Utawarerumono: The False Faces

Episode 23

Well, if there's a callback I wasn't expecting to pop up in U2warerumono, it was a surprise return to the sewer adventure of episode 10. You know. One of the worst episodes in the show. (And that's saying a lot!)

Anyway, if you were expecting Haku and crew to make off with Oshutoru and Anju like thieves in the night, transitioning to a new setting and a new game plan at the start of this episode (like I was), you may be surprised to learn that we don't even get out of the capitol this week. We may be two episodes from the end of The False Faces, but we're going to spend the entirety of episode 23 running around the city like chickens with our heads cut off. On the plus side, maybe this means I can keep the word count of an episode review under 1,000 for once. What more is there to say about U2warerumono's continually disappointing nonsense? It's not unique or impactful enough to be bad, but it's got too many baffling story problems and bizarre pacing hiccups to be mediocre. The show just kind of exists, without leaving much of any impression behind, as our heroes run in circles between lukewarm comedy bits and sincere moments of danger without committing to anything of interest, emotionally or intellectually. This show is just trying to get itself to the end, and I'm more than happy to shove it along.

Early on in their escape, the collapse of a building forces Haku to split the party. Yakutowaruto stays behind to fend off the palace guards, while the rest of our heroes break off in two directions. Haku, Nekone, and the yin-yang twins escort Oshutoru through the city's sewers, which Haku knows intimately thanks to his past grunt work. (Payoff for that terrible episode, I guess?) Kuon leads a much smaller group, carrying an unconscious Princess Anju on her back while Nosuri protects her from soldiers on their way out of the city. If you think that one rogue pheasant-girl isn't enough to fend off a handful of elite guards, you'd be right, which thankfully leads to the only attention-getting part of the episode.

Nosuri does a good job fending off baddies for a while, but the girls' original goal was not to be seen, and once the reinforcements start piling in, they're basically screwed. There's nothing Nosuri can do against a squad of archers, so once the arrows start raining down, even Kuon has to brace herself for the inevitable. At least, that's what she thinks she's doing. But when the arrows get mere inches away from her face, some mysterious force deep within her snaps, she throws out her hand, and the arrows explode into ashes in mid-air, giving the archers only milliseconds to gasp before they also burst into flame. This probably comes a shock to anyone who started with this sequel, but it makes perfect sense if Kuon is the daughter of first season protagonist Hakuoro. Clearly, some of Witsalnamitea's divine power runs through her veins too. Poor Nosuri has to hoist her (and Anju) away from the carnage, while Kuon regresses into some kind of vegetative state. Is she just in shock from activating these mysterious powers and straight-up flambé-ing ten dudes? Or is something frightening inside of her beginning to awaken? Either way, it was the first U2warerumono scene in a long time that reached out and slapped me awake, so I'll take it!

After this, Kuon's group reunites with the other princesses for a triple-princess escape to the seas! (I guess it's quadruple if you count Kuon? Maybe she's half-princess.) Kokopo cements her status as best girl by smacking the hesitation out of Rurutie and bulldozing through the alleyways with four girls on her feathery back. Once they get to the bay, Atui smuggles them into a skiff and sails past her watchful father to their faraway destination. She's not really getting anything past General Soyankekuru though. He can tell that she's smuggling Princess Anju out of the country, but just chooses to ignore it and trust his daughter. What a swell guy! If only he had given the same consideration to Oshutoru when the princess originally got poisoned, but them's the breaks, I guess.

Since Haku's group is made up of two robotic twins, a little girl, and his stoic doppelganger, not much happens to them by contrast. They fight off some guards, make jokes about Dekoponpo being a dumb-butt with bad taste, and Oshutoru gets his leg injured. (Now?! That guy really does have the worst timing.) Their sewer navigation plan is working just swimmingly until they get to the city gate, where of course Vurai is waiting for them. With Oshutoru maskless and unable to fight, (come on, a log fell on you, just walk it off, you big baby!) it's now up to Haku to defeat the empire's most brutal warlord. Is there another Legendary Pokémon transformation (or two) in our future? Maybe, but whatever happens, it would be nice if it happened a little faster next time. (Hey, I really got a review under 1,000 words for once. Progress!)

Rating: C+

Utawarerumono: The False Faces is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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