Naruto Anime Analysis (Season 5)

Season 5: Episode 194

Source: Wikipedia

"The Mysterious Curse of the Haunted Castle"

"Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata enter a castle in search of the Daimyo's wife. They then discover that inside there is a monster that was summoned by the castle's original occupants, and they learn that the creature is seeking release from the world. Naruto destroys the contract that summoned the monster, and it returns home, releasing all its captives (including the Daimyo's wife)."

Analysis

The episode mainly focused on the mysterious curse of the haunted castle, in the sense that the castle was a summoned animal. Moreover, we get to see Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata have completed their first mission successfully, especially after the whole copying ninja Saga, which was just a test to see if they can work as a team. Therefore, this episode proved that they are a team. Other details will be mentioned in the analysis below, which will show the use of foreshadowing that was going to happen later in the plot.

The episode starts by showing the Daimyo's wife, Lady Kayo, travelling during the night with attendants and guards while being carried on a carriage. Along the way, one of the guards noticed that the sky above looked a bit threatening, so he informed Lady Kayo that they should seek lodging before it rained. At that moment, when he said the sky above was threatening, that was the first sign that something bad was about to happen. The second sign that something bad was about to happen was when they were surrounded by an impenetrable fog, so they couldn't see anything. Last, the third sign was when they heard a creepy voice and suddenly there was a huge flash of light. To make matters worse, the roaring voice caused a vibration of trees, which left everyone stunned, and when the roaring voice intensified, a huge light spread everywhere, which took Lady Kayo and her attendants by surprise. It also broke their carriage into pieces. At that moment, this is a dramatic irony in the sense that we, as the audience, know that she was taken away by the haunted castle of which other characters are not yet aware.

To support the fact that this is indeed a dramatic irony, at the Hokage's headquarters, Lady Tsunade informs Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata at her office about their mission. She said to them, "It seems that Lady Kayo of the Land of Honey was on her way to visit her family back in the Land of Candy. When she didn't show up, her relatives grew nervous and sent out a party to look for her. Unfortunately, her carriage was found in pieces on the road. From what they could gather, Lady Kayo and her attendants just upped and disappeared." So, their mission was to track her down since Hinata's eyes and Kiba's nose made them perfect for the mission, while Naruto was just picked because he was the only one available.

After some time, Naruto had a funny feeling that the mission was going to be weird. For instance, he asks Tsunade if this mission involves ghosts, which shows that Naruto is still afraid of ghosts even after tackling the whole cursed warrior saga. In response, Tsunade didn't take heed of his words; instead, she instructed the genin to go to Kubisaki Pass for their mission. As soon as they left, Shizune said to Lady Tsunade, "If I'm not mistaken, Lady Tsunade, that pass is where the capital of the Land of Necks used to be. I'm sure the ruined castle of the Kubisaki clan, which met its demise some 50 years ago, must still be standing there." Her words show a sense of exposition in terms of background information on events necessary to understand the storyline. Therefore, Shizune played a role in supporting Naruto's claims that this mission is indeed going to be weird.

Naruto, Kiba, and Hinata enter a castle in search of the Daimyo's wife. During the night, the team travelled along Kubisaki Pass, and when it started to rain, they decided to enter the haunted castle, which looked magnificent.