I been part of the BORUTO community since 2017 and throughout the last 8 years - there's been crazy high highs and low lows.
Like many others, I was able to share my love for this franchise in ways I can't imagine - whether it was manga releases, BORUTO Sundays, or watch parties (COVID times lol) - shit was special. I made lifelong friends on here that I cherish too.
But you realize with time who's genuine and whos in it for clout - and for whatever silly and malicious reasons people do dumb shit for - you will NEVER be able to fake passion - and those who try - reek of being disingenuous frauds that insult the very own thing they pretend to love - and It is so OBVIOUS for everyone to see.
I been collecting everything BORUTO for almost a decade now because I love this franchise with all my heart first and foremost, then it is to support it in whoever ways that I can - I'm lucky that I can do what I do - but some can't - but do other stuff that amazes me more ..
the artists and animators who tirelessly share their works, fans who invest their own time/money to get information out there and keep us up to date, fans who theorize literally everything, passionately defend Ikemoto, the manga, the anime etc.. content creators too.. popular accounts, small accounts, it does not matter .. because all of us have one thing in common.. we only want to spread the love we have for BORUTO purely for that reason alone.
Despite the different opinions and internal discourse at times, it is the comradery that bonds real fans together over something that's already divisive in most people's eyes, and even worse, the losers who try to fit in for materialistic and selfish reasons.
The real ones out there know who they are, and play a big part in what makes the BORUTO community special, and the frauds can only struggle to even be relevant..
My love for BORUTO isn't affected by dummies on social media and I barely see the hate on here too or engage with them either.
Why? Because it's pointless and most people on here are simply not smart enough to comprehend what's the metric of success to begin with - and outright hate on anything that's stigmatized. I been on this app since 2017 and it's all recycled hate.
I grew up with long running anime, so I believe we were blessed with an anime that almost spanned 300 episodes, with highs that broke the internet several times, and consistently TV Tokyo's biggest series too - Crunchyroll and VIZ as well - for 6 years.
We are blessed to have a monthly manga as a continuation of NARUTO that's already 100+ chapters long - 10 years old next year - and is one of the most popular manga's around right now that keeps getting better every damn year.
Arguing against BORUTO's success is like arguing against Shueisha, Pierrot, TV Tokyo, V-Jump, VIZ, Crunchyroll etc, who all label it as successful too - arguing against pure facts just to push an agenda
It might not be JJK, My Hero, or KnY, levels of success or mainstream appeal but it never needed to be either. It's funny because social media makes us fight against one another as if all these animes are different sports teams and there's a defacto way of pointing out which is better.. when you can simply.. like them all? lol
NARUTO/BORUTO for me will always be Top 3 ever regardless.