Naruto Next Generations: Volume 9". Manga News. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  23. "Naruto: Kawaki hace una emotiva confesión". IGN. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  24. "Naruto: Boruto y Kawaki tendrían nuevas formas". IGN. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  25. Hiroshi Matsuyama [@PIROSHI_CC2] (February 8, 2019). "『BORUTO ーボルトー』最新7巻。帯にも書かれてる通り『カワキ編』が本格スタートでアクション多目で見所の多い巻。 それにしても表紙がカッコいい。 カワキの耳の正確な描き込みに池本さんの性格が伺える。" (Tweet). Retrieved October 20, 2020 – via Twitter.
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