Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen – 08

You have to give Utawarerumono credit where it’s due: it certainly knows how to surprise with its content. One episode we’re following Haku as he becomes entangled in one princess or another, the next, he’s on an undercover mission with Ukon and Atui to investigate corruption aboard the Eight Pillar General Dekoponpo’s immense pleasure barge.

It’s all quite wacky and out of left field, but it works, because Haku works so well as a protagonist with an inscrutable talent for being in the thick of things without even trying, and because the characters that surround him are as bright and quirky as he is unassuming and laid back.

Sure enough, their time aboard the barge reveals a huge, apparently illicit gambling operation centered around duelling giant insects. That doesn’t stop Atui from getting really into the gambling, along with Kosuri, who makes a cameo as another party seeking corruption.

When the bugs get loose and have to be dealt with, Dekoponpo quickly flees, and his sycophantic valet Bokoinante tries to load as much loot onto the lifeboat as possible. These two characters are cartoonish and one-dimensional, but remain amusing in their banter nonetheless.

As for Atui, she proves again she’s a capable warrior, even if she just violently lashes out at her targets with her eyes closed (she doesn’t like bugs). As for her getting covered in a sticky white substance, well…I’m not sure that was entirely necessary.

As for Haku, when he goes to the general’s office to find hard evidence of corruption, he encounters a furious Bokoinante who has come for his master’s favorite golden statue, which helpfully serves as a shield for Haku when Bokoinante slashes at him.

In any case, Kosuri and Ougi are the ones who end up with the evidence and quickly alight from the ship, while Atui’s spazzy attacks bust a hole in the hull, causing the whole barge to sink. Quite the collateral damage; hopefully Dekoponpo is well-insured.

Haku is saved from drowning by Ukon, but only after he drops the heavy golden statue he wanted to keep. The rest of the giant bugs are dealt with by troops under Oshutaru’s counterpart, Mikazuchi. In the end, they don’t collect any evidence, but as Ukon says, “it’ll all work out.”

Back home, a strange fog comes upon Haku, along with two mysterious cloaked ladies who invite him to come with them through what seems to be an interdimensional portal. After a trip through some trippy caverns, he ends up in a strange indoor garden, where a familiar-looking woman serves him familiar-tasting tea.

Then an old man asks Haku to tell them all about his experiences since waking up in the mountains with no memory. Word is certainly getting around about Haku and his hard-to-describe but undeniable value to those around him. But I can’t pretend this episode wasn’t all over the place, because it was.