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2. Bugmaster  
This is one of those rare cases where I'm honestly not sure what to
think of the show, despite its all-star team (writing by Keiko Nobumoto,
music by Yoko Kanno).
Wolf's Rain is set in a dying world. Every day, the endless winter gets
colder and colder. Below, the last remaining dregs of humanity eke out a
living among the ruins of the once-great domed cities, fighting what's
left of Nature, and each other, for every scrap of food, fuel, and
warmth. Above, the enigmatic Nobles prowl the skies in their screaming
battleships, armed with shields, gravitics and nonlinear beam arrays.
Few people still remember the ancient legend about the Wolves which will
open the gate to Paradise during the ending of the world -- especially
since, as everyone knows, the last true Wolf has been killed about 200
years ago.
In reality, however, the Wolves have not died out. Instead, faced with
their extinction, they have learned to hide among the humans, by taking
on a human shape. Most wolves try to scratch out some sort of a living
from day to day, just as the humans do. The story of Wolf's Rain centers
around Kiba -- a lone wolf who feels the call of the Flower of the Moon,
which will lead the way to Paradise. Of course, nothing in life is ever simple...
The anime communicates much of the above setting through its excellent
art. The landscape, with its frozen wastes, oppressive gray sky, and an
occasional green leaf still clinging to life, feels dreamlike and yet
oddly real at the same time. The background art doesn't just provide raw
information to support the story; it communicates emotion in a way that
art should. Incidentally, Wolf's Rain seems to be set in a world where
Russia has risen to power (very appropriate for the depressing setting);
all the street signs, labels, etc. are written in Russian, which are
even spelled correctly! Kudos Wolf's Rain.
The character design of Wolf's Rain is also very well done. Every
character, even the "extras", has a distinct look and personality, and
all the humans look quite human -- you'll see none of those anime eyes
here. However, one area where Wolf's Rain truly excels in is their
representation of the Wolves. These aren't your classic animal/human
hybrids with shapeshifting powers; the main cast of Wolf's Rain are
humans as well as wolves -- simultaneously. You can recognize them
easily, if you know what to look for -- an oddly-shaped animal shadow
cast by a seemingly human figure, or a set of paw-prints in the snow
where a crowd of men has just trampled through... The animators managed
to make the wolves subconsciously recognizable, without making them
overtly different, and that's a pretty impressive achievement. And of
course, in their true shapes, the Wolves are nothing short of
magnificent: brutally animal yet intelligent and aware.
In case I haven't made it clear yet, let me say this: the end credits
animation of Wolf's Rain, which just shows a single wolf (Kiba,
actually) running endlessly across the snow, is worth the entire season
of Witch Hunter Robin (its extra-high art budget notwithstanding). Yeah,
it's that good. And of course, the background music blends perfectly
into the action and the background art, reinforcing them without feeling
jarring or loud.
Unfortunately, story-wise Wolf's Rain falls a bit flat. The story starts
out extremely well, and proceeds at a steady pace. The plot follows
several characters, each of whom have their own piece of the overall
puzzle. As they get closer and closer to their goals -- and to each
other -- the puzzle slowly takes shape... Until the story
suddenly goes into some kind of an infinite loop.
That's right. For some reason, the story seems to just stop in the
middle of the show. The characters spend entire episodes walking from
place to place, telling us things that we already know. The story does
pick up a bit later, but in bits and pieces which seem poorly linked at
best, and jumbled randomly at worst. And then, Wolf's Rain shamelessly
insluts the viewers, by releasing four (you heard me: four) back-to-back
episodes of pure clip-show filler -- with the actual story concluding
much later, on a DvD ("sold separately", of course).
Which is a shame, because the story really did have some interesting
themes running through it, such as pride, sacrifice, and truth. The
anime raises these interesting questions (as well as many others) in a
very subtle way, avoiding the "moralizing 2x4 to the face" approach of
(just for example) Human Scramble. Unfortunately, none of these themes
are developed fully; all you get are tantalizing hints. I am also
honestly not sure how I feel about the conclusion -- I've watched it
twice, and I still can't tell.
I confess: when I started this review, I was planning on simply saying"this sucks". However, I just can't bring myself to do it. The art,
music and character design of the show are simply too good. I think
that Wolf's Rain could have been great, but the inflated (and,
occasionally, incoherent) story brings the show down to merely being
above average. Paradoxically, I'd still highly recommend this show, when it comes out on DvD in its entirety.
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| 1. duckroll
 
There is a genre that isn't often covered in film well, much
less in animation. The pulp sci-fi genre is rarely touched on probably because
it is difficult to write original science fiction. Wolf's Rain is promoted
as a "High Quality SF Road Movie", so whether it was intended as pulp
sci-fi intentionally or not is debatable, but original intent aside, it is what
it is. Wolf's Rain is a brand new anime series
from Keiko Nobumoto, the writer behind Cowboy Bebop. Animated by
Studio Bones and containing much of the same staff behind Bebop,
expectations would certainly be high and they do not disappoint. The character
and mechanical designs are attractive with an interesting choice of using a mix
of retro, futuristic and contemporary clothing and mechanics. Yoko Kanno's
soundtrack creates a feeling of a dark fairy tale with shades of a happier time
and longings for the unattainable. The animation itself lives up to the "high
quality" tag the title carries and is both fluid and dynamic. So
you're probably wondering what the show is really about by now. The problem with
Wolf's Rain is that it's not easy to talk much about it without giving
away things. The show is indeed a road movie and in that aspect much of the story
and developments come from the characters going on a journey and discovering things.
So summarize the premise, the story is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the
remainder of humanity lives in domed cities ruled by masked nobles protected against
the harsh environments of a ruined world. There is a legend that when the world
ends, paradise will appear to wolves, but in this world wolves have supposedly
been extinct for centuries. Yet the lead characters are four wolves, who hide
their forms from humanity by living as humans in an illusion that has fooled all.
When the Lunar Flower, in the image of a young girl, spreads her scent, the wolves
are obliged to follow, for the Lunar Flower will lead the wolves to paradise. As
confusing as the concept sounds, this leads us back to my comment about pulp sci-fi.
In the old days of pulp sci-fi magazines and short stories, the objective of the
story was to impress original concepts and designs in the sci-fi world upon the
reader while telling a tale that is usually of moral value, a social commentary
or a character study. The stories would not always have logical or realistic sense
or follow any preset rules, but they would still tell a coherent story that would
intrigue the reader into wanting to know more about the world and the story. Whether
by intent or not, that is exactly what Wolf's Rain is. As the wolves journey
to find paradise, they discover more about the world, just like the viewer will
discover more about the world. The supporting cast of the show present the different
views on the world from the different facets of society within the world. The
entire movie is about a journey, but it is more of a journey of discovery than
a journey of intent. As the characters journey, wolves, humans and nobles alike,
they will learn more about those around them while learning more about themselves.
What is most important for me is that by the end of the series, what doubts and
differences explored in the beginning of the series are resolved. While the writing
was not completely consistent throughout the series, it maintained a very high
quality which never ever completely let me down. I would recommend this series
to anyone who wants an experience of a different world, and a series which does
not remain in the same place but moves on to new places and new ideas as it progresses.
While those seeking absolute resolution and logical explanations for every question
might feel let down, I feel that perhaps they were looking for the wrong things
in the series. The series might feel slow at times, but the beautiful scenery
and music definitely keep even the slowest scenes in the series going at a steady
tempo. All in all, I'm looking forward to the R1
DVDs very much and I'm happy that Bones has still not let me down with
their high quality of storytelling and combinations of quality animation, music
and design concepts.
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