I just realized that the Omnipotence storyline with B0ruto and Kawaki is just the Tales of the Abyss storyline with Asch and Luke but just so much fkin worse.
Like every possible way you could fk that plotline up, Ikeass fked it up.
For my non TOA readers heres the short summary of the situation
Theres a real Luke and a fake, the real Luke is royalty essentially, beloved, had a good life, but is kidnapped at a young age, cloned, replaced by said clone and later on by time he finally broke free to go back home the clone had completely taken his place as Luke, so he goes on to adopt the new name Asch and ya know, start his borderline villain arc but is more of an anti-villain frfr.
Thats the very bare bones run down of it but theres way more to it that you can look up and get the full story on if your really curious, but the main point of comparison Im making is, both stories tackle someone who had everything, having everything taken away from him, even his place in everyones lives, his entire life, his home, his friends, his family, all of that was taken away and he can never get it back.
This is why I say Ikemoto thoroughly fked this plotline up, because Asch really does lose everything, because even after ppl figure out Luke isnt the real one, they all choose to stand by him anyway, they've known him longer so their connection with him is stronger than the one with Asch from when they were kids.
So even if Ikemoto wanted to go the cowardly route of not making Boruto lose everything through death, he could've still had Boruto lose everything even just on an emotional level
Like how heartbreaking would it be if instead of Naruto and Hinata being sealed, they were actually still active and affected by omnipotence? how sad would it be seeing them treating Kawaki like their son when it should be him?
Now dont get me wrong in TOA Luke doesnt know that he's a clone, he never intended or wanted to take Asch place and when he realized the truth he tried to give everything back but Asch refused cuz the damage was done already, too much times passed, they've already embraced him as the real Luke for all these years.
Plus theres one other major detail for why trying to rekindle things is pointless...which is Asch is dying, as a side effect of the cloning so...yea, more salt on the wound.
Like I said theres so much that goes into this I highly suggest you either play the game or watch the anime cuz its genuinely so good but my point is this.
All the emotional weight of that 'life stolen' storyline, is completely non existent in the TBV one
It doesnt matter if ones about a clone or not, the originals lives were still STOLEN from them and REPLACED by someone else, the means dont matter, its the effects of that that matters
Naruto had all different kinds of orphan stories by vastly different circumstances, but it didnt matter HOW they became orphans, what mattered is how being orphaned effected them.
Thats my point here, both stories revolve around the originals lives being stolen from them and how thats effected them, but only TOA actually explores the effects of that in depth and showcases the actual irreversible consequences of that, while TBV just completely glosses over all of it.
Also another thing about TOA is that we actually see majority of the journey from the clone, Luke's, pov, so we never even know about the life swap until Luke eventually clashes with Asch on the battlefield one day and see's that they look identical, thats when questions start to arise.
Anyway throughout the entire ordeal we mostly see everything and experience everything from Luke's pov, his slow realization of what he is, his identity crisis, how he processes it and eventually comes to terms with it and decides how he's gonna move forward, we get all of that.
Technically Luke is not the main character, its Asch, because Asch is the real Luke that the story is supposed to be following, but because Luke REPLACED him, we see everything from mostly his pov.
Follow me? good, now I want you to remember what Ikemoto said about Boruto and Kawaki, how that in TBV Boruto's development is pretty much already done, it happened off screen, its finito, so we'll be following Kawaki's development instead and seeing more of his pov etc.
This is what I mean by Ikemoto fkin that plotline up because it literally makes sense why Kawaki would get the focal shift of TBV, because he literally took Boruto's place, he IS Boruto, therefore he IS the MC.
Its just little things like that that amplify the story, like in the game when you realize what really happened you literally WANT to get more on Asch, you want more focus on him, more interaction with him, you crave more screentime for him because its rightfully his to begin with, this should be HIS journey with HIS friends
But the game doesnt allow you that and thats the point, we're literally forced into Asch's shoes, we're forced to see Luke replace him and have to just accept that, and through Luke, we TRY to reach out to Asch to try and take his life back, but he refuses, its too late, theres no going back even if he wanted to.
So we're forced to continue the game through Lukes eyes because he is the MC now.
But there is a point in the game where we briefly play from Asch pov and he interacts with his old friends and stuff, but the entire time you can feel the distance, you can feel the bond just aint there like it was, that Asch is closed off and the others pretty much even after Luke fked up MASSIVELY atp and gotten ppl KILLED over a VERY stupid decision ignoring everyone who tried to warn him, they all still side with him, they forgive him and go back to him cuz thats their homie.
It is genuinely sad to see cuz it just basically confirmed what Asch already knew, there really is NO going back for him, Luke has everything and everyone, and Asch has nothing.
Ikemoto really could've done alot with this plotline and he just botched it in every possible fkin way, like Asch literally suffers from having his life stolen from him, meanwhile Boruto just chills, gets handed allies, has plot conveniently unaffected allies, convinces several brainwashed ppl to his side, has two of the most broken allies with the most broken cheat code abilities possible [KK and Ada] his parents are sealed so they never got to be affected by omnipotence anyway, and even WITH omnipotence he still has his little sister on his side as well
like got dam you cant have a 'lose everything' plot and then not commit to any of the after effects that comes with losing everything, basically losing nothing, and 'everything' is just a metaphor rather than deadass losing everything he once had.
This is why having TBV be from Kawaki's pov would really enhance this plotline because then it really does feel like Boruto's life was stolen, even if Kawaki isnt nefariously going around tryna live his life on purpose and take his place, but the fact remains he DID whether he did it intentionally or not.
We should've seen Kawaki interacting with Boruto's friends, we should've seen the villagers loving and adoring him as the Hokage's son, and we should've seen Hima cling to him as her big bro and like remind him of a special occasion, something only Boruto would know, but he doesnt remember, and Hima is sad about that, but she shrugs it off cuz even tho thats weird, actually ALOT of things have been weird about Kawaki from what she remembers, it doesnt matter, he's still her bro and she loves him and thats all that matters.
Its things like THAT we desperately needed to see to really sell the 'Boruto's been replaced' narrative thats trying to be paint here, to sell us on how tragic this all is for him, but how the hell are we supposed to feel anything if literally everyone already sensed something was off about Kawaki and 2 seconds after meeting Boruto they all instantly are able to be like 'hmmm I get why Sarada and Hima stick up for him now'
After everything was known about Asch and Luke, everyone Asch knew and loved all went back to Luke
If everybody had a sudden epiphany right now about Boruto and Kawaki they would all go to Boruto's side in a heart beat and Boruto knows this, its the whole reason he keeps up the lie because he knows the second the truth comes out their all gonna come for Kawaki's neck
So how is Boruto supposed to be perceived as this tragic hero who lost everything when literally everyone is on his side and he knows they are, hell he knows he could reveal the truth anytime and everyone would turn on Kawaki instantly, HE KNOWS THIS, and its exactly WHY he doesnt try to prove his innocence, because he doesnt want to back Kawaki into a corner again.
So again, where tf am I supposed to feel bad for him? he lost NOTHING and suffers NOTHING
Ahg man...thinking about TOA has me wanting to replay the game now just to experience a much better version of this plotline.













