Utawarerumono ep. 1-5

This is not a bona fide animeblog like so many others, yet I would like to take a stab at summarizing the first seven episodes for myself.

Ep. 1
We see someone's vision of a fierce beast. Soon, a man wakes up and is greeted by a girl (Eruru). She informs him that he was rescued from the forest. The man is injured, has no memory of his past and has a weird-looking mask that he cannot remove.
The next morning, he is introduced to the old woman that found him (Tusukuru, a famous medicine woman) who is Eruru's grandmother. He also sees Aruru, Eruru's sister who ducks out of the way whenever he looks at her.
The man familiarizes himself with the rest of the town. Eventually, some dude called Nuwangi enters town with soldiers to collect taxes. He acts like an imperial ass even though he's several degrees separated from any royalty. He tries to make Eruru come with him (they used to be friends) but Eruru refuses him. Nuwangi is enraged that the masked dude is living with Eruru. Eventually the masked man is sick and tired of Nuwangi's shit and humiliates him.
Nuwangi is so infuriated that he desecrates a local shrine. This upsets a mighty tiger goddess (?), Mutikapa.

Ep. 2
Mutikapa vents her anger on a nearby village by devouring everyone there. News of the ruined shrine reach Tusukuru's village and all the villagers are scared shitless. They attempt to rebuild the shrine in order to appease Mutikapa. The masked dude finds some silver and black fur.
Their plan fails, as Mutikapa comes to the village and destroys a house and the family inside. The masked man runs outside to check things out, but Eruru is afraid for him. He finds Mutikapa and attacks her, but his weapon breaks on her like a twig and Mutikapa bats him around. Just as it looks like things bad for the dude, the rain begins to fall and Mutikapa leaves.
The dude quickly figures out that Mutikapa's weakness is water, and demonstrates that her fur becomes weaker when wet. He hatches a plan to stop Mutikapa and volunteers himself as bait. Eruru is worried, but he tells her that they are family and family protect each other.
The dude and Teoro (from the previous episode, apparently some woodsman who likes to laugh hard) come to Mutikapa's lair and draw her out. Teoro's axe is useless against Mutikapa and they give chase. Mutikapa attacks the dude again but he defends himself with a metal fan Tusukuru gave him. Eventually they reach the trap and Mutikapa is soaked. The villagers all attack her at once and the dude gives the killing blow.
They return triumphant, but Aruru is missing! Eruru finds her pretending to be pregnant (I'm serious) and discover that Aruru smuggled Mutikapa's baby. The villagers are worried, but the dude says that since the baby didn't do anything wrong, Aruru gets to keep it.
The dude is now a hero in town. They light a bonfire for Mutikapa's passing. Aruru now considers him as a father-figure. Tusukuru declares the dude's name as Hakuoro, the same name as Eruru's and Aruru's father.

Ep. 3
Eruru explains that she and Aruru were named after sister flowers. The elder was given to the forest and the younger waited in the forest for the elder's return.
Later that night, Eruru tells Hakuoro that her grandmother is missing. He goes out of town to investigate. Suddenly he is ambushed by a ninja. They fight, but are interrupted by Tusukuru, who scolds the ninja. He says his name is Oboro.
Apparently, Tusukuru has secretly been going to Oboro's (stronghold?) to check up on his blind sister (Yuzuha) who has heart problems. Oboro is quite the doting elder brother. When Hakuoro is introduced to Yuzuha, she immediately likes him.
Some days later, Oboro's androgynous (heeheehee) archers alert Tusukuru that Yuzuha is having a heart attack (Has she been eating deep fried food? lol). Tusukuru tells Oboro that the only treatment for Yuzuha's condition is an extremely rare medicine called muiko. Oboro vows to find a way to cure his sister.
He tries to steal some of that medicine from the lord's fortress, but is caught and flees. He runs into the samurai leader Benawi, who easily counterattacks him. Benawi lets him escape.
The next day, the lord (Sasante), Nuwangi and an entourage barge into Tusukuru's village.

Ep. 4
Sasante and Nuwangi accuse the village of aiding and abetting the man who attacked them. They act all big, mean and scary, but Aruru sends her pet tiger cub (Mukuru) to attack Sasante. The big fat coward is scared shitless, but this only angers son Nuwangi who sends a soldier to attack Aruru. Tusukuru takes the blow and falls. Nuwangi, ever the slimeball, blames Aruru.
Eruru desperately tries to make medicine for her grandmother, but Tusukuru knows she is going to die. She has some heart rendering last words for her granddaughters and entrusts everything to Hakuoro. Then she dies.
Hakuoro tells Oboro the bad news. Oboro considered Tusukuru as a mother and tells Hakuoro to look after Yuzuha. Oboro flies into a rage and attacks Sasante's fortress all by himself. He has some limited success, but the soldiers eventually overpower him.
Dorii and Gura tell Hakuoro that Oboro has been captured and ask him to (1). rescue him and (2) attack Sasante for the memory of Tusukuru. Now that Hakuoro is the leader of the village, he leads the villagers to Sasante's fortress to attack it.
During the siege, Benawi tells Oboro in jail that the villagers came to rescue him. He sets him free and leaves along with his swordsman, Kurou.
Oboro joins Hakuoro's forces and eventually breakthru and corner Sasante. Hakuoro finishes him off. Nuwangi escapes.
Hakuoro is exhausted by the attack and Eruru cradles him in his lap and sings to him.

Ep. 5
The emperor is enraged at the death of his brother. This emperor is Inkara, who looks like Sasante but sport a big afro. He orders Benawi to raze some villages to set an example for would-be rebels. Benawi would rather negotiate with the rebels but Inkara gets pissed off and says that "the people are for the country, and the country is ME!"
Hakuoro and the villagers are building some frontier defenses (I think) to prepare for another attack. The villagers are also training in combat. Eruru and Aruru are helping out too and Mukuru is growing rapidly. Mukuru has a big appetite and attempts to suckle from Eruru's teat. She "feels sorry" for Eruru, who is more than a little ticked off.
Oboro and his followers pledge their support to Hakuoro. Oboro now calls Hakuoro "brother" for saving his life multiple times.
Hakuoro notices that the inventory doesn't quite match the supplies availabe so he and Eruru investigate. Aruru blocks the entrance to the storehouse but Eruru forces her way in. Apparently Aruru has been helping Mukuru steal food (who, by the way, is now HUGE). Hakuoro lets this one go but Eruru is mad that he is being too lenient.
Hakuoro wishes to enlist more villages to their insurrection, so he and Oboro personally visit a neighboring village. Unfortunately, the village has been completely destroyed. Benawi and Kurou are there. Hakuoro fights Benawi and Oboro fights Kurou but Benawi and Kurou quickly gain the upper hand. Before all seems lost, some of Benawi's men a trashed by Mukuru, with Aruru riding on top, ordering her to attack Benawi. (Kurou calls having a giant white tiger "cheating," lol). They retreat.
Hakuoro wished to make the destroyed village strengthen his bargaining position, but is worried about the ethics of his actions. Oboro scolds him for being so fickle. Hakuoro finally scolds Aruru for not staying put. Obviously, he's getting better and better at this "dad" thing.
Inkara is displeased at Benawi's performance and informs him he has made Nuwangi the new samurai leader.