Often, there are shows that you start watching and just forget about, probably brushing them to the side as ‘boring’ or ‘confusing’, and thinking that you’ll never watch them again. What if you end up giving them a chance years later? Will you consider finishing them this time? Will they be better or worse than you remembered? In this review, I’ll be taking a look at a show which I thought I’d never watch again: Wolf’s Rain.
The plot goes as follows: In the distant future, it’s seen as common knowledge that wolves have been extinct for 200 years. However, unknown to almost everyone, it seems that wolves haven’t disappeared, but have simply taken on a human form. When a lone wolf, Kiiba, wanders into city following the smell of Lunar Flowers – flowers that lead whoever follows their scent to Paradise, a destination that every wolf dreams to reach in their lifetime – he finds a girl named Cheza – the Flower Maiden that can open Paradise. As Kiiba is about to locate Cheza, she is kidnapped by Lord Darcia – a mysterious Noble who wants to open Paradise for his own cryptic reasons. Before Kiiba leaves the city to rescue her, he runs into three other Wolves: the passive and lazy Hige, the gentle and shy Toboe, and aloof, tough gang leader Tsume. The four make a pact to stay together, but getting Cheza back won’t be easy. Thus, the journey to Paradise begins…
Upon finishing this show, I can safely say that it was a very satisfying watch throughout. Watching these four characters grow and learn over the course over the show’s 26-episode and 4 OVA run was quite rewarding. The four manage to grow, both as individuals and as a group, thanks to the expertise of script writer Keiko Nobumoto (Cowboy Bebop, Tokyo Godfathers, Space Dandy), whose talent for character development really shines. It isn’t just the four main characters who grow either – there’s plenty of development between the other characters, such as the protective scientist Cher, her stubborn ex-husband Hubb, and relentless wolf hunter Quent – making the episodes focused solely on these three all the more entertaining. Meanwhile, Studio BONES’ animators were being putting in some of their best work, with beautiful background art and fluid animation, backed up with Toshihiro Kawamoto’s unique character designs (seen previously in Cowboy Bebop and Golden Boy), as well as Yoko Kanno’s (Cowboy Bebop, Darker Than Black, Macross F) extraordinary soundtrack, giving the show a nostalgic and unforgettable vibe. The English dub is also impressive, showcasing the talent of some of the industry’s best voice actors, and is considered to be one of the best (if underrated) dubs out there.
But alas, all shows have their problems. Some episodes drag on a lot longer than they should have, and there are plenty of times where an episode will be just a 23-minute exposition dump, which, unless you’re super into the plot or the lore of the world, would be mind-numbingly dull at times. However, the strangest part of watching the show had nothing to do with the story or characters – it was the four recap episodes that were seemingly placed there for no reason. Now, if you watched this when it was airing, it would be four weeks until you saw anything new, which sounds quite irritating. Furthermore, the plot up until those recap episodes wasn’t too hard to understand, so it seems pointless that they had to have four recap episodes, as opposed to one or two. These episodes don’t ‘add anything new’ – i.e improved animation or new scenes – so they’re basically unnecessary and bring nothing to the show as a whole.
In conclusion, Wolf’s Rain was a very rewarding experience for me as a whole. Of course, it’s not a perfect show, and there are many gaps in the road, but it still left me feeling satisfied, so I’m glad I decided to pick it up again. It would make me very happy if, one day, this show can take off it’s “Hidden Gem” badge and become something more well-known. If you decide to watch it, remember this: even if it’s no Cowboy Bebop, or if you feel like you’re about to fall asleep, the road will keep telling you to go on.
Final score: 7.5/10
The Art Archive 