User Reviews

****This review is going to contain some spoilers but nothing that will ruin the show****

This is a fantastic story that, as any good tv show, never allows the viewer to get bored with the plot line as it continually expands throughout the series. The viewer is dropped into the story with the perspective of a man who cannot remember who he is, why he has a mask permanently stuck to his face, or how he got to where he wakes up, in an unknown village in an unknown country. The local medicine woman (or physician, as she is called in the subtitles) heals the man and gives him his name, Hakuoro, and puts him in the care of her two granddaughters, Eruru and Aruru. He quickly becomes the guardian of the two girls since Hakuoro is a skilled warrior and leads the people in defense of their village against their first problem: an angry forest god in the form of a gigantic white tiger, who ends up giving Aruru a gift she loves dearly. This first problem quickly gives way to a second problem: the taxes that are due to the devious and sniveling magistrate of the land where the small village is located. With the help of a neighboring village and their leader, Oboro, the villagers rise up and take down their awful overlord, leaving the rule of the land in the hands of the man who cannot remember his past, Hakuoro. The plot and tone of most of the story takes place on this level of political machinations and war between rival countries and factions before taking an extreme turn in the middle of the series, which I think really opens up the story and just brings in more and more intrigue.

Who is Hakuoro? What's up with the mask? Where are they? What time period is this? All of these questions are eventually answered, some more satisfyingly than others, but throughout the series the plot never becomes too complicated nor too dull.

The animation is really top notch, the battle scenes are very well done, and only a few times do they recycle scenes for a different battle. And trust me, for how many times they fight, it is really noteworthy. Stills are used throughout for complex battle scenes and this works pretty well with the style of the show. I watched the dubbed version probably a decade ago and I remember liking it, though I couldn't really give more insight than that. I just recently watched the Japanese audio with the subtitles and the voice acting is really, really good. The actors who perform the voices of Hakuoro, Karura, Yuzuha, Teoro, Sopoku, and Niwe are standouts, but really everyone does an excellent job. The subtitles themselves are also extremely well done, and I really like that certain words are not translated and a note will appear on top of the screen to explain. This happens far more frequently in the earlier episodes than the later ones and I think really adds to the atmosphere of the show. Speaking of atmosphere, the music and sound are also nearly perfect. The mix of punctuated horror-style music with samurai-style soundscapes never overwhelm the action or dialogue providing both the right mood and effect to highlight the action on screen.

Overall the series has a few flaws here and there, but nothing major that pulls it down. If you like fantasy, adventure, political intrigue, battles, mythology, or even sci-fi there are elements for you.