brown.kaycee - 2016-05-20 08:50:12

I just finished this and its 4 OVA's I don't see how anyone would even be able to rewatch this and not burst into tears when a character is introduced

zzieme - 2016-01-24 21:00:11

In the far future wolves has been extinct for 200 years. This is a lie. Kiba one of the supposed to be extinct wolves has taken human form and enters a city looking for the "lunar flowers" that is supposed to guide you to paradise. In the city he meets 3 other wolves and finds out the scent of the lunar flowers comes from Cheza, a girl sleeping in a lab. Cheza is however kidnapped and the wolves set out on a journey to find her. 
This is the rough outline of the story but the show is so much more. It takes place in a complex fantasy world with a intriguing history that you learn about from looking at details. The show has very little exposition but that is one of its strengts since it makes you more aware of the story and characters as you REALLY pay attention to everything that happens. 
The show is an allegory were most is symbolic and represents something else. It is deeply philosophical and takes parts from numerous religions and philosophies while creating the message. The wolves quest for paradise can be seen as humanities search for perfection and the numerous trials and falsehoods it will have to endure. The world in Wolf's Rain can be seen as a world where the human majority failed to create paradise and is now suffering the consequeces. 
This show also has some great animation and artstyle to present itself. Detailed background that are both varied and engrossing and character desings that are very distinct and makes them feel alive. The fight scenes and chases are great and really makes you worry for the characters. 
The sound and voice acting is also very good. The soundtrack would work really well as a standalone piece and also matches the action on screen while never overshadowing it. It really is top notch and helps bring out what the scenes are trying to tell. The voice actors all goes beoyond what was needed and brings absolute perfection to the roles. Even extras that are on screen for five minutes really leave a strong impression and makes you remember the character. 
The only negative I have about the show is that it for some reason got four recap episodes in the middle of it which feels unneeded and out of place in an otherwise great show. 
Wolf's Rain is a deep philosophical journey about four wolves search for paradise. It has deep religious themes and can get a little heavy at times but I recommend it fully anyways. It isn't perfect but brings a refreshting take on the sci-fi/fantasy setting it has and really makes you question truths as you are immersed in the story. 

dena79 - 2015-09-25 03:54:22

Critic's Log - Earthdate: January 29, 2013. Review #32: Wolf's Rain

Some people thought that the world was going to end on December 21, 2012. We are still here. With that said, Let's journey into Paradise with Wolf's Rain!

In some distant future and in another time, It was commonly known that all wolves have been extinct for 200 years. However, it seems this is not true as wolves have not vanished to the ends of the earth but rather have taken human form. Kiba, a lone wolf, wanders into a city, trying to sniff out the Lunar Flowers that are supposed to lead whoever follows the scent to Paradise. The source of the smell is Cheza (who is referred to as the Flower Maiden), a girl who sleeps in what appears to be suspended animation in a lab. She and the wolves are drawn to each other, and Kiba hopes to find Paradise once he finds the source of the scent of Lunar Flowers. However, once Kiba finds Cheza, she is kidnapped by a mysterious man named Darcia, and his search begins anew. Before he leaves the city, he meets 3 other wolves, Tsume, Hige and Toboe. All four wolves have very different personalities and ideas, and their friendliness towards each other is a little rough around the edges. However, they soon band together in a pack to continue to search for Paradise.

To be technical, this is a Studio Bones production and I can honestly say that the animation in this show is absolutely gorgeous to look at. And Studio Bones really turned Wolf's Rain as a visual tour de force in both quality and symbolism. Guess what? This isn't the only anime that year to get high remarks. Fullmetal Alchemist started later that same year and it was also made by Studio Bones. 2003 proved to be a wonderful year for Studio Bones. It's been ten years since Wolf's Rain started and the show has aged beautifully.

I know you Otakus know full well that Yoko Kanno is responsible for the soundtrack on Wolf's Rain, so stating the obvious can not be helped. The music is... by Yoko Kanno and I don't think there's anything else that hasn't been said about her. She is a talented musician and I think everyone agrees on that, but here's my thought about her regarding this show. I do think Yoko Kanno's music is magnificent in most of the shows she's involved in, Wolf's Rain is one of her best scores in any anime out there. The soundtrack's approach is similar to Cowboy Bebop in terms of mashing in more than one genre for the entirety of the series. There's even a little jazz in it. Steve Conte who was involved in Cowboy Bebop sings the opening theme "Stray" which is nice. Mai Yamane has a song in the soundtrack which she was greatly involved in the soundtrack for Cowboy Bebop. Maaya Sakamoto (a friend of Kanno-san) sings the Closing theme "Gravity" which is a beautiful closing theme on my book. Sakamoto-san's vocals and Kanno-san's piano just strikes all chords for just that particular theme and compliments the show greatly. Kanno-san even uses orchestral themes which really gives the soundtrack the icing on the cake. Kanno-san's soundtrack to Wolf's Rain greatly compliments the show. It simply is a soundtrack worth listening to without the show.

When it comes to voice acting, the Japanese cast is a solid listen. I should point out that there are some good seiyus in the subbed version. Mamoru Miyano is great as Kiba, Akio Suyama is fine as Hige, Kenta Miyake is great as Tsume, and Hiroki Shimowada is not bad as Toboe (pronounced "To-bo-eh"). There are some worthy seiyus such as Unshou Ishizuka, Maaya Sakamoto, Mayumi Asano, and Norio Wakamoto. Like I said, the Subbed version is a solid listen, then there's the dub. Wolf's Rain has one of the best dubs ever made. I think most people might agree on this. If you're a purist, I strongly suggest trying the dub here because it truly doesn't disappoint. Wolf's Rain has big names, and even some voice actors that aren't as big. When it comes to my format of reviews, I usually mention the standout performances and mention some others, I can't do that with Wolf's Rain because every single voice actor in the dub, big or small leave a great impression even if some of them got 5 minutes in the entirety of the series. Some voice actors even play outside their usual typical roles. Johnny Yong Bosch is terrific as Kiba, Joshua Seth is great as the street-wise Hige, Crispin Freeman is spot-on as Tsume, and Mona Marshall is wonderful as Toboe. Kari Wahlgren is also great as Cher, Robert Buchholz is also spot-on as Hubb. Tom Wyner is also a delight to listen to as the drunken marksman Quent. Sherry Lynn plays Cheza quite well and might be her most famous and best role in her career. Jessica Straus is also great, too bad she hasn't been active these days. Last but not least, there's Steve Blum as the noble Darcia. Mr. Blum's performance in Wolf's Rain really left a big impression and it is simply one of his best roles in an anime and (if not) the best villian performance in his career. Beside the standout performances, This dub has other voice actors and actresses such as Beau Billingslea, Bridget Hoffman, Dave Wittenberg, Jamieson Price, Kirk Thornton, Liam O'Brien, Michael Lindsay, Michelle Ruff, Peggy O'Neal, Peter Spellos, Skip Stellrecht, William Frederick Knight, and then there's Mary Elizabeth McGlynn who was the voice of Lady Jaguara. All the performances are great and really did make Wolf's Rain having one of the best dubs in an anime and Mary Elizabet McGlynn was responsible for this dub and she previously did the Cowboy Bebop dub prior to Wolf's Rain, I think she is a great ADR director for dubbed animes. I think I've said quite enough of the dub. It's terrific.

Now that I've mentioned about the great production value and the dub. you're probably thinking of the more important stuff like characters and story. That's where it gets somewhat debatable here.  it isn't easy understand sometimes because Wolf's Rain is a very symbolic show . I actually like the approach to all this because it leaves room for interpretation and gives the show high re-watch value too. The direction by Tensai Okamura is an interesting one.

Here's what I think of the characters in this show. Kiba is our main protagonist in the series and I almost had a problem with this guy until I saw further into the story because I almost saw Kiba as a shallow character at times. I'm not sure what else to say about the guy, the more mystery the better I guess. Hige is street-wise and laid-back, I actually liked Hige from the start. Tsume is pretty much the stereotypical angry loner, Tsume actually gets away with this because he's actually a pretty good character as the story progresses, not to mention he was badass from the start. Then there's Toboe, He's the runt of the group but he's a great character as well. If you stick around later in the series, you're in for quite the surprise. As far as human characters go, Cher is pretty interesting as the story progresses, same goes for Hubb and Quent. Hubb is definitely the gentleman of the series while Quent was probably the most interesting human character for me in this series. As far as the nobles, There's Lady Jaguara, I decided to just keep Lady Jaguara silent on this one, and last but not least there's Darcia and Oh My... This guy was quite the interesting one too.

I want to at least mention about the story, I got to admit that my reviews from square one have been formulaic as hell and that's because it's my little routine to make my reviews easy to write down while analyzing. I usually mention the sypnosis of the show first and talk about my afterthought of the story last. I don't think it necessarily matters at this point. I can honestly say that there's not much Icould say about the story because it is a little hard to explain about the whole thing. What I can say is that it is an incredible journey to witness as the viewer. It is heavily symbolic because the journey that these wolves are on is a spiritual one. I like how the creative staff wanted the viewers to see the journey through. I like how dynamic the characters are in terms of personality and ideals. There are times where the viewer may even connect to the character and boy, does this become extemely effective in the long run. I felt connected to the characters and I really felt sorry for Darcia losing Hamona, the woman he dearly loved. As the series progresses, the common viewer may get attached to the characters. Then along came the final 4 episodes where I guarantee that guys will end up crying like a little bitch and ladies will cry their heart out. I actually cried over moments that occur in the last 4 episodes. Think Mufasa's death plus Bambi's Mom getting shot, but a bit more tragic and heartbreaking. That just shows you that the show's doing its job and Keiko Nobumoto deserves enough credit for making the story emotional and making the characters flow with it. The ending did get some mixed opinions, I understand it's open ended and a little confusing. I do think it was all about the journey and after everything was set and written, it leads to another beginning. I actually believe they were in Paradise in the ending, just not the kind of Paradise we would expect. If there is anyissue with the show, it's the infamous recap episodes that are right in the middle of the show and I'm not sure why, consider these episodes optional since you are not missing out on anything if you skip them. Best of all, they are all on one disc. Another slight issue is that the animation does have some slight bumps from perfection, but I'm satisfied with the animation already. In the long run, Wolf's Rain turned out to be an unforgettable journey.

Before I wrap this up, I just want to point out that this review was brought to you by

Wolf's Rain was available by Bandai Entertainment and I hate to be the messenger of bad news, Wolf's Rain has become out of print, The manga illustrated by Toshitsugu Iida and written by Keiko Nobumoto is available through Viz Media. I can't say the manga is necessary to read alongside the show, but check it out if it will satisfy your curiousity.

With all that said, Wolf's Rain is an emotionally powerful journey with a complex setting, dynamic characters, a terrific soundtrack and gorgeous animation. I cannot absolutely guarantee 100% that you'll like this series to the fullest because of some things portrayed in this anime. I can say that it is purely a visual tour de force that proves itself to be a work of art. If your familiar with Doug Walker (The Nostalgia Critic) Wolf's Rain is one of his favorite shows. Like it, hate it, or be neutral about it. It's an anime that's worth seeing if you're the spiritual type or the artsy type of person, or if you like anime in general.

I give Wolf's Rain a 9.8 out of 10, it is EXCELLENT!

Feel free to leave a comment, and let's meet again...in Paradise

waelchi.rosario - 2015-04-07 23:47:10

This is a very under-appreciated show and I believe more anime fans that love deep themes, and super realistic elements should watch it. PLUS, it has a well developed plot(not like generic highschool crap these days...HAREMS EVERYWHERE MY GOD). Animal lovers may...love it more than...non animal lovers..but that's just..me. lol (secretly a cat lover..doesn't like dogs..)
 
so the ultimate score..is...(wait for it..) *jeopardy music plays*
10 OUTTA 10 PERFECT SCORE HECK YEA IT DID EVERYTHING RIGHT! :D
watch it or else.....*stares* o.o

collins.dustin - 2014-02-05 00:21:46

I just finished re-watching Wolf’s Rain. I haven’t seen it since it aired on Adult Swim in 2004. Considering I have a bad memory, I forgot basically all that happened, except the basic gist of it and a few other things that stood out from it in my memory. But, it was basically like I watched it for the first time since I forgot so much about it. I want to say, though, that Wolf’s Rain is perfect. I’m so glad I watched it again. It’s a really well done anime. I’m not going to say much about it, because I don’t want to spoil anything. I want whoever hasn’t seen it to watch it themselves and enjoy every bit of it. I feel like I really got into all of the characters, they all have their background stories which aided in their evolution as characters. I went on en emotional journey through out watching it. They all have their own personalities and I could really feel it. The soundtrack also really helped add to a feeling. I smiled, I laughed and I cried. I highly recommend Wolf’s Rain. Please watch it.

darron.shanahan - 2013-11-02 01:35:37

Wolf's Rain is probably not for you. Are you a younger fellow, who's going through their 'wolf' phase? Then, yes, you would garner much enjoyment from Wolf's Rain! However, having already gone through my 'wolf' phase a few years ago during fifth grade, most of the enjoyment has been sucked out of me, leaving a wolf anime that's perfectly average.

Story is somewhat creative, but other than a half-interesting exposition, the story quickly decays into an average plotline.

Animation is average as well. There were a few cool bunps sprinkled here and there, but nothing even remotely like the art of Ghibli or Shingeki no Kyojin. I will go as far as to say it's just like everything else.

Sound? Actually kinda cool, but it's not enough to pull the show up enough. Not much to say.

I found most characters to be somewhat annoying, and even a few cliche. I really was not a fan of the designs at all.

I neither love or hate this anime; I was not affected by it whatsoever. It was simply 'okay', and that's all I can really say about it.