Anime Pilgrimage RTT

Utawarerumono – episode 17

July 31, 2006 on 10:49 pm | In Utawarerumono | 7 Comments

“The Young Emperor”

or

“The Adventures of the Lazy Gay Emperor in a Time of Peace”

It’s another “peace time antics” episode of Utawarerumono, but it fares marginally better than the one before it.

Hakuoro receives a visit from the emperor of Kunnekamun, Amururineuruka Kuuya, who reveals that she is a Kuneyetai of the Shakoporu tribe, who were blessed by Onbitaekayan and reject utterly the teachings of the false god Witsarnemitea.
Excuse me for a second, but that was the single best sentence ever in the history of anime recounting. I haven’t had such a buzz from meaningless terms since RahXephon!

The parts of the episode not dealing with the meeting of the minds is devoted to peace time, and specifically the spy peddler trying to peddle a mythical rabbit called a “Mikyuun”. An assassination plot bubbles!

The hilarity of the episode springs from external influences: every scene involving Oboro is about a billion times funnier if you want Dori and Gura to be boys. It’s the eternal battle between fandom longing and Japanese trapping, and I really like the idea of the two of them seducing Oboro. Unfortunately when they’re seen in bed their buttocks have particularly feminine curves, as if to deny us our birthright.
While the fans may have won, I say that we reject the castration of these twins and embrace the gloriously homoerotic program that is Utawarerumono.

Am I the only one who thought that Oboro actually wanted the Mikyuun liver to cure his hangovers forever? It’s that sort of episode, where you think of drunkenness before you think of your sick, blind sister. Utawarerumono can’t really do that sort of comedy because it’s not equipped with the right colour scheme.
It’s quite clear that the writers don’t even think of what they’re trying to say sometimes, because Eruruu tries to get Oboro to drink her hangover cure by assuring him that Aruruu drinks it all the time. Why does Aruruu need a hangover cure, Eruruu? Because she’s high on life from running through the moe fields? I think not! You fiends!
Then we get Touka acting totally “girly” because she’s confronted with a cute thing, which is so moe tsundere that it’s guaranteed to make your heart burst with love for your fellow man (Dori and Gura). It’s a fan service episode through and through, to the point that we even get a Kamyuu panty shot. Damned Kamyuu.

So I’m damning a lot here, but this episode was mostly pointless but overall okay. It is nice to know that Utawarerumono isn’t totally “up its ass”, as Steve Carell would say.*

*You know who is, though? Oboro.

7 Comments

1. I think it’s fascinating how I find the comedy in a serious show like Utawarerumono more funny than the comedy scenes in a real comedy show like Ouran High School. Maybe it’s because you don’t really expect these things from the cast of a serious show.

   Dori and Gura…the mystery continues! Will it ever be solved?!

   Comment by Mohammad — August 1, 2006 #

2. I’d say that the twins are definetly female, some guy at Wikipedia has a good way to prove that, he said this:

   Underneath the descriptions of Dori and Gura, it is said that the game says that the twins are male this may be true; however, In Episode 17 Oboro is seen sleeping with them and they have tales, in this Anime “Utawarerumono” only female characters have tales. Also Oboro doesn’t appear to be of homosexual orrientation. He may rarely show interest in women, but that is because he is focusing on sword fighting. It is true that in a later episode what appears to be a small boy has a tale, but all of the full grown men of Eruru’s specie, which is the same as Dori and Gurus, have no tales. Thus it may be possible that all children of that specie have a tale, but in adult hood males loose them and females don’t.

   I think he’s right

   Comment by Dii — April 10, 2007 #

3. Actually, that’s not quite true. There are several instances of definate men being shown with tails. There’s at least two instances of it in the first episode, one after Nuwangi orders the wagon to go and you see the guards pass the villagers, and the other when Nuwangi yells ‘Who the Hell is laughing!’ after his wopher bite him.

   Comment by SilentPsycho — August 18, 2007 #

4. This episode made me lose all my respect for Oboro…. How could he sleep with both twins at the same time (male or female)! What a bastard!

   Comment by Animefan — November 9, 2007 #

5. umm..they twins ARE male..because it sayas in the game and you can tell that they are boys by their voice..i know it says only children and females have tails,but it doesn’t say that the twins aren’t children..they don’t look like full-grown adults to me!

   Comment by oragamigirl — April 28, 2008 #

6. one more thing…i know dori and gura can act like girls sometimes,but most animes have that too!!…at least they don’t cross-dress like in some animes!!!if anyone has any objections please tell me!

   Comment by oragamigirl — April 28, 2008 #

7. In official artwork on the DVD release the twins are shown in an onsen or hot spring bathing amongst all the other male characters from the series. (from wiki also I have seen this artwork myself so its the truth)

   Its a fact they are male But I understand why some people would like them to be female. Also its perfectly ok to pretend they are female however the keyword being pretend. They are male in the game and like I said above the twins are shown in an onsen or hot spring bathing amongst all the other male characters from the series which also indicates they are male becouse what kind of girl in her right mind would bath with the guys.

   I dont understand why people are even arguing about this. Everybody knows they are male. Just some people like the idea of them being female better and start comming op with ”proof”.

   Please people everybody that actually has a working brain nows they are male now if you like that ore not is an intire different mather.

   You can pretend that they are female if you like them bether that way that is also what fanfiction and art is for But please dont go around spreading around nonsence just becouse your to much of a child to admit (ore to stupid to see) they are male.

   And besides if they are male in the game why do people make it such a problem that they are male in the anime? Get over yourselfs.

   I guess some people dont want to acknowledge them as male becouse than they would have to acknowledge some yaoi hinting and some people are so dead against yaoi they would rather fool them selfes with lies that to acknowledge the truth.

   Im sorry for any grammar mistakes Im Dyslexic

   Comment by Amberanime — June 17, 2009 #

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.