Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Wolf's Rain
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KitKat1721
 Posts: 976 |
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Wolf's Rain is one of my favorite series, so I'm really excited to see someone's take on it episode by episode! I haven't re-watched it in a couple years probably, so I'll just relive it vicariously through these write-ups haha. And yeah, I'm sure you already know you can just completely skip the recap episodes. When the show used to be on singles, all those were on one dvd, so you could just completely skip that disc.
Its writing style definitely takes some time to get used to, given its tendency to get pretty dense and obtuse at times, but its in a similar vein to beginning a heavy science-fiction or fantasy novel. The juice of the story (emotional beats, character relationships, overarching themes, etc...) never felt obfuscated by its lore or world-building once it got going, but that's just me. I think the debate on just how well it pulls off that balance of wearing its heart on its sleeve but keeping its cards close to its chest is still pretty divisive. Also, really weird that the sub is no longer available on streaming, could have sworn it was, but in my opinion I vastly prefer the dub anyway. Its the same studio, ADR Director, and talent pool as Cowboy Bebop's so its already off to a good start. Given the show's more distant style of writing, the dub could have easily come off as wooden/emotionless but it never does. They did a really good job with it and I consider it one of the best dubs of that decade. |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4830 |
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I would easily rank Wolf's Rain in the top 10 anime series of all time. It's had a greater emotional impact on me than almost any other work of fiction I've ever consumed: just seeing that opening shot of Kiba trudging through the snow, or hearing bits of its masterful soundtrack, is enough to give me goosebumps. Happening across it during my first stumbling forays into this crazy new world called anime over 15 years ago was one of the best things that ever happened to me, because I had no idea that animation was capable of something like this, something so strange and mysterious and emotive. I had the chance to rewatch it this past year, and there are so many layers and thematic elements to it that I know I never would have picked up on during my first viewing. This is one of the all-time masterpieces, and it's going to be a real pleasure seeing someone experience it for the first time.
And yes, the English dub is also one of the best of all time. Animaze produced masterful work. |
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Pidgeot18
 Posts: 101 |
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Wolf's Rain is one of those anime I keep thinking about rewatching... but then I remember the ending and go "I don't want to through that again."
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ajr
Posts: 465 |
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Oh snap, I didn’t see that at all until I moved farther away, nice. |
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whiskeyii
 Posts: 2273 |
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Oof, tell me about it. I seem to remember the storytelling was pretty dense as well and very—oh, I don’t know how to put it. Like, in most fantastical anime, you get a POV character who’s new to everything so the writers can explain stuff to the audience through them? Yeah, there’s like *none* of that here. On the one hand, it makes the world feel realistically populated, like we’re just watching people/wolves go through their lives; on the other hand, I remember there being some late game story stuff that I just completely did not get at all on my first watch (not the immediate second rewatch of specific episodes). Should make for some fun reviews to read though! I seem to recall that Jacob was ANN’s other prominent Wolf’s Rain fan, so it’ll be neat to see a total newbie’s experience! Tangentially, I’m sure most of this is because they were both animated by Studio Bones, but I always felt like Wolf’s Rain and Witch Hunter Robin were like, anime siblings or something. They both have a very gothic, dark kind of atmosphere going on with similarly dense fantastical storylines that can be tough to parse on a first watch. Somehow I could never separate the two shows in my mind (maybe because they both aired on Adult Swim.) |
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Ozzy4k
Posts: 156 |
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I’ve emailed FUNimation about the sub and they just ignored me it’s a shame cus I would really like to watch the subbed version I just can’t sit through anime dubs it kills me
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levonr
 Posts: 821 |
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Its been almost 20 years? Damn time flies. The is one of my favorite dubs, its even mixed in a great 5.1 mix.
Whatever happened to Tom Wyner? He had a great deep rich voice but I guess he retired voice acting. |
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Triltaison
 Posts: 799 |
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Oh, man, do I love this show. It's one of the first anime I remember making me cry, though. Like, not just a sniffle or watery eyes for a few scenes or one particular episode. Full on crying for episodes consecutively. So... definitely pack those tissues. And for the love of Pete, do NOT do what I did. I foolishly watched the entire second half of the series in one day and that is not a marathon to attempt lightly. Apparently I hate joy because I'm fairly certain that I also wrapped up Eva within a week during that same month.
I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite doggo. I honestly like them all pretty equally, but I think Toboe was my good boy on my first watch. It's been some years, now... maybe I'll dig out my Bandai DVDs and see if I prefer someone else now. |
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donhumberto
Posts: 825 |
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Wonderful post. It sums up all my feelings about the series almost word by word (I actually watched it for the first time 10 years ago or so and also gave it a rewatch a couple of years ago). That shot of Kiba lying on the snow at the very beginning will forever be one of the best opening scenes I've ever watched (anime or otherwise). |
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MarshalBanana
 Posts: 5524 |
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MysticGon
Posts: 44 |
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I've been using ANN for years but I made an account today to say how much I love this anime.
spoiler[There is one scene at the end that is so sad I can't even watch it anymore!] |
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jdnation
Posts: 2127 |
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Wolf's Rain starts off masterfully. Full of intrigue with many wonderful moments of striking memorable imagery. The end certainly has impact, but it was more emotion over substance, as given the delays, clearly they had no idea where they were going and just kind of bled their way there and opted for something that seemed clever, but really in hindsight does come out as tacked on. But the show is still enjoyable to watch overall, though falls moments before the finish line from being one of the greats.
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Takkun4343
 Posts: 1586 Location: Englewood, Ohio |
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It's been forever since I've seen Wolf's Rain - really, it was more to make up for the fact that I missed out on its [as] broadcast than anything else - but for what little I still remember of it, I will acknowledge that it was really good, and much more somber than I was expecting. But that promo though... still gives me nostalgic chills.
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Multi-Facets
Posts: 261 |
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I thought "Wolf's Rain" was wonderful, but put me in with the crowd who can't bear to watch it a second time, now matter how much I'd like to hear the Japanese vocals for once, and experience Steve Conte's and Yoko Kanno's musical work once more.
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omiya
 Posts: 1854 Location: Adelaide, South Australia |
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I picked up the Wolf's Rain OSTs based on Kevin Penkin's recommendation and wasn't disappointed. |
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