Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen – 07-08
For the girls.
Wow. Such bromance. Many manservice.
Eight Pillar Generals
Anzu has been naughty.
Episode 7 of Utawarerumono introduces us to the princess of Yamato, Anzu. The episode plays out in the usual manner where the cast meets someone of importance without knowing his or her identity until the reveal at the end. A rather trite way of doing things, but it works nonetheless so I have no complaints. As far as the actual events go, I could elaborate upon Anzu’s mischievous escapades, but there’s really not much of substance to discuss. What’s more interesting is the introduction of the Eight Pillar Generals. All of them have fancy titles which for the most part suggest their roles, and there’s even one particularly unsavory character who we later find out is a corrupt dirt bag. It’s amazing how easy it is to spot the bad ones when all the good guys look like either handsome, suave men or brawny, manly men. Though this observation only extends to villains of little importance. The big baddies can be just as handsome as the good guys because it gives them more character or something. Or more likely because they have more screen time and as such should be somewhat easy on the eyes. But I digress.
Oshutoru’s counterpart.
Anyway, it seems that Oshutoru is actually one step above the Eight Pillar Generals. He serves as the so-called General of the Right, alongside his counterpart, Mikazuchi. And if you’re wondering, Mikazuchi is of course aptly named the General of the Left. Which I guess makes the two generals the emperor’s right hand and left hand men, respectively. But back to the Eight Pillar Generals. Of the eight, we’ve only seen special emphasis on four. There’s Munechika, who I guess babysits and disciplines Anzu. There’s Woshisu, who apparently writes BL under a pseudonym. There’s Vurai, who for some reason scares Haku via intensely passionate staring. I think anyone would be spooked by that. But you can bet from that exchange that we’ll be seeing more of the guy, perhaps in a rather villainous role. And finally, there’s Dekoponpo, who is the aforementioned corrupt dirt bag. We see more of him in episode 8, so this makes for a natural segue to the next episode. Smooooooth…
Infiltration
Looks like a good idea.
Episode 8 opens with Haku, Atui, and Ukon infiltrating Dekoponpo’s pleasure cruise ship to uncover evidence of his misdeeds. We pick up on what’s going on as the episode goes on, but because we’re not given a briefing on the mission at the beginning of the episode, I was left wondering if I somehow completely forgot about such a meeting in episode 7. Turns out I did not, and no such meeting ever took place. Kind of a weird decision on the part of the show, as it makes the transition between episodes rather jarring. And while I can’t say it’s a poor choice since the viewer implicitly understands what took place unseen in between the episodes, it still creates a hiccup in the flow of the show. Anyway, the events of the infiltration aren’t much to talk about either. We find out that Dekoponpo has been smuggling giant insects into the capital for underground gambling. As expected, the insects escape from their cages the one time the heroes sneak on board, and all hell breaks loose. But of course the heroes are there to contain the damage even if a few corrupt nobles bite the dust in the chaos.
Ukon’s inspiration.
Following the incident on Dekoponpo’s ship is a rather nice segment of character development for Ukon. We learn that admiration for his father, a country noble, is what drives him to help and protect the people he serves. In clawing his way to the top of Yamato’s military, however, he found himself separated from the people he hoped to protect by bureaucratic bullshit. Which, by the way, is all bureaucracy is good for. So anyway this exposition simultaneously explains Ukon’s dual identity as well as paints him as a very righteous person. Though I suspect most of us already got a handle of the latter from his depiction so far. Moving on, the show gives us a tantalizing post-credits stinger as Haku is invited to have tea with who we can only speculate to be the emperor of Yamato himself. During this meeting, it is hinted that Haku may have some connection to the emperor as our hero somehow finds the face of the emperor’s servant, as well as the tea she serves, nostalgic.
I really hope episode 9 will continue Haku’s meeting with the emperor and give us a lot of answers as to the amnesiac hero’s identity. It’s plain as day that he plays a big role in the grand scheme of things since he’s the protagonist in an Utawarerumono work, and I think that 8 episodes is a fair amount of time to keep us in the dark. Though it’s entirely possible that the answers we seek may be withheld from us until the very end, as the first season did. But hey, this season is already doing a much better job of developing its characters, so perhaps it will be more generous with doling out juicy bits of information on the new mysterious protagonist.
Tea with the emperor.
About Sumairii
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Signs to identify a spoiled child of royalty: Freeloading and believing everything is theirs for the taking, ignorant of the ways of the working class and supremely arrogant.
Given there are 8 generals, I’d like to see a more detailed hierarchy. Sure, each have a title but the whole talk so far is vague. It’s a thing of curiosity to see who supersedes whom.
When it comes to nobility, one has to expect at least a third of set to be corrupt because they’ve had life too easy and the privileges went to their head. So the reveal of a scumbag undermining the state for personal gain is one of the oldest stories in the book.
The ending of episode 8 shows promise yet I feel there won’t be anything concrete until much later. Most likely we’ll get bits and pieces of clues in the same quantity and pace Haku does.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Anzu is as cute, energetic and mischievous as any kitten. Given her age I could have done without being shown the bare bottom spanking, though.
I see the red-haired bandit girl and her brother from earlier made a brief return. It took me a while though to figure out who she was. Since they’ve appeared again I suspect we’ll be seeing more of them and learn more about them. They may become consequential later.
Just a guess at how Yamato’s upper military hierarchy is organized. The generals of the Right and Left are at the top just below the Emperor. The Eight Pillar generals support them and by extension the Emperor and kingdom. Sort of like the top two are army commanders and the ones below them in time of war command corps or divisions. Although the Eight apparently also have other duties as seen by how Munechika oversees Anzu’s education and disciplining.
Now, do the generals of the Right and Left each oversee a specific four among the Eight? So was Dekoponpo a rouge subordinate of Oshutoru’s? Which would have made him even more determined to put an end to his corruption.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Thanks for the header image fanservice ;D
I wasn’t too keen on Anzu’s episode, but the bug infestation one was exciting! Anyone know what the floating squid thing following Atui was? Did I completely miss it being introduced?
POWUH: 800-899 and Mad Scientist with 814 comments
I think it was introduced just as abruptly as the infiltration op. Guess we’re meant to take it at face value as her insect eating pet or something. I did have a good laugh when it started munching on the bug remains. 🙂
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Atui Oh my god she is so fun to watch! Especially with her voice? Wow I swear it was Hanazawa Kana and LOL her fear of bugs+ getting slimed on was great~
DAT MAN SERVICE.
I hope the second half gets more serious and given the fact that Haku might have recognized that blond guy made me think we might get more reveals for Haku and whats up with that old dude at the end of ep8? I mean sure we all probably know that Haku is obviously from another world id guess the future or something.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
MOAR kemonomimi! Male kemonomimi! Female kemonomimi! Kemonomimimimimimimimi galore!
In Sora’s words: Waga Kemonomimi no Paradise!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Down, boy! Heel! 😛