The last anime I watched was “Wolf’s Rain” which is a 30 episode Japanese anime that I found engaging and melancholy. The anime is beautiful and the main characters really grow on you. The series is set in a kind of dystopia where the world is dying and facing a kind of apocalypse. The main four characters, Kiba, Tsume, Hige, and Toeboe are wolves in human disguise. Kiba is on a quest to find ‘Paradise’ which is a legendary place that only wolves can find. The others are drawn into Kiba’s quest and they begin a long journey to find Cheza, the flower maiden (a kind of guide to Paradise) and to find Paradise itself. Also of note, the other characters include Quent, a grizzly driven and bitter wolf hunter, Blue, another wolf, Hubb a detective seeking his wife and the truth about wolves and Cher his wife and the scientist obsessed with Cheza the flower maiden.
Overall I liked this series which apart from the annoying and unecessary four episode recap on each character’s past, is well worth watching and you become lulled by the melancholy atmosphere and attached to the characters. It has philosophical undertones and reflects a kind of human obsession with paradise and utopic visions. What was disappointing was the end for me, in that it seemed rather anticlimatic after 30 episodes and perhaps was too cynical. But then, perhaps any other end would have been cheesy. I also liked the typically Japanese tragic love story of Darcia the Noble who became twisted by his fate. Also tragic and touching is the side-story of Hubb and Cher which unfortunately ends in tragedy. This is definitely the Autumn variety of the Japanese anime and not for those who want light, fluffy action and fun. (For that try Tenchi!)
