Utawarerumono

Utawarerumono (arbitrarily translated as Not Quite Human, The One Being Sung, or more elegantly as A Song Given Voice) is originally a turned-based strategy H-game from Leaf/Aquaplus, the same people who gave us the To Heart series. It's not remotely a dating sim though; instead you have an oriental fantasy setting with (presumably) epic RPG-style plot. And human characters with furry ears and tails. Ahem.



Our amnesiac hero wakes up in the care of Eruruu, an apprentice physician dog-girl who will join the party as the primary healer. Apparently he was found gravely injured in the woods, and with an unremovable mask covering half his face. Soon he is introduced to the rest of the family -- Tsukuru, who is Eruruu's grandmother as well as the village elder, and Aruruu, the younger sister who takes quite some time to warm up to him. Keeping up with general convention, Eruruu's parents are long dead.

The first episode centers on our as yet nameless hero settling into the village, meeting new acquaintances such as Teoru and his wife Sopoku. It also features Eruruu being generally cute (especially with reaction to scandalous tail stroking scene). Trouble is brewing on the horizon, however -- the village receives wounded soldiers from time to time, as there is an ongoing war. Things take a rapid downturn with the arrival of Nuwangi, Eruruu's childhood friend turned obnoxious representative of the oppressive local government who rides into the village with his guard entourage to announce an increase in taxes. He makes a move on Eruruu only to be cockblocked by our hero. Drama!





Nuwangi then nurses his wounded pride by demolishing the village shrine for Mutikapa, the local tiger deity, which invokes its fearsome wrath. Our hero's exploits in this crisis are revealed in the second episode, which further establishes his place in the community and hints towards an emerging leadership role. By this time Aruruu has completely warmed up to him, and Tsukuru finally gives him a name, one which Eruruu is all too familiar with. The party also gains a tiger cub, the offspring of Mutikapa which Aruruu names Mukuru.



The rebel militia is introduced in episode three, in particular Oboro, the dual-knife-wielding ninja featured in the opening sequence, and his frail and sickly sister Yuzuha. Tsukuru has some dealings with them, and our hero eventually becomes party to this. The village once again receives a visit from Nuwangi, who this time around brings along his father Lord Sasante. An altercation happens, which leads to tragic consequences. The village population, along with the rebel militia, exact their revenge in episode four, and from then on they have passed the point of no return.



The first few episodes are a set up for an all-out war campaign, and there's still the mystery of our hero to unravel. Each episode is well paced and directed such that it leaves you looking forward for more. The art, although certainly not as high-budget as shows like Haruhi Suzumiya, is still pretty decent, with detailed backgrounds and consistent style. They've evidently poured some money into the CG, since the fire and spark effects in this show is the best I've seen in anime so far. The background music is a good fit, preserving the epic adventure feel without being extravagant, and with a hint of ethnic instrumentation. Cast interaction is a plus as well, and this shows as the various members of our RPG party start coming together. This series will be running for 26 episodes, so there's much more to come.

Opening theme: Musouka by Suara. One of the best theme songs of the season, I could loop this without getting tired.
Ending theme: Madoromi no Rinne by Eri Kawai. This reminds me of the theme from Haibane Renmei; mystical and enchanting.

Right now #yesy is the group that's ahead in regards to fansubbing this series; their subs are legible, well proofed and reasonably accurate, so I'd recommend going with their releases.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Wow excellent coverage and intertwining of pics I wish I could take that much time for anime threads :S

I follow Utawarerumono still for some reason, but it's rather plain so far. I'm reminded of Scrapped Princess when I watch it due to the remote sense of adventure and rather peaceful rural hamlet environment. Nothing to write home about for me, since we have the "mysterious man" and the "cute healing girl" and "village elder with secrets", etc.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Summonmaster

I follow Utawarerumono still for some reason, but it's rather plain so far.

I agree wholeheartly. But, this anime was refershing for me. It took me away from the world of Gantz for a minute, and brought me to a place of green leaves and foxy ladies.

I do have a question. How old are the main characters?

How ya doing, buddy?

Personally, I have finished the game of Utawarerumono by Leaf... and simply love the bitter sweet plot! If I really gonna guess how many episodes it gonna take to complete the entire game, I will say 52+ eps. There are just soo many cool plots to be covered!

EDIT: @LT: you raised an interesting question... how old are the characters! In the game I have never heard of them mentioning the age of the protagonist parties... the only age I heard mentioned are the elderly chieftains and other not-so-important characters! So yeah... age remains a mystery

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

lol furries

Wait, so is there a translation of the game out already? If so, link plz? ^_^

How ya doing, buddy?

*blinks* Wait just a minute here. This girl looks a lot like this wallpaper I have.



Fuck'n A, this IS her! Haha, just for that, I'm gonna watch all the episodes I can now. I was going to drop it since the first episode sucked, but damnit, this is an awesome wallpaper that I've had for a long time. So, out of respect, I shall pay homage to the anime till the end.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I get weird Suikoden vibes from this series.

Is it because of the asian/celtic BGM or does the story actually reach suikodenian levels at some point? Anyone know/got a better guess than me?

FELIPE NO

GAHHHHHH~!!!!!...some battle scenes make me want to smack the drawers....the battle scenes in the opening animation is waaaay cooler than the ones in the episode...

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Dhsu

lol furries

Wait, so is there a translation of the game out already? If so, link plz? ^_^

Nope, I play Japanese version of the game ^ ^
I dun think any English companies have pick up this game yet... and I doubt they ever will coz of the massive translation job that they need just to localise the game!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

OH MAN I WAS EXPECTING 30 FRAMES DEDICATED TO OBORO TWIRLING HIS SWORD THIS ISN'T WHAT I WANTED

Get over it. Or watch the preview for episode 5.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

The steel fan action made up for the absence of cheerleader sword twirling. Finally, a main character that doesn't use a sword!

I was rather surprised at how they decided in Ep. 4 to:

Spoiler:

kill off Tusukuru-sama! What a lame way to have died, but the abruptness really set off a chain reaction of events. That powerful swordsman that did nothing is starting to stir up intrigue too.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

This thread died pretty quickly

All episodes have been released now (#yesy is up to 22, while #your-mom covers the remaining 4). I didn't expect the series to suddenly turn into Escaflowne, then Scrapped Princess, but overall it was a satisfying (if rather gloomy) ending.

YUZUHAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I take it #your-mom's subs were decent enough to watch? I'd like to complete it since the story is pretty damn good even if there was plenty of foreshadowing of what is to come.

Still reminds me a bit of Dynasty Warriors (Fire Emblem is fine too) in anime form in the way they just recruit a lot of NPCs. The fact that it came from a SRPG probably had something to do with that.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Yeah, YM's subs were worth it.

The background music and songs in the show have been excellent, particularly the final ending theme which was used almost in its full-length entirety for episode 26. I was expecting it to be released on the TV soundtrack (which comes out on 10/25, link here), but it's actually been out for a few days on Suara's 2nd album. I've ripped it from a lossless source to mp3. It's got to be one of the best anime songs of this year, eliciting rave reviews such as:

[14:04:56] <CHz> Man, this ED theme is EPIC.
[14:06:23] <Tails> Blah this is awesome

Here it is!
Utawarerumono final ED - kimi ga tame

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by zzeroparticle

I take it #your-mom's subs were decent enough to watch? I'd like to complete it since the story is pretty damn good even if there was plenty of foreshadowing of what is to come.

Still reminds me a bit of Dynasty Warriors (Fire Emblem is fine too) in anime form in the way they just recruit a lot of NPCs. The fact that it came from a SRPG probably had something to do with that.

I was thinking it'd make a great SRPG when I first started watching it, then someone told me it actually was one.

It was a bit of a bizarre twist towards the end, but I still enjoyed the show, more the first 1/3 then the last, the name they picked for when they dub it is truly horrible though and sounds nowhere as good.

FELIPE NO

I love this Anime. I just watched the final episode a few days ago and thought it was a nice conclusion to an already awesome and somewhat complex story. Karura and Touka were my favourite characters. It was sad to see

Spoiler:

Hakuoro having to part ways with Eruru and the others like that. It was also sad to see that Yuzuha died in the end. That was a bit shocking actually.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

In the game,

Spoiler:

Hakuoro fathers a child with Yuzuha and she dies after giving birth (the baby is left with Oboro).

As for Hakuoro,

Spoiler:

The anime ending is extremely similar to the game ending, where it is strongly hinted that Hakuoro indeed returns (notice Kuuya, Aruruu, Kamyu and Eruruu turning around after noticing something/someone).

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Thanks for the final ED bigblah

Originally Posted by Bigblah

In the game,

Spoiler:

Hakuoro fathers a child with Yuzuha and she dies after giving birth (the baby is left with Oboro).

I've read that somewhere earlier and was like WTF?! That's so not right..

As for Hakuoro,

Spoiler:

The anime ending is extremely similar to the game ending, where it is strongly hinted that Hakuoro indeed returns (notice Kuuya, Aruruu, Kamyu and Eruruu turning around after noticing something/someone).

[/QUOTE]

Spoiler:

Hmm any explanation on how he returned? I've yet to watch the last episode..

How ya doing, buddy?

New releases from Yesy, Epidoes 23-26.

How ya doing, buddy?

I enjoy this serie but the ending I feel that is missing something. Yeah the character design what so cool.

I love the OP song, also Karura what so cool xD.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?