STORY: Set in a distant future, the world is falling apart. Most humans don't seem to notice anything that's going on outside of the cities they live in. Just slowly working themselves into the ground, it appears. The end of the world is near. The plot of Wolf's Rain is amazing, and is an amazing take on the classic story of good versus evil. I don't want to give much away here, but trust me... It's worth it to watch all the way through. I know a lot of people have watched it, and stopped towards the end. They're missing the best part! What ties everything else together - what makes everything else so important. After finishing this show, your life will change. I took several days to think about what it all meant, and that includes thinking about my own purpose of existence.
ART: The artwork of this show is amazing. The landscapes are beautiful. The action scenes are intense and powerful. Something I personally really love about the artwork on the show, is the detail on Lord Darcia's attire. Darcia in particular is a visually stunning character throughout the entirety of the show.
SOUND: Good grief, this sound track is amazing. If I understand correctly, the same artist created every song. And every song is so beautiful in its own way. My personal favorite is Heaven's Not Enough, which plays in an episode towards the end of the show (this is actually my favorite song, period). The amazing thing about the music, is that it's very obvious the effort that was put into each song. Not just into the tune itself, but also the lyrics. Each song has such a strong meaning that ties so well to the show, and after you watch the show I highly encourage you to listen to Heaven's Not Enough and I think you'll appreciate how well it encapsulates the show as a whole.
CHARACTER: The characters are great. I don't want to give anything away, but everyone has their favorite. And each character on the show has a backstory and wonderful character growth. Toboe's character growth is one to take note of - but I won't say much more than that. I also think it's important to notice that even though we are all rooting for Kiba, each other character has their own enticing qualities. As I said, everyone has a favorite. And there are a lot of fully developed characters to choose from - all of whom are entirely different from the next. The only unfortunate part is that sometimes Tsume doesn't have the best dialogue, but it's easy to look over and appreciate what they are trying to accomplish with his character (which most of the time he's just as great as the rest of them).
ENJOYMENT: What can I say? This show turned me into an anime lover. Before I watched it, I really couldn't care less about anime. But this beautifully done show made me fall head over heels in love. My only regret is that I didn't watch it sooner. This show really gets deep down into my heart and affects me in a way other shows don't. Take for example Fullmetal Alchemist. I am currently watching that show, and I practically cry every episode and it really has me wrapped up in its grip... But it still does not make me think, and get to me, the way Wolf's Rain does.
OVERALL: To be honest, I think this show has too low of a rating. It deserves a spot in the top 100 animes. I think the problem is that it seems that people watch it up until the last few episodes and then 'woops' they forget. Which hey, no big deal. I actually did it too. But then I decided to sit down and watch the entire show and I was SO glad that I did. I actually like to have the television on while I do other stuff around the house and to be completely honest, I had this playing in the background for about three months. But if you think wolves are cool, and you like stuff that has depth to it and makes you think(along with beautiful animation and an amazing soundtrack)... Then this is definitely the show for you.
I truly think the only way someone WOULDN'T like this show, is if they didn't really like stuff that had an /ocean/ of symbolism, meaning, and feeling. There's a reason Wolf's Rain is sometimes considered an 'anime legend'. But I can tell you that it isn't called that enough, and in fact I believe it to be completely underrated.
