Utawarerumono: The False Faces

Episode 7

We're officially 1/4 of the way through Utawarerumono: The False Faces, and there's still no war plot in sight. I would say at least we have the show's fantasy-iyashikei atmosphere to sooth us while we wait, but I guess last week's foray into emotionally enriching character development was too good to last. We're back to more character-introduction-through-protracted-hijinks in episode 7, following more along the lines of episode 5. At least this episode is introducing a giant wad of characters and foreshadowing, not just two minor characters and nothing else of value. So it's not anywhere near as lame as episode 5, but come on, why are we still playing around here?

To be fair, you might be wondering why anyone would foolishly expect a big RPG war-plot out of this story to begin with. After all, this series has shown no signs of being anything but a fantasy slice-of-life harem story, with maybe some darker twists lurking under the surface. I'm clearly the one at fault for chomping at the bit for that to change, right? The only hints of violence we've seen are a few choice shots from the opening theme that depict side characters (not even our main cast) spearing foes on a desolate battlefield. That could just be a flavorful way of introducing the generals, but that doesn't mean this story is about them. So why am I essentially watching Spice and Wolf and complaining that it isn't Fire Emblem?

In this case, I think the well of expectations for The False Faces was contaminated by the first anime series. (Or the first video game, which I played about 1/3 through but didn't finish, because I wanted to wait on an official English release. Guess I'll just be waiting forever!) At this point in the original Utawarerumono (which has about the same episode count as this sequel), the protagonist Hakuoro had overthrown the emperor of his suffering country and taken his place, after working his way through a few corrupt daimyo types in the necessary buildup to make that victory feel complete. He would reform and rename the country (and start seeing foreign ambassadors to form alliances) by episode 8. So needless to say, it was a very different show from this one. There were still plenty of harem hijinks and relaxing moments of fantasy immersion, but they were spaced out between story events, not the beginning-middle-and-end of every episode like The False Faces has been doing.

At the same time, this show is pleasant enough as the more chill experience that it's trying to be, even if it's not what I expected. So I'll officially put a clamp on my bitching about its lack of plot for—let's say five more episodes? Until episode 12 rolls around, I will fully embrace this new Utawarerumono for what it is: Non Non Biyori with a self-insert otaku, kemonomimi everywhere, and persistent winks at some big twist awaiting its poor protagonist. With that in mind, episode 7 is pretty alright, largely because Princess Anju's shtick is cute and fun, whereas Princess Atui's shtick in episode 5 was more trite and boring. (This is an incredibly subjective judgment of a "best girl" nature, so of course your mileage may vary.)

We've met plenty of princesses in Yamato's capitol before, but we've never met the actual daughter of Yamato's emperor himself. She's rumored to live outside the normal concerns of mortality, just like her father, and possess beauty beyond compare. (Translation: she's a lolita character.) In reality, Princess Anju is a mischievous moppet with adorable snow leopard features and an audacious entitlement to everything that doesn't belong to her. She demands skewers from food carts without paying for them, she breaks into people's houses for impromptu couch-surfing, and she takes yaoi doujin from poor Rurutie as "tribute." (Yes, boys-love apparently sells gangbusters in Yamato. I guess even Neo-Ancient-Japan can't escape the impact of a post-Free! world.) Anju's antics aren't unique by any means, but her little mannerisms and deft character animation are endearing (snow leopard is a truly underrated kemonomimi option), along with the flummoxed reactions of everyone around her (especially Kuon). After about twenty minutes of causing cutesy-ootsy trouble, General Munechika (a sheep-woman who has the word mune in her name for two very obvious reasons) shows up to give Anju a savage spanking and drag her back to the palace. Obvious loli-fanservice-spanking aside (sigh), the general and empress do have a charming dynamic, as Munechika tries to keep Anju respectable while Anju tries to keep Munechika young-at-heart. On the way home, they bond over Rurutie's naughty book, which also makes this the first bishoujo game adaptation I've seen with three fujoshi characters in it. What is this world coming to?

The episode's final scene introduces us to the top echelon of Yamato's military, aka "probably most of the antagonists in the show's second half." (Unless they all turn out to be allies, but I'm predicting a coup result of some sort from Oshutoru and Haku's relationship rather than a friendly romp of imperialism.) There are eight Pillar Generals and two Royal Generals. The two Royal Generals, Oshutoru and a new face named Mikazuchi, report directly to the Emperor, wear those gravely ominous (if you've seen the first series) masks, and represent his right and left hands respectively, perhaps splitting jurisdiction of the Pillar Generals between them. The Pillar Generals themselves (including Munechika) are decked out in some eclectic JRPG garb, but they don't all seem to wear masks. This could mean that masks are given to a privileged few generals even at the top of the heap, or it could mean that not everybody wanted to wear their creepy-ass war face to Princess Anju's first public ceremony. Maybe we'll find out next time, since the upcoming episode seems to be centered around these wacky new generals. (Unimportant but amusing: apparently one of the great martial leaders of Yamato draws a lot of gay porn under the pseudonym Raurau in his spare time. Yeah, make love not war!)

Of course, if you count closely, there are actually eleven generals in the crowd, not ten. The unnamed eleventh soldier wears a mask just like the Royal Generals, but prefers to stand in the back of the crowd burning holes into the back of Haku's head with his gaze. Haku has no idea who he is either, but the guy definitely gives our hero the heebie-jeebies. Stop teasing me with vague intrigue, Utawarerumono! When you're ready to actually start the plot, I'll be ready to start speculating about it again.

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.