Utawarerumono: The False Faces

Episodes 1-3

Of all the anime to hold a special place in my heart, Utawarerumono is probably the one I least expected to make a comeback in 2015. And yet, here we are! As soon as this new show aired, I was already hungrily making predictions based on my surprisingly vivid memories of its forgotten ancestor, but the good news about this new series is that it should make sense all by itself, as a "sequel" with its own story to tell, divorced from the original Utawarerumono. (I think. My spoiler policy for these reviews will be to mention relevant information from the first series as it bleeds into this sequel, which it definitely has. Still, I won't be infodumping what happened in the first series for the most part. Just read the Plot and Backstory entry on Wikipedia if you like. It's wacky!)

Just because it "holds a special place in my heart" doesn't mean the original series is an experience I'd recommend, by the way. The first Utawarerumono, released back in spring of 2006, wouldn't even crack a Top 50 of my favorite anime. (Maybe a Top 100? Even then, I'm not sure.) I feel like everyone has those kinds of anime. You: "Oh, I remember this series! I loved watching this series!" Friend: "Really? Should I watch it?" You: "Eeeeehhhh..." It's just one of those things. For those who don't know, this franchise is adapted from a series of JRPG/RTS/visual novel-style games, so it has the genetic code of all three of those things: a slightly bizarre fantasy setting with weird twists, a slow-burning war plot with characters separated into combat classes, and a large harem of beautiful girls composing most of that army. It could have been the most boring, rote, pandering mess in the world, but I still remember the show fondly to this day, and I became genuinely excited for this sequel as soon as I heard it announced. So what makes this franchise surprisingly memorable?

Well, ignoring my own personal remembrance of it being the first fansub I ever followed (and I didn't have internet at the time, so I was borrowing burned CD-R's initially foisted on me by a classmate), everything that makes Utawarerumono a little special can be seen in this continuation. In this modern age of light-novel-driven fantasy, dominated by engineering jargon and complex lore, Utawarerumono: The False Faces hearkens back to an older and humbler breed of fantasy storytelling. Instead of dumping game mechanics and combat systems into our chosen one's lap, we see the story develop slowly through the eyes of a (supposedly) normal human, and we learn things with the pace and focus that this normal human would. We focus on our hero's sensory and emotional reaction to being thrust into a magical new world, from learning how to make flour for the village's staple diet to getting a little too curious about the texture of his guide's fluffy lion-tail. It may be based on a videogame, but Utawarerumono wants its party members to feel like snuggly new friends rather than overpowered avatars, and I'm glad its homey flavor has only improved in this new iteration.

The biggest thing this sequel has over its predecessor is a more endearing cast. The first Utawarerumono's squad of JRPG staples was plenty likable, but that's about it. There were no surprises to be had from our perfect hero Hakuoro, his perfect love interest Eluluu, and his perfectly sculpted-to-archetype subjects from the archers to the mages to the rangers. The show was easy to watch because of its cozy immersive environment and reliable band of noble-hearted warriors, but it wasn't going to surprise anyone who's played a JRPG before. Even its admittedly bizarre eleventh-hour twists become less weird if you compare them more to god-killing JRPG standards than the tamer fantasy harem adventure it initially appeared to be. The False Faces seems to be aware that times have changed, so it gives its new cast a booster shot of more lovably nuanced personalities, while still keeping the mold comfortable for escapism.

Since half of this show's appeal comes from its party dynamics, I'll run down our rogues' gallery one by one. I apologize to new viewers for introducing them in terms of RPG classes, but as the show goes on, thinking of them this way will feel more and more appropriate:

• Haku, our amnesiac protagonist, a freshly unfrozen human from a mysterious, yet more technologically advanced past. Unlike most JRPG leads (including his predecessor Hakuoro), he has no fighting skills to speak of, but he knows how to use his brain. The snowy mountain village he takes refuge in starts to think of him more fondly after he fixes their worn-down flour mill, and his mind for strategy makes boro-gigiri (giant centipede!) hunting much easier for the townsfolk too. He has an easygoing personality, but he's also sarcastic, lazy, and easily discouraged from anything he's not into. He'll take all day to fix your broken flour mill and can multiply six-digit numbers in his head, but good luck trying to get him to do any manual labor. I wouldn't be remotely surprised if he was an otaku of some kind in his former life. Maybe an engineer, a mechanic, or a programmer? The protagonist of the first series, Hakuoro, was an archaeologist with extensive knowledge of botany and chemistry, and he was a versatile fighter as well as a mastermind. He was basically General Perfect. Haku is much more sympathetic and approachable, hence adopting a more humble form of that legendary hero's name. So who gave him that name?
• Kuon, healer, a puma-girl with a quick wit and a mischievous heart. She finds, rescues, adopts, and names Haku while transporting goods through the mountain back to her village. She's eager to teach him all about their culture, while admitting that she's not native to the region herself. The name she gives him is actually from her home country, which she hasn't returned to in years. (Hmm...) She clearly has a thing for this mysterious human, and the two already have great chemistry based in their banter and complementary personalities, putting Hakuoro and Eluluu's (sweet but fairytale-perfect) romance from the first series to shame. Her first series counterpart, Eluluu, was a stereotypical yamato nadeshiko from tip to tail, distinctive and lovable mostly for her willingness to throw herself into danger to protect her little sister or Hakuoro. She was blandly submissive, but not without spunk and spirit sometimes. Still, Kuon's impetuous playfulness is way better already.
• Ukon, warrior/berserker type, a confident martial leader in the village with a big personality and a mildly suspicious interest in Haku. (He's an animal-person like all the rest, but he's so darn hairy all over that I can't tell what kind. Maybe he's an ape-person?) He insists on taking the stringy nerd protag along on scouting and combat missions without much reason, and he always seems to know more about situations than he should, as seen when he takes joy in pulling a double-cross on a pack of thieves trying to ransack his convoy, drawing the surprise attention of a troop of Yamato soldiers in the process, which also might have been intentional for all we know. He's boisterous, grizzled, and forthright, but I just don't trust him as of episode three. His first series counterpart, Teoro, basically existed to die tragically and up the stakes halfway through the show, so I doubt they're playing the same gambit twice.
• Maroro, fire mage, a cat-man (think pampered Persian), traveling (possibly exiled?) courtier from the capitol and an insufferable fop. As of these three episodes, he doesn't serve any purpose apart from comic relief. The village needs his magic knowledge to gather large amounts of food on scouting missions, and he also accompanies them when escorting a princess to the capitol, but his cowardice and abrasive personality do him no favors with our heroes. He doesn't really have a first series counterpart, since magic users didn't appear in that story until pretty late in the game, and they were both women with very different personalities. (The closest example, Kamyu, served as combination comic relief/dark love interest/giant plot bomb, and I would be extremely surprised if that's the role they have planned for Maroro.) I kind of feel bad for him, because apart from being an annoying coward, he's clearly doing his best and just wants to be friends with Haku. Oh well, I'm sure he'll be the useless butt of jokes for many episodes to come.
• Princess Rurutie, wolf-girl and a tank-type, I think? She doesn't fight on her own, but instead rides on the back of an enormous pigeon (dove maybe?) named Kokopo. This suggests that her first series counterpart is Eluluu's little sister Aruruu, who was powerless on her own but rode on the back of a giant white tiger who kicked a metric ton of ass and considered her its mother. The shift from tiger to pigeon is pretty hilarious, as any affront to Rurutie's safety, however mild, is met with a flurry of pecks and taloned curbstompings. The princess herself is a debutante from a tiny neighboring kingdom, so she's all sheltered puppy, with no worldly knowledge or responsibilities to speak of. But while she seems to be all shy moe bluster on the surface, I sense the heart of a rabid fujoshi lurking within. She's a little too interested in the relationship between Haku and Ukon, saying that she thinks "friendship between men is wonderful." Beware the hunger of the wolf...
• Nosuri and Ougi, a pair of siblings/thieves/rogues/archers, pheasant-people who supposedly look out for their own, but seem to have made some negotiation with Ukon at the cost of their scurvy band. I assume we'll learn more about the details of that shakedown later, as well as more detailed information on their personalities.
• General Oshutoru, a mounted unit pictured in the screencap above, is another human (!) who bears a striking similarity to Haku, despite the mask he wears over his face. Since the title of this sequel is about "false faces," aka masks, this guy has "important character" written all over him when he rides up to greet our village band in a scene that will be innocuous to new viewers but raise dozens of red flags for fans of the first series. (He's wearing one of the fabricated masks they scraped together off poor Iceman! I never thought that little throwaway detail from the first series would come back, but here we are! Of course, there's also the obvious parallel to "another Haku(oro)." In the first series, the twins were actually two halves of the world's God, Witsalnamitea, who split himself between the possession of Hakuoro and a scholar named Dii, but it looks like this series might just have twin human brothers or genetic clones or something instead. Can't play the "oh no, our protagonist was the evil god all along" card twice!) Oshutoru serves as the emperor of Yamato's right hand, and he seems really interested in Haku, because of course he is.

That's only as of episode three, so our little not-yet-army can only grow more from here!

The other half of this show's appeal comes from its attractive aesthetics. The first series took place in the (initially) small nation of Tusukuru, which was primitive and Ainu-themed. So naturally, our new setting is the slightly more modern (and much larger) nation to the north called Yamato, after the ancient race and culture of Japan that would eventually dominate it and form its modern day image. (Sorry, Ainu people.) Utawarerumono: The False Faces isn't a gorgeous show or anything, but it looks like a million bucks compared to its prequel from nine years ago. The backgrounds and sense of texture and lighting really make the otherwise simple art pop, and while the animation flirts with dumpiness now and again (and CGI has only improved so much), action scenes still land as strong as they should. (Heck, this was also true of the first series, which staged and delivered compelling action scenes episode after episode, even when the art was melting from the strain.)

So to make a molehill out of this mountain of words I've written, I'm excited about this show mostly because it is so simple and familiar, with just enough effort behind it to avoid ever becoming a pile of careless clichés. There's a sense of affection and beauty to Utawarerumono's story, even if it's a love without ambition. This is the kind of accessible anime fantasy that makes you feel good about yourself, just a little cake with maybe a type of frosting you haven't tried in a while. I still like my comfort food with mild aspirations, specifically the desire to move me with a solid story. The first Utawarerumono gave me all those things, and this sequel is already an improvement, so I'm stoked to see what will happen in the two whole cours of charming adventure (with maybe some ludicrous twists) to come!

Rating: B

Utawarerumono: The False Faces is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Hope has been an anime fan since childhood, and likes to chat about cartoons, pop culture, and visual novel dev on Twitter.