Wolf Children

Wolf Children (Okami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki) is the latest feature length film by Mamoru Hosoda whose previous works include The Girl who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars.

    The story is narrated by a girl named Yuki.  She tells the story of her mother, Hana, who falls in love with a mysterious man while in college.  The man confesses to her that he is half man and half wolf, the last descendant of the Japanese wolves.  He hides his wolf form from others for fear of being killed.  When Hana finds out she is pregnant with his child she starts to realize just how dangerous this secret is.  They live a happy and self contained life together, though, with their daughter Yuki, and soon welcome a son, Ame.  For fear of anyone finding out the families secret both children are born at home without any outside help.  Everything works well until one day, shortly after Ame is born, the father ends up dying.  Now Hana is alone, faced with raising two children who are part wolf, when she still understands too little of her late ‘husbands’ life experiences.  She is forced to drop out of school and leave her job to provide for her children who cannot be left in anyone’s care.  As toddlers they have little control over being human or wolf and Hana fears the worst if their secret is discovered.  They are able to survive a meager existence on her late ‘husbands’ savings but as the children grow it is becoming more difficult to hide their secret in the city.  Hana moves them to the countryside, far removed from other people, to raise her children more freely. 

    At first Hana and her family are the talk of the small town; the mysterious young family that avoids contact and lives as far as possible from anyone else.  With only the meager savings to survive on, they have to try and provide as much food as possible from the land.  When her crops keep failing and a gruff neighbor offers her advice, she begins to lower her guard with those around her.  Still weary of her children’s secrets being exposed, she begins to have regular interactions with the elderly farmers that surround her.  Eventually Yuki forces her mom to allow her to go to school like a normal kid, promising to keep her wolf form hidden.  After some slight adjustments getting used to being around people Yuki does her best to be a normal human child.  Her brother Ame on the other hand, who has always been less energetic and timid, is unsure if he can adapt to life as easily as Yuki when he enters school.  As they near adolescence each child must decide what their heritage means to them and how they plan to live their lives.

   I was warned beforehand that it was a somber and depressing movie.  I was expecting a really sad and tragic ending, but there wasn’t.  It ended on a somewhat light note; a note of hope for the future.  After I had watched it and was pondering the themes of the movie I realized that it dealt with loneliness, difficulty adjusting to life’s challenges and loss.  It really is a sad and bittersweet story.  While the story is somber, there are really enjoyable and light hearted moments too, especially with the sequences of Yuki getting into trouble as a toddler.  Another fun scene involves Yuki attempting to expose their family secret to two visiting neighbors.   

    The main focus of the film is Hana and her children.  Side characters come and go with only minor impact, they are there as catalysts for change and once their role is done they move on.  The timeline of the movie moves through a few key phases in their lives; the beginning of Hana and the wolf mans relationship, his death, the difficulties immediately following his death, their first few months living in the country, Yuki entering school.   It skips ahead rather creatively a few years later and concludes in that time frame.  I really loved how the transition from Yuki being a 1^st grader to her being a 4^th grader was done, I didn’t catch what was going on at first and had to back the video up to re-watch the process to get the scope of the transition.  The animation is the same quality as found in his two previous features, as well as similar character designs; simplistic and expressive.  The real detail is in the backgrounds and landscapes. 

    Since The Girl who Leapt Through time, Hosoda has been on my hit list for directors to watch.  His follow up Summer Wars was equally as welcomed.  I have been sitting on this one for a bit but figured it was time to watch it prior to the DVD and film being released widely in America.  While it doesn’t replace The Girl who Leapt Through Time on my favorite list, this is an excellent film.  Hosoda continues to prove his self as an in depth visionary.  Much to the beguiling nature of past works…he helped worked on Digimon and One Piece.  Many people are naming Makoto Shinkai (5cm per Second, Children who Chase Lost Voices) as being the one to carry on the mantel of Hayao Miyazaki; bringing depth and scope in storytelling and amazing attention to details of the world.  With Wolf Children, I really feel that Hosoda should be considered the legitimate heir to that throne.  This movie is exactly something you would expect from Studio Ghibli.

    This is an excellent movie and I recommend it highly.  It’s not an action film, its pace is slow, driven less by dialog and more by scenery and narration.  Anime fans who mostly watch fan service harem titles and shonen adventure stories will probably want to pass on it, unless they love Miyazaki films. I am concerned though about the quality of the English dub that is soon to be in theaters, but if that brings this to more people, so be it.  The qualities of the dub in the trailers that have come out leave something to be desired.  I look forward to the next movie by this creative and talented director.

    The dubbed movie is slated to be released in select theaters across North America and will be available on Blu Ray and DVD November 26^th, 2013.