Utawarerumono is the tale of a village in somewhat primitive times. Although the villagers have strange characteristics, like animal-like ears, and ride dinosaur type animals. The village elder finds a strange man in the woods and takes him back to her house and she and two young girls nurse him back to health.
Everything about him is shrouded in mystery: The mask he can’t remove. The past he can’t unravel. And the very survival of the people who have chosen him as their leader. Can he unlock the memories that elude him? Or will he remain a stranger-even to himself?
When he awakens he has a case of amnesia and doesn’t even know his own name. He also has a strange mask on his face that he cannot remove. Through a series of circumstances he comes to actually be the chief of the village.
Eluluu, Tusukuru, and Aruruu
Episode 1: “The Uninvited” - Eluluu finds a strange man in the forest and brings him to her grandmother Tusukuru so that they can nurse him back to health. He has no memories and has a mask affixed to his face that can’t be removed. Episode 2: “Ruler of the Wild Forest” - The spirit of the forest, Mutikapa (a giant tiger with zebra stripes), is angered and kills a family from the village. The man with no name rallies the villagers and helps them rid the forest of Mutikapa’s menace. Episode 3: “Violet and Amber” - Tusukuru is missing from the village and the worst is feared, but she’s really just going to help a young girl named Yuhuza in a neighboring village who is suffering from a mysterious illness. The man with no name is given a name by Tusukuru. He gets the name Hakuoro, the name of Eluluu and Aruruu’s father.
Episode 4: “One-Way Path” - Tusukuru is accidentally killed by the governor and the villagers decide to go after him to avenge her death. The villagers decide to elect Hakuoro as their leader. Episode 5: “Daughter of the Forest” - Hakuoro and the villagers take over the governor’s outpost and defeat him. They decide to stage a full scale rebellion against the oppressive emperor.
Uta (I’m not going to type that one over and over again) is a good show but is what I’d call a “piggyback” show. What I mean by that is each episode builds from one to the other. One of the other animes I reviewed did have an overriding quest in the story, but each episode had its own arch and had the feeling of completion (of the episode, but not the overriding quest) by the end of it.
Mutikapa attacks
Uta does not have that feeling as each episode builds on the previous episode. The makes you long to watch the completed thing even more. I can’t say that I can see where this one is going. The show has an interesting setting in that it seems like feudal Japan, but the people have some strange characteristics and instead of horses they use dinosaur-like animals.
Just be prepared for many unanswered questions and since there are twenty other episodes don’t expect them answered for awhile. The show is relatively blood free, but it does have some violence. I did like the show, but wondered where it was all heading and won’t be knowing anytime soon.
Utawarerumono is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include an episode of Omake Theater. This is a 7 minute comedic episode featuring characters from the show. There’s also a 2 minute set of extended previews that appear at the end of each episode.
Next is a 30 second character gallery, there’s also a textual glossary of terms used on the show, and some previews of other anime DVDs. The case also contains a booklet that has some comments by the show’s creators and vocal cast.
The man with no name is nursed to health by Eluluu
Utawarerumono is an interesting show, but it this volume only sets you up for things to come. There’s some action, but you get the impression that bigger battles are to come as well as bigger revelations.
Utawarerumono, Vol. 1 - Mask of a Stranger is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information
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