I think I got a copy of Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki or Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki as soon as it was released for home media viewing. My own viewing of it, however, kept getting pushed back until I realized it's spent actual years on the backburner. Several weeks ago, I had the rare hour to myself so I decided to start watching the film, even if I wasn't sure if I'd finish it in one sitting. But it was time I finally made good on my promise after watching Bakemono no Ko to watch the other works of Hosoda Mamoru.
Hana is a hard working college student, who falls in love with a werewolf. They soon found themselves having a family, with two children, Yuki and Ame, born a year apart. Unfortunately, the werewolf met an untimely death and Hana found herself a single mother to an infant and a toddler. With Yuki and Ame sharing their father's ability to take on a wolf form, Hana is forced to raise them without help. Realizing that raising two wolf children will be challenging in the city, they move to the countryside where there would be less chances of discovery.
If you've yet to watch Wolf Children and expecting an adventure story, I'd have to tell you that this won't be that kind of anime film. I suppose, there's a sense of adventure for Hana, Yuki and Ame, with Hana working hard to fix the dilapidated house they moved into and learning how to farm so that they wouldn't starve. Yuki and Ame have their own adventure in exploring their new home, then later on trying to fit in with the other children at school. The three also learn to interact with their neighbors, even if they did go to the countryside to avoid contact with others. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that Yuki and Ame are werewolves, I suppose their experiences could be considered to fall more in the slice-of-life genre.
Except for a heated argument in wolf forms between Yuki and Ame, there are no battles to be had in Wolf Children. And event though school and work require long commutes, there is no journey to far-off lands. Conflict does, however, rear its head for Hana and her children. The story spans years, giving viewers a chance to understand Hana's struggles as a single mother to obviously supernatural-tinged children. Yuki and Ame are not without their own challenges growing up, especially when they start going to school. One learns to fit in while the other finds more solace in the solitary nature of their wolf side. There is heartbreak waiting for the family, when Hana realizes that, despite all her efforts to provide them a normal life, she might lose a child to the wolf side anyway.
Despite its fantasy elements and the werewolf nature of the children, Wolf Children is quiet in its tone and offers plenty of scenes of everyday life of the family. I suppose this is why when the crux of the story is upon viewers, it hits home more than you thought it would. Wolf Children doesn't dwell on building upon the world of werewolves, because, without the children's father, Hana has no way of knowing how they should be raised. What it does build on is the love Hana bore for her children and the sacrifices that she made to raise them as well as she could manage. There's a lot of love in Hana, which is made apparent early in the film when she chose to love without prejudice or fear for the father of her children, which is why you root for her to find the answers she needs. And it isn't just Hana's story. Yuki and Ame have their own, though it might seem that theirs is meshed together seamlessly in the beginning, with their disparate personalities but shared existence as wolf children. But somewhere along the way, the two decide their futures apart from the influence of the other, or even their mother.
I love my splashy anime titles... the ones that feature exciting battle scenes and grand storytelling. But there are times when we need a quieter fare that's also meaningful or offer a different kind of impact.. the ones that will affect you emotionally at its end. If you find yourself in the mood for something like that, you can't go wrong with Wolf Children.
Happy viewing!!Labels: Anime, Drama, Fantasy, Film, Must-Watch, Supernatural, Wolf Children
