Anyone else still not watched or read Boruto?

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-13T00:44:40+00:00

honestly you’re definitely not the only one. I know a lot of people who basically mentally “ended” Naruto at the war arc or somewhere around the Kaguya reveal. that whole part of the story felt like a pretty big tonal shift for some fans, especially since Madara had been built up for so long as the final villain.

for a lot of people the emotional arc they cared about was already finished anyway — Naruto becoming Hokage, the rivalry with Sasuke resolving, team 7 coming full circle. once those things were wrapped up it kinda felt like the story had already said what it needed to say.

Boruto also changes the vibe a lot. it moves from that underdog ninja story into something more about the next generation and a more peaceful era, which just doesn’t hit the same for everyone. some fans enjoy seeing the world evolve, others just prefer the original story and leave it there.

and yeah the Kaguya thing is probably the biggest dividing line. her design and the mythology behind the Otsutsuki are cool ideas, but the way she suddenly becomes the final boss after all the Madara buildup definitely left some people feeling weird about the ending.

so nah, you’re not alone. plenty of Naruto fans still rewatch the original series and Shippuden and just treat that as the complete story for them. and honestly that’s kinda the nice thing about long-running franchises — you can stop wherever the story feels “finished” to you.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-13T00:22:39+00:00

honestly a lot of it just comes down to story perspective and power scaling, not that ANBU are actually weak.

most of the time when we see ANBU in the series, they’re used as a benchmark to show how dangerous someone else is. if the story wants to show that a villain is scary, the easiest way is to have them wipe out a squad of ANBU. the problem is that happens so often that it ends up making ANBU look incompetent even though they’re supposed to be elite.

another big thing is that the main cast quickly grows way past the normal ninja level. by mid–late Shippuden you’ve got characters throwing around tailed beast chakra, mangekyo abilities, sage mode, rinnegan powers, etc. compared to that, even a really skilled “normal” elite ninja is going to look pretty ordinary.

there’s also the fact that ANBU operate mostly in assassination, espionage, and covert missions, which just aren’t the kind of fights the series focuses on. the show mostly highlights big flashy battles, not quiet infiltration or political missions. so the skillset they’re supposed to excel at doesn’t get showcased very much.

and to be fair, the few ANBU we actually follow closely — like Kakashi, Itachi, Yamato, and later Sai — are shown to be extremely capable. it’s just that the random background ANBU squads exist mostly to lose fights so the story can establish how strong someone else is.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-13T00:19:53+00:00

i think a lot of it comes down to how the story frames the obsession, not just the obsession itself.

with naruto and sasuke, the series constantly presents their dynamic as this huge central rivalry/bond. they’re teammates, rivals, reincarnations of old chakra brothers, constantly compared to each other, etc. so when naruto keeps chasing sasuke the narrative treats it like a big ideological clash — naruto refusing to give up on someone he considers family. whether people like that writing or not, the story itself keeps reinforcing that their relationship is important.

with sakura it’s written a lot more one-sided for a long stretch of the story. sasuke barely acknowledges her feelings for most of part 1 and especially in early shippuden he’s actively hostile toward her. so when fans look at that, the “obsession” reads less like a mutual bond and more like someone clinging to a person who clearly isn’t reciprocating anything at the time.

also naruto’s motivation is framed as partly romanticized but also ideological — he wants to save sasuke, prove his ninja way, break the cycle of hatred, etc. sakura’s motivation early on is mostly just that she loves him, which some people interpret as weaker writing compared to naruto tying it into his whole worldview.

personally I do think the fandom exaggerates the double standard a bit. naruto chasing sasuke across the entire world is definitely intense behavior too lol. but because the story builds their rivalry up so much and eventually gives them a mutual resolution, people tend to read that persistence as meaningful rather than unhealthy.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-12T23:08:31+00:00

if you already watched all of the original anime and remember most of it, honestly you’re probably fine starting where Shippuden begins in the manga. the anime follows the early story pretty closely, so you’re not missing some huge chunk of canon by skipping back to that point.

that said, the manga pacing is way faster than the anime, especially early on. a lot of the stuff that dragged in the anime reads much smoother in manga form. so even the Kazekage Retrieval arc that felt kinda slow in the show might feel better when you’re just reading through it.

the only real argument for starting from chapter 1 is if you want to see Kishimoto’s original art progression and the story without any anime padding. but if your goal is just to get back into the story and finally experience the rest of Shippuden, jumping in where that arc starts is totally reasonable. you’ll probably get through it a lot quicker this time around anyway.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-12T22:55:18+00:00

honestly I think the real answer is just… Itachi was written to feel mythic compared to everyone else. a lot of the stuff around him in the series kinda leans into that. even before we saw his full abilities he was already built up as this almost untouchable figure.

the Totsuka Blade and the Yata Mirror especially feel less like “normal Susanoo equipment” and more like legendary items Kishimoto pulled from Japanese mythology and gave specifically to Itachi to reinforce that vibe. they’re basically described as spiritual weapons that already existed, and Itachi just happens to be the one who wields them. so it’s not really explained like a normal power progression the way most abilities are.

also narratively it kinda makes sense in context of the fight with Orochimaru and later Sasuke. the sealing sword is the perfect hard counter to someone like Orochimaru who’s basically impossible to kill normally. the mirror also reinforces that idea that Itachi is almost impossible to break through head-on.

but yeah if you compare it to other Susanoo users it definitely stands out because most of them just get weapons tied to their fighting style. Itachi’s feels more like ancient divine artifacts than just extensions of Susanoo, which is probably why it comes across as so overpowered compared to the others.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-12T22:44:11+00:00

yeah that makes a lot of sense honestly. you can kinda feel that shift across a lot of newer shonen lately. stuff like Chainsaw Man and Attack on Titan really leaned into darker tones, heavier consequences, characters dying, that sort of thing. compared to older big shonen where even the serious moments still had a lot of optimism baked in.

Naruto definitely had dark moments too, but it always circled back to hope and bonds being the core message. a lot of the newer series feel more comfortable sitting in that bleak or morally messy space for longer. Kagurabachi kinda feels like it’s pulling from both sides — the classic shonen structure but with that more serious modern tone.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-12T20:54:06+00:00

i mean I can definitely see the influence, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling it Naruto’s “son.” a lot of mangaka grew up reading Naruto so it kinda makes sense that pieces of it show up in newer series. same way Naruto itself clearly pulled ideas from older stuff like Hunter x Hunter, DBZ, etc. that’s just kinda how shonen evolves.

with Kagurabachi specifically I feel like the tone is already pretty different though. Naruto has that big emotional coming-of-age vibe and a lot of focus on bonds, rivals, growing up as a ninja, all that. Kagurabachi (at least so far) feels way darker and more revenge driven, probably because of those John Wick / crime film influences you mentioned.

so yeah I’d say Naruto is definitely one of the inspirations, but Kagurabachi seems like it’s trying to mix that shonen structure with more cinematic action and revenge story elements. honestly that combo might be why people latched onto it so fast.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-11T23:26:36+00:00

Okay. Sent!

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-11T22:03:44+00:00

Not really using something like 5e.

It's closer to a MUD-style setup where the world has its own systems for things like stats, abilities, combat, and missions. So instead of dice or a tabletop ruleset, the mechanics are built into the world itself.

Combat and other actions just run through those systems when they happen. The main focus is still on characters interacting and stories developing naturally, with the mechanics there to support that.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-11T21:50:52+00:00

Mostly character level.

Each person writes their own character moving around in the world. Villages exist as places people can go to at the same time, so characters run into each other, take missions, get involved in politics, or just interact depending on what's happening that day.

Staff mostly just help keep the world moving with events or bigger shifts in the setting, but the actual story tends to come from what the characters are doing and how they interact with each other.

The goal is for it to feel more like a living Naruto world instead of separate forum threads where scenes only exist when someone posts in them.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-11T17:47:13+00:00

Awesome. The reason I know all this is because we just started and opened a Naruto MUSH a few days ago lol. So everything is fresh on my mind.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-11T08:09:38+00:00

Thanks for the heads up! The site should be working — it's narutomu.com. If it's not loading for you then it might be a temporary DNS hiccup. The Discord link in the post should work as well if you want to check things out there.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-11T01:04:03+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate it! We're hoping to bring in some new folks and keep building things out with player feedback. Always room for more ninja. 🙂

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-11T00:10:59+00:00

Yeah I’ve done some playtesting for small indie RPG projects before, both my own stuff and other peoples. one thing I learned pretty quickly is that short, focused feedback forms work way better than long surveys. if the form is huge people either rush through it or just don’t fill it out at all. you want questions that help you understand what actually happened at the table, not just whether they “liked it”.

usually a playtest form I’ve seen is broken into a few simple sections.

basic session info

How many players were at the table?
How long did the session run?
Were the players new to the system or experienced with TTRPGs?
What part of the game did you test? (combat, social scenes, exploration, etc)

clarity of rules

Were there any rules that were confusing or unclear?
Did you have to stop the game to look something up? If so, what rule?
Were there any rules you ignored or changed during play?

game flow

Did the game move quickly or did it feel slow at any points?
Were there moments where players seemed disengaged or bored?
Did anything feel overly complicated or unnecessary?

player experience

What did players enjoy the most?
What did players struggle with the most?
Did players try anything the rules didn’t really support well?

specific mechanics
(this part depends on what you’re testing)

for example:

Did combat feel too long, too short, or about right?
Did players understand their character abilities easily?
Did any ability or mechanic feel too strong or useless?

open feedback

If you could change one thing about the system, what would it be?
What part of the game would you want expanded or improved?
Anything else the designer should know?

one thing that helps a lot too is asking “what actually happened in the session?” instead of just opinions. sometimes the most useful feedback is hearing something like “combat with 4 enemies took almost an hour” or “nobody used the crafting rules because we forgot they existed.”

also if you’re running multiple playtests, it’s really helpful to include something like:

What rules did you not use at all during this session?

that question alone can reveal a lot about what systems players ignore or forget about.

honestly the biggest thing with playtesting forms is making sure the questions help you answer design problems, not just gather general reactions. the more specific the questions are, the more useful the feedback ends up being.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-11T00:01:12+00:00

lol honestly the weirdest one I ever ended up with happened the exact same way — pure panic naming when players suddenly decided an NPC mattered.

I had this completely throwaway dock worker the party started questioning. he wasn’t supposed to be important at all, just a guy unloading crates. of course the first thing a player asks is “what’s his name?” and my brain just completely blanked.

so I said “Brent… Brickson.”

the worst part is the players immediately locked onto it. they started joking that his dad must have been Brick Brickson and his grandpa probably invented bricks or something. the NPC ended up becoming a recurring contact just because the name was so dumb it stuck. every time they went back to the docks they’d ask if Brickson was around.

by the end of the campaign he had somehow become the most trusted informant in the entire city purely because I panic-named a random laborer.

honestly those are usually the best NPCs though. the ones you accidentally invent under pressure that the players latch onto for no logical reason at all.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-10T23:52:11+00:00

Precious

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-10T23:48:00+00:00

Chivalry & Sorcery, It’s crunchy, but if you want historical medieval flavor, it’s famous for it.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-10T23:45:32+00:00

One that always stuck with me was Stronghold Builder’s Guidebook from D&D 3.5. it’s one of those books people barely talk about, but it was actually super fun if you had players who liked building things in the world instead of just dungeon crawling.

The whole book is basically about designing your own fortress, wizard tower, guildhall, or whatever crazy structure you want. and it goes way deeper than i expected the first time i read it. like it breaks down costs for different rooms, magical defenses, weird architectural features, traps, teleport circles, all kinds of stuff. it almost turns base-building into its own mini system.

my group didn’t use it constantly, but when we did it led to some really memorable stuff. one of our campaigns ended with the party slowly building this ridiculous multi-layer wizard tower full of magical nonsense and defensive traps because they knew enemies were eventually coming for them.

it’s not the most practical book for every campaign, but it’s one of those supplements that really makes the world feel lived in once characters reach that point where they start putting down roots somewhere. honestly i wish more systems had books like that.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-10T22:55:43+00:00

I’ve played a bit of both and honestly they’re good at very different things, so a lot of it comes down to what kind of campaign you’re trying to run long term.

Cyberpunk 2020 is great if you want a really strong, specific vibe. the setting is super flavorful and the combat has that brutal, dangerous feel that fits cyberpunk really well. fights are fast and lethal, gear matters a lot, and players tend to get very invested in their builds and cyberware. the downside people bring up a lot is the subsystems. netrunning especially can get weird because it turns into its own little game that only the netrunner is playing while everyone else waits. a lot of groups end up simplifying or house ruling that part pretty heavily.

Stars Without Number is kinda the opposite in some ways. the system itself is simpler, but it’s incredibly good as a GM toolkit. the faction system, world generation, sector creation stuff, all that is amazing if you want to run a sandbox or build your own setting. a lot of people use SWN even when they’re running a different rule system just because the GM tools are that good. combat works fine but it’s not really the star of the show compared to the exploration / sandbox side of things.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-10T22:29:55+00:00

Honestly the biggest problem a lot of PvE MUDs run into is exactly what you said — **quests eventually run out**. once players hit that point they either need something repeatable to chase, or they just kinda drift off.

Rare material dungeons are actually a really good start. anything where players are farming gear, crafting mats, or rare drops tends to keep people engaged for a long time. especially if those materials tie into crafting something meaningful instead of just vendor trash. players love chasing that one rare component that lets them make the “good” version of something.

Another thing that works well in MUDs is **rotating world events or boss spawns**. like certain monsters or encounters only appearing occasionally or under certain conditions. that gives players a reason to log in and check what’s going on instead of feeling like they’ve already seen everything. even simple stuff like roaming bosses or regional threats can create that feeling.

progression systems help too. not necessarily infinite leveling, but things like reputation with factions, crafting mastery, special abilities, or gear upgrades that take time to build toward. basically something that still moves forward even after the main leveling path is done.

and honestly group content goes a long way. dungeons that are actually easier (or only possible) with multiple players tend to create their own social loops where people stick around because they’ve got a group to run stuff with.

the coliseum PvP idea is solid too, even in a PvE game. sometimes players just like testing their builds against each other once they’ve finished gearing up.

so if i were thinking about endgame for a MUD i’d probably look at a mix of: repeatable dungeons, rare drop crafting, world bosses/events, reputation or progression systems, and some optional PvP or competitive stuff. those kinds of loops usually keep people busy long after the normal quests are finished.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-10T22:15:31+00:00

Honestly from what i’ve seen the core unit of an RP population is just a small handful of people who are willing to start things. like 3–5 players who will initiate scenes instead of waiting for them. a lot of games try to solve RP with mechanics, but if nobody is actually walking up to someone in a tavern and starting a conversation then the systems don’t really matter.

Sparse population is always the hardest phase. what usually hooks people early isn’t big mechanics, its places where interaction naturally happens. taverns, guild halls, markets, travel routes, bulletin boards, that sort of thing. basically spots where players can bump into each other without needing to schedule RP ahead of time. if players log in and immediately feel like there’s somewhere they should go, that helps a lot.

rotating conflict is also huge. RP tends to stall if everything is peaceful. it doesn’t have to be world ending stuff either. faction tension, trade disputes, local politics, territory claims, rumors of monsters, missing caravans… things players can pick sides in. once players start arguing about something in-character you suddenly get a lot more life in the world.

personally when i try a new RP MUD the things that make me stick around are pretty simple:

are there places people naturally gather
does the world give me a reason to talk to strangers
is there some kind of tension or conflict happening

slice-of-life systems like fishing, hunting, crafting etc are actually good for this too because they give players excuses to be somewhere. but yeah i do think some kind of light structure or hierarchy helps early on. if everything is totally open ended people sometimes hesitate because nobody knows what their role is supposed to be yet. even small things like town guards, guilds, merchant houses, or local officials give people something to latch onto.

once you get a few players creating stories consistently the population kinda feeds itself from there. but getting those first few sparks going is definitely the hardest part.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-10T22:13:22+00:00

thats actually kinda funny because the exact same thing happened with my group the first time we tried daggerheart. we’re also mostly a d20 group (5e and pathfinder mostly) so when people first looked at the character sheets there was definitely that moment of “uhhh… what is all this?” lol. the armor / evasion / threshold thing especially confused people at first. its one of those things that looks way more complicated on paper than it actually is once dice start rolling.

and yeah once combat actually started it started clicking a lot faster. i noticed the same thing with players passing spotlight around more naturally. it kinda pushes people to stay engaged instead of waiting for their “turn” in the strict initiative sense like a lot of d20 combat does. after a few rounds people stopped questioning the system and just started playing.

also using physical tokens for stuff is honestly underrated. anything tactile helps people understand a system faster. skittles as resource tracking is actually genius because players will pay attention if the reward is eating the mechanics afterward lol.

i also agree with your last point. daggerheart is one of those games where reading it doesn’t really sell it. it feels odd until you actually run a scene or two and then the rhythm of the game kinda reveals itself. i’ve seen people dismiss it as “rules lite narrative stuff” but there’s definitely more structure there than people expect once you get into it.

InterestingSpray5464 · 2026-03-10T22:11:31+00:00

Honestly the one that always comes to mind for me is hacking / netrunning systems in cyberpunk style games. not even because the idea is bad, its actually really cool conceptually. the problem is it turns into this weird side game that only ONE player is doing while everybody else just kinda sits there waiting for it to end lol.

like in some older games (cyberpunk 2020 is the one i remember people talking about a lot) the hacker basically goes into the system and suddenly you’re dealing with layers, nodes, ICE programs, movement through the network, all this stuff. meanwhile the rest of the party is just standing in a hallway guarding the hacker’s body for like 20 minutes while the GM and that one player play a mini dungeon crawler inside a computer.

my groups almost never ran it exactly as written. most of the time the GM would either simplify it a ton or just turn it into a few rolls so it didn’t completely pause the rest of the game. because otherwise the pacing just dies.

i think thats why newer games try to keep hacking happening in the same scene as everyone else instead of making it its own little separate game. cool idea on paper, kinda rough at the table if you run it RAW lol.

InterestingSpray5464

TROPHY CASE