Naruto Anime Analysis

Season 3: Episode 101

Source: Wikipedia
"Gotta See! Gotta Know! Kakashi-Sensei's True Face!"

"In this episode based on a special omake, Naruto convinces Sasuke and Sakura Haruno to help him see what Kakashi's face looks like under his mask. Each one of their plans, such as buying him ramen to force him to remove his mask while he eats, fails in a comedic fashion. At the same time, they inadvertently and unknowingly thwart attempts by three ninjas to kill Kakashi for goofy reasons. Finally, Kakashi agrees to take off his mask, revealing another slightly paler mask beneath it."

Analysis

In this episode based on a special omake, Naruto convinces Sasuke and Sakura Haruno to help him see what Kakashi's face looks like under his mask. The episode begins with Naruto creating an intense atmosphere with a scary look on his face. Moreover, he said to his teammates that it was time to see "Kakashi sensei's real face." Therefore, it gave the audience the idea that the episode would focus on revealing Kakashi's face; hence, it was a foreshadowing of what was going to happen later in this episode.

The theme of appearance versus reality is shown in this episode. For instance, when Naruto suggested that they should see Kakashi's face, Sasuke said that it was lame. Sakura seems to agree with Sasuke in appearance, but in reality, Sakura says in her mind, "Who am I kidding? This sounds fun." From my point of view, Sakura did not need much convincing because she was also curious to see Kakashi's face. The reason Sakura agrees with Sasuke in the first place is that she has a crush on him to the extent that she agrees with everything he says. In other words, she is always finding ways to please Sasuke, which sometimes is cringy. So, after Naruto convinced Sakura, he also tried to convince Sasuke.

Naruto used various tactics to convince Sasuke to agree to his plan. Naruto said that what if Kakashi has lips like a blimp or buck teeth? Sasuke stops and thinks about it. Afterwards, there is visual imagery when, in Sasuke's mind, he visualizes Kakashi having huge lips or buck teeth. It's funny, which brings a sense of comedy to this episode. It makes the audience laugh and enjoy watching it. After some time, Naruto's tactics eventually convince Sasuke that they should see Kakashi's face.

Each one of their plans, such as buying him ramen to force him to remove his mask while he eats, fails in a comedic fashion. Comedy is shown when Team 7 buys food for Kakashi at the ramen place. When the Genin were there, Kakashi was suspicious about Team 7 buying him food, which caused him to come up with crazy ideas. For example, snow falling on Kakashi's food and onto him, food exploding in his face, or a huge boxing glove hitting him, hence why he thought that afterwards, Team 7 would say "he fell for it" each time. The paranoid ideas in his mind bring a sense of comedy to the episode, which makes the audience laugh in the process.

The reason the plan failed is because of Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru's interference. Team 7 was waiting to see Kakashi's face, but because they blocked their way, Team 7 could not see anything. Team 7 is frustrated and angry, and they decide to fight Team 10 (Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji). Meanwhile, Kakashi had already finished his food, which means Team 7 lost the opportunity to see his face; hence, there is a gloomy atmosphere. What makes it frustrating is that the man and woman in charge of the ramen place seem to have seen Kakashi's face, while Team 7 didn't even get a chance to see his face. Therefore, this makes Team 7 even more determined to see his face. Team 10, on the other hand, was just supporting characters to ensure the mystery about Kakashi's face.

Team 7 even tried following Kakashi, but that didn't work; hence, there were a lot of disappointments for Team 7.

At the same time, they inadvertently and unknowingly thwart attempts by three ninjas to kill Kakashi for goofy reasons. These three ninjas are also supporting characters since they sought revenge on Kakashi. The reason is a silly one. One of the ninjas had a flashback where he was making his move on a woman, but the woman did not like him; hence, it was unrequited love. So when Kakashi saw what happened, he told the ninja straight up that he couldn't force love. As a result, the ninja took offence, saying that Kakashi was interfering in his business. So the three ninjas attempted to fight Kakashi, but Kakashi defeated them easily by hanging them on a rope that acted like a yoyo. While he finishes defeating the ninjas, Kakashi escorts the lady to her home, who admires Kakashi. This was a flashback from one of the ninjas, who is the boss. They attempted to kill Kakashi, but they failed.  The funny thing is Kakashi doesn't even remember them so they were very silly to seek revenge because they wasted their time.

Finally, Kakashi agrees to take off his mask, revealing another slightly paler mask beneath it. There is a mystery behind Kakashi's face. The bad news is that his face is not revealed in the anime "Naruto." Could it be that his face will be revealed in the other anime, "Naruto Shippuden"? Only time will tell.

The lesson from this episode is that it is silly to hold on to grudges over petty things, just like the three ninjas who sought revenge on Kakashi, who didn't even remember them.