What is perhaps most interesting about this one is how close the anime
comes to being a classic without ever actually becoming one. While
watching Wolf's Rain, there were numerous times in which I could
see the anime approaching the kind of exhilarating grandeur found in
titles like Cowboy Bebop and Crest of the Stars. However, the show
would always back away at the last minute, as if an invisible wall were
preventing it from progressing any further.
The anime certainly
starts on the right track. I remember fondly of the days in which the
average review rating on animenfo for Wolf's Rain was 9.8. If I had
reviewed Wolf's Rain at that time, I would have probably given a
similar score. The first two episodes are really something else; they
introduce striking, memorable characters from the very start, they
provide an incredibly promising premise, and they succeed admirably at
piqueing your interest. What follows after that, however, is probably
the biggest single disappointment for anime in the year 2003.
First,
character development becomes a mechanical and uninspiring process. As
I learned more about the main characters I actually began to like them
less and less. All of the four main characters have exactly one item in
their backstory which is used to define their entire character, and all
of these backstories feel more like afterthoughts than cohesive
elements of the anime. Also, voice acting is definitely somewhat stale
at times. Although Quent Yaiden is voiced very well (more on him
later), some of the others are just barely passable; many talk in a
strangely alienating deadpan that makes them very hard to relate to.
Also, Toboe's voice actor is feminine to the point of being obnoxious.
Also,
technical flaws in the animation soon become apparent after the first
few episodes; noticeable shortcuts are taken in the characters'
movements, and as a result many of their actions seem clunky and stiff.
Worse than this, however, are the absolutely terrible character designs
of the four main characters. Against the bleak and apocalyptic
backgrounds, the chic 90s style clothing is so painfully out of place
that the characters often feel totally separated from the environment
in which they live.
Most importantly of all, the plot begins to
become annoyingly tedious and slow. While numerous events occur in each
episode, all of them feel strangely irrelevant and uninteresting. Most
of these events have little to no relevance with the main storyline and
feel almost like sidequests, while the rest seem inconsequential
compared to the epic events that were promised in the exposition.
Add
in the four recap episodes, and I can easily see how many people gave
up on the show midway through. However, while the show is definitely a
lot worse than it could have been, this by no means makes the series
bad as a whole. On the contrary, Wolf's Rain has plenty of excellent
qualities that make it more than watchable.
For one, Yoko
Kanno's soundtrack is (of course) amazing. Though I personally don't
like the OP, I absolutely love some of the other tracks. "Heaven's Not
Enough" and "Gravity" are both absolutely amazing pieces.
Secondly,
while most of the characters are mediocre in development and design,
Quent Yaiden is an absolutely amazing character. Along with having a
remarkably compelling backstory, his character design is fits into his
surroundings extremely well. Unlike the main characters, you feel that
Quent is very much like the world he inhabits - angry, desperate, and
on the verge of death.
Finally, the story does a great job of
redeeming itself in the final four episodes. Definitely the best part
of the series, these can be compared to Grave of the Fireflies and Now
and Then, Here and There for their incredible emotional power. By the
end of the last OVA, I felt very satisfied with the story, despite the
fact that a good deal of it was boring and unfulfilling.
All in
all, this series is definitely worth watching. Although I did not enjoy
the anime nearly as much as I had hoped, the excellent soundtrack and
the incredibly good final four OVAs still make this anime better than
most.
Screenshots
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