Wolf's Rain

The story in Wolf's Rain is hard to summarize, but the series is, essentially, about four wolves in a sort of post-apocalyptic, Russia-esque world who are searching for a place called "Paradise". The wolves must take human form in order to hide from the humans who want to kill them. The world is also inhabited by creatures called "Nobles" who are also seeking to open Paradise for themselves.

Wolf's Rain is a beautiful series. Not just the animation is beautiful, though. The characters are amazingly detailed (considering there are so many of them), the story builds naturally, the pacing is languid but never drudging. The only problems I had with the series were the Nobles. They were interesting. They were creepy, but often what they did was confusing and a little outrageous. It takes a while, but the Nobles become a bit more understandable toward the end of the series. Also, there were four review episodes in the middle of the series that had absolutely 0 new material. I hate review more than I hate filler...

My Grade
Plot- A The plot is interesting and moves at a pace that feels natural for the structure of the story. Details and twists are revealed subtly throughout the series. There are a few confusing parts (especially with the Nobles), but everything makes sense in the end.
Characters- A+ Wow! Wolf's Rain is an amazing character study. I loved every one of the main characters. They each seem like caricatures in the beginning, but they all evolve over the course of series. The best example of this is Hubb, who starts out as a pretty-boy detective who makes bad jokes and whines about his "allergies". In the end, he becomes... well, you have to watch the series, but it's wonderful.
Humor- A It's not a comedy by any means, but humor is interspersed throughout the series. The humor isn't jokes but just odd situations and the things people say in those situations. There are also some very odd things that happen that you can't help but laugh at. The humor always has a slightly serious tone to it, though, because often the things that are funny later turn out to be sadly ironic.
Ending- A- The ending is slightly angsty, but it's so beautiful. I consider the ending to be about the last five episodes because that's when the resolution begins. There is one "false ending" before the real ending (in the fifth to last episode), but the real ending is quite fulfilling. Just be ready with a box of tissues. It's a sad one.
Dubbed or Subbed?- I didn't even try the dub on this. It has some pretty good American voice actors, but I thought it was more appropiate in Japanese because it was so serious. The subbing was a little odd, though. There were a lot of skipped words and grammar mistakes as well as a couple of oddly-translated parts (the humble form of the first person singular was translated literally as "this one"), but it was generally acceptable (and accurate).

Who would like Wolf's Rain?
I don't recommend Wolf's Rain to anyone who doesn't want to watch the whole series or wants to come in in the middle. It's like an epic, and you can get lost in the story if you miss just one episode or wait a while between episodes. I recommend Wolf's Rain to first-time anime viewers because there are none of the strange anime conventions or Japanese jokes that make some shows inaccessible to first-time viewers. I also recommend Wolf's Rain to anyone who is looking for a unique fantasy that he can really fall into. The show is full of little details and strong characters that make it a hard series not to like.

Reviewed by Supergeekgirl

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