Utawarerumono -- first thoughts

I've decided to write a little free-styling review of the first episode of this anime Unagieater said I might like. Short version, I did enjoy it. Long version:

Every time I watch an anime that I don't have baggage with -- that is, I've been hearing about it loads, it has something that appeals to me directly, or it's a sequel/&c. to something I liked, I sense, under the surface, a checklist, quietly and surreptitiously referenced as the show sprints along (and, if you've watched much anime, you know "sprints" is the appropriate metaphor for the pacing here). So, checklist, with this show's status:

• Do we have a pedigree, despite this being the first episode? Check.
  
• Did we put in a mysterious protagonist? That's a check, good buddy.
  
• Do we have cool-looking not-quite-humans, preferably female? Check check check, lots of checks.
  I mean, everyone in the first town has ears and a tail, leading to the inevitable:
  
• Do we have some very slightly uncomfortable moments of sexual tension, brought about by misunderstandings and inability to communicate like adults? Check.
  
• Did we remember the bad-asses? Check.
  
• What about cute, useless animals? Check.
  
• Anachronism -- that is, person totally out of place with the prevalent setting or period? Check.
  We can call this many things, but the only one I can think of right now is "Samurai Champloo no Mugen" characters.
  
• Did we remember to create weird-ass character designs, and then devise utterly normal, actually boring things for them to do? We're shamed you even asked.
  
• Did we provide a villain, preferably a weeny, a blowhard, and a jack-ass, with a tenuous connection to one of our main characters? Yes sir/madam, and we even had him try to punch a guy in a horned mask.
  
• What about foreshadowing? Did you remember to hint about some kind of, simply, "oh shit" moment? We're not f**king amateurs, sir/madam.
  

So, yeah, that's a 10-4 on the checklist, my good chum. I may develop this further and use it whenever I watch a new anime.

Anyway, the show itself. Wikipedia informs me, at least, if I squint, that this show's title means, "The one being sung." Sure, whatever. Great, Japan, just jack around with us, why don't you? No worries.

This is a reasonably funny show, with the potential for some decent story. I sense a Mononoke-hime, Nausicaa vibe going on here, with the forest guardian and all. That's perfectly acceptable, I think. Less preachy, probably. The main character has amnesia, because apparently I go through the trouble of watching foreign tv just to get crap from my mom's soap operas. Unlike those, though, he's remembering some stuff on his own, as actual victims of traumatic amnesia usually do. Spiffy.

The style's good enough. That's the deal, right? As Doc Hammer once said about Venture Bros. 01x04, it's good enough. They look mostly traditional, but everyone has some weird ear crap going on, except the main guy, or whatever, though I didn't notice them on the bad guys either. There are lizard things that I think are called some Nipponese bastardization of "raptor." Jesus I hope they just call them raptors when they dub it here. I still can't believe the Hellsing fans actually wanted him to be called "Arucard." That doesn't make sense on several levels: the sensible one is, he's Alucard! That's the deal! You spell Dracula backwards, you get powerful vampire name. Move on! The "way too into this crap" version is, they called him "Aakaado" in the anime/manga, not "Arucard." So go to hell.

I'm not sure there's anything else to say here. I'm not gonna bother burning the episodes, I'll just delete them when I'm finished. It is making me want to go and finish Scrapped Princess. Ah well.