Another show from Anime Tamago 2016, and probably Orphan's last. Utopa is a sci-fi offering from STUDIO4°C, a veteran company known for adventurous fare like Tekkon Kinkreet and Ani*Kuri 15 as well as utter sellouts like PES: Peace Eco Smile. (Gotta earn a living, I guess.)
Utopa is set in the far future, as a longish voice-over at the beginning explains. After ruining the Earth's surface with biological and nuclear war, mankind has retreated to cities in the sky. There, for no particularly compelling reason, they have crossbred with the surviving animals to produce intelligent hybrid species. When a seed drifts into the sky city, three youngsters - Kui, a dog boy, Hiruma, a cat girl, and Ruto, a lizard boy - venture down to the Earth's surface in search of more seeds and new adventures. The biosphere has indeed regenerated, in a new, almost alien way:
Giant jellyfish float through the air, zapping potential prey with bolts of electricity. And nothing seems to be edible (except for the three of them). Hiruma befriends or adopts an oversized caterpillar, which is promptly seized by a giant talking bird as food. The three friends challenge the bird to a contest, with the caterpillar as the prize. All's well that ends well, as you might expect.
Utopa reminds me a lot of last year's Parol no Miraijima. In that show too, three not-quite-human friends - two male, one female - set out on a voyage of discovery from a protected world into the great unknown, encounter many hazards, and eventually win out. I like Parol rather better than Utopa, I think - the characters are more engaging, and the animation more inventive and fluid. Utopa has an odd mix of character designs, as this shot of the bird with the three human hybrids shows:
Kui is played by rising voice actress Tanaka Aimi, probably best known as the titular little sister in Himouto! Umaru-chan. Hiruma is voiced by Ueda Reina, who has appeared in many recent series, including Bakuon and Dimension W. (Ruto is played by an actual child.) The unnamed bird is voiced by an industry veteran, Hoshino Takanori. The director, Tanaka Takahiro, has been a key animator on many projects and animation director on a few; this is his directorial debut.
Iri translated and ninjacloud timed. I edited, and Calyrica and Xenath3297 did QC. The raw is from Ohys and is an HDTV capture, not a Blu-Ray.
Enjoy another egg from Anime Tamago 2016!
Utopa is set in the far future, as a longish voice-over at the beginning explains. After ruining the Earth's surface with biological and nuclear war, mankind has retreated to cities in the sky. There, for no particularly compelling reason, they have crossbred with the surviving animals to produce intelligent hybrid species. When a seed drifts into the sky city, three youngsters - Kui, a dog boy, Hiruma, a cat girl, and Ruto, a lizard boy - venture down to the Earth's surface in search of more seeds and new adventures. The biosphere has indeed regenerated, in a new, almost alien way:
Giant jellyfish float through the air, zapping potential prey with bolts of electricity. And nothing seems to be edible (except for the three of them). Hiruma befriends or adopts an oversized caterpillar, which is promptly seized by a giant talking bird as food. The three friends challenge the bird to a contest, with the caterpillar as the prize. All's well that ends well, as you might expect.
Utopa reminds me a lot of last year's Parol no Miraijima. In that show too, three not-quite-human friends - two male, one female - set out on a voyage of discovery from a protected world into the great unknown, encounter many hazards, and eventually win out. I like Parol rather better than Utopa, I think - the characters are more engaging, and the animation more inventive and fluid. Utopa has an odd mix of character designs, as this shot of the bird with the three human hybrids shows:
Kui is played by rising voice actress Tanaka Aimi, probably best known as the titular little sister in Himouto! Umaru-chan. Hiruma is voiced by Ueda Reina, who has appeared in many recent series, including Bakuon and Dimension W. (Ruto is played by an actual child.) The unnamed bird is voiced by an industry veteran, Hoshino Takanori. The director, Tanaka Takahiro, has been a key animator on many projects and animation director on a few; this is his directorial debut.
Iri translated and ninjacloud timed. I edited, and Calyrica and Xenath3297 did QC. The raw is from Ohys and is an HDTV capture, not a Blu-Ray.
Enjoy another egg from Anime Tamago 2016!
Awesome, thank you so much! :> I also enjoy your long description posts, very informative!
ReplyDeleteWhere's the download link, though? I can't find it here or on nyaa.
https://www.nyaa.se/?page=torrentinfo&tid=848442
ReplyDelete