Utawarerumono

Utawarerumono (which means something like “Those Whose Song is Sung”) takes place in the far future, following the extinction of most of humanity. The world is instead populated by beast-people who have animal-like ears and tails, but otherwise greatly resemble humans. Society and technology have regressed back to an agriculture-focused, largely feudal system.

Much of the story revolves around an ancient creature with god-like powers from before the rise of human civilization called Uitsualnemetia {Witsalnemitea}. Sometime in the not-so-distant future, an unnamed human finds the fossilized remains of Uitsualnemetia and studies it in a secret laboratory. When a fellow scientist discovers the secret study, he murders the fellow scientist to keep it secret. However, the blood of the fellow scientist spilled onto the fossil seems to have reawakened Uitsualnemetia. Uitsualnemetia revives and possesses the slain scientist, but it is not clear what happens immediately thereafter.

Sometime later, the possessed scientist awakens in an underground laboratory in Japan, being studied remotely by human scientists. They call him Iceman, and claim they found him frozen in ice. Iceman has no memory of his prior life, and has the mask of Uitsualnemetia stuck on his face, unable to remove it. At this time, humanity is living entirely in underground cities and bunkers - the Earth’s surface is no longer safe for humans due to some unspecified calamities. The scientists in this bunker saw how Iceman survived being frozen and wished to study Iceman to improve their own bodies so that humans could return to the surface. At the same time, scientists in this bunker were experimenting with other changes they could make to human beings by artificially creating a variety of different humanoid-animal people. One kind scientist let Iceman and most of the animal-people escape the bunker up to the surface, where they were able to live peacefully for a time. These animal-people would go on to populate and form the new nations of the Japanese archipelago.

Iceman, however, was recaptured by humans from that bunker, along with his (animal-person) wife and their newborn child. Back in the bunker, Iceman awoke once more and learned that his wife and child had been dissected by the human scientists for study. Enraged, the Uitsualnemetian god-powers within Iceman awoke - he turned all of humanity into Tatari, snidely giving them the “immmortal bodies” they’d always wanted, (the curse impacts everyone in that bunker immediately, then slowly spreads to the rest of humanity around the planet). Then (with Mutsumi’s help), he destroyed the entire bunker using the laser cannon of an orbital satellite (Mutsumi can psychically hack into orbital satellites or something, don’t think about it too hard).

This emotional crisis tore Iceman’s psyche into two, and from thereafter there were two Uitsualnemetias - a lighter-coloured “good” one reflecting his usual kind and calm personality, and a darker-coloured one based on his anger and spite.

From then on, one of these “halves” of Uitsualnemetia would always be awake and the other would be asleep. When the sleeping half awoke, the other would go to sleep for a time, and so on in a continuous cycle. Presumably each half would go around influencing the world in its own way while it was awake, but we don’t really know any specifics. It’s also not entirely clear whether the “going to sleep” part occurred peacefully, or whether the two halves fight each other and the loser goes to sleep everytime.

Mito and the Founding of Yamato

Meanwhile, in another underground complex in Siberia, lives Mito, his wife Honoka, his daughter Anju, and his unnamed brother. Mito is yet another scientist researching ways to improve the human body so they can survive on the surface again. Mito’s research methods at this stage don’t involve any ancient beings or masks or vat-grown-animal-beings, just pure experimental DNA alteration or something like that. However, Mito’s brother is a computer hacker and the bunkers around the world have an internet of sorts; his brother at some point hacks into the secret archives of the bunker in Japan and copies some of their research files.

Mito thinks he has perfected his human improvement research, and his brother volunteers to be the first test subject. Mito performs the experiment on his brother, but not everything goes perfectly - the procedure seems to have left his brother comatose but either also extended his lifespan or perhaps he was cryogenically frozen. In any case, his brother does not wake back up after the procedure and gets put into storage of some sort, presumably waiting for Mito to “fix” him later on.

Mito learns from the failure and perfects his procedure. He performs the improved procedure on himself and it works - he becomes immune to the dangers of the Earth’s surface and his natural lifespan is dramatically increased. Unfortunately, this is right around the same time Iceman cursed all of humanity - Mito’s wife, daughter, and all his other bunker-mates turn into Tatari before he can perform this procedure on anyone else. Mito himself is unaffected by the curse - presumably his human improvement procedure altered his body so much he isn’t considered human enough to be affected by the curse.

Mito ends up fleeing his bunker and going to the surface. Using the research his brother had hacked out of the Japan bunker, he is able to create his own animal-people. He sets up a village of animal-people, becomes their living god-ruler, and lives out the next untold centuries in his nigh-immortal body guiding them into becoming the nation of Yamato.

At some point, Mito travels to another human bunker where researchers had been cooperating with the scientists in Japan on developing their own masks based on the Iceman research. He takes that research and progresses it even further, creating superpowered masks for his most loyal subjects in Yamato.

Hakuoro Awakens

Untold generations after Iceman annihilated the Japan bunker, a girl named Erurū and her sister are in a forest in Kenashikourupe one day when an earthquake strikes. The earthquake awakens the sleeping “light half” of Uitsualnemetia (or is caused by his awakening), but Erurū’s sister Arurū is mortally wounded by the earthquake. Uitsualnemetia appears in his full monster form, and makes a pact with Erurū, healing Arurū in exchange for Erurū swearing her life and soul to Uitsualnemetia’s bidding. Then Uitsualnemetia disappears back into Iceman’s unconscious body. Erurū takes Iceman back to her village where he eventually wakes. The mask of Uitsualnemetia is still fused to his face and he doesn’t remember anything from his past. Erurū’s grandmother, Tuskuru, gives Iceman the name “Hakuoro” - the same name of her deceased son (Erurū and Arurū’s father).

Hakuoro goes on to become a leading figure of their quaint little village, but Tuskuru runs afoul of the tyrannical local feudal lord and is accidentally killed by his guards. This spurs the village to rebel against the local government and they push Hakuoro to lead their rebellion. Other oppressed villages soon join in and it becomes a nation-wide peasant revolt. Under Hakuoro’s clever and pragmatic leadership, they kill the ouro Inkalla and Hakuoro becomes the new ruler, reforming the nation into something with hopefully less feudal oppression, and they rename the nation to Tuskuru.

The Dark Side is Pissed

Meanwhile, the “dark half” of Uitsualnemetia had been active in the Japanese archipelago for the last generation, having possessed a traveling Onkamiyaryu named Dii. He had secretly made deals with the rulers of several nations, granting them divine assistance of sorts while pursuing his own goal of “pushing them towards their ultimate potential”… whatever that means. Not wanting to relinquish his influence over the world, Dii manipulated several nations into declaring war on Tuskuru, becoming a perpetual nuisance for Hakuoro. This culminated in Kunnekamun declaring all out war against all the nations of the Japanese archipelago in a bid to unify the entire region under their rule.

Amongst Dii’s research and/or weapons provided to the nations he manipulated were mecha suits he provided to Kunnekamun and replica masks he placed on corpses to turn them into zombie warriors under his command.

As Tuskuru defeated Kunnekamun, their last foe, Dii finally fought against Hakuoro (who was gradually starting to remember/discover that he was possessed by or outright is Uitsualnemetia) directly, the two of them transforming into their giant god-beast forms. Hakuoro overcame Dii, and rather than continue the cycle of one half of Uitsualnemetia sleeping, Hakuoro bid his companions to magically seal both him and Dii, seemingly in the hope that the two of them sealed together would eventually reconcile, reunite, and be able to safely awaken as one sometime in the future.

Haku Awakens

Whatever number of years it takes for a child to become a legal adult in this world later, Mito’s brother awakens in an underground lab and makes his way out to the surface. Just like Mito, he was never affected by the curse, presumably also due to Mito’s procedure altering him. Perhaps he was cryogenically frozen and the system finally failed so he thawed, or maybe he was just comatose and has an extended lifespan, its unclear. We also don’t know why Mito ever lost track of him in the first place… could be neglect, could be Mito was chased out of the bunker by Tatari and could never find it again, who knows. In any case, Mito’s brother finds himself on a snowy mountainside wearing nothing but a medical gown, and to top it off he also has amnesia!

Mito’s brother is soon rescued by a traveling young woman named Kuon, who we later learn is from Tuskuru and a child of Hakuoro’s court in some fashion. She is traveling around Yamato as a bit of a “first bout of independence” sort of thing - wanting to challenge herself and mature in an environment away from her doting family back in Tuskuru. Kuon decides to take care of Mito’s brother, becoming his guardian and giving him the name Haku, deliberately naming him after Hakuoro.

Some stuff happens and Kuon and Haku wind up in Yamato’s capital city working for Oshutoru - one of the two top generals of the empire. As Oshutoru’s secret agents, their job is mostly just to clean sewers, fix people’s rooves, and other mundane jobs that keep the populace happy, but occasionally they are also called upon to track down a missing princess, help infiltrate a corrupt nobleman’s illegal monster-fighting operation, and other such missions. Along the way they recruit a big band of misfits into Haku’s harem their team and become acquainted with a surprising number of Yamato bigwigs.

And they become best friends with Anju, the princess of Yamato, through the bonding power of fujoshi pornography.

The Emperor’s Will

The Emperor, Mito, discovers that Haku is his long-lost awakened brother with amnesia. At first, he is very cryptic about it, secretly inviting Haku to tea parties but not revealing their past relationship and publicly giving Haku the gift of magic sex slave twins. Eventually, Mito reveals everything to Haku and some of Haku’s memories of his past life return to him.

A war breaks out between Yamato and Uzūrussha as the Uzūrussha leader Gundurua leads an invasion into Yamato’s western lands due to food scarcity. This invasion is repulsed, but one of the Emperor’s generals uses his mask powers to obliterate a city full of innocent people where some Uzūrussha soldiers were hiding, leading Haku to question Mito’s motives and perspective - it turns out Mito doesn’t really empathize with the animal-people at all and is quite morally detached from all the things being done in his name.

Meanwhile, Emperor Mito has been sending diplomats to Tuskuru, asking about the location and details of the place where Hakuoro and Dii were sealed. When Tuskuru refuses to divulge this information, Mito has Yamato declare war on Tuskuru and mount an invasion. The initial invasion is repulsed by the forces of Tuskuru and Onkamiyamukai, and before things can escalate further Mito mysteriously dies.

With the Emperor dead, the generals of Yamato seem to be in agreement that Princess Anju shall take his place, but soon thereafter Anju is poisoned by some tea brought to her by Oshutoru (but it doesn’t kill her). Oshutoru is arrested, but most leaders and civilians alike think he must have been framed since he was always so loyal to the Emperor and to Anju. In an attempt to quell the unrest, the other generals decide to execute Oshutoru. Haku and his gang sneak into the palace, kidnap Anju and break Oshutoru free, and try to flee to Ennakamui province. Oshutoru is confronted by Vurai at the city gates; they both fully engage their magic mask powers, transforming into giant beast monsters and having a big ol’ showdown.

Oshutoru defeats Vurai but his life force is entirely drained in the process - he dies not long after while they are still en route to Ennakamui. Oshutoru gives his mask to Haku and asks Haku to protect Anju. Haku accepts, and when their group arrives in Ennakamui Haku impersonates Oshutoru while they tell everyone else that it was Haku who died in the escape rather than Oshutoru. Only Haku, Nekone, and the magic twins know of this deception.

Kuon is crushed by the death of Haku and returns to Tuskuru. “Oshutoru” declares a civil war against the (still unknown) perpetrators of the poison plot while vowing to safeguard Anju and ensure her succession to the throne.

Key Lore, Concepts, and Terms

Ouro {owlo} - A word that means ruler of a nation.

The Calamity - A term which describes the final days of humanity. It includes both the spread of Uitsualnemetia’s curse and widespread violence which preceded it in many places - knowing that their friends and family might turn into dangerous Tatari at any moment drove many paranoid humans to murder each other and even use orbital satellite cannons to demolish entire underground cities before the curse even affected them.

Akuruka - Masks used by some of Yamato’s generals which imbue special powers unto the wearer. Those who wear those masks are called the Akuruturuka. They were created by Mito, based on the prototypes created by other underground human scientists from their research into Iceman’s mask. Mito then bestowed the masks he created upon his most loyal subjects. The masks seem to boost their wearers’ physical abilities, grant them magical powers such as fire blasts or creating force fields, and also lets them transform into enormous god-beasts similar to Uitsualnemetia’s true form. However, these powers drain life from the Akuruturuka, so over-using their abilities leads to the Akuruturuka dissolving into magic salt. Unlike Iceman/Hakuoro’s mask, an Akuruka can be freely taken on and off. So far we have seen four Akuruka: given to Oshutoru, Mikazuchi, Munnechika, and Vurai.

Evankulga {Evenkuruga} - A specific tribe of animal-people that live in the highlands of Honshu. They are reknowned for their elite warriors who train for years, then individually leave the Evankulga lands and are like wandering knights until they find someone to pledge their service to. Evankulga are recognizable by their wing-shaped ears, and they may not have tails.

Giriyagina - A specific tribe of animal-people that originate in the southern islands of the Japanese archipelago. They have super strength, able to lift hundreds of kilograms and punch people’s heads clean off. Giriyagina have dark blue hair, furry cat-like ears, and slender tails. It seems like most Giriyagina were killed in Suonkasu’s takeover of Na Tūnk, leaving only a few surviving members.

Shakukopolu - A specific tribe of animal-people found all across the Japanese archipelago. They have white rabbit-like ears. They are (or were?) a persecuted minority in many nations of the Japanese archipelago due to their differing religion.

Onkamiyaryu - A specific tribe of animal-people, mostly found only in their nation Onkamiyamukai in central Honshu. Onkamiyaryu have an angel-like appearance, with large feathered wings sprouting from their backs, human-like ears, and white or blonde hair. Onkamiyaryu can physically fly due to their wings and most or all of them have magical abilities such as casting implosion attacks and creating magical barriers. Their tribe as a whole occupies a position of leadership and prestige amongst the peoples of the Japanese archipelago.

Onvitaikayan - A term used in various animal-people legends/religion vaguely meaning “the one(s) from before”, it can refer to a few different things. In the religions of the Japanese archipelago, Onvitaikayan is a specific individual god older than Uitsualnemetia - the Shakukopolu people believe Onvitaikayan was unjustly usurpsed by Uitsualnemetia, while the Onkamiyaryu and those who follow their teachings believe Onvitaikayan was an evil god that was justly deposed by Uitsualnemetia. In other places, there is a belief that Onvitaikayan were an ancient race of superior beings that existed before the current animal-people, i.e. it refers to humanity as they exist in the animal-people’s legends.

Avu Kamu {Abh-kamu} - Giant mecha suits created by humans before The Calamity. They can be piloted by animal-people. They “bleed” and the pilot feels pain when they are damaged, hinting at some sort of bio-mechanical, neural-uplink based design. They were found by Dii, who gave them to Kunnekamun. They were instrumental in Kunnekamun’s wars, needing only a handful of Avu Kamu to defeat entire opposing armies. Several of them were eventually defeated by Tuskuru’s forces; it is unclear how many remain intact, if any. The Shakukopolu revered these devices as gifts from their god Onvitaikayan.

Woptars {uoputaru} - Large raptor-like lizard creatures found in the Japanese archipelago. They are used for both transport and cavalry by all the nations of the archipelago. A similar animal with a more bird-like appearance exists in Yamato, but it has not yet been named.

Tatari, aka Curses - Creatures that look like classic fantasy slimes, but quite large and red in colour. They are impervious to most forms of attack, can easily melt other creatures by touching/subsuming them, and do not seem to age. Almost nobody in the story knows this, but they are actually the remains of almost all the last humans, transformed into these slimey bodies by Iceman as revenge for killing his wife and child.

Amaterasu - A human-made satellite that was part of a re-terraforming project trying to make the Earth’s surface habitable again.

Places

In the Japanese archipelago:

Tuskuru - A country near the center of Honshu. It was formerly known as Kenashikourupe and ruled by Inkalla, until Hakuoro’s rebel forces overthrew the oppressive regime and renamed the country in honour of the slain Tuskuru. Shortly thereafter, Tuskuru won a succession of wars against other neighbouring nations, which grew its land and influence. It is now one of the dominant nations within the Japanese archipelago. It is currently ruled by Oboro, who took over after Hakuoro was sealed.

Yamayura Village - A little farming village where the first series began. Home of Tuskuru, Erurū, and Arurū.

Onkamiyamukai - A major nation in the Japanese archipelago. Its exact location is uncertain, but it is probably on Honshu a bit west of Tuskuru. Onkamiyamukai is the nation of the angel people, the Onkamiyaryu - almost all of its people are Onkamiyaryu and we’ve never seen an Onkamiyaryu who didn’t belong to that country. As the religious center of the Japanese archipelago nations, it strives to be neutral towards those other nations, sending diplomats and advisors to each nation to try and guide them or keep the peace between them. Onkamiyamukai also sent Onkamiyaryu to serve as mages with the Tuskuru army when it was attacked by Yamato. During the 2006 series it was ruled by Uruthori and Camyū’s father, Waabe, but he abdicated and made Uruthori the ruler near the end of the series.

Kunnekamun - A major nation in the west of Honshu, and the only nation where the Shakukopolu exert significant political control, while they are often a persecuted minority elsewhere. Known for its giant bio-mechanical battle robots called Avu-Kamu. The rulers (and presumably most of the populace) of Kunnekamun eschew the Uitsualnemetia religion followed by most of the rest of the Japanese archipelago, instead they worship Onvitaikayan directly and believe Uitsualnemetia was an unjust usurper. Kunnekamun was ruled by Kūya, and she was manipulated by Dii into declaring war on every other nation in the archipelago, attempting to unify it under her rule. Kunnekamun annexed several other nations, but was ultimately stopped by Tuskuru and Onkamiyamukai. Kūya survived but is in no condition to rule anymore; it’s not clear what happened to the country after the war.

Shikeripechim - A former military-focused nation in central Honshu ruled by Niwe. They had annexed several smaller nations and Niwe was manipulated by Dii into declaring war on Tuskuru. Tuskuru repulsed the invasion and defeated them, but the capital of Shikeripechim was all but destroyed, leaving the country as an unorganized collection of feeble lands presided over by Tuskuru.

Kucca Kecca - A nation on Honshu east of Tuskuru. It’s ruler Orikakan was tricked by Dii and Niwe into declaring war against Tuskuru. Tuskuru prevailed and annexed the country.

Karulawaterei - An island nation in the Japanese archipelago, somewhere to the south of Honshu. It was formerly known as Na Tūnk. Karula’s family was its original rulers, but they were overthrown by Suonkasu who turned the nation into a slave-trading state. Then later Hakuoro, Karula, and their associates helped a rebel faction overthrow Suonkasu. The nation is now ruled by Karula’s brother Delihourai, who renamed the country to Karulawaterei.

Nosechesuka - A powerful nation near Kunnekamun, formerly ruled by Kanholdari. Annexed by Kunnekamun in their wars of unification.

Elemui - A league of small natiions near Kunnekamun. Annexed by Kunnekamun in their wars of unification.

Nunbani - A country annexed by Kunnekamun in their wars of unification.

Happrap - A country annexed by Kunnekamun in their wars of unification.

Nebatsue - A country annexed by Kunnekamun in their wars of unification.

In Eastern Siberia:

Yamato - A large empire spanning much of eastern Siberia and ruling over several smaller vassal states. Its capital and approximate geographic center is on or near the west coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, while its borders reach to Kamchatka, Manchuria, and the central Asian steppes. Yamato has a continuous history reaching centuries back to when it was just a small village, and it was ruled for all that time by the nigh-immortal Emperor of Yamato until he died at the end of series #2, plunging the empire into civil war.

Kujūri - A vassal state of Yamato located somewhere around eastern Manchuria or possibly Sakhalin. It is ruled by Oozen (Rurutie’s father), who is also one of the Pillar Generals of Yamato.

Izuruha - A vassal state of Yamato located somewhere around western Manchuria. It is ruled by Tokifusa, who is also one of the Pillar Generals of Yamato.

Shahhoro - A vassal state of Yamato located in the Kuril Islands. It is ruled by Soyankekuru (Atui’s father), who is also one of the Pillar Generals of Yamato.

Ennakamui - A province of Yamato or possibly another vassal state. Its capital is located in a giant crater but not much else is known of its geography.

Maruruha - A wester province of Yamato. It was the first province invaded by the Uzūrussha.

Hakuorukaku - an inn in the capital city of Yamato, secretly run by Karula and Touka as a way of spying on Yamato. Haku, Kuon, and their gang used it as their base of operations in the capital. It’s the only known hot springs in Yamato.

Uzūrussha - A confederation of tribes from the central Asian steppes. They were united by Gundurua and briefly invaded the western regions of Yamato due to a lack of food in their own territory, but their invasion was repulsed by Yamato’s army and Akuruturuka.

Significant Characters

Iceman/Hakuoro - Once a human archaeologist of the not-too-distant future, he was murdered and fused with the fossil of Uitsualnemetia. He then awakened an unknown time later as the test subject Iceman with no memory of his past and the mask of Uitsualnemetia fused to his face. He escaped the laboratory, had a child with Mikoto, was recaptured, and cursed all of humanity when Mikoto and his child were dissected. Centuries later he awoke with amnesia once more in the village of Yamayura. He lead the peasant uprising which founded the nation of Tuskuru and became its ruler, and lead Tuskuru through several further wars. As a ruler, Hakuoro was known to be a kind and honourable man who sought the best for his friends and subjects, but when pushed to his limit he could inadvertently transform into a gigantic, murderous rage monster. It’s not entirely clear how much of his original human consciousness actually remains in Hakuoro - is he a man possessed by the spirit of Uitsualnemetia? Or is the original human mind completely gone, just a vessel for the mind and personality of Uitsualnemetia? Or something in-between? Hakuoro mainly only had a romantic relationship with Erurū, but things weren’t necessarily entirely polite and platonic with his other companions 100% of the time, either.

Mikoto - An animal-person created by the human scientists in the bunker in Japan, designated Subject #3510. She attended to Iceman while the scientists were studying him, and when they escaped the bunker they fell in love and had a child together on the surface, but she and the child were dissected by the scientists after the family was recaptured.

Mutsumi - An animal-person with black wings created by the human scientists in the bunker in Japan, designated Subject #63. Mutsumi refers to Hakuoro and Dii as “father”, suggesting that Iceman had some part in her creation - probably something like she was made by the human scientists copying Iceman’s DNA. Mutsumi has incredible magic powers and can somehow control orbital satellites. While Mutsumi’s original body is long gone, her consciousness reincarnates in any black-winged Onkamiyaryu that are born, notably Camyū in the current timeframe, allowing her to take control of them.

Erurū - An herbalist from Yamayura village who formed an odious pact with Uitsualnemetia in exchange for saving her sister’s life and then nursed the injured Iceman/Hakuoro back to health. After her grandmother, Tuskuru, died, she was swept up in the peasant revolt alongside Hakuoro and remained by his side thereafter. Hakuoro and Erurū had a very complicated relationship: Erurū was at times a mother-like figure to him since she nursed him to health and guided him through his amnesia, Hakuoro was at times a father-like figure to her since he took on the name and clothes of her deceased father and became leader of their village and nation, and Erurū’s pact with Uitsualnemetia raised the question of whether she was just supporting him out of obligation or actually cared for him. Ultimately, though, they fell in love and when Hakuoro was sealed Erurū promised to wait for his eventual return.

Arurū - Erurū’s younger sister who eats bees.

Mukkuru - An enormous white tiger with fur that is impenetrable unless it gets wet. Mukkuru is the child of a beast named Mutikapa who terrorized Yamayura village and was slain by Hakuoro and the other villagers. Finding Mukkuru as a cub, Hakuoro let Arurū raise it and now Mukkuru is an adult tiger who is fiercely loyal to Arurū.

Gachatara - Arurū’s other pokemon. A rare mikyūm, Gachatara can track people from afar. It is said that the flesh of a mikyūm can be turned into a cure-all medicine.

Oboro - A hot-headed bandit leader who joined Hakuoro’s cause. Oboro eventually came to look up to Hakuoro as a sworn brother and appreciate Hakuoro’s desire for peace and diplomacy over war. After Hakuoro was sealed, Oboro became the new ruler of Tuskuru. HIS MUSTACHE IS FAKE.

Dori and Gura {Dorry and Guraa} - Nearly-identical twins who were part of Oboro’s bandit troop and then became military leaders of Tuskuru. They both adore Oboro and have at least had a one-night stand with him, possibly much more.

Yuzuha - Oboro’s sister. She was perpetually weak and sick, often confined to bed. When Hakuoro became ruler of Tuskuru, he took Yuzuha in, keeping her in the palace and trying to make her happy however he could despite her hardships. She became close friends with Arurū and Camyū but finally succumbed to her sickness not long after Hakuoro was sealed.

Benawi - A general of Kenashikourupe with a strict sense of duty and honour. After Kenashikourupe fell he tried to seppuku but Hakuoro convinced him to serve Tuskuru instead, after which he became Hakuoro’s right-hand man in both administrative and military affairs.

Kurō - Benawi’s lieutenant. A fiercesome warrior.

Karula {Karulawe} - An escaped Giriyagina slave from Na Tūnk taken in by Hakuoro. She is secretly a former princess of Na Tūnk overthrown by Suonkasu, but chose to leave that past life behind her. She loves to drink. In combat, she wields an enormous stone sword that no one else can lift (don’t ask how she is able to ride a woptar while holding it). Many years after Hakuoro was sealed, she and Touka traveled to Yamato to gather information, worried that Yamato may become hostile to Tuskuru.

Touka - An Evankulga who was in service to the Kucca Kecca ruler Orikakan and fought against Tuskuru. After the war was lost and Dii’s manipulation was exposed, and Orikakan died, Touka pledged to serve Hakuoro, acting mostly as his bodyguard. Despite her valiant stature and prowess in battle, Touka is clumsy and easily teased when off the battlefield.

Uruthori {Ulthory} - An Onkamiyaryu, Uruthori is the eldest daughter of Onkamiyamukai’s former ruler Waabe and succeeded him as ouro around the time that Hakuoro was sealed. While Hakuoro ruled Tuskuru, Uruthori was Onkamiyamukai’s ambassador to Tuskuru, doing her best to act as a mediator between Tuskuru and other nations and counseling Hakuoro on affairs of state and religion.

Camyū {Camus} - Uruthori’s younger sister, making her a princess of Onkamiyamukai. Camyū is a buffoon, but also a very powerful mage, able to turn invisible or destroy entire platoons of soldiers with her gravity magic. She has black wings, allowing Mutsumi to take control of her, which did happen for a while in the time leading up to Hakuoro’s confrontation with Dii. She is best friends with Arurū.

Kūya - The young ruler of Kunnekamun. For a while she would secretly meet with Hakuoro at nights, finding in him a mentor in the ways of peacefully running a prosperous nation. However, her avaricious advisors/generals and attempted invasions by neighbouring countries eventually pushed her into believing that she needed to unify the Japanese archipelago by force and she lead her nation into a series of wars against all neighbours. After Kunnekamun was defeated by Tuskuru, Kūya mentally fell apart and regressed to a childlike state.

Dii - A traveling Onkamiyaryu scholar who was possessed by the “dark half” of Uitsualnemetia, after which he began manipulating rulers and being generally evil. He says his goal was to push the people towards their ultimate potential, but it’s unclear what that really means. He seems to have been very interested in not just physically defeating Hakuoro, but imbuing despair upon his counterpart, perhaps thinking that if Hakuoro is sufficiently demoralized by the deaths of his comrades and such then the “light half” of Uitsualnemetia will give up and they will unite as one being that will perpetually have Uitsualnemetia’s darker, vidictive, and manipulative personality. To that end, Dii tried to destroy Hakuoro’s nation and comrades through manipulating other nations into invading Tuskuru, but when that failed he tried a more direct approach… and still failed.

Haku - A modified human unaffected by Uitsualnemetia’s curse who woke up with amnesia centuries later. Even in this new world, Haku is a lazy, NEET-like man who prefers to laze around and avoid work as much as possible. He has an impressive intelligence for math and science stemming from his past life, and his perpetual brow-beaten persona gives him a sort of charisma that helps him bond easily with others… apparently. After Oshutoru took a liking to him, he lazily stumbled his way into assembling a harem of capable associates and became a semi-powerful figure. When Oshutoru died, Haku decided it wasn’t enough for him to just continue Oshutoru’s cause as himself, so he instead decided to eschew all his former relationships and become Oshutoru, no matter the cost.

Kuon - Kuon hails from Tuskuru and as a child was raised collectively by Erurū, Oboro, Touka, Karula, and Uruthori, who she refers to as her mothers and father (except that Karula insists on being called a “big sister” instead), while Arurū and Camyū consider her a little sister (whom they obsessively dote on). Her exact biological parentage has not yet been specified, but Kurō referred to her as the “child of the man I swore my soul to” which would suggest she is not just some adopted war orphan, but is in fact a child of Hakuoro. Her character design also hints towards who her mother probably is, but I leave that as an exercise for the viewer. Once she became a young adult, Kuon left Tuskuru to travel, wanting to “find herself” a bit, and ended up rescuing Haku and taking charge of him. Though their relationship began as her being his “guardian”, essentially his parent, over time they became more like comrades, and some characters even think the ingredients were there for them to become a romantic pairing. After Haku’s “death”, Kuon was devastated and returned to Tuskuru in grief. Kuon is both a capable herbalist and marital artist, able to take on multiple soldiers barehanded. Kurō suggested that even when she was fighting an army she was only “playing around” and could tear a country in half if she wanted to; later, during their escape from the Yamato capital, Kuon telekinetically stopped several incoming arrows and destroyed an entire city block so, uh, yeah that seems true.

Mito - The Emperor (aka the Mikado) of Yamato. A shady human guy who has lived for centuries, made himself a god-emperor, and doesn’t seem to have any fucks left to give. It is still not clear what exactly he was up to, but one implication is he may have been trying to find a way to reverse Uitsualnemetia’s curse and turn all the Tatari back to humans. It is also not clear how/why he died.

Honoka - The High Priestess of Yamato. She was artificially created by Mito, named after and looking exactly like his human wife from centuries ago. She is often seen attending to Anju or serving the Emperor tea and… not much else.

Anju - Mito’s daughter and the young Princess of Yamato. She was artificially created by Mito, named after and looking exactly like his human daughter from centuries ago. She started out as incredibly immature and irresponsible, but has since learned to be slightly less immature and irresponsible. She has a crush on Oshutoru for… some reason.

Oshutoru {Oshtor, Oshtoll} - Yamato’s Royal General of the Right and an Akuruturuka. Oshutoru was fiercely loyal to the Emperor and Princess, and also had a keen desire to protect and better the lives of the citizenry. To that end, he created a fake persona of Ukon which he would use for missions where he did not want to be recognized as a Royal General.

Nekone - Oshutoru’s younger sister. She has a bit of a brocon complex. Nekone is supposedly extremely smart, as she is the youngest to ever pass the imperial scholarship examinations, though she has never had an opportunity to demonstrate this so far.

Rurutie - A princess of Kujūri and part of Haku’s harem. She is really into fujoshi erotica.

Atui - A princess of Shahhoro and part of Haku’s harem. She fights pretty good. She rarely talks serious and has a thing with wanting other people to be in love but not admitting to anything herself. She has a cool flying jellyfish companion that only appeared twice and no one ever talks about.

Nosuri and Ougi - Idiot but charming thieves who see themselves as Robin Hood-like figures helping the peasants but usually ended up doing more harm than good. After they accidentally kidnapped Princess Anju, Oshutoru sentenced them to be part of Haku’s harem.

Yakutowaruto {Yaktowalt, Jachdwalt} - A master swordsman who was forced into fighting for the Uzūrussha invasion forces after his daughter Shinonon was held hostage by them. Haku and his crew managed to liberate Shinonon, after which Yakutowaruto joined Haku’s harem.

Saraara and Urūru - Twin magic sex slaves gifted to Haku by the Emperor. Honoka says they are her children, but given their seeming lack of free will and all the general fuckery around Mito artificially creating people there’s a good chance they are yet another custom creation of the Emperor. They are proficient in a wide variety of magical abilities and are sworn to both protect Haku and follow any order he gives them. In fact, they often try to encourage Haku to do perverted things to them. They are also known as the Kamunagi of Chains - if there is a special meaning to that title it has not yet been stated.

Kokopo - A very large bird that knows how to get things done. Best girl..

Mikazuchi - Yamato’s Royal General of the Left and an Akuruturuka. He has a good relationship with his counterpart Oshutoru and also tries to look after the common folk. He sometimes disguises himself as a candy seller named Sakon in order to survey the streets of the capital unnoticed.

Dekoponpo - One of the Eight Pillar Generals of Yamato. An incompetent, corrupt buffoon who somehow keeps surviving through luck and other people’s unnatural tolerance of his failures.

Vurai - One of the Eight Pillar Generals of Yamato and an Akuruturuka. An extremely strong warrior, matched only by Oshutoru. He had a morally bankrupt black-and-white view of things, believing that anyone related to or taken prisoner by an enemy of Yamato was the same as being that enemy of Yamato, hence he had a reputation for slaughtering many innocent people alongside his enemies. Due to his “might makes right” stance, he claimed that he should be the next Emperor after Mito’s death. As Oshutoru fled the capital, Vurai confornted him and they fought in their giant beast forms, then continued fighting as men, with Oshutoru landing a final hit and Vurai exploding. This battle left an enormous crater where the central gates of the capital once stood.

Munechika - One of the Eight Pillar Generals of Yamato and an Akuruturuka. Munechika was the bodyguard of Princess Anju and responsible for tutoring and disciplining her. She was captured in Tuskuru during Yamato’s failed invasion.