Utawarerumono

[XanBcoo]

I also watched this on a whim, and it was good enough to make me download episode 2. It's pretty entertaining, and I haven't seen a fantasy anime in a while, so I'll keep with it.

There were a few things I didn't like. I really hope they don't milk the "I am a man with no past" cliche that was evident in the first episode. I also didn't like how Hakuoro just kind of decided everything on behalf of the villiage in episode 2 (Even if it is just to show how influential he is to these mild-mannered folk, I still think it's a tad corny), or how his name was suddenly decided for him.

Everything else is great though. I like all the characters so far, especially Teoro. I hope some of the other villiagers' personalities are fleshed out too. The fight against the Mutikapa was also really kewl. Heh, I also noticed that no matter how many violent anime I watch, I'm still a pretty soft person, as I felt really bad when Mutikapa killed that family, and then when she was killed herself. Her cub is cute though. I hope it grows up soon.

[Kraco]

I really hope they don't milk the "I am a man with no past" cliche that was evident in the first episode. I also didn't like how Hakuoro just kind of decided everything on behalf of the villiage in episode 2 (Even if it is just to show how influential he is to these mild-mannered folk, I still think it's a tad corny), or how his name was suddenly decided for him.

I actually thought the way he decided it shows he isn't a man without a past. Even if I risk being wrong I like to think he was influential in his forgotten life, a man with some power, and thus he had natural, unsuppressed leadership tendencies. He has shown clear character and nature of mind so far, which is a good thing even without definitive memories.

How his name was decided wasn't actually a bad thing either, in my opinion. It shows two things: The docile villagers also wanted to exert some power or willingness to make decisions. And secondly things like that no doubt come more naturally to them than waging war. A semi-isolated village like that must be quite communal to work, and thus giving a local name to the stranger binds him tighter to the village (they already seem to think fondly of him, for now at least).

[Munsu]

Static-Subs released the first 2 episodes, they are probably the superior version so I suggest you at least check them out if you are thinking of archiving the series:

http://www.point-blank.cc:16384/allowed/torrent.php/[SS]_Utawarerumono_-_01_[F9AEE66B].avi.torrent

http://www.point-blank.cc:16384/allowed/torrent.php/[SS]_Utawarerumono_-_02_[C0809074].avi.torrent

[masamuneehs]

Yesy - Utawarerumono - Episode 3
For those who want speed over quality at this point still. er, that isn't to say Yesy hasn't done a good job with this show thusfar (they have), but Static's works have been damn good in the past.

[Kraco]

A fine episode again. This far this has been quite a bit more mature series than many others I have been watching lately. That's refreshing in itself. The only thing that worries me a little is that there hasn't been in vicinity anything truly original plot wise (what comes to the world of the series), but perhaps it's just too early for that. After all, the whole bigger picture of the story is yet to be revealed, in the end.

[Ryllharu]

My sentiments are similar. It is fairly odd to have such a mature main character. At this point there isn't all that much to make him overly distinctive, other than his appearance. He was skilled enough to take Oboro on with a good amount of proficiency, who is a good fighter in his own right, though just not compared to that mounted warrior (Banwei?).

Two things concerned me during this eps. The first was at the very beginning, when Eruru described the meanings of their names. I couldn't help but seen some sort of foreshadowing there. Bad news for Eruru I guess. The second was young girl's words about what Hakuoro smelled or sensed like. She sensed something related to the deep earth (or along those lines). I felt that that correlated with my earlier impression that he was that fanged monster in human form. Something ancient and destructive.

[Munsu]

I like this series, but the shitty dialogues are pissing me of. The VA for the main character is also a piece of shit. And this episode was boring, I couldn't care less for the little sick girl.

Aside from that, next episode should be good, lots of actions. I assume that there will be a big war soon where different races clash each other.

[masamuneehs]

well i finally got around to watching episode 3 and i was a little disappointed.

Bud is damn right, the dialogue was weak, at best. It wasn't so horrible that you couldn't overlook it in the first two episodes, but it got on my nerves in episode 3.

Also looked like some shoddy animation, Oboro's facial expressions (didn't help that his VA was pretty crappy), the fight between Oboro and Benoui, Benawi? Ben- oh whatever, HE actually had a decent sounding VA. But that fight was just way too short and seemed hastilly done.

Hm... Tushkoro seems to be at the very crux of some shady events... From the preview it looks like she may even prove to be the catalyst for a rebellion...

I still have high hopes for this series. Some of the stuff in the OP just looks so fucking awesome and I still love the setting, but they're going to have to brush up on some of the finer details to make this show a really memorable one.

oh, and Bud, it is funny that you dislike the VA that does Hakuoro (the main character). That guy happens to do the dubbed voice for your favorite CTU wrecking ball, Jack Bauer, in the Japanese versions of 24

[Yukimura]

oh, and Bud, it is funny that you dislike the VA that does Hakuoro (the main character). That guy happens to do the dubbed voice for your favorite CTU wrecking ball, Jack Bauer, in the Japanese versions of 24

There is only one jack bauer, to keep his enemis confused he sometimes goes under the alias Keifer Sutherland. Pretending to be Jack Bauer, even in order to deliver the mesasage of Jack Bauer to the masses around the world is definate grounds for hatred for a true Bauer lover. Bud's dislike of the VA is probably indirectly tied to this fact.

On topic, slow is the name of the game it seems, stuff is happening, but it's like a trickle barely getting out of the pipe. Oboro seems like a typical overprotective brother/warrior, though he has a girly name (Basilisk has ruined the name Oboro for me) perhaps his angst comes from the fast that his name is Oboro. So many questions get raised each episode and I've yet to see any answer, hopefully blah blah gets better blah, i'm tired of writing the same thing so much. Why do they call themselves human if they have tails and stuff? Toxic Waste???!!!??? Alien Interbreeding ???!!!??? Who knows?

[Kraco]

I think they have tails just so that they could make that one funny scene in ep 1...

[bagandscalpel]

I still have high hopes for this series. Some of the stuff in the OP just looks so fucking awesome and I still love the setting, but they're going to have to brush up on some of the finer details to make this show a really memorable one.

I still stand firm in my belief that this series will eventually show large-scale battles full of wholesome hack-and-slash.

Oh yeah, the source material for this anime further likens it to the Fire Emblem series more so than before... Kudos, I say.

http://leaf.aquaplus.co.jp/product/uta.htm

[Munsu]

Episode 4:

http://bt.yesy-fansubs.com/%5Byesy%5...5D.avi.torrent

I think this'll be a good one, it should have lots of fighting.

[Kraco]

Heh. I'm so nicely predisposed to like this series I wouldn't mind even if it didn't contain as much fighting as the preview suggested...

Am I the only one who's getting a really slow response from that torrents.fansub-torrents.com? I remember last time it also took a minute to get the torrent file after clicking the link, and so it did now as well. Strange site.

Edit: Well, there certainly was lots of action, and it wasn't bad, even if it wasn't very brilliant either. It was an odd mix of fantasy samurai sword fight and then more realistic, cruel brawling. However, more than the fight in this episode itself, the prospect of future dangers was the best point of this episode. It was a point of no return.

And the rather ghastly flashbacks of Hakuoro continue. I wonder when we will learn more about the cause of those and his past in general.

[Ryllharu]

A very apt episode title. This really symbolized a turning point in the series, from which it will not be able to return. They have no choice but to continue fighting until the end.

They killed a feudal lord, who rightly deserved exactly what he got, and now they will probably be facing the entire empire.

I see where some of the new characters will be coming from, met along their path to war. But right now I'm very curious about some of the other non-war characters they show in the opening. The girl with black wings is featured quite prominently in the opening, but so far there is no indication of her.

I'm definitely glad I picked this series up. The plot is exactly what I want in a period series.

[masamuneehs]

holy fucking shit episode 4 is a fire starter! Path of No Return indeed!

Hakuro was all, "I'm not qualified to lead the village."
Axe guy: "Of course you are."
Hakuro: "No, it shouldn't be me..."
Villagers: "Come on!"
Hakuro: "Well, ok, if you insist. ... Then for my first act I say we go start a civil war."

I can only wonder what the old woman would think about the rebellion...


I liked the action and the dialogue was a little better. There wasn't alot of frills on the fights which I like, but I was hoping for more strategy. It really doesn't make any sense that they won without any strategy (except that they have several kickass fighters in Hakuro, Oboro, Teoro and the two archers), but the battle was done well. It was nice to see the good old vino flowing, but not in that 'spurting geisers of blood' way.

I wonder why that military captain (the one who pwned Oboro last episode) didn't get involved... Why would he want a rebellion to start?

Oh, and a very Yzak Julesque scene with Nuwangi running away and cursing Hakuro

This show has been a real pleasant surprise.

[bagandscalpel]

I liked the action and the dialogue was a little better. There wasn't alot of frills on the fights which I like, but I was hoping for more strategy. It really doesn't make any sense that they won without any strategy (except that they have several kickass fighters in Hakuro, Oboro, Teoro and the two archers), but the battle was done well. It was nice to see the good old vino flowing, but not in that 'spurting geisers of blood' way.
This show has been a real pleasant surprise.

I'll have to agree that there was a underwhelming amount of strategy involved for this battle... But then again, it IS Hakuoro's first large scale skirmish, and it WAS only just a manor siege, so brute force proved to be sufficient.

What did surprise me the most, though, was that Hakuoro himself delivered the final blow to the lord. That being said, however, it was brutally satisfying

[Lucifus]

Hmm, Watched the first four episodes, Its a pretty decent series, I'll keep up with this one. Ep four was pretty sweet.

[Yukimura]

I like this show more and more every ep, the balancing of good and bad seems to really make each episode seem positive. Grandma dies, but then is avenged, Oboro goes angst, then accepts Hakuoro as a good leader. My only grip is, if the soldiers really outnembered the villagers then there's no way so many villagers shoud have survived. Maybe Hakuoro and Oboro really killed so many it evened the odds...that's just plain pwnage right there though.

[Everon]

Well, with the way the battles are being done - against the Magistrate and against the tiger - I think battles will be pretty simple.

That being said. I'll continue watching because of my tail fetish..

[Kraco]

No rest for the feudal lords:

Episode 5 - Yesy

Edit: It was a nice but quite predictable and not very innovative episode. There were good scenes, though, no matter if they were foreseeable or not. Fighting wasn't all too detailed, which was the case also with earlier fights, but since it was more like a small skirmish than a grand battle, it doesn't really matter.

But like with all the previous episodes, I still like very much the calm, thoughtful and mature feeling I get from the action and events in this show. Maybe it's partly due to the fact Hakuoro kind of adopted the younger of the two sisters as his own child. And on the other hand how he leads the villagers in a serious manner. Even if it seems kind of funny that an amnesiac man who appeared out of nowhere now is the leader of all those people.

But damn the cat grows fast... At least it took away the need for time jumps, considering how big the cat looks in the opening video.