Series: Utawarerumono: Mask of a Stranger V1 is a full season series that builds around a set of central characters with Hakuoro and Eluluu. Hakuoro is a stranger to the village, having been taken in by the young female Eluluu when she stumbled upon his beat up, near dead body in the forest. Times are tough and most people are afraid of strangers given the mysteries surrounding the world; including magic, wild beasts, and uncertain times with the exception of this small village. Thankfully, she is the granddaughter of the village leader so she has more latitude in what she can get away with and Hakuoro finds out his status is impacted by who has chosen to look after him. In any case, the story begins with Hakuoro waking up in bed by a fire, apparently bandaged up and taken care of with a few brief glimpses of his past. He remembers virtually nothing at first, greatly limiting his ability to fend for himself but quickly becomes befriended by those around him, including the chief, Tsukuru. She sees something special in him, something that sets him apart and entwines his destiny with the village. His warm nature and kind ways help make him a part of the community, even though his mask sets him apart.

He can't remove the mask, no matter how hard he tries, and while it makes him a curiosity to some, others are less sure about a stranger that wears a mask (at least at first). The scenario for the village is a mythical place set in a post stone age, pre-medieval setting where warlords rule with an iron first; demanding outrageous amounts of tribute in order to maintain the peace. Through a series of events, Hakuoro becomes a central figure to the people of the village and they start to rely on him; just in time for the guy ruling the land to send his henchmen to start trouble. Hakuoro steps in to discuss matters reasonably and all heck breaks loose as he and the village find themselves the target of the oppressor's nasty ways.

This being an anime, that means the tiny village will start preparing to fend off the armies of the ruler, armies who are equipped with more advanced equipment, tactics, and numbers among other things, much like a little tale I found so fantastic last year called Samurai Seven. The difference this time is that the advanced technology is missing, the bigger budget, and the more detailed writing, as well as hordes of other factors that would keep this from looking almost like a retro-anime series from the past. Still, the village appoints Hakuoro as leader when tragedy strikes and his sense of honor prohibits him from declining since they nursed him back to health, all the while with him questioning his every move since the relatively naïve villagers lack the sophistication to understand that they are so vastly inferior to the forces about to crush them, that nothing will save them short of a miracle, one well out of the amnesiac's ability to produce.

One thing about the opening volume of the series though, is that it takes so bloody long to establish the premise that by the time the story gets moving, it's over and you have to see what takes place next time. I know cliffhanger's are popular with some of you but with so much effort spent preparing the characters for the next steps, the limited action and political intrigue seemed almost tacked on to the mostly two dimensional elements of the material. The episodes this time were 1) The Uninvited, 2) Ruler of the Wild Forest, 3) Violet and Amber, 4) One-Way Path, and 5) Daughter of the Forest, each showing at least a passing nod to the laws of cause and effect. I hope I get the chance to see if ADV Films can manage to pull a winner out of this one but as it stands, it only merited a rating of Rent It from me at this time.

Picture: Utawarerumono: Mask of a Stranger V1 was presented in the original 1.77:1 ratio anamorphic widescreen color as released in Japan by director Tomoki Kobayashi. In general, it looked decent with a healthy mix of colors that lent themselves to the action at large. The animation style itself was somewhat lacking in that the loops and camera pans needed to force movement effects rarely looked convincing but the lines were clearly drawn and the DVD transfer was well within the limits of ADV's experience. It reminded me more of some titles released in the early to mid 1990's than something from the last year or so but it suited the general nature of the material more than a little so the limitations aside, I don't think many will find it a problem visually.

Sound: The audio was presented in the usual manner for a recent show with the original 2.0 Dolby Digital track in Japanese and the 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround tracks offered up in the English language dub by ADV Films (under the direction of Don "The Man" Rush). Okay, this was one of those times when the dub was superior in just about all ways to me. The special effects, the music, the directionality, and even the voice actors sounded better on the dub over the original language track. Some of the time, these improvements were subtle and other times they were clearly better but I have no problems with admitting the limitations of the original tracks were largely overcome by the dub. The separation between the tracks took place largely in fight sequences, and the dynamic range seemed best applied to the musical score, but a decent stereo set up will increase your appreciation of the dub in this case.

Extras: Unlike far too many releases these days, there were some pretty good extras on top of the five episodes included on the disc. My favorite extra was the 8 page booklet since it provided some background material from both the vocal talent (an interview with lead voice John Gremillion being the best of the batch but the Japanese pair were okay too) and production staff in the form of series planner Makoto Uezu. I like booklets when they provide artwork and insights so this was short but sweet as far as I was concerned. There was also a cute short called Omake Theatre which was quite funny and added some chuckles to an admittedly serious series. The extras also included some trailers, a glossary, and character artwork, rounding out a nice bit of value adding material considering the price.

Final Thoughts: Utawarerumono: Mask of a Stranger V1 struck me as a series that you really need to let grow on you; as in one that will improve with age. Given the mixed experience I had with the series in this first set of episodes, I'm not sure if I'll get the chance to find out if it jumps off the bridge and sucks or gets better as a result of spending so much time & effort preparing the masses for the greatness to come. If I see later volumes, I'll keep an open mind since the dynamics involved with a new series can often be hit or miss but the audio portions seemed reason enough to rate this one as a Rent It as an example of dubs that don't suck. In any case, if you find it on sale dirt cheap, by all means give it a look but I have the feeling that many of you will agree that the sense of "been there, done that" will creep up on you fairly fast, and not in a good way either.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVD Talk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, Best of Anime 2005, and Best of Anime 2006 articles or their regular column Anime Talk.