kanna-chan's cafe

So before we get to the movie, let's talk a little bit about Mamoru Hosoda. You might recognize his name from works such as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars. He's a pretty good director and animator. Not as good as Miyazaki, but still pretty good. He was actually commissioned to direct Howl's Moving Castle, but left during the early production, so Miyazaki came out of retirement number-who's-even-counting-anymore to direct it.

Mamoru Hosoda started work at Toei Animation, before he left to work for Madhouse in 2005. He left Madhouse in 2011 and started his own animation studio, Studio Chizu. His couple of known works were the two movies in the Digimon Adventure series and the sixth film in the One Piece series, both of which were released in the early 2000s. 

He would later go on to animate and direct The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, The Boy and the Beast, and today's movie, Wolf Children. Or, if you want to call it by its Japanese title, Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki.

So, let's get started!

The movie starts with a college student named Hana, who later falls in love with fellow student...we don't really get his name, come to think of it. I Googled it, and most of the sites I've read about the guy on refer to him as 'Ookami,' so that's what we'll call him. 

Anyway, Hana falls in love with Ookami, who eventually reveals a secret to her: he's a werewolf. Hana accepts him as he is, and later on, the two have two children: a boy who they name Ame, and a girl they name Yuki. Yuki is Ame's older sister.

All seems fine and good, and Hana accepts the fact that her children are half-human and half-wolf. Things seem great, until Ookami gets killed while out hunting for food for his family. So Hana is left to raise the two "wolf children" (they're called that because they're half-human, half-wolf) on her own.

Life as a single mother is difficult for Hana, especially because Ame and Yuki are so young and constantly shifting between their wolf forms and their human forms. Because of this, Hana has to hide them from the world, and even moves to the countryside to avoid social workers and prying neighbors.

This movie basically tells the story of how Hana struggles and eventually manages to raise two children who are "wolf children," while the two children discover their own paths. It also presents the argument of whether the children consider themselves as humans or as wolves.

I know this is a relatively short review, but it's hard to review this movie without giving too much away. So we're just going to jump to the rating.

Rating: 10/10

Why: First off, the animation is stellar. I wouldn't expect less from Mamoru Hosoda, and while the animation isn't necessarily as good as a Miyazaki film's animation, it's still really good.

This movie really takes the time to develop all of its characters, even the minor ones. This makes for a lot of emotional moments. I highly suggest having a box of tissues nearby when you watch this movie. You'll need it.

The movie allows a lot of room for us to watch Ame and Yuki grow up and discover their own paths. It's almost as if we (the audience) are Hana and are actually watching them grow up right in front of us. I felt everything the characters did, because they were given time to develop and the writing had lots of emotion.

The voice acting was great, too. I hadn't heard of most of the voice cast before, so it definitely was interesting to hear some new people (well, new to me). And, of course, what's a good movie without a good soundtrack? Each song fit the movie perfectly; nothing was out of place.

Sure, this might seem like a typical love story, or a story of a single mother. But I feel it's so much more than that. We have characters we can connect with on an emotional level and feel everything they feel. It's truly a masterpiece.

Well, I know it was short, but that's my review. Hope you enjoyed, and give me suggestions for Anime Mondays up until October! I'm dedicating the entire month of October to horror/supernatural anime for Halloween!

See you next Monday! ~k