Utawarerumono OVA: Complete Collection

This set of three 2009 OVAs (original video animations) acts more like a set of footnotes to the anime series adaptations of Utawarerumono, which is a cross-media franchise based on a PlayStation role-playing game (spun off into comics, cartoons, and radio dramas). A feudal fantasy set in humanity's post-apocalyptic far future—with evolved branches of humanity that seem like Tolkienesque magical creatures—the story centers on amnesiac hero Hakuoro (affixed with a permanent cosplay-type animal mask), who has become a benevolent chieftain, protecting his realm with the aid of an array of warriors (mostly pretty females) drawn from numerous races. This trio of shorts essentially adds backstories to the canonical battle-narrative. Urutori, a winged female "priestess" (who resembles a blonde angel), adopts a war-orphan baby (the women warriors engage in nude bathing-nursing scenes). A weird aristocrat tries to marry one of the nubile heroines, but only with the condition that she drink a youth potion that will make her even younger (ugh). And some peaceful R&R is interrupted by a monster-hunt ruckus. Presented in separate dual-language DVD and Blu-ray editions, rated TV-MA, extras include a series of related "picture dramas" (mostly using still shots). Likely to be of little import to anyone other than the most rabid followers of the original series, this is not a necessary purchase. (C. Cassady)