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 Volume 6

By Joseph (Joe) Wood
16th May 06

The previous volumes of Wolf’s Rain have promised much and delivered little, thankfully this penultimate volume in the series finally manages to deliver something rather spectacular.

The wolves attempt crossing the treacherous icy wastelands, in order to get to Lost City the home of Jaguara and, but they come under attack from below. Cher and Blue arrive in Lost City, as does Quent, and desperately try to find there way to Jagura’s keep. Things begin to get strange when the pack arrives though, whilst Kiba and Tsume check out the keep, unaware they are heading into a trap, Hige starts to have a nervous breakdown. Hige becomes increasingly paranoid about this place and the feeling he’s been here before, and Hige’s mental state leads to the inadvertent capture of Toboe by Jaguara’s troops.

The plot twists and turns however, some of the twists seem a large stretch of the imagination. Both the reasons for the rather sudden development of Hige’s paranoia and the revelations concerning the identity of Jaguara feel forced. There has been hardly anything in previous episodes to even slightly suggest any reasons for the way in which these develop. The same applies for several other culminations of plotlines that occur in this volume. Considering how much the series has stalled for time, is it too much to expect something a little more coherent in terms of plot.

This does feel almost like the final volume of a series, as the last few volumes of this disc have the sort of “final confrontation” between the major characters, as well as being visually and musically stunning. The action sequences are a beauty to behold in the last few episodes of the disc, and the musical score certainly heightens this. This also raises some major concerns about the final volume of the series.

This volume deals with a large percentage of the overall plot of the series and would make a fine finish to the series, but would the four OVA episodes contained on the final volume be able to meet the standard set by this one? Also where does the series go from here, some plotlines have not yet been concluded completely, would the show really benefit from not leaving these questions open?

Ultimately, Wolf’s Rain is a beautiful viewing experience, but tries to make people believe that it is in fact a lot deeper than it actually is. There is little hope that the final the final volume will turn the series around, but Wolf’s Rain is not a show that will please the majority of viewers who require more substance for their money.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: Japanese/English/French Audio, English/French/Dutch/Polish Subtitles, Character Files, Textless Opening and Ending Animations, Karaoke Opening and Ending Animations.

Release information: Publisher: Beez Running Time: 125min Classification: 15 Release Date: April 3rd 2006

Notes: The only note worthy extra here is the Karaoke opening and ending animations. Not because they are a new or good idea but because the opening and ending songs are in English, and this makes them far eaiser to sing.

-- Joseph (Joe) Wood 16th May 06

Wolf's Rain Images