Wolf's Rain, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

Bones (Author), Toshitsugu Lida (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; 1 edition (November 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591165911
• ISBN-13: 978-1591165910
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #359,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wolf's Rain-o-holic, January 20, 2005

By 

Siev - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wolf's Rain, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

Since the first episode I watched, I absolutely loved the anime. The music, characters, plot yada yada. I was -am- obsessed. So, naturally when the manga came out and I saw it on the shelf, I practically pounced on it.


Overall, I loved the manga too. Considering how many episodes they squeezed into one volume, I thought it was very well done, and will proceed to snatch up the second volume as fast as I did the first. I did have a couple of issues though.

1) The wolves were extremely leggy. In the anime, they were very well proportioned for real wolves, but they were all legs in the manga. (Inouva from Magic Knights Rayearth in his true form comes to mind.)

2) They cut out a couple of bits that I really liked, most noteably the last time Toboe sees Leara. (Notably to me anyway.) Also, the story starts out with Tsume's gang finding Kiba under the tree, instead of with Tsume's gang on a raid. On the otherhand, they also added some bits that didn't appear in the anime, so all is well.

3) The sound effects translations. People have already talked about it, but it really did bother me.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A decent, brief effort., October 29, 2004

By 

Rob O "destruktolux" (AR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wolf's Rain, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

I haven't read all of the Wolf's Rain manga yet, but the first thing that is important to note is that this is the first volume of a two-volume tie-in series to the anime show. Obviously, since the entire manga series is only two volumes long, a lot of the pacing and characterization of the TV show will, by necessity be absent. One of the things I enjoyed so much about the show is that it had a lot of stretched out, low-key sequences used to set a unique, somber yet jazzy mood (unlike Cowboy Bebop, to which this series is frequently connected, which could be just as manic as it was depressive). Instead the manga focuses on action and, more significantly, on the primary characters of the series. If a lot of your interest in the series comes out of the look, feel and music of the series you'd be best served by picking up the DVD's of the show.

Still, the manga in itself isn't a bad work. It doesn't strive to be anything above a fairly typical manga outing. Unlike the Cowboy Bebop tie-in manga, this one stays fairly close to a retelling of the series and, most importantly, the art style is very similar to Toshihiro Kawamoto's superb character designs (which was my most primary disappointment in Yutaka Nanten's Cowboy Bebop work).

For its' price (only $20 for both books, when the next one is released) you get a pretty decent taste of the series as well as a supplement for fans of the show. While the book didn't exceed my expectations, it is hardly a disappointment.

Also, as a nice bonus, in the back of the book you get five pages of character designs with commentary, two full-page pinups, and a page of annotations (which, thankfully, appear to be more common as of late in a lot of manga).

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wolf's Rain Manga series, May 6, 2005

By 

desert flower (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wolf's Rain, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

I first discovered this series by renting the Anime at my local video store. It caught my eye, ear,and heart immediately. I have only seen volumes 1-5 so far. So I was excited to read the Manga, hoping I'd get to glimpse the story before the last two anime volumes came out. I was excited to pick up Volume one with the box and the "hologram" at Boarders Books. I got volume two at Barnes and Nobel, stand alone. I really liked the glossy pictures in the frount of the volumes. I enjoyed the art throughout. I felt the artist was true to the Anime. (Or vice versa?)
However! I was greatly dissappointed in the Manga series. The story line was almost completely different from the Anime, aside from the very bare bones (oops no pun intended, he, he)concept. I was surprised by this. Whole new towns and characters were made up. I really liked the girl from the village who kept the flower safe. But even if I wasn't to compare the Manga with the Anime, the Manga's continuity in story telling was greatly lacking. A number of times the scene just cut off suddenly and landed in a whole other place. It was as if pages were missing from the book. This was increadably frustrating. I've read comic books whose continuity was far superior, and their story wasn't even as good as Wolf's Rain. It was as if the writers did not know how to tell a story in graphics novel format. I agree that the sound effectd in the English version were lacking. I did like VIZ's format in keeping the book reading from right-to-left.
I missed the character development, there was hardly any time for the reader to get attached to these characters. What investment did we have? WARNING SPOILER VOL. 2:The ending scene where Blue and Quint embrace with his wife and son's ghosts standing behind them was excellent. But it was only because of the Anime that I was touched by this scene.
Some one told me that the Manga was created first...is this true? I'm surprised, since the Anime was so superior. Usally its the other way around.