First Impression – Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen
Touch fluffy tail.
Hey guys, Sumairii here. Let’s talk about Utawarerumono.
The Journey Begins
Curiosity…
As promised, the show is full of animal ears and tails. In fact, it seems all the people in the world of Utawarerumono possess animal characteristics of some kind except for the main character, Haku. An obligatory touch fluffy tail moment is even thrown in for good measure when Haku first meets Kuon. That’s how you know a show is serious about its animal ears and tails. Anyway, let’s talk about our protagonist. Haku is your typical amnesiac protagonist; wakes up in the middle of nowhere, gets chased by a monster, and gets rescued by the first of many comrades. What appears to set him apart from the rest of the bunch (besides his lack of animal ears and tail) is his intellect. The show leads us to believe that Haku is the smartest man in the world. He can fix random machinery that no one else can, he can do math in his head, and he can figure out how to beat a giant bug. Clearly that makes him mentally superior. Except when you think about it a little more, the evidence isn’t quite as strong as the show might have us believe. So what if Haku can fix a water mill? The fact that it was there means someone had to design and build it in the first place. And are we seriously supposed to believe that a bit of mental arithmetic and a simple always a bigger fish scheme are signs of a keen intellect? The denizens of the Utawarerumono world must be really dull to be so impressed by such “feats.”
…killed the cat.
But perhaps that’s the point. Perhaps the eared and tailed folk really do have less mental capacity. I suppose it’s meant to balance out their apparently greater physical strength, stamina, and prowess. The question of who designed and built the water mill remains, but the simple answer is that not all of the animal-people are no brains and all brawn. After all, Kuon has a great understanding of medicine and some chemistry. And it’s no exaggeration to say that she’s bailed out both Haku and Ukon’s troupe more than the main character himself has saved anyone’s hide. Maybe she should be the main character instead. She’s doing a better job of being the hero than Haku anyhow. And if you don’t agree, there’s always the tail squeeze to convince you otherwise… Did you see those marks she left on Haku? Her anaconda don’t want none unless you’ve got amamunii buns, hun!
These first two episodes went by pretty quickly. We’re given a quick introduction to the world of Utawarerumono, and Haku is already well on his way to gathering a posse. He’s got Kuon as the medic, Ukon as the muscle, and Maroro as the comic relief mage. There are a plenty of questions left unanswered, such as why the animal-people don’t find it weird that Haku doesn’t have animal characteristics when Haku himself finds it weird that they do, and what the deal is with the weird slime monsters. Kuon did exhibit an interest in Haku’s body, but you’d think that literally the entire town would be curious about his lack of fluffy appendages. And as far as the second question goes, I think you’d know the answer if you’ve seen the show’s prequel. But I don’t blame you if you don’t remember the details even if you did watch the first Utawarerumono. It’s been a long 9 years since that one aired, after all. I know I myself am a bit rusty. And to be fair, I’m not even sure if this work assumes that you’ve seen the prequel. It might be meant to stand on its own for all I know.
Some things can’t be unseen~
About Sumairii
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I think the show has enough charm to get over some of it’s derpy parts; points that I agree on, vis a vis his alleged mental superiority. They’ve got one foot in some solid world building, but one foot somewhere else.
I think the only reason I can come up with about why they don’t remark upon his lack of animal parts is the same reason why he doesn’t do it every single time he see’s people with them. It would get tedious at least, and rude at most. Besides, I don’t think they’ve invented the “take a picture, it’ll last longer” phrase quite yet.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 154 comments
I feel like they are not trying to make him look like the smartest man in the world, but just show that he has a good head on his shoulders or at least that he is more educated than the typical peasant. They are simply creating more contrast between him a human and the races around him out in the country. He is smarter, but physically weaker and that could possibly be said about the nobles/mages around there too if that pasty faced dude is any indication. Overall, I’m just going to sit back and see how he is going to develop. He has more personality at least than Hakuoro, so we can actually see how he grows.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
I’d suggest for anyone to at least read the summary of the original series to just for the background. There is a reason why we have all these kemonomimi no PARADISE!
Also, call dibs on someone is the child of Hakuoru x Eruru. Or did Hakuoru x his harem. >_>
And their weaknesses are their fluffy tails. >_>
Also, where is the Aruru?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Boy, do you have a kemonomimi complex! 😛 Was it this bad when you were watching Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou?
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…you didn’t follow my Dog Days Double Dash coverage did you? I mean, I know you didn’t, but….every single damn week….kemonomimi this, and that, and the other thing. ::zeesh!::
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Dog Days was too much SoL for BB. Now… if skylion had kemonomimi…~~
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
*sends BB a box of notebooks*
No, I did not watch monmusu. I have refined kemonomimi tastes. 😛
POWUH: Meta Resident and LN Informant with 1529 comments
This anime was made to promote the source Utawarerumono : False Mask game, which was released 1 week before the anime. Japanese gamers say there’s about 50+ hours of game material in it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9lSwtF0Cdc
The story’s supposed to be 10 years after the 1st game, but I’m not sure if any old characters will be appearing here.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
An Older Aruru Is Fine Too. She should trade in her tiger for a more… highflyingcat. *cough*
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Oh yes, and who can forget the ever-lovable twins Gurii and Dorii…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Another appealing series useful to burn some excess time. The scenery is nice to look at and given it’s 25 episodes long, I might get a good story. Not to mention Kuon is a cute cat girl. The odd thing to me is Haku’s voice. I’ve always known Keiji Fujiwara to lend his vocal talents to seasoned, middle-aged male characters. So it’s unusual hearing his deep voice for such a young looking lead.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Oh-ho-ho-ho… Show ▼
Sad for Eruru but quite obvious which character is derived from Uta1.