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Boruto chapter 75 proved to be a gamechanger not only for the plot of the series, but also for its popularity. With the release of the latest chapter, the readership of the series on the Manga Plus app has increased exponentially, relegating the 5th position to My Hero Academia with 470,432 reads.
With 481,076 views, Boruto snagged 4th place on the list of most-read ongoing manga series on Manga Plus. This has led many enthusiastic fans to hope that the series will surpass One Piece as well, which ranks 3rd with 815,661 views.
This article attempts to determine why chapter 75 impacted the series’ readership so significantly and how fans have reacted to this development.
Disclaimer: This article takes into account the author’s personal opinions and contains spoilers for the Boruto manga.
Boruto ranks 4th among top 5 ongoing series on the Manga Plus app
How chapter 75 elevates the manga
Both the Boruto manga and anime have been the subject of much controversy, with the former facing constant comparisons to the original Naruto series, and the latter for its extensive filler content.
The manga releases new chapters on a monthly basis, and while the chapters themselves are longer than the average weekly chapter, the content often does not live up to the hype.
After chapter 68 which showcased Boruto’s return from the dead and showed Code infiltrating Konoha, the focus shifted to Eida’s obsession with Kawaki and the circumstances of her arrival in Konoha. Many fans considered the subject matter flimsy, compared to themes and major plot points in Naruto.
The highly Americanized translations of the dialog, aimed towards engaging English speakers, often end up trivializing moments of intense passion or seriousness, an example being the younger Uzumaki referring to Kawaki as “bro” while asking the latter to kill him.
Chapter 75 circumvents these issues by shifting the focus on Eida’s origin rather than on the cyborg herself, and using it as a lead-up to the introduction of the Otsutsuki god Shibai.
The chapter is filled to the brim with information that directly affects the storyline, disclosing Amado’s true intentions regarding Kawaki’s reconstructed karma and Momoshiki’s suspicions regarding Eida’s love charm.
The chapter even includes some meta humor through Boruto telling Kawaki that he expected Amado to have a considerably more sinister motive than resurrecting his deceased daughter, echoing fans’ sentiments.
The younger Uzumaki’s conversation with Momoshiki and his vision of the future showing the village in disarray also gives fans insight into what the series has in store for the future, namely, the possibility of Kawaki going rogue.
This also helps the current timeline of the manga move closer to the post-timeskip scene revealed at the very beginning of the series, showing Boruto and Kawaki fighting, with a destroyed Konoha village as the backdrop.
How fans reacted
Fans seemed to have mixed reactions to Boruto bagging the 4th spot on the list of the top five most-read series on Manga Plus. While ardent fans of the series were excited by this development, believing that the manga will finally pick up the pace and become interesting enough to keep readers hooked, others are convinced that this improvement is temporary.
Yet others believe that the Naruto sequel is overhyped and cannot possibly measure up to the original saga which has fascinated older fans for years and gained an almost cult-like following globally.
Some Naruto fans have even mocked that this week’s rankings don’t prove the series’ worth, since the Sasuke Retsuden manga has remained in second position despite having released only three chapters till now.
Final thoughts
Chapter 75 has seen definite improvement both in terms of content and artwork, but it is still debatable if the series will be able to maintain its ranking on this list. Even if the quality of the chapters remains consistent, fans will have to wait for an entire month before chapter 76 is released on December 20, 2022.
With other ongoing series on the list updating on a weekly basis, it is guaranteed that Boruto will fall from its current position within another week. It is also unlikely that the series will manage to displace One Piece from its current rank since there is a difference of over 335,000 views between the two.
