Wolf Children [Blu-ray]

Good but sad

I was a little doubtful when I decided to watch this movie with my mom on Mother's Day, because I'd heard about the ending being sad, but we both enjoyed the film very much. It has many meaningful and relatable messages; a mother's love is powerful, choice is paramount for children, and that most, if not all parents, experience similar emotions when their children come of age.The mother, Hana, is a single mother who takes care of her two children, who have the ability to change into wolves. I won't talk about the specifics of what happened to her husband, but something obviously does, and it is explained in the film. She is incredibly kind, tolerant, and cares deeply for her children. Taking care of them on her own is difficult, especially when they start off in a new home on the countryside and she must make repairs to the decrepit home she purchased and later, learn to raise crops. But some of the times they share together are heartwarming, funny, and beautiful to see. The artwork for this film is simply staggering, and I look forward to more quality works like this from the director, Mamoru Hosuda.About halfway through, the movie begins to deal more with the children, Ame and Yuki, and about how they are growing up and finding their own paths in life - something that Hana wanted to give them when she decided to move them out of the big city and to the countryside. All I will say is that the siblings' paths diverge; they both make different choices. One is not better than the other, and neither are bad choices.In this half of the movie, you also start getting some feeling for what parents experience when their children grow up. I'm no parent, but I could feel it because I was right beside my mom when we watched the film - and she was crying. ***Minor SPOILER alert here, so skip to the next paragraph if you deem it necessary.*** Many parents raise their children with great love and care, but when it's finally time for them to "spread their wings and fly," it can be an emotional time. It's hard to let go sometimes, or rather, to accept the reality. I think parents fully understand that, but it's still hard. Hana has to deal with the same thing, and seemingly very early on to Western parents.The ending is bittersweet, I'd say. It's happy, but sad at the same time. I guess it depends on how you look at it, and especially depends on what position you have in the family (father, mother, child, etc) - that is all I'm going to say.All in all, it's a great family movie. I watched it twice with my mom already, once with just her, and then again with my dad and brother. Even if you aren't into anime or you have family members that aren't into anime, you can still pick up this film and enjoy it without any problems. I highly recommend it!***Note: I've noticed these criticisms in some of the lower-rated reviews I've read for this film. I'm not here to argue or to say anyone is wrong, I would just like to give some insight to readers who may have concerns. What I'm talking about is what some have called "implied bestiality."***SPOILER, READ ON ONLY IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THE AFOREMENTIONED*** Shortly after the husband reveals his wolf side to Hana, they return home to consummate their love. They are both in a dark room with only their silhouettes showing, but the husband stays in his half-wolf form. He touches her cheek, asks her if she is afraid of him, and then they both lay down off-screen. That's the extent of the scene. For adults and young teens, it's clear that they're about to have sex - but personally, at least, I didn't see it as that. It was more about Hana's ultimate acceptance of her mate, and reassurance to the husband about the woman he loves. I don't think the scene was depicted as sexual. If you have concerns about this because of the "implied bestiality," however, I've already described the full scene. That's all there is, so you can make your judgment from there.

There are some adult themes within the movie, so only show it to young children if they know the facts of life. That said, most of the film focuses on the young woman who gives up her university education for love, and raises her two children while trying to avoid attention from the authorities. Very much about how far a parent will go to love and protect their children, and provide a good environment for the children to grow. I enjoyed the artwork, the story, the pacing, the story arc, and the characters were engaging. Enjoyed.

I love it

**Small Spoiler Alert**I went into this movie blind as I had not watched another movie from this director. But, I'm a big Hiyazaki fan so I figured I'd give it a try. I was nothing short of blown away, I can't think of another movie in recent memory that I have enjoyed as much as Wolf children.The movie starts with college age Hana meeting a man and falling in love. The man, however, turns out to be a wolf. Hana decides that love can overcome any challenges that might arise from his condition and the two eventually bring two beautiful children into the world together. Unfortunately, a cruel twist of fate takes Hana's mate from her all too soon and leaves her alone to raise their two children. This section is quick and not entirely the focus of the movie, but is very important nonetheless. Seeing how deeply Hana cared for her husband and the loss that she suffers is critical to understanding her motivation as a character and more importantly, as a mother. Just keep smiling.Hana is left living in a small apartment with two quickly growing wolf children and no source of income. Being the mother of children who can't control whether or not they remain in their human form, or turn into a wolf-pup and trash the apartment is no easy task, especially once prying eyes begin to suspect something is amiss. Hana decides that it would be best for her small family to move far out into the countryside where they can have more privacy and give her time to learn the best ways to raise her young pups.Watching the children slowly grow into who they choose to be, and seeing Hana overcome so many struggles is where this movie shines. There are no stereotypical archetypes that are so common in these types of movies. everything feels genuine and heartfelt. You will fall in love with Hana, Yuki and Ame.The animation throughout is stellar and absolutely beautiful. The picture quality on this Blu-Ray release is fantastic, and the English dub is very good, one of the best in my recent memory.I would wholeheartedly recommend this movie to anyone who is even slightly interested.Note: Check out 'Summer Wars' as well! Totally different feel than Wolf Children, but a great movie in its own regards!

Now I LOVE this movie, but what I dont love is when the things I pay for is broken.The discs are fine but as you can see in the pohto the case came broken. I am not going to buy a new or return it. I am just going to buy a new empty "non broken" case...

Ein wirklich sehr schöner und gelungener Film über das Leben und die Wege, die man einschlägt und zu Ende geht. Einen Stern Abzug gibt es für den allgegenwärtigen und hier zum Glück nur manchmal vorkommenden Anime-Kitsch, der mich schon immer gestört hat.

I didn't think too much about wolf children when I ordered the bluray/dvd, but the number of awards to this title meant there must be a lot to see in this film. And it delivers an experience that I find difficult to describe. While the plot is fairly straight forward (a young woman falls in love, happily delivers two children, husband dies, finds herself ostracised from urban society, escapes to mountain village and endures much hardships so her children may have the freedom to become who they want to be), the beauty in this film is in the way it conveys the inner emotions in the heroine, both within herself and when she interacts with her children and the villagers. The background music adds resolve to the emotional depth of the film; in spite of great adversity and turmoil, the music keeps a steady, light and somewhat content kind of mood. Even when the hardships seem unbearable (maybe they're hardships only relatively to all the comforts of urban middle class affluence), I can follow with the heroine on her journey without excessive anguish or sorrow that the story represents. At times I wonder if it is humanly possible to have this kind of endurance, but of course there must be countless stories of single mothers or single parents who have to endure many kinds of hardships to raise their precious little ones. It is actually unfortunate that their tales are rarely told.The picture - the art work, cinematography etc. - is superb in quality and realism. I first started watching it on a 55" TV, and after switching to my home theatre projector (~120" diagonal), I could see more details in the scenes. Overall this is a wonderfully constructed and emotionally engaging film, a subdued spectacle of love, faith and inner strength of a single parent with a seemingly impossible task of raising two half wolf, half human children in today's society.

Back in September 2013, Hayao Miyazaki - the king of animation cinema - announced that he was going to retire from making anime films, following the international premiere of what is now his swan-song to cinema, THE WIND RISES (2013). The question that everyone now has on their mind is, who will succeed Miyazaki? Well, it seems we might already have one in Mamoru Hosoda. Beginning his career at Toei Animation, Hosoda won well-deserved acclaim and awards for directing two of the best anime movies of the late-2000's, THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (2006) and SUMMER WARS (2009).Now, Hosoda has made it a triumphant hat-trick with WOLF CHILDREN (2012), a truly beautiful and heartwarming story about two adorable wolf-children Ame & Yuki and the paths they decide to take. The film got a limited release in UK cinemas in October, and has received great reviews. Even hard-to-please critics of the Film Guardian and science-fiction entertainment magazine, Sci-Fi Now, were very impressed with WOLF CHILDREN. Hosoda takes a concept that could have ended up being unintentionally laughable and handled it very well, showing how a person would go to great lengths to look after her children that are half-wolf.Anybody hoping that WOLF CHILDREN has the same action pace of SUMMER WARS will be disappointed. But Hosoda isn't out to make the same story or anything like it. The story takes it's time, yet thankfully doesn't drag on forever or outstays it's welcome. The animation for this film is wonderful. It just goes to show that this is the type of animation that mainstream cinema should return to. I find it very sad that most of the animated films Hollywood makes these days are very unfunny CGI-animated comedies with mostly talking creatures voiced by famous movie stars, but with no interesting story or any heart. Even Pixar seems now to have become a shadow of their glory days.Yet, the reason WOLF CHILDREN works so well is the story and characters. You care for them, whenever it's Hana, Yuki, Ame and the Wolf Man. And if the film doesn't leave you moved to tears, then there's clearly something wrong with you. The film reunited Hosoda with two of his collaborators from his previous masterpieces, screenwriter Satoko Okudera and character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (that's right, the same man who worked on NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER [1990-1991] and NEON GENESIS EVANGELION [1995-1996]). WOLF CHILDREN truly is a wonderful film to watch. Most of my family who watched it with me last week also loved it. Recommended for all fans of manga and anime alike.Reviewer: Ben David W

I went into this review having seen Wolf Children once before. I have a son who is heavily into anime and he wanted me to see this film. Honestly I went into it not expecting much as I was disappointed in the last two films that he recommend I see. So as I was watching this film, the first thing that struck me is how much of this film is a slice if life. I was not expecting that. Then I was drawn into this movie and it was a really emotional experience to watch it. When a movie can do this then it is special. When an animated film can have a string emotional effect on me then it truly is among the higher echelon of films and is something truly special like Up by Pixar.There are some films that you watch and they are good, great even, and you walk out with a good feeling that lasts a little while then that feeling is gone and you move on with your life. Then there are a handfull of rare films that are also great to watch but they resonate with you for days afterward. Wolf Children is such a film. I could not rate it higher.