English Dub Review: Utawarerumono Mask of Truth “Conquering Princess”

Overview

Kuon challenges Anju, who she believes to be a spoiled brat that has no right to rule Yamato…

Our Take

If there’s anything I dislike about certain cliches within storytelling, It’s the “I’m going to protect you by not telling you anything” trope. It’s the most contrived, shitty kind of storytelling. I haven’t played the game this Anime is based on, but I assume they’re trying to keep the audience in the dark for some sort of big reveal later, but there are better ways to do it than treating the protagonist and by extension, the audience like children.

The princess battle I think is signifying the meat of the story. Anju acting like a princess but Kuon ain’t having it! She is giving them supplies to keep the hidden away outside of the coming war. I also think they did a really good job with the design of Kuon’s princess outfit, giving just enough of a look at her face through the veil for us who know her to understand what she’s thinking and feeling, but not so much that it feels silly the others can’t tell it’s her.

Overall, this was a decent episode. It was a bit fast-paced. however, it didn’t feel like it. It didn’t bother me one bit. My only complaint is that the twins don’t explain how can haku fight mikazuchi in the akuruturuka form and why is the mask stuck to his face now? Also why a nation lets its Crown Princess run around foreign lands with no escort at all? Heaven helps the jackasses who hurt Kuon when she’s pretending to be normal. Hopefully, the next episode will sort things out…