62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best and most different Anime series ever!, September 26, 2005
This review is from: Wolf's Rain - Limited Complete Collection (DVD)
If you are one of the types that only likes streightforward, continuous action anime, this series is probably not for you. This is probably one of the most beautifully told stories ever to hit Anime, though rather drawn out. Well worth watching (after you get hooked, you need to watch the entire series a few times to get all the subtle happenings), this series has some of the best animation (as far as television series go), best storytelling, some of the best charactors and an absolutely outstanding sound track by Yoko Kano.
The story centers around four wolves and their search for a fabled paradise. As told in "The Book of the Moon", when the world comes to an end, paradise will appear on the earth, but only wolves will be able to find it. At the center is Kiba, a white wolf with a mysterious past, who, for unknown reasons, is pushed to find paradise. Along the way, he finds a pack of wolves drawn to follow him in his quest...Tsume, a punk who uses Humans to revolt against the nobels (the disalusioned warrior), Hige, the careless one who's in it for the adventure, and Tolboy,the once domesticated pup searching for companionship.
But wait...this is not a Di$neyesque story about animals...you see, wolves were supposed to have gone extinct 200 years ago. But wolves have survived...they have learned to cast a spell making them appear as humans (one of the only regrets is that they never explain how they do this in the series). Entangled in this adventure is the relentless wolf hunter, Quent. Wolves, as he thinks he saw, were responsable for killing his family and burning his village. Now Quent is out to erradicate every last wolf from the face of the earth. The wolves have found some human (and supernaturl) allies as well. While sniffing out the scent of lunar flowers, Kiba is captured, during which we meet Cher, the scientist, and her ex-husband, detective Hubb Labowski. Hubb has become intangled in the mystery of the wolves, as his ex-wife, Cher, is trying to untangle the mystery of Cheza, the maiden created by Nobles from lunar flowers...the maiden that is said will lead the wolves to paradise. All this, and a dark nobel named Darcia who intends to find paradise on his own.
Complicated? Indeed. That's why it takes 26 episodes to unwind this tale. It's not highly action oriented, but so well done, it's hard not to get compleatly drawn into. The last two disks (final 8 episodes) are the absolute best, but I must warn you, wind up like a Greek tragity. If you don't shed a tear (or several), you have no feelings at all.
POSITIVES: Excellent story telling, great charactors and charactor developement, and a phenominal sound track.
NEGITIVES: The ending of the story seems a bit pushed, some aspects of the story are not adiquately explained (how the wolves use magic to dusguise themselves, why sometimes they leave human tracks and others paw prints, and how sometimes, disguised as humans, they seem to be able to use hands in ways impossible if the human form is just an illusion). Also, the quality of animation seems to wane near the middle of the series, but regains the high quality toward the end.
Finally: IF you followed my disk-to-disk reviews, I mixed up disk issues 4,5&6. I was writing the reviews based on both the Adult Swim initial screenings and a friend's downloads direct from Japan. I did not realize disk #4 was a 4 episode rehash of the first 3 disks The reviews of disks 4 & 5 should have been for 5 and 6 respetively. Also, after multiple viewings, the ending does seem more compleat, though I'm still yearning for a continuation, directly from where it ended.
OVERALL: This series is well worth the money...you won't regret it. Still, if you want to collect disk by disk, skip disk #4. Disk #5 continues directly where disk #3 ended. IF you can afford it, collect both original sound tracks as well!
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quality Above and Beyond Most..., November 14, 2005
This review is from: Wolf's Rain - Limited Complete Collection (DVD)
This anime series is probably one of my all time favorites. An amazing storyline, creative ideas and unbelievably memorable characters will leave you buying this box set shortly after renting or somehow watching the series.
The only thing I can say I absolutely didn't like was I believe DVD 7, which was a useless fill-in episode (there has been much debate on in fill in episodes so I'll spare you the reader all of that silliness). Anyhow, I'd have to say that's where all flaws get thrown at the door.
With an intriguing opening, you'll probably be hooked after the very first episode (and if you aren't this series probably isn't for you). Unfortunately coming in the middle of the series might be too confusing which is why I suggest watching it from the beginning if at all - once the series unfolds though, you'll see why each and every episode was important.
With beautiful artwork and creativity on the part of the movie's back-story (literally the history behind the post apocalyptic world in which the series takes place), an anime enthusiast will immediately soak this series up for all it's worth.
I'm going to have to warn you though that this series is extremely addicting and not exactly fast paced - though into action animes should stay away from Wolf's Rain, as it is more of an artistic expression via visuals, music, character design, and story design rather than a "fun" anime to sit around a watch with your friends (this is also a warning against younger audiences watching Wolf's Rain, as it is an action/drama and unless you like those sort of things, this might not be for you).
Again: amazing series, a must for any fan of anime!!!
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