Wolf's Rain

Publisher
Bandai
Director
Tensai Okamura
Production
Bandai, BONES, Fuji TV
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
30 episodes
Year
2003

Wolf's Rain Episodes 6-7

By David Rasmussen
24th May 05

For awhile now I’ve been doing Anime Network reviews, but since Anime Network is a branch of ADVFilms (if I remember right) then I’m pretty certain that means I am probably doing a lot of ADVFilms related reviews… do they show anything non ADVFilms related on this channel? I think they do… maybe.

Anyway that’s a moot point now that Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim has come into Free on Demand!
Now I can now finally start reviewing some BANDAI series, starting with the only really eyecatching series on ASFree on Demand right now, Wolf’s Rain.
Actually it’s also the only Anime on ASFoD right now, except for Arjuna and I already reviewed that, and a host of other things I’d either rather not review and/or not even acknowledge it’s existence… like the show known as “Tom Goes To The Mayor”… right.

I haven’t seen the series until now, and I missed Episodes 1-5 so I’m not entirely certain how it begins (a little homework renting Wolf’s Rain DVD V. 1 from Blockbuster should solve that dilemma though but that‘s for a future review) but I do know where we are now…

Before We Begin…
So far here is where we are. We seem to be following a pack of four “wolves” (werewolves?) who are searching for Paradise (each for their own reasons). How this quest began is almost a mystery, but a strange book which seems to talk about the end of the world and the moon (which is probably the source of the end of the world problems) might have something to do with it.

One is the leader type (Kiba) who can’t stand by and watch bad things happen… which probably goes a long way towards explaining why he’s in such dire straits at the start of this episode.
Then we have the tall tough guy wolf who looks cool and is abit of the pessimist.
Then we have the younger meek wolf and the loud talkative “dude” wolf… eh.
The series is better than my lame attempt to describe the four main characters though, really.

We’re presently following a pack of wolves (human/wolf “transformers”) who are searching for this place known only as “Paradise”, while they are being hunted by humans for some reason that is probably clear in Volume 1’s episodes (which I should review soon since Blockbusters does have it for rental), and at this point the search has hit a snag. The wolves has ended up in a rather run down Mad Max type of “city”, where one of their own (Kiba) is ambushed by the local punk wolves and seriously injured. That is where we begin…

Episode 6
While the leader heals, it looks like the others will have to look for food.
Not good since the whole place is crawling with humans in groundskeeper type little vehicles towing cages behind them… yeah, that’s a fearful sight… little goofy land vehicles. What, they didn’t have a budget for Hummers or something more aggressive looking?
Meanwhile it looks like a human might have gotten ahold of this book which apparently has (in part or whole) the entire backstory about what’s going on with the search for Paradise or something… like the possible end of the world but I need to see the first volume to get the gist on that.
Speaking of Paradise this “city” the Wolves are in seems to be the end of a road for a previous traveler, who lost a large portion of his pack while traversing the underground tunnels here. The threat is gone but he has no desire to travel to Paradise, and considering he’s got this woman who has feelings for him and a rather OK home (though they could do better) who needs Paradise!
Maybe he does since most of his former “pack” kind of disowned him from leadership, but since he is a short term character (from what I’ve seen) it’s OK if we don’t think of him again after this episode… unless he shows up again. The gang moves on, going into the tunnels where they do NOT die, and we continue.

Episode 7
It all starts off with a flashback of a happy one eyed guy and his beautiful long blonde haired lady.
Then she falls ill with something called “Paradise Syndrome” and she hasn’t even been on a Carnival Cruise ship! Then things fall apart as Lunar Flowers (talked about last episode) is turned into human form and thus is born Cheza, the Flower Maiden. Then things go Babylon 5 on you.
The episode starts off with the wolves (who managed to make it through the tunnel from last episode) witnessing a Babylon 5 style aerial battle between what look like two spaceships… ships of the so called “Nobles” who I probably would know more about if I was around for the first 5 episodes.
Anyway from this battle the wolves gain Cheza, who they all follow around hopelessly as if brainwashed by her presence… and she’s mostly cute if not for her strange tight uniform wearing habit, and the fact her eyes are completely red which is freaky. She can also talk to plants and make them do her bidding, which is good since it helps them escape from their human pursuers in this episode.
Get used to Cheza, looks like she’ll be around for a good long while.

Next time it looks like somebody is going to tell the wolves that Flower Maidens might just be no good for them, but how not good is something you’ll find out next review. Breakdown time.

Wolf’s Rain Breakdown Episodic 6th & 7th
What’s Hot?
It’s good. I like it even though it’s abit slow paced… well, it’s not as fast moving as some series but that’s a good thing since it means lots of character and story development as you move along the series.
It’s one of the hot series, one of the series that people look forward to and for good reason.
The total package is good, and it’s decently done if I do say so myself.
As a series it’s a solid watch and if you haven’t done so yet you should check out the DVDs (since I’m sure the original Japanese language version will be extra hot if the English dub is great.)

What’s Not?
Mostly my missing the first five episodes, but that’s my bad.
That and I wish there was a recap at the start for those of us who missed a few episodes.
Otherwise I have no real complaints here (nothing worth mentioning at any rate). It’s good.

Moments to Remember?
Hmmm… that’s a hard one. It doesn’t have stand out memorable moments but the series, as a whole, does stick with you and (in a sense) is memorable for the fact that it is not something you forget easily. It’s solidly done, it’s pacing is good, and it’s overall a nice series. One of those series that you should check out, and watch, which means it’s overall delivery is memorable (if I do say so myself).

What to Ignore?
Nothing… maybe me if I’m a little confused here or there, but otherwise nothing.

Overall
With the series updating every week I’m looking forward to more new episodes… and the time when the episodes finally meet with the DVDs I have for review, which should be in about 10 weeks since Episode 9 just premiered and Episode 19 starts off the first DVD I will be reviewing. Stay tuned.
Oh, to wrap I like how the series started off for me and I want to see more. And considering how much interest everyone had in this series (to the point that it had high marks in a vote for what BANDAI series people would like to see come out on R2 DVD) lots of you are going to be getting into this series ASAP.
Next week will be a review of Episodes 8-9 so come on back, OK? Ok.

-- David Rasmussen 24th May 05

Wolf's Rain Images