Summary:
Eruru explains to Hakuoro that there is a flower that’s called Eruru, named after a girl who became one with the forest. There is another flower called Aruru, named after the little sister of Eruru who waited for her return. Meanwhile, the village gets visited by a group of men who were defeated in battle and Tousukuru decides to take them in. That same night, Eruru wakes up Hakuoro because Tousukuru left with some strangers. He goes searching for her, but gets ambushed by a man wielding two swords. Tousukuru appears and stops them from fighting. The man, named Oboro, is actually a friend of hers and wanted her to check up on his sister Yuzuha. Tousukuru insists on taking Hakuoro too, despite Oboro’s objections. Yuzuha apparently cannot see, but her senses of hearing and smelling are heightened. She reveals to Hakuoro that’s she’s been like this for a long time. And much to her brother’s chagrin, Yuzuha takes a liking to Hakuoro. As thanks for Tousukuru’s help, Odoro leaves the village a gift of grain the next day.
Sometime later, Dorii and Guraa, the pair of twins who are subordinates of Oboro, come looking for Tousukuru because of an emergency with Yuzuha’s condition. Tousukuru and Hakuoro pay Yuzuha and Oboro another visit, and Tousukuru ends up making some medicine with purple amber powder. However, Yuzuha will need more of it and the material is expensive. Oboro tries to steal from the feudal government, but gets chased and is confronted by a man riding a mount. Oboro is easily defeated by this man, but he’s not killed. As the man is riding away, he tells Oboro that his name is Benaui, the samurai general. The next day, Aruru and Hakuoro find Oboro’s wounded body in the forest. He thanks them and departs after Aruru bandages him up. Meanwhile, the feudal lord Sasante and his son Nuwangi are coming to the village.

I’m a bit curious about why Tousukuru wants to keep Oboro and Yuzuha a secret from Eruru. It seems like she’s doing a lot of maneuvering for something that doesn’t need to be kept under wraps. Oboro and Yuzuha seem to fit the over-protective brother/sick sister roles pretty well, but it still remains to be seen if their characters get more interesting. The new general they introduced – Benaui – is on the military’s side right now, but the OP animation would imply that he’s going to be eventually joining the good guys.
I wonder if the story at the beginning of the episode about the Eruru and Aruru flowers is foreshadowing for some future event. It would feel a bit random to me if they would put that there and not follow it up sometime later. I do have to say that it’s very cute how Aruru and Hakuoro are already like family (her calling him “father” and all).
I’m very excited about next episode because it looks like the war might finally start up. In fact, the more I think about it, the more eager I am to see what this series has to offer in the coming episodes.

18 Comments

  1. “Not a whole deal of adult content, mind you, in that game.”

    Um, yes there is, the game is actually harem where the main character has sex with all (except for Aruruu) female characters. You can finish the whole game in one run >_>

    I hate Sasante, god he’s such an ass…Not as bad as his brother but he’s still an ass.

    Rasmiel
  2. I’d rate both Utawarerumono and Haruhi Suzumiya very highly and for very different reasons.
    The latter is one of those “nothing is as it seems” stories with very high production values.
    “Uta” … I wish had higher quality animation because the story seems to rate it — the use of Ainu motifs, the “good old story” archetypes, all just done very well.

    vexx
  3. Game spoiler for Omni and anyone else wondering:
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Show Spoiler ▼

    For anyone that’s beaten the game already, can you tell me how to get the good ending?

  4. Great episode. I’m anticipating the battles suggested in the opening, looking forward to plently of action. I’m really looking forward to seeing more of the general guy – it was cool when he gave Oboro the smackdown. The swordswoman with wing-ears from the opening also looks pretty cool. Seems to have a very good array of characters. The setting also reminds me of Suikoden (I believe that was mentioned before.)

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Wererat42

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