Utawarerumono(Apr 3, 2006 – Sept 25, 2006), Those who are Sung
Director: Tomoki Kobayashi
Action-Adventure, High Fantasy, 
Key Words: Swords, Cat Girls, Anthro, Magic, War, 
Studio: Oriental Light and Magic American Licensed Publisher: Funimation Entertainment

Episodes: 26

My Thoughts: The whole story is a rather sad one, where people die or become wounded as the story goes on. There is never really much peace in the show as one battle after another happens. Although this happens, it keeps the idea of what real war looks like, instead of the sweet and wonderful idea most shows portray. The characters really draw you in, making them feel real with each little emotion, especially when they get to the point of the children. 

It may surprise people that many times, they focus on the children during the small breaks between battles. It does starts out slow, but does get worse and dark. As the show gets dark, the characters break down a lot and it’s like each one does. I do have to warn you, the ending is freaking sad!

There are a lot of characters in this show; many don’t show up until the second half of the episodes. Hakuoro is a rather inetesting character because he doesn’t remember Anything about himself. Nothing is really explained about him and his past until late in the show and all we get is exactly what he is doing that second. He lives in the present, and never trys to think in the past when trying to deside what is going to happen when the wars happen. 

Eruru and Aruru are the two sisters and his adopted family. Aruru is a rather fun loving little girl that always gives him a smile on his face Were as Eruru is more of a motherly figure, always taking care of him and Aruru as well as everyone else in the family. Eruru acts like a consaler and a calming place for Hakuoro because of all his stress. We see more of those two together then with Aruru. I kind of wish that they had more about the family in the story line, making it show more of them learning to live with each other.

You can kind of tell where they are because of the language they use for Hakuoro’s name. The name they gave him is in Ainu meaning “White Emperor” and is actually used in the Hokkaido region of Japan. Many things may make this seem like a alternate timeline why back in the futile times but other things sugjest that it’s after a technological time so I consider this part of a post apocalyptic time.

The Animation is rather fluid and I’m surprised that the artists were able to draw so many characters going all over the place. It’s never really focusing on one character through much of the battle, and then they do show the main characters, the other characters are still in the shot. Everything is well detailed and strong lines of movement. The peaceful times are sweet and bright showing the contrast between peace and war. It really depicts the battles pretty well and the small bit of CG they use for some of the times look really nice. I couldn’t tell that it was CG for the most part.

The Music is rather hunting, perfect to the storyline and the background music sometimes doesn’t stand out enough. The Voice acting though in both Japanese and English is the bomb! It’s really well done and I fell for the voice actor of Hakuoro.

Rating:      

Link to Wikipedia Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utawarerumono

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