Customer Reviews

Wolf's Rain, Vol. 1

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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).

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.

I've seen all of the Wolfs Rain anime, plus the OAVs. So when I saw the manga, I had to buy it.

I was annoyed to see that the English edition was put out by Viz, whose insistance on Anglicizing the sound effects, and even still publishing some of their manga "flipped" (left-to-right, as opposed to right-to-left) is a constant source of frustration to many readers.

The art of Wolfs Rain is no less than what I expected from the makers of Cowboy Bebop--indeed, it exceeded my expectations. My only complaint is that some of the action is jumpy, and that the character Leara (a young girl that Toboe tries to befriend, but who rejects him when he reveals his true identity) only appears for three frames, tops.

Viz's edtion is...underwhelming. The English sound effects are laugable. For example: in what is arguably the most dramatic point in the manga, Darcia-sama dissapears with a...blip. Yes, a "blip." Also, Viz does not allow the characters to swear, insted cutting them off mid word ("Shi--!"). Finally, Kiba's CONSTANTLY BOLDED DIALOUGE gets irratating after a while.

Dispite all this, Wolfs Rain is a good buy for fans of the anime. There are distinct differences between both, but both are worth while.

Being a huge fan of the anime version of Wolf's Rain, the magna version was a bit of a let-down. First of all, I want you to know where I am coming from, as this may have a bearing on weather or not you wish to take my view (review) into account. First of all, this was my first Magna. I grew up with and have on and off collected Marvel, DC and some top independant comic publisher titles. Though first confusing, it didn't take long to catch on to how to properly read the traditional Magna format (right to left).
The artwork captured the human forms of the charactors well, but the charactors in their wolf forms look nothing like those from the Anime. The wolves look more like German Shepheards with long haired manes and oversized stilts for legs The action and angles seemd quite stiff. The sound effects were either badly translated or just silly to begin with. My other great disapointment is the lack of background art.
Storywise, the magna is very condensed, and after what, in the anime, would be episode 2, the storyline differs greatly from that of the anime. Episodes 3-6 are compleatly cut (except for a condensed version of the meetings between Kiba, Tsume,Hige and Toeboy, and their escape from the domed city) in lou of a side adventure of Toeboy entering something of a city of the damned, where he meets another girl (Leara,the girl that Toeboy meets in the anime only lasts for a page and a half, then Toeboy meets another girl named Tia, who is trying to grow one of the last of the original luner flowers). The story then jumps to where Kiba, Tsume, Toeboy and Hige find Cheza, who has just jumped from Darsha's ship. The side story of Darsha and Homina is left out, as is much of Hubb, Cher and Quent...in other words, most of the interesting stuff.
Overall, this magna is a dissapointment compaired to the anime. I understand that there are going to be only two volumnes of Magna, and with the first book ending where the anime ends around episode 7 (of 26), I don't see how the second book will engrose you as much as the anime. I'll buy the second book as a keepsake and companion to the Anime, but this is one of the cases where the book or comic doesn't even come close to the anime/movie. I would have rather the story were bought by an entity like Dark Horse or Image and done as a long limited series (with someone like Art Adams, Neil Adams or Mike Grell doing the artwork). I'm not nocking magna, but I would rather dish out $100-$150 on a well done series companion than $30 on a sickly abreviated version.

I read this book and pretty much really enjoyed it. Though i've only seen one episode of the anime, i know the story and the manga has pretty much the same things in it. Though the differences are just some of the scenes and some minor characters. What i liked most about this was that they showed where each character gets his personality from and tell something on their background. In the back,they have a section that the authors wrote to tell you about the differences and how the characters were created to suit the manga. If you buy from an actual Waldenbooks or Borders store (for $14.99), you get a box set that comes with Vol.1, and a slot for Vol.2 which comes out in Feb.2005. I hope this review was helpful to you.

YEs!!! This book was in great shape when i got it and it got here pretty fast to. Very nice!! Would buy from this person again!!

In a dying world, there are some that know of a place to escape to known as "Paradise" where life can be restarted. But it's not the humans that know of this place. The wolves, once thought to have been extinct for 200 years, are the only ones that know how to get to it. But they need a guide. The "Flower Maiden", Cheza, whose is said to have been born of a Lunar Flower, is that guide.
But she is being held by human scientists in a lab in a coma-like state. Meanwhile, wolves, attracted by her scent have begun to gather in the city. They can move among the population because they have an unexplained ability to appear as humans. Kiba has come looking for Paradise. Tsume roams with human gangs, robbing the Nobles. Toboe is wandering aimlessly, looking for companionship after being raised as a dog and having his owner die. Hige too has been drawn by the Lunar Flower scent. But the wolves have been followed as well by a ruthless hunter known as Quent who has vowed to kill every wolf he finds. When Cheza awakens, the long and tragic quest for Paradise begins.

This manga is based on the 30 episode anime of the same name and being a 2 volume manga, you know that most of the story is going to be left out of the book. I didn't really find any complaints about the manga though I would suggest watching the anime before reading this so you won't be left with any holes in the plot. The art was great, maybe a little TOO well done, so that there isn't a lot of pacing in the rigid drawings, but the layout makes up for this some. It's been so long since I watched the series that I found this volume a welcome reminescence of a show that was ultimately kept from greatness by its flawed ending.

I'll admit two things: one, it's been a while since I've watched Wolf's Rain, and in all honesty I have no desire to rewatch it again so you'll have to forgive me if I've forgotten a few details about the characters and setting; and two, I really only bought these manga (volumes one and two) for the ending. Despite this, I'm going to try to give these manga as fair a review as possible. Some spoilers may follow, for those of you who haven't finished the anime.

Firstly, like I said, I bought these for the alternate ending that wasn't in the anime. Those of you who've watched the anime will probably know what I'm talking about and will understand exactly why I wanted to see this different ending, because while I thought the anime Wolf's Rain was okay, and good at some points, the ending completely murdered the show for me--as it did for several people. I figured I almost wouldn't mind how brief these manga were given this fact, but even so I found their shortness to be really jarring. These two volumes don't just trim the fat--they basically cut off the story past the first couple of episodes, and conclude it with an abrupt ending that it seems the writers just flung in there for completion's sake. Volume one is, essentially, the first three (or so) episodes of the anime, done exactly as it was for TV, only in manga form. Volume two is a bit of a continuation of the first couple episodes, before the storyline takes a really bizarre and confusing turn that makes absolutely no sense.

I was probably naïve to expect that I'd get a better explanation of the world in these manga. Usually that's the expectation someone has when they read, say, the book a movie was inspired by, or the comics/manga a TV series was based on. But these manga suffer from being adaptations--not tie-ins--of the television series, and not the other way around. As such, the world that the story is set in is that much more confusing and goes just as unexplained. How did Cheza come to be in a lab to begin with, while the others of her kind merely withered and died? Why would anyone have cared to study her at all, if they regard the stories about flower maidens and wolves as mere fairytale? What do wolves, much less flowers, have to do with Paradise? Why isn't it lions and trees? Is it just because wolves and flowers are pretty? What exactly is the Book of the Moon, why and by whom was it written, and where did it come from? How is it that its authors were able to predict the end of the world happening the way it did? And what the heck is up with Darcia's eye? Why does he keep it in human form when the other wolves don't, and what's so amazing about it that it could corrupt Paradise? None of these questions are answered, or even hinted at, and it's incredibly frustrating. I can honestly say the only times I found myself enjoying the manga (and the anime, for that matter) was when I felt like I was getting an explanation, a better insight into this world that has the potential to be so interesting, though these instances are few and far between and meager at best. It doesn't come off as being mysterious or thought-provoking, like I think the creators intended. It instead feels like an aborted effort at what could've been an interesting elaboration of the anime. Granted, the anime suffers from the same problems, but if anything the manga could've been an opportunity to remedy this. Instead it feels like a rush job with a tacked on alternate ending, that I'm sorry to say wasn't worth reading the rest of the manga for. It made as little sense as the original ending did and seemed really abrupt. Then again, the whole manga was this way, so that's no surprise.

I also have to comment on the art. In all honesty, it's not great. The wolves in the anime were realistically drawn and well proportioned, with maybe a few lapses in quality, but overall the wolves especially were well rendered, and the art was partly why I stuck around till the anime's bitter end. In the manga, this isn't the case. They don't even look like wolves, they look like foxes on stilts. In the back of the book the artist complains of not being able to draw anything well--if that's the case, then why are they illustrating manga, only to belittle their own work and complain about how they can't draw anything well to begin with? All in all, it was incredibly lackluster, and certainly not enough to salvage these volumes.

So, if you're like me and are interested in reading these to see if things in the anime are elaborated upon or if the ending is a lot better, my opinion is that it's not--and if you haven't watched the anime to begin with, then forget it. There's a lot better-told stories out there that make far more sense and won't leave you scratching your head at the end of them. Maybe my memory is failing me, and maybe the anime explained a bit more, but I remember feeling confused pretty often and still had a lot of questions by the end. Perhaps the most disappointing part is that the world and concept of Wolf's Rain did have a lot of potential--but it feels like it's been squandered by the manga and anime's cryptic, pseudo-enigmatic feel and perpetual downward spiral that ends with everything the characters have done being in vain... or just plain confusing, as was both the anime and manga's case. Either way, there's nothing new or interesting here.

ive only read the first book, but a wolf that can disguise itself as a human! thats wild! anyone who likes wolves should give this manga a try. but i havent seen the anime tough either so im not a devoted fan.