Utawarerumono

ADV

DVD

Episodes 1-5

Approx: 125 minutes

A man with no name, no memory and a mask he cannot take off wakes up in the care of a village elder and her two granddaughters. Eluluu, the oldest of the granddaughters, is the one who found him severely injured in the woods. Because of her good hearted nature, she couldn’t just leave him be, and brought him back to be healed. Now healed and nowhere to go, he is taken in by the village and becomes one of them. He is now given the name Hakuoro, which was also Eluluu’s late father’s name. The village, Yamayura, is one of many that stayed neutral during this time of war. Even though the government keeps coming to take more and more taxes as well as torment the villagers, there’s only so much that they can take. On top of it all, someone has angered the forest guardian, Mutikapa! Once Mutikapa is angry, she cannot be calmed and attacks the villagers mercilessly! How do the villagers and Hakuoro deal with this situation they’re in? Well, just watch and find out.

DVD Extras include: Omake Theater, an extra clip of the characters in a funny situation. The clip had me laughing the whole way through! Extended Episode Previews, just as it says, the previews at the end of the show here are extended for your viewing pleasure. Character Art Gallery, just as it says also, a gallery of character designs and others. Glossary of Terms, information about characters and others used in the show, in case you didn’t pick up on them while watching. ADV Previews, previews of other ADV shows. There is also an interview with some of the voice actors and series planner contained in the booklet that the DVD comes in.

Video: 8

Utawarerumono has nice animation and good character designs. There picture quality is bright and not a dark theme, making the show really easy to watch.

Sound: 9

The background music is a soft orchestral type with a very dramatic feel to it, which compliments Utawarerumono well. Both the Japanese and English voice actors did an excellent job. Both gave a lot of energy to their characters, making either track enjoyable.

Subtitles: 8

The subtitles are a medium thick yellow font with a medium black outline. The script for the English track was changed slightly, but overall kept fairly close to the original.

Overall: 8.4

Utawarerumono is filled with action and plenty of character development as well as having a good story. You get to see how the characters decide to accept Hakuoro as one of their own among other developments that occur within the story. Utawarerumono isn’t just a fast paced show, but seems to have lots of promise to become a great series, and I would love to find out how it all comes together in the end.