Utawarerumono

Utawarerumono starts out as a mediocre seeming slice of life fantasy story with generic villans. However, as it moves on, the story shifts to an epic classic about a troubled man in a world he doesn't understand, trying to make everyone happy. I expect no less from an anime made in 2006. For the purposes of this review, I'm leaving the trainwreck of a second season aside, and will focus on the original series, why it is great, and how it came to be.

Utawarerumono follows the life of a mysterious man with amnesia. He even forgot his name. He is found by a family, who care for him and bring him to their village. He starts injured, and is cared for by the older sister, Eruruu. He builds a relationship with the town, helping them, and getting help from them. One day, an envoy from the government comes and kills Eruruu's grandmother. This sparks rage from the villagers who end up leading a revolution against the country's ruler. Hakuoro becomes the leader of the revolution, and makes several friends and allies throughout the series. Of course, the series is much more than just this, but I prefer for the rest to remain unspoiled.

There is so much that can be said about this show, I don't know where to start. The voice acting for Hakuoro is done by Rikiya Koyama, who you might recognize for having voiced Kiritsugu in Fate/Zero, or Ging Freecss from Hunter x Hunter. These three characters have similar demeanors, but much different personalities, so I recommend watching Utawarerumono first of the three shows, if possible. As you might have noticed from the pictures, this world is inhabited mostly by a mix of human and animals. This is a nice curiosity that adds intrigue at first without ever becoming distracting. It also helps with some of the worldbuilding attempted in the second season, but I personally don't consider the second season canon. The animal characteristics are the most obvious indication that this is a fantasy series, and for the most part, it works. None of the fantasy elements make the plot unbelievable until, arguably, the final few episodes. The character interactions and designs make the story feel very small-town Japan, even when the setting changes to cover the whole country. This lends it a sense of authenticity and emotional attachment I personally love. It also has many scenes that I can just chill while watching, which is refreshing seeing that it's not really in a genre where that is the norm.

There are a few issues I have with the series, none of which impact my enjoyment, but just make me say why? whenever I think about them. First of all, the villains at the beginning of the series are nothing but caricatures. They are as fat as can be, and all speak as though they are completely oblivious to what is going on around them. While this may have been true about historical dictators, it just feels like lazy characterization for a show that spends so much effort on making everything else great. The villains do improve as the story continues, to the point I almost want to root for them, so I applaud it for that. Utawarerumono was based off a game, so you can feel the effects of power creep, which doesn't help the story. Luckily, this only really affects the final arc, and leads to a satisfying enough conclusion to be bearable.

I believe that despite the flaws early in the series, Utawarerumono has enough going for it, and tells such a good story that it deserves to be called a classic. It expresses Japanese culture in a very interesting way that allows it to be epic at one moment, and emotionally gripping the next. I would absolutely recommend this series to anyone no matter what kind of anime they like. I give it a 8.1/10. For alternate recommendations, take a look at Shakugan no Shana for a similar anime classic from 2006. Strangely enough, I found out about this anime by looking for shows similar to Alderamin on the Sky, so if you have low standards like I do, you might enjoy that as well.