Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen

2022 Edit: minor fixing. And surprisingly my opinion after a new rewatch hasn't changed.


Second Season > First Season.


No, it's not a joke.


I guess if you're here is because you watched more than first 12 chapters, right? Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen, something that seemed to be a spin-off, was actually a sequel of Utawarerumono, hence why many people expected something very similar to its predecessor and, in that sense, they were disappointed, but... What so special is the first Utawarerumono?
...
Both series are pretty much the same in the basis: a "medieval fantasy world" where peace is apparent, although there are frictions between various kingdoms, and then, a person appeared, without a name or any idea of who he is, but whose fate will influence in many people, and the fate of one or more nations, while trying to find out who he actually is. The first Utawarerumono serie handled this in a more "serious" approach, war after war, almost without any break or slowdown throughout its 26 chapters. However, we must not forget this is also a "fantasy" serie, and as such, it also has elements of comedy, slice of life and stillness; basically the necessary calm moments of worldbuilding. In that sense, these were the major flaws in the first season: everything was moving in a frenetic speed, while time to introduce all the cast in an acceptable way was not properly given. 26 chapters of pure war and conflicts is not entirely productive, since there was almost no character development, to the point that only a few characters were important and the rest were forgettable. Even worse, after dedicating all its chapters to move the plot forward, this ended up being not well developed at all; it was notorious that a lot of content was left aside, everything was so rushed that certain topics were not properly handled (especially the one about MC's past memories), which resulted in several plot holes, and an ending that leaves more questions than answers (and it's not exactly a cliffhanger), plus the aforementioned lacking of character development. The first season was not bad, in fact its story is interesting and with a good potential, but its development left much to be desired.

Now, talking more about Itsuwari no Kamen, which started in a much slower pace than its predecessor. In this case, they decided to do something more "faithful" to its original concept, and dedicate its first chapters to characters introduction and early worldbuilding, so the viewer would had time to decide if take a like on them or not.

We can agree that expend 12 episodes on it was too much (I'd have given between 6 and 8 episodes), but it was in order to set the new setting, characters and their interactions, while showing us a good dose of comedy and slice of life moments (admittedly a hit & miss) as we get to know more about them. The second cour was where the real story began: The wars are unleashed again, with several clashes among these new kingdoms, but in this case we get to see them from the perspective of people who do not fight directly in them. We see Haku, our protagonist, who is not used to the horror of seeing people die in front of his eyes, and he has to deal with this situation, while trying to help his friends. We must not forget one of the main points that makes this franquice very interesting: the mystery behind our protagonist, which in this case, it's closely related to the origin of this new society, which in this season is admittedly less addressed, but more latent than it was in the first season; this was one of the many plot holes that I previously mentioned, although Itsuwari no Kamen couldn't avoid having its own plot holes especially on the final stretch. Even so, in these 13 chapters, Itsuwari no Kamen built a decent story that moves at a good pace, with serious, intense, intriguing and dramatic moments, the latter especially in the final chapter, with a great atmosphere that makes you reflect about the events that led to that conclusion, supported by a decent direction and an OST carefully adequate for every moment. Too sad the first cour of the serie, while not entirely bad, wasn't as interesting, and it felt very slow in contrast with the second cour. No surprise some people find this as a big issue for the serie.

The characters are not the most interesting ones in the world, but they work just fine. Haku is someone with a very apathetic attitude, constantly complaing about every activity he's gotten into, something that kinda work for both comedy situations, and for those moments where the character is getting into unexpected situations; those are actually the moments where Haku shines, since he has to show a change in his mindset if he wants to achieve his goal. Kuon is a fun character, but she knows how to be serious when the situation requires; she's actually a very solid character, acting as Haku's mentor and voice of reason, while knowing when to be rude and quite cute. Ukon is basically the one who moves the plot forward, knowing the most about Haku's potential while putting a lot of trust (and labors) on him, which motivate Haku to support him, although at his peculiar way. There is not much to say about the rest of the cast, they are all quite different in personality, but they fulfill their roles just fine; watching them interact is kinda fun, but not much else about then is told so they got little to no development, sadly.

At the end of the day, Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen has nothing to envy to its predecessor. With a different way to develop the plot, inconsistent pacing but satisfying in the end, a decent direction and pretty fitting OST, and acceptable and charismatic cast. Although it could improve in some ways, still handled to achieve its goal. The final cliffhanger showed that the series has potential.

This is a review written after I saw it entirely. So, it'll diverge a lot in relation to those which had been written around the beginning. Is my first review, mainly cause of the controversial feeling about this anime.

Story: People may say that it hasn't a story, I say the otherwise. The first half can be a low-development kind. For those who compared directly with the first Utawarerumono, it really is slow and without a outter story development. Though, the second half goes on a exponential curve of "Give me the next episode!". So, we have character and environment presentation and later the rampage of ... the story. For those who searched about the anime, now that it is based on a 2-part visual novel, so, be warned that we have a "half" series, even so, I consider this season as a preparation to "I hope there will be a" next one.

Art: Well, the art is nice. The ambience is well made, and although there's a difference from the first one, in a few episodes you accustom to it. Well, the furry part is well made, as are the battles and "special effects". Some parts, considering the year of release, are lot better than the first one, which is expected.

Sound: I really liked the previous Utawarerumono opening (I love that one). They keep Suara's songs for the two openings (prefer the first one - really nice - but the second is really nice too). The endings are those slow-motion zen-kind songs, nice if you want to hear it (worst from all aspects). The general soundtrack is really good, mainly the last episode's ones; They match very well to the situations and ambience.

Character: Well, we have a half season for that, if it was bad the overall would be to. We have a whole set of cliches to not cliches characters. I, particularly, really liked the MC - because he is really different from the normal-MC-way, and has a great development -. Aside from that, the whole set (older Utawarerumono characters, "allies" characters and enemies alike) are well made, be the visual, the actions, reasons, thinking, whatever. Even the lesser things cab be see as a potential character development fuel.

Enjoyment: The fantasy slice-of-life that is the first part is, if nothing else, fun. I found it to be relaxing too. They have a equilibrium between fun and serious, a bit of overall development, new characters, being to know more of the world, etc. The second part is fun, cool, tense and all around some feels and emotions in some aspects (I'll refrain from spoilers, but mainly one part about the MC, and the finale). Basically, I watched one episode every week and waited for the next one from the first to the last episode.


So, the overall note is kind a mean between all of it. I'm bad with rating, never know exactly what I think, Thus, pay more attention to what I wrote than tho the rating.

Everything about this anime is fantastic.In my most honest opinion,it is a good succesor to the 2006 season.The art is outstanding,story is very comprehensive and deep and expands its roots from the first season.The characters all have their own background behind them and very interesting and well-tought ones at that.While watching the first season will triple your excitement about this anime,you don't need to do that in order to see the fantastic story.It is honestly very rare for me to feel this way about an anime and encourage others to watch it as well,and not to give it a bad rating after watching only 25% ... of it :)

This is a lax review that falls more to the compartment style (and being my first review).
After enjoying the first season of Utawarerumono, i wanted more! So i turned to Itsuwari no Kamen. Luckily i didn't watch the original show when it aired now 10 years ago because the wait and disappointment would have crushed me even harder than it just recently did.

Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen starts off with setting identical to the original, but quickly changes to your typical slice of life fantasy setting. MC starts building harem of sorts and nothing reminiscent of plot or traces to first season is to be seen ... until first few episodes in.
There are few major plotholes (just like in the original) that might someday get covered in future seasons but i wouldn't bet my money on that.
Just a little warning for those who loved first season; Itsuwari no Kamen is going to make you hate/feel angry towards the main cast at some point of story for some time. And you really wish you could see the original characters more often.
Luckily after slow start the story develops to better every episode towards the ending and after its over you're wanting for next season. Just hope it doesn't take 9 years again.

Characters compared to the 2006 original feel just empty (yes, there were some bad characters on the original, not denying that). Every girl is shoehorned to fill in cliche roles that make all harems so dull to watch. They act weak except in 2-3 episodes about battles where they're suddenly smart and powerful only to fall back to your sheepish little harem after the battle ends.
Male characters bonding with MC are all boring, empty wallflowers with the exception of 2nd MC. Boylove is everywhere (not that i mind, but it gets old fast).

After first season this was a big letdown, but its slightly above average.
Well worth the watch if another world/fantasy setting is close to your heart.

So first of all if you have not watched the original Utawarerumono anime you probably need to do that first or else there will be points in this story that you will definitely find yourself lost because this is a continuation of the original Utawarerumono story line.

I found this anime quite a bit more enjoyable than the first. You get more in depth with the characters and the tone is much lighter that in the original anime. I do like how well the story progressed through each and every character ultimately building to the conclusion which in itself is another beginning.

Most ... of the anime has a light feel to it, although it doesn't skip a more serious tone hear and there the largest of which comes at the conclusion. The animation is nice and clean and the sound and everything else is crisp. Overall it is an anime that I would definitely purchase should it be released here.

The one thing that did bug me about this anime is the ending of which there was none. I'm not going to spoil anything for you but in case you didn't know the entire Utawarerumono series is based off of a popular game franchise in Japan and so the anime ends right where the game ends essencially. So see no spoiler if you've played the game because you already know what is going to happen.

This anime seems to have been made as a tool to boost interest and promote the new game coming out this September which if I'm not mistaken is "Utawarerumono: The Two Hakuro". Now here is the rub, will there be a concrete ending this time or will this ultimately lead us into another game after a third anime release. The thing is I have no idea and I don't think anyone else does either. The only thing that I do know from the preview of the new game is that it will seem to have a far more serious tone as Tusukuru and Yamato seem to be headed towards full scale war.

So with that said hopefully there will be a third anime sometime in 2017 that will lead us further down the rabbit hole into the world Utawarerumono. At least I hope that there is because it sure has been fun so far.

So, after watching the whole thing, even though i did not watch the first season, i do recommend it since because there are some ties regarding haku and kuon, so this is coming from a person who had not watch the first season, but do understand a few things from the first season, and who heard about the visual novel of this.

Story-10, i heard some things in the visual novel, and the first half, 12 episodes or so, were more like, character introductions and such. You know, that getting to know character to build more emotion to the characters. After the first half, then ... it started getting to the story, as i see other reviews on here, they only watched like 12 episodes or below, and that is not so helpful.

Art-9, I love the art they use in this, really great, just simply love it. had no problems with it whatsoever.

sound 7- i do not love, i do not hate, it just simply enjoy it. i like the first and 2nd op as well. The sound are pretty good, not gonna lie.

Character 8- As i said before, the character introductions, and such, its good. Hence at the last episode almost made me tear up, and so i got kinda attached to characters, well im the type of person to get attach to characters.

Enjoyment 10- there were funny scenes and action scene that got my hyped, including the ending which makes me want to know what going to happen next. each epison was good enough for me, got my attention and my "wanting" of more episodes of this.

Overall 10- i wished others would also watch this anime, i highly reccomend it, it is great to me. I also wished there were more Live Reaction videos to this anime, want to see their reaction to the interesting things.

*First review ever*

A lot of people complain about the fan service, but you have to remember what they were adapted from. This series has it's share of service, but the story is deeper than it seems, just like the first series it has mystery and a strange beautiful world that confuses and mystifies the MC. Sure this one could've been better, but all in all it is nothing more than a big build up to the next part. It has your suspense, wonder, fantasy, fighting and more, give it a shot before you judge it based on screen caps. The art and sound are one of my ... favorite parts as it reminds me of the first series, some of the characters don't feel as though they contribute much so that could've been better, but all in all it was enjoyable. The art style was the main selling point for me, and so was the story since i knew from the start it was gonna be a build up series. Overall i highly enjoyed this show.

NOTE: This is a VERY minor spoiler review. As a huge Utawarerumono fan, I had great expectations for the anime and will be comparing it to the visual novel (og source) from time to time (with context too for the people that haven't read the VN). Though I'll start by saying that the visual novel is so much better than the anime - I would give the rating such a higher rating if it were the visual novel.

Context:
This anime is an adaption of the visual novel called Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception (for English releases). There are two parts to this visual novel represented ... by two games. The first part is Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception and is what this anime covers. The second part is the continuation of Mask of Deception and the anime hasn't come out for it yet.

Story 6/10:
The story from the VN is more like a 9/10 imo and is an essential part in building into the second game, Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth. However, the anime falls short in retelling the story. One thing to note though, I saw many people complain on Crunchyroll that there isn't much of a story in the anime. That is also kind of the case for the VN and that's because the first game is more focused on building the world, character and relationships (let's abbreviate that to WCR building) rather than the story. Doesn't mean the story doesn't progress but it's kinda like a slice-of-life type (somewhat reminds me of Konosuba). The second game is where the story, in a sense, truly takes place.

But anyway, the reason why the anime falls short in retelling the story is that they skip out on so many important aspects of WCR building. For example, they cut out an entire arc about Haku and the Tatari that is essentially for WCR building. They rather focus on the funny moments rather than setting the background for a grand story told in the second part. I get that it's impossible to fit a ~30 hour-long VN into a 25 episode anime but they should have focused more on the WCR aspect than the funny moments - or at least a better balance of it. Though surprisingly, the anime didn't feel too rushed but regardless, the anime doesn't do the VN justice with 25 episodes.

One last thing about the story is that the anime doesn't faithfully adapt to the VN. The overall conclusion of the story is pretty much the same so it's most likely a time constraint thing. I don't mind such changes but the anime makes certain parts considerably worse than the VN. Like in the introduction of certain characters is much well handled in the VN.


Art 8/10:
The art and animation are overall fine. The animation is pretty average but the art makes up for it. All the characters are very well drawn and adapted. Some scenes are especially beautiful. One thing, the anime makes the Akuruturukas into absolute BEASTS. IMO it's depicted better and more monstrous than in the VN. So, I'll give the overall art a high 8.


Sound 10/10:
Well, if the VN is known for anything it's that the music by Suara and the OST is really fucking good. Since the anime makes use of the same music, it naturally sounds as epic as the VNs. Other than the music, the voice actors once again show how cracked they are. The voices of the characters are so good and really bring out their personality (despite the anime not developing personalities very well). Every character has a unique voice that you'll know who's talking the second they talk regardless of if you're watching or not. Also, the anime chooses unique sound effects for certain things. They certainly sound all really fair - especially for the final battle. The sounds for that fight were crazy good, really captures the essence of destruction going on.


Character 7/10:
I think the characters were decently adapted. Many things disappointed me about the adaption but it wasn't all too bad. As I mentioned in the story, the anime skipped many WRC building plots. The VN had many plots (both minor and major) that were dedicated to each character throughout the story. The anime skipped so much on these aspects that I have to give a 7 for character. The source material had so much potential yet the anime delivers only lightly. In a sense, the characters felt a bit empty sometimes (like lacking personality), even without the context of the VN. Also, some characters in the anime also seemed a bit uncharacteristic too. Though, if I haven't read the VN already, there is a chance I would have given character a higher rating or even a lower one, I think?

Enjoyment 8/10:
Again, as a big Utawarerumono fan, even if the anime was garage tier (which I don't think it is), I probably would have still enjoyed it. The only thing keeping me from enjoying it more than an 8/10 is I was a bit disappointed in the adaptation aka my high expectations. What can I say, I really love the Utawarerumono VNs and so can only expect high quality.

Overall 7/10:
I think all Utawarerumono fan should give the anime a chance. It's pretty exciting to see the VN characters animated, it's a similar feeling to when I played Utawarerumono Zan. Might be a bit disappointing at times but not horribly shabby.
I also think people interested in Utawarerumono should give the anime a shot. It's an easy brief way to be introduced to the series so that you can be blown away by the quality of the VN if you get to that point.

In 2006, the world was graced with a fantasy world of animal themed people surrounded by mystery and war. The series known as Utawarerumono has since then become a bit of a cult classic with its mix of fantasy and science to formulate the world's backstory, in conjunction with the present day story with what is essentially a completely new world. And so, 9-10 years later after the first Utawarerumono, we have Itsuwari no Kamen, the false faces, the second installment of the Utawarerumono trilogy.

Story: Twenty years after the end of the first Utawarerumono ended, the world has been relatively ... tame. It is here where we find ourselves in a different, larger country to the newborn state of Tuskuru, where we follow the story of a woman by the name of Kuon and the man that she found that she names...Haku.

The story of Itsu, as I shall be referring this series as, is split into two parts, corresponding to the two cours that make up its entire runtime. Contrary to its predecessor, Itsu is a more character-based story, focusing more on the development and characteristics of each and every main character that they introduce to some extent. The entire first cour is virtually plotless, as it spends its time more on the development and building of its main cast, involving Haku, Kuon, and several other characters that each receive their own quirks and traits that make feel more like characters than pieces that follow a plot-based story. The issue that arises from this is the fact that the plot itself during this section of the anime really doesn't have much going on about it. By devoting itself to defining its cast, the show sacrifices any sort of plot development and doesn't feel exactly like what we were presented with back in 2006.

The second half of Itsu on the other hand is what would be considered more as 'Utawarerumono'. As the series was originally a tactical RPG game, the series dives into its traditional style of war and conflict, which really only benefits the series. Due to the fact that the series sort of slogs on with its first 12 episodes, only to give us a plot based story with more defined characters, the story overall in that sense just feels more well written and makes more sense overall. Character motivation during this second half is more defined, the different viewpoints of war and rule, what is best for the people of a nation; all of these are tackled with much more value to them.

Another thing that this series does, and is just a positive for the entire Utawarerumono series as a whole, is the idea of world building. Because we're in a completely different country to the one we see from the original series, the structure, culture, and overall feel of the place is completely different. Yamato is a very powerful country that has a lot of land and power over the rest of the world. And you get a sense of that with the way the country is set up, the daily lives of the citizens there, and the impacts when that powerful pyramid crumbles down. All in all, we get such great world building that there really isn't much for me to complain about.

All in all, while there were some bumps in the storytelling on account of the fact that there was virtually no plot in the first half and JUST plot in the second half, personally, I think that the story only benefitted from this, as the actions and events were more personal and impacted the characters in a way that would've otherwise been null if they didn't spend that time. The end is definitely a more open end, as the story is more or less setting up for hopefully, the third game's anime adaptation some time down the line. (White Fox, PLEASE get on this.)

Overview:
+ World Building
+ Good second half
+/- Good first half (This is dependent on whether you would appreciate the time spent on the characters or hate just the sheer lack of anything and the randomness of some of the stuff that happens.)
+/- Open end. (Does well for setup and is bittersweet, but doesn't REALLY finish the story.)

Characters: Itsu does a complete clean sweep in its character department, as the series focuses on an entirely different group to the characters that we knew before.

Up first is Haku, the 'new' Hakouro of the series. After waking up without any memory as to who he was (Gee, that sounds familiar), he is found by Kuon and is dubbed 'Haku' by her, now under her responsibility as she is his 'guardian' of sorts. (Ka na.) However, that's where the similarities between these two men ends. Haku is more or less the opposite of Hakuoro, being less willing to do physical tasks and has a very negative outlook on war and the kind of destruction that comes with it. As the series progresses along, Haku becomes a hardened character that grows out of his innate inability to do anything. He's a realistic character that has an odd charisma of always having a "I'm so done with this shit" expression everywhere he goes. All in all, Haku's growth as a character makes him a much better character overall as you can see his ascent of willpower and growing into the ideals and wishes that he wants to fulfill as the events of the series impacts him. We also get a backstory to him that ties into the events of the continuity, adding in his hand into the ordeal that created the world of Uta.

Then we have Kuon, the 'new' Eruruu character of the series. Aside from having the ability to heal, Kuon doesn't really have any traits that the previous female protagonist had with her. She's a much more mischievous, hot tempered girl who loves to eat, play, and acts as a sort of 'mom' character in a sense. The main issue that arises from Kuon is the fact that her motives or backstory are more or less shrouded in mystery. The series does give clues and facts as to how she came to be, but towards the near end of the series, there're hints to show that there is more to her, and that she has an underlying motive for finding and caring for Haku, which really doesn't get explained. Maybe we'll get information in third adaptation, but at the time of this review, there really isn't any information currently to explain that.

For the rest of the cast, we have a variety of players in the game. We have the two noble princesses from different provinces in Yamato, Rurutie and Atui, the general of the right, Ukon and his sister Nekone, the novice archer, Kiuru, and the entire government and military structure of Yamato, including the emperor, his daughter, and the Eight Pillar Generals, powerful leaders who command their own army that obey the will of the emperor to ensure that the country of Yamato will continue and prosper, and the best girl of them all, Kokopo the giant bird. (Seriously though, this bird is an AMAZING character.) While mostly side characters, these members of the cast, most of these side characters don't really feel it. They add to the atmosphere of this new country, as their values, culture, and ideals largely differ to those from the cast in Tuskuru. The majority of them are defined and mesh very well with the story, creating a genuine feeling world. Several in particular, Oshtoru and the emperor, play bigger parts and act as both plot devices and characters that add more to the story. Overall, this side cast is much better crafted and really only added to the story (Except Ponpo of course. Hate that bastard). Plus...there might be a couple...return appearances here and there.

Overview:
+ Characters that have both plot importance and development
+ Defined cast
+ Characters mesh very well with the story
- Some missing and/or incomplete motives for some characters

Art: Produced by White Fox, an offshoot of the company Oriental Light and Magic who made the original Uta, Itsu returns back with a fresh coat of paint from the olden style of the original Uta series. With a much more refined look to it, the true beauty of the asian inspired world of Utawarerumono comes back full force with wonderfully produced backgrounds and fluid animation.

The overall look of Itsu took what was good about the original Uta's art, and just sort of elevated it. While some moments were taken into liberty with CGI in order to animate certain scenes, there wasn't particularly anything messy or bad about it. In fact, it still looked rather fluent even with CGI employed. (The curses looked a bit off. I'll say that much.) What does bother me about the art is how everything has this slight tint of beige to it. The colors of Uta have never particularly been bright, but everything just looks a bit too dull in terms of color.

Another thing that Itsu has is fanservice. It doesn't have it in spades, but in certain scenes, most prominently in the first half of the series, there are scenes that detail more risque moments in the bath. (Because Kuon is apparently a cat that likes to take a bath.) It's not that much, but I just thought that a little warning was a good idea.

Overview:
+ Consistent, good quality art (Oh White Fox, you do spoil me)
+ CGI that was used was more or less fluent
- Colors look slightly dull

Sound: I think one of the more defining parts of the Utawarerumono series. As the entire OST is more or less based around an oriental style of music, the tracks sound more unique than your traditional anime OP, ED, or OST in general because of that. Taking her reign back as the singer for the Uta series, Suara makes a comeback to sing every OP and ED song that the OST has, just like what she did back in 2006 with the original Uta.

This time, the OPs have a more serious tone to them while the EDs have a very relaxing and mystical tone to them. All four of these tracks are very memorable and evoke the feeling of the oriental and mystical war anime that Utawarerumono is. Personally, I think that Suara's style of music perfectly represents Utawarerumono, so much that it's just difficult to think about Utawarerumono WITHOUT these tracks.

Overview:
+ Perfect OST (There are NO complaints or bad parts about this.)

Personal Enjoyment: Utawarerumono was a series that intrigued me for a good long while. After I took it out of the backburner, I found myself enjoying a series that was actually more deep in its lore than I originally thought. I love stories that have lore to them, and when I found that Utawarerumono was having a sequel, I was excited.

Did I like this anime?

Oh, far more than I should've. I love stories that just add to the continuity, and really there wasn't anything about this show that I didn't like. The characters were enjoyable, the story over time transitioned to what the original Uta was structured like, and we got a look into the aftermath (sort of) into what happened after the events of the original Uta. Plus, the soundtrack, my god, it's heavenly. (And the cameos!!!!)

What didn't I like about this anime?

To get into specifics, Ponpo. The character Dekonponpo is the saddest excuse for a living being and I hope that waste of life and space dies very soon. Such an irritating and terrifyingly designed character.

Would I recommend this anime?

If you saw the original Uta, you should watch this. It continues the story and adds another layer of depth to the world of Utawarerumono. It is the second part to a trilogy, so more or less, this is the 'lead-in' part of the series that moves the series to its final conclusion, so it doesn't exactly end cleanly, but nonetheless, it is a fitting end. If you're new to Utawarerumono or you're interested in a fantasy series with war and some relatively deep lore, I would strongly suggest you watch the original first. Despite what people think, this is a story that happens AFTER what happens in the original series, and there will be continuity mistakes if Itsu is watched without any prerequisite. Until then, it's time to slumber and wait another decade until they release the third and final installment. And boy, a day that will be.

Story
the story starts with Kuon which is the female main character of this series . The story overall was awesome if you loved the first season as it expanded on the story of which how the experimental beings from the first season or the people grew and became the prominent people we know in the story . It explains why Yamato is so advance and why Yamato is able to have the masks like in the first season even though its not nearly as strong as the original mask . Though the ending maybe abit of a disappointment but its still an ... awesome story non the less
Art
The art was amazing if you loved the art in the first anime this is just as good.
Sound
The sound is nice and matches all the feeling and emotions you face while watching it making it a more thrilling and fun anime to watch .
Character
The development of the story is quite slow but is always accompanied with humor and something new to learn about the characters . In every episode you can always feel the character has improved or grown one way or the other which is very interesting to watch .
Enjoyment
I enjoyed how the characters developed and learning more of the history and lore of the original anime Utawarerumono . There are many exiting and funny twist in the story making sure you are not bored especially in the last few episodes . Though i would definitely love it more if the ending wasn't so sad
Overall
I would say if you loved the first season and love to know more of the history and lore of the anime you should definitely watch it as its an anime full of fun adventure comedy and romance and would make anyone who watches it satisfied

I'll start off by saying that I'm a big fanboy of the Utawarerumono series. I've watched the original anime series and it was so good that it made me play the Visual Novel version. (Which brought me into the Visual Novel world - this was a few years ago) So it's natural that I was overjoyed when I heard Itsuwari no kamen was getting animated. I also came in with some expectations.


With that said, here's my slightly biased review of Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen.

Story:6

The first few episodes were beautiful, it allowed first time viewers to get used to the world and the people in it. ... Then the plots slowly starts to go south. The biggest thing that bugged me was combat. We see characters that laze around doing nothing, suddenly become proficient at using their weapon. We are told, but not shown how they've gotten stronger. It is most likely due to the fact that this anime was based off a SRPG, where the player trains the characters. At the end, a lot of things were left unexplained and plot points left hanging, but I will talk about this more at the end of this review.

Art: 8

I'm no expert at spotting errors in animation so I can only give you my impressions as viewer who focuses mostly on the plot. The scenery in the first few episodes blew me away, it really gave you a sense of being in the world. The large scale battles featured cookie cutter soldiers, but I'm fine with this as it is pretty expensive and a waste of money to try and anime each solder individually in a large battle. All in all, character movement felt smooth and the colors used in the anime felt natural.

Sound: 9

Nothing to say but great. If you enjoyed the type of music in the first series, you'll love the ones here.

Character: 6

Except for a few, most of the characters in this anime felt flat and their actions felt mechanical. I will explain more about this at the end of my review.

Enjoyment: 8

Utsuwari no Kamen will feel nostalgic to those who've watched this first series and just seeing the world and characters is enjoyable. Somethings will bug you like inconsistent plot and characters, but that is due to it's SRPG nature and a fact that I will discuss right below.

Rant

For those of you that don't know. Next we'll mostly likely get the next season during the Fall 2016 lineup. Why you ask? It's because the last visual novel of this series will be released that day. Why am I talking about next season on a review for this season? This is because you'll find that everything in this season is a buildup for next season.

What essentially happened was that they made the visual novel too large, so they split the story into two games. (Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen and Utawarerumono: Futari no Hakuoro) Which forced the anime to follow the same pattern and the viewer is left with lots of unexplained and hanging plot at the end. For those of you that have watched the first season, all of Itsuwari no Kamen is basically like the world building in the first few episodes of the first season. Now this wouldn't be a bad thing if the director could create some anime original scenes to smooth the transition from a SRPG visual novel to an anime, but due to the fact that there's already a sequel in plan, the director is not given much leeway. The anime is sticking so close to the source material that some plot points feel extremely awkward/doesn't make sense due to the SRPG elements.

Overall: 7

Tl;Dr Don't expect too much from this season as it is just world building for the next season.

The first Utawarerumono is vastly superior to this one. What made the show very enjoyable were its characters. In the first series we have Hakuoro, who is much more mature and intelligent than the protagonist, Haku, of Itsuwari no Kamen. Haku is in possession of a middle schooler's brain while Hakuoro has a mature one. This goes for the other main characters to a large degree as well. I realize that some of them aren't that old, but the sheer stupidity of some of the things they do is unfitting of someone with slightly above average intelligence. Average and below average intelligence are not enjoyable ... to watch. Keep in mind that i write this review considering someone with average intelligence to be frighteningly stupid. There are times and places for characters that are stupid, but this show is not one of them, especially not in the places of the main characters.

This show is very character reliant, and as such is very disappointing after having seen the first Utawarerumono. That being said, it's still much better than the average anime show.

Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen is the successor of the original 2006 anime Utawarerumono. Both are 25-episodes anime and both are set in the same setting.

First and foremost, I would advise you watch the first season before attempting to watch this one. Otherwise, you will not understand half of what happens in the second half of the anime. You might think this is obvious since this is a second season but you'd be surprised how many people dived straight in that anime without watching the original first...

To start off with a side note, I am baffled by the amount of people who claim this anime is ... basically a Slice of Life anime and has no direction whatsoever and decided to drop it halfway.

It's not that nothing is happening, the anime is simply taking its time to properly do a good job at adapting a story that deserves that much time put into its world creation. I personally wanted to wait at least 20 episodes and surprise ! Things are actually happened !
But back to the review.

Story-wise, it is true that the anime starts off slow. That's a good thing. It takes its time to properly remind us of the world we were left in with season 1 while making A LOT of obvious references to it (and this is important, due to how many years it has been since it was released). In fact there are so many references that some people mistakenly thought at first that this wasn't a season 2 but rather a rework of the first season. But what we have is indeed the continuation of an epic tale of fantasy, sci-fi and war but with a whole new cast of characters... at the beginning at least. Not much to add, the story at first is mainly character-focused and later on links back to what we have left from season 1 to create tension and drama.

In my opinion, while the original Utawarerumono was focused more on its plot than characters, this season takes a different approach by giving each character its own arc in a way that makes us attached to them as the events go on. This however does not mean the story is neglected.

In fact, one could even divide Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen into two parts: the first half that is meant to introduce each new character to us and the second part which introduces climax, tension, drama, plot twists and allows the previously showcased characters to each shine in their own way through meaningful character development.

The artwork is one that is close to one commonly found in "moe" Slice of Life anime. While it works in the first half of the anime, it feels a bit out of place as the second half reunites us with characters from the first season who look younger due to the upgraded art-style even though story-wise they should be older. While the visual update is generally appreciated, I still can't help but feel like it contradicts with the image I kept from back when I watched the first season which has an art-style befitting of the 2006 anime era.
Animation-wise, it feels smooth and fluid, so I have to give props to the animators for that.

In terms of music, well just like the original, the soundtrack merges perfectly with the tone of the scenes, using traditional instruments to give that kind of historical/fantasy feeling. I also really liked the first OP, not so much the second one but both of these are personal tastes.

All in all, I consider this series to be just as great as its predecessor and a must watch if you were a fan of the first season.

Just putting this here, I marathoned the entire first season in 3 days (including watching till 4 in the morning) just before watching this last episode. After seeing the last episode, and thinking through a bit, "GO BACK TO THE FIRST SEASON: UTAWARERUMONO". Its really important (unless you're a genius at putting puzzles togethers, in which case, this one is still incomplete with the third game coming next year.)

But I'll just make my review on this anime series and this series alone.

Story: Unless you've seen the first season's 26 episodes of amnesia, war, friendship, haunting past and man................(Not gonna spoil it), you wouldn't ... give this show atleast a 7. This show is literally tied, though not quite nicely, back to the first season, answering a few questions (and giving me a bigger map of the continent to look at. Seriously, their world functions just like agar.io) For me, I enjoyed this, more after seeing the first season. The first cour was all fanservice and introducing new characters (and the returning characters that are still alive and kicking ass) while the second season gets straight to the point of why its called "Itsuwari no Kamen" and how this season is the build up of the third season (Yes, we have a third coming.). Without spoiling here, there's a war going on for reasons that date back into the past, and things get hectic, with people dying, and a country breaking apart due to internal problems.

I just say this here, the second cour sucks like shit. Period. The battles were lame, and its all about "HAKU, SOLVE THIS FOR US. YOU"RE A HUMAN". The fanservice died out, and character development on the guy you never wanted to "grow up" beings here. Haku becomes (and I'm spoiling it). If you're deciding whether to watch this or not, give it a shot. The first 3 episodes are misleading of what this shows about (but it does hint what might happen in the end, and what's to come in the NEXT SEASON).

TL;DR, Shit. (But if you watched the first season, bearable.)

The visuals were nice, as with all modern anime of 2010+. Comparing to the 2006 anime adaption of the first season, at least I won't have nightmares of all the CG they used (seriously, the battles were done with ugly polygons like Counter Strike or Lara Croft before 21st century came around).

The OST was nicely woven into this series, just like the first season. A soothing, well-paced soundtrack with unique, interesting instruments playing to give to the feel of a "fantasy" or "aboriginal/native" atmosphere. Sadly, no very face-paced soundtrack for a few scenes that were...out of placed (The old man's secret rooms. yeah, talking about that). The OP and ED (and their 2nd cour ones) were also nice, especially the OP2.

Other than great songs, I loved seeing past characters returning, grown up, stronger, and laughing (WHERE IS ERURUU!)

As for enjoyment. I guess it's rewatchable (as I had just finished the first season, want to see this go through properly) but really, the joy of this show isn't much. Its to build up and have everything in place for the next game/anime (I mean, the first season's anime could have actually been made with 10 more episodes making it 36.) Its a good series, but because I've kept my rule of S2 < S1, I'll say a 6 for this show. 7 if I have mercy and 5 if you're a real cruel critic or one who doesn't want to watch the 2006 anime.

So there you have it. Utawarerumono fans are like FSN fans, just milder or less left wing/Weab/obsessive otaku, but this show is still worth watching, if you're willing to go through the troubles of watching its first season, and waiting *cough* 10 *cough* years *cough*. Otherwise, I guess there are other great anime to watch instead. If you're looking for more battles in asian style manners, go watch those sengoku anime, else play the game. All in all, this anime is not as bad, but pretty bad.

Verdict: 7/10

P.S. Fanservice aimed at both Harem lovers, BL lovers and Fujoshi(s)

I watched and rewatched the original 2006 series several times. This alone probably gives you a decent idea of how much I enjoyed it.

What initally drew me to the original was the combat and how it was relatively realistic, at lwast by anime standards sure it had super human strenght (karula) and super speed. some people could jump 20 feet in the air (although realistically that would have gotten them killed) and there was magic and mechs. The mechs although overpowered were meant to be and i could accept them. The magic was also not over used and was not as overpowered. As for military ... tactics i could list out a whole lot of issues but thats for another time. I still want to leave that cavalry cant charge through spearmen like that but thats what anime is
I also appreciated the fact that the main character was level headed and very capable. He might have been too lenient at times, but that's japanese influence there, not much the creators could have done there.

Now enough about the original.

On the topic of combat theyve completely thrown out realism for the more popular one man army general idea thats so common in asian movies and stories.

I mean seriously if one woman (munechika) could basically wall crush an entire army why does she even have an army with her. Same for that blondie human nuke. Theyre as big a threat to their own men and they dont even use them except for the clean up. While on the topic of combat i really cant agree with women just running up and beating the crap out of trained soldiers. I mean yeah in the original there were women in the army but they were extremely special cases. Karula belonged to a tribe that had natural super strength and touka was part of some miliatary order that served justice or something. In this we were given absolutely no explanation as to why they could fight. Anyways even if there was 5 people charging an entire army is completely useless, they should have been speared to death at a distance.

As for the characters
Haku with his retorts were probably the saving grace of the anime

There was also a bit too much gay with the princesses and all for my taste. Sure i get that they might have wanted a bit of comedy but episode after episode of it got annoying

As for the rest it didnt feel rushed (not too much at least) the art and sound was good so i dont have much else to complain about

First of all there might be some spoilers within this review because it isn't possible to be mad about this story by not even rant a bit about what went wrong within only one and in this case the last episode.

I really enjoyed this whole setting and even if there wasn't much going on in a lot of those 25 episodes I really enjoyed watching all those great characters living their life. But also as the story started to unfold it really went into a nice story telling direction. The OST was really great and suited the settings perfectly.

BUT and if you haven't watched ... the last episode please stop here.

BUT what were they thinking? I mean the ruined a whole series with just one and in this case the last episode. This show would have received a much higher rank in my case if they hadn't done what they in fact did.

The whole "I can't tell her it's me"-thing is just crap. I mean his sister knows and also the two priestesses but he can't tell Kuon? Where is the sense about such a stupid story twist. I mean isn't she able to keep it a secret all of the sudden? I am really to upset to write any further because it all feels like if I have wasted watching a whole series for nothing. This season finale was beyond anything satisfying. It is a shame what they did.

This show was a wild ride start to finish. The characters and story were superb, the art is solid, but it has one major flaw, an absolute terrible, copout of an ending.

Story: 9/10
Overall the story was well written and flowed very smoothly, there was action, comedy, general slice of life. There were a few points where things were played up a little much for my liking, but that's pretty subjective. The major flaw with both this and its predecessor are the very horrible endings. They both fell flat on the final episode, like they were written by HBO.

Art: 8/10
Most of the art in the series ... was well done, however, it suffers the same fate as any other anime that tries to rely on 3DCG, it always seems unnatural and breaks the immersion of the show a bit, what makes this one particularly bad though is they try and soften the 3D and make it appear brushstroke which makes it look very unappealing.

Sound: 10/10
I have zero complaints in the sound department, the voice acting was very well done and fit the characters well. The soundtrack was enjoyable and the sound effects were good.

Characters: 9/10
As people have stated before me about both this and the previous iteration of this show, the characters are very trope characters, but written well. There is a lack of character development for certain characters which is understandable considering it is only 25 episodes rather than several seasons spanning over years. All of the likeable characters were that as with the unlikeable characters. You could tell right off the bat whether they fell into either category.

Enjoyment: 8/10
I gave this an 8/10 for 2 simple reasons. First, the ending, it felt very unsatisfying especially after seeing the characters interacting the way that they did. Second, there were a few times where pacing was an issue for me as it either rushed through a situation or dragged something out far too long (i.e. last episode dragged)

Overall: 8/10
This show is truly enjoyable, I decided to pick it up as the third season is airing soon and I plan to watch it. Despite some nitpicking and minor flaws I do recommend giving it a watch

If nothing else, at least consider checking out the games which the Utawarerumono anime has been adapted from. The games compared to the adaptation are so much more fleshed out and "complete" feeling. Though I still recommend the anime from season 1-3, if you truly want the Utawarerumono experience then please go play the games. Many reviewers are not wrong when they say that the anime can be a mess/rushed because it is true. There is simply too much material to be adapted into an anime that is limited by 20 minute episodes which makes many fans of the games undervalue the effort put into ... the anime. I myself believe that in conjunction with the games, the anime serves as a great portrayer due to the game's style as a visual novel, it at times cannot create a scene as beautifully as an anime can (I believe the anime portrays some scenes/moments much better than the games). So once again, I recommend watching the anime, but if you want the best experience then play the games.