https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/05/WolfsRainBanner.png The early 2000s were a rough time for anime. It produced some incredible works from Welcome to the NHK to Tokyo Godfathers my favorite animated movie ever. However it was also smackdab in the middle of the industries transition from cel animation to digital. Entire pipelines changed the animation process became completely different leading to a glut of poorly produced visually abysmal series. It was in this time that Studio Bones was born. One of the more prolific studios still working today Bones had to get its start somewhere. And its one of their earliest works that I am here to talk to you about today. I present to you originally written by Keiko Nobumoto directed by Tensai Okamura with music written and performed by Youko Kanno the early 2000s SciFi adventure: Wolfs Rain. Lets dive into it Oh and really quick before we get to deep just ignore the Omegaverse tags if those are still there. Those are stupid and have nothing to do with the series. There is no Alpha/Beta/Omega crap. Just enjoy the cool Wolves dangit. Onwards we go Be warned this review contains minor unmarked spoilers for Wolfs Rain. It also contains major spoilers in some sections however these will be heavily marked to avoid accidents. Additionally this review also covers the 4 episode OVA containing the true ending to the series.. https://www.sakugabooru.com/data/de3269ada51351881e4fceeaa9fccdf2.mp4 Video Linkhttps://www.sakugabooru.com/data/de3269ada51351881e4fceeaa9fccdf2.mp4 Production As usual the best place to start when talking about an anime is with its animation. Overall I think Wolfs Rain looks pretty good. While not always the most animated of shows when Wolfs Rain wants to sell a moment it more then has the ability to do so. The clip above for instance is from episode 1 and is filled with everything from bombastic effects work with its explosions to smooth and expressive character movement. This is what you can expect when Wolfs Rain decides to up the ante and can primarily be seen in the opening episodes as well as the final OVAs. There are also occasional bursts of action here and there throughout the rest of the shows run however you shouldnt expect it to be an every episode sort of event. Of course animation is only half the story if that depending on who you talk to. What really makes Wolfs Rains production stand out to me and distract you from the occasional funny shot is the direction and overall background work. Directed by Tensai Okamura of Stink Bomb and Darker than Black fame Wolfs Rain has some absolutely stunning scene compositions. Wolves silhouetted against the moon flowers glowing in the light a lonely man standing on the edge of a tough decision. Some might call this rather basic when it comes to visual language but even if that were true its still more then most anime give you. Okamura brings out a lot of the characters emotions just through how a scene is shot before any spoken dialogue. Combine that with the overall beautiful background work which really brings the world alive and you have an overall rather strong production. For a few examples of this here are some of my spoiler free favorite shots. All of these are either early on in the series or meaningless without proper context. Feel free to take a gander The only real issue with Wolfs Rains production is that it was created during the transitionary period between Cel and Digital animation. While either one of these are fine I personally prefer Cel this transition leaves Wolfs Rain with a lot of issues. One of the biggest being that there no good 4k or HD way to watch the show. There are upscales of course but those arent particularly good as the source itself isnt HD. This means that a lot of the actual artwork can get kind of blurred or weird at times. And depending on the release youre watching you might get some artifacts. Of course the designs and actual artistry put into the show are still good it all still holds up. However you cant help but think what it would be like had Wolfs Rain a proper modern day HD release. That aside overall I would say Wolfs Rain is a strong production sadly brought down by the era it was created in. Luckily for both it and you however production isnt the only or even most important reason to watch a show. For that we need to get to the story https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/03/WolfsRain11.7.jpg Narrative The world and narrative is where I think Wolfs Rain really shows its true strengths. While the production and presentation of can sometimes be lacking the actual content is beautiful. The world of Wolfs Rain is one in decline. Everyone everything everywhere is falling apart. Wolves are a dying breed thought to be extinct walled cities are the last bastions of civilization in the ruined hellscape or untamed wilds that make up the world. Each one ruled through force by a powerhungry Noble creating their own little paradises in this departing world. And none of this is there just to be cool there is lore and history behind it all slowly revealed as the story progresses though admittedly mostly in the back half. Overall the setting of Wolfs Rain is great and the perfect place for this kind of story. If I were forced to levy criticism towards it however it would have to be that it occasionally feels more like a theme park then a world. The individual locations are all great each one fitting into the wider picture with their own stories. Whether it be a city on the edge of the ocean the last stop for those to beaten down to pursue Paradise further or a haunted forest. Individually they work. However occasionally the connective tissue between these locations makes... not a lot of sense. There are a number of travel montages throughout Wolfs Rain where our lead character run through multiple biomes and backdrops as they head to the next important location. And often it will show them going from a snowy tundra to a blistering desert a lush forest to a ruined city. The backgrounds and scenes are pretty yes. But the connections are awkward. As for the narrative itself its in a very similar place. The broad strokes are fantastic. Our leads Kiba Tsume Hige and Toboe join together on a quest to find Paradise a place exactly as it sounds. Along the way they are hunted either by soldiers simply wanting a wolf pelt or by Nobles seeking to make Paradise their own. The individual runins with the soldiers and Nobles the little arcs that take place at each location are great. And the way Wolfs Rain uses their nature as wolves this whole thing about people not believing they exist anymore and thus seeing them as humans while simultaneously casting shadows as wolves or jumping between their human form and wolf form in a scene to get different points across is great Its just the connective tissue between these plot points that I find a little bit awkward. Take for example a scene early on in Wolfs Rain first 5 episodes where the characters are passing through a ruined city. Spoiler warning for Episode 5 tldr some weird pacing. On the topic of pacing there is one big issue we need to talk about: Recap episodes. Most shows they have one or two something to help space out production. Wolfs Rain? It has 4. In a row back to back. Now this isnt a huge deal as thats why the OVA exists. Its the intended finale to the show and something you should watch if you intend on watching the main series. What this means though is that there is a sequence of 4 episodes in the middle of Wolfs Rains run that are just... wastes of your time. While it may sound a little disappointing to realize you arent getting a 30 episode scifi epic trust me just save yourself the 2 hours. Recaps aside overall Wolfs Rains narrative is good. The story is cohesive and straight forward enough that you cant really get lost and its focused so much on the characters that youll end up watching just for their journeys more then anything else. Meanwhile thematically Wolfs Rain did a terrific job of exploring its core themes in interesting and understandable ways filled with loads of religious symbolism and with a solid satisfying ending to tie it all together. In short Wolfs Rain story is good mmmkay. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/04/WolfsRain13.3.jpg Characters Speaking of characters this is perhaps my favorite part of Wolfs Rain. That or the OST Im undecided. Wolfs Rain makes the intelligent decision of keeping its cast size small with only about 10 legitimately important characters throughout its run. And of those only maybe... 7 are on screen at any given time? Of course this doesnt mean those are the only characters others exist. But they are all secondary roles existing to flesh out the world and support the important characters story. And what a story they are supporting. While 10 might feel small to some Wolfs Rain gives all of them tremendous attention with each one getting a fully fleshed out arc within the larger overarching story. From Kiba our lead role to Hubb and Cher initially introduced as a sideplot in the opening arc. All of them are important by the end. To give you an example of this I need to dive into spoilers. So fair warning I will be talking about Hubb Lebowskis journey throughout Wolfs Rain in this small section. If you havent seen the show dont read it. Just know that he goes from a rather straight laced detective who only ever did what others expected of him to selfactualized ideal of a man who continued to walk forward even when faced with insurmountable opposition. Pretty good right? Anyways on with the spoilers. This brings me to my one and only gripe with Wolfs Rains characters: Cheza. Cheza is in the simplest of terms Wolfs Rains McGuffin. She is the plot device that sets everything in motion and is easily the most important character to what is happening. Which is why its so sad that shes barely a character for most of Wolfs Rains run. To be fair in the middle of the series she does have some pretty great episodes where she grows and comes into her own as a character. And those were great I think everyone will love her there But by the halfway point she becomes robbed of her agency given barely speaking lines and is generally reduced to the aforementioned McGuffin. I hold to the statement that her arc comes to a satisfying conclusion like everyone elses and in the context of the show what little agency she does have is impressive and makes sense. But as a viewer? I couldnt help but wish for more. All in all I would say Wolfs Rains characters are great. It has some rough spots with Cheza being the biggest one. I wouldnt go into it expecting any particularly strong female leads. But even with her issues Cheza ends the show in just as satisfying a position as anyone else. Really that just goes to show the strength of Wolfs Rains narrative and how interwoven with the characters it is that it works like that. The point is this though: If youre looking for a character driven scifi adventure I think Wolfs Rain can scratch that itch. https://www..com/watch?v=XXFcvoFPLgU https://www..com/watch?v=XtAxrdoDh24 OST With that we come to my other contender for favorite aspect of Wolfs Rain the OST. Composed by Youko Kanno of Cowboy Bebop and Vision of Escaflowne fame however with vocals by Italian singer Ilaria Graziano that should come as no surprise. The woman is downright prolific composing some of the most iconic music tracks in anime history Performed by the Seatbelts. She continues that trend of excellence here with Wolfs Rain. From haunting instrumental tracks like Sleeping Wolves that sound like wolves howling in the wind to more somber ones like Leaving on Red Hill. From resolute action like Tsume no suna to the iconic sweeping epic that is Shire White. Youko Kanno absolutely nails the ambience Wolfs Rain needs. Easily the most standout part of the OST however are the vocal tracks. Im talking about the hauntingly beautiful Strangers as performed by Raj Ramayya and the way it basically presents the entire story of Wolfs Rain in a single song. Or the world weary Heavens Not Enough and its depiction of the ruined world the story takes place in. You also have the folksy Run Wolf Warrior Run and the playful Valse de la Lune both breathing a bit of life into what has otherwise been a rather bleak sound profile so far. And of course I cant not mention some personal favorites like Amore Amaro and Tell Me What the Rain Knows. The point is Youko Kanno has worked with an incredible range of vocal talents and it feels like she called on a lot of them when it came time to record Wolfs Rains music. Because these are some of the best vocal tracks Ive heard in a long time. Of course no OST can be perfect. Every show has its share of mediocre tracks and Wolfs Rain is no exception. Some like corao selvagem just come off as discordant messes while others such as Could You Bite The Hand feel like they just dont fit the quality of the rest of the track list. And some are just forgetful like Go To Rakuen with its rather standard orchestral arrangement. Luckily these tracks are few and far between with only a single song Visions of Flame being what I would call legitimately bad. And even then it may just be my own taste in music I suspect this appears somewhere on someones favorite list. Overall I would call Wolfs Rains OST beautiful and its going on the list of OSTs Im going to try and find in vinyl. Will I succeed? Probably not. But a man has to try. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/03/WolfsRain7.1.jpg Perfecting Loops With that we come to the personal section of the review. This is where I take off the reviewer hat drop any sort of structure or pretense and just try to let you see behind the curtain a bit at what my personal experience with Wolfs Rain was like. Naturally this is no holds barred spoiler territory. If you do not want to be spoiled do not read this section. I will talk about the ending in very explicit detail. If you just want a tldr I thought it was very good I was very satisfied If that isnt enough for you though or youve seen the show and want to have a conversation read on. https://starcrossedanime.com/wpcontent/uploads/2023/03/WolfsRain11.4.jpg Conclusion All in all I went into Wolfs Rain expecting some weird Omegaverse Werewolf stuff and came away with a beautiful scifi adventure about the perpetual strive for perfection. Is it perfect? Is it my favorite thing ever? No it doesnt crack my top 10. There are some pacing problems Cheza is a bit of a disappointment at times and the 4 recap episodes are disappointing. But the fact that its in the conversation that I can understand why someone else might have it that high? I think thats a pretty clear sign of its quality. At the very least for anyone who enjoys dark scifi adventures I think Wolfs Rain will be well worth their time. It certainly was for me. Thanks for reading If you want to leave a comment positive or negative you can leave it herehttps://anilist.co/activity/570391970.