Now I have been waiting two years to see this film. I new that I should not stream it off of the internet and sadly missed when it was in theaters. So when I was at Best Buy this past weekend and saw it I just had to buy it. The me and another anime buddy sat down and watched this film.
For those of you who are not avid anime watchers you probably have never heard of Wolf Children and many viewers have found someone the content rather controversial. Mainly because Hana basically has sex with a wolf and then has his children. Although they shy over those details. And instead focus on Hana's upbringing of her two cubs, Yuki and Ame. Who as you would expect are children that run around the house and always full of energy, but with the twist of turning into wolves. Which usually is triggered by frustration, crankiness or great excitement. Which makes it rather difficult to conceal when in a big city like Tokyo so moves far out into the country side where her children have plenty of space to roam and won't fall victim to prying eyes. Until Yuki and Ame are old enough to properly control their shapeshifting and can go to school.
So I don't want to really give away the end since it was quite a twist for me and most of the embellished features of this film is the characters. Their individual character arcs are so relatable and heartwarming that every four seconds I was practically shrieking "Cute!" Since lets face it Yuki and Ame are the cutest things known to man. Making it perfectly understandable to how a parent can put up with
the spit fire and hassle that toddlers and kids are.
Let's begin with Yuki our narrator and eldest wolf child, who originally was a very boisterous girl who adored the outdoors and her wolf form. Always opting for it whenever possible. Although that changes after Yuki enters elementary school and all the kids scream and run away from her when she finds a snake. So she has her mother sew her a cute new dress and Yuki settles into a life or girlhood. The really hits its climax with the introduction of Souhei who Yuki accidentally ends up scarring with her claws and then over the years a romance of sorts blossoms between them. Which I found personally a bit unsatisfying since I loved Yuki's outgoingness that sorts of fades as the movie progresses. Yet I still understand how adamant she was about starting school and socializing with other kids.
Now as for Ame who was always very cute and timid his character development is very essential to the film's overall climax. Since Ame was always frightened by his wolf side and hated changing into it, until one snowy day when he nearly died did he begin to love his inner wolf. Which leads to Ame spending most of his time in the mountains above their home, especially once he starts skipping school due to the boys that were bullying him. Ame embodies his father both in face, wolf and prescience. He appears very unimportant, but is actually just a very reserved person.
Hana, she is the mother that all women are and strive to be. She not only raises wolf children singlehandedly, but also stays completely independent from rebuilding their home to creating farm plots all by herself. So its amazing to watch her reaction once she begins to receive help from her neighbors. Since Hana is a very smart and independent woman who really knew how to stay collected and take on a situation head on. Seriously she was exhausted in most of
the scenes from work and raising children, but never once did she loose it. The only time we actually see not smiling was when her husband died. I absolutely loved her. The only question that really pops up to me about her is why she didn't talk more about her husband, who is an unnamed character. Since the narrator, Yuki, never addresses him by his name nor does Hana. Since it was quite obvious she was very passionately in love with him. Although from what we did see of him her was a very reserved character who was shrouded in mystery, maybe Hana was simply respecting that when talking about that to her kids.
Okay final thoughts. The animation and art style in gorgeous and breath taking. And in certain scenes very whimsical or rugged. It was awe-inspiring to watch the fluidity of this film and a quick shout out to the music. Set the tone phenomenally. If you haven't seen this film I highly suggest buying it. No matter your age or preferences you can still appreciate the story telling that is Wolf Children.
