MINDSET:
Community says that Hosada is the new Miasaki... Miasaki is still better though, and Hosada is a devolved homo.
SYNOPSIS:
Female college student gets in love by this really tall man because plot says so, soon enough they all go lovey-dovey and quit college to commit some frenzy bestiality made for kids, (no not that kind of pornography you sick person!) and yes, she did actually had sex with a werewolf just immediately after finding out that he was one. Though I already predicted half of the entire story after the Trailers, and looking at the Title. Soon enough, poof! She gives birth one wolf cub, then another a year or two later, (not to spoil anything) but she somehow manages to find herself in this Rural Farmland, because werewolf cubs can't live in Tokyo. Now the story centres around her trying to look after her children, while trying to avoid trouble.
REVIEW:
Plot doesn’t seem to be anything particularly special, since its something rather all cute and cuddly with a family-like feel to it, there was no major philosophy, complicated story, or even an amazing climax. The story feels very simple to follow, and does not really make You think or Overthink and allows itself to be immersed into simplicity, and there is nothing wrong with such method, it just broadens the age range for both kids and adults so You can finally watch this film without any worries of an awkward moment. Though, again, it does not bring anything great to the table, since it does not add anything to it. There are times when there lives go up, and go down, just like in real life.
Narrator feels unnecessary, since all what she does is just describe what is literally on screen, sure You get tid bits of trivia here and there but its just better to let a scene of no dialogue to speak at its own language, not her mouth!
I swear Hosada really cannot think of a better way than to stick a plot convenience that bothers me, especially that needless f**king time skip, when the Wolf Children who are like in Kinder Garden, all of a sudden elevated into adolescence in the time span of an OP. It did seem bothersome every time I see a plot device, since I don't mind them as much back then, but as an Anime Critic, this becomes really annoying.
If Hosada keeps repeating the same formula of he's own cliché plague, then it becomes its own Archetypes which is one of the major separations I sometimes like to make when You compare to him with Miasaki. Wolf Children is no different in its own cast, we have a bad ass old geezer of some sort, the really gentle female, the quiet guy and You get what I mean.
Though a gripe I can think of for this case (except for the fact that I now know that Hosada is just going to repeat he's own archetypes and casuals will bow down to him like deity) is that You don't really get much exploration with the side characters, You don't really care too much about them since there personalties do feel copy and paste. Though they don't feel like complete plot devices, and it does not feel like something that Hosada made character direction something he pulls out he's butt.
Of course, the main focus is the Trio, Ame, Yuki and there mum, Hana, are all fairly well rounded and above average mains, they have enough character exploration and background to make You give a damn, (and Hana is my personal favourite because of the same reasons as the fans) though good, the characters kind of feel as if they do not have enough complexity since they do feel as if there governed by one ore two personalities at times.
Though Ookami the father, gets barely to no exploration at all, and feels like some sorry excuse for a character who plays a massive role in the story, its shocking to see him go, but not really sad.
Madhouse does an overall great job with the visuals, and just stray from there usual style and what I mean is blending in sharp CGI with 2D backgrounds seemingly and obviously. But it really just takes me out of the Atmosphere every time I see some CGI BS, like I know it looks pretty good, but for goodness sakes Mad House! Stop making CG water, and trees when everything You made was beautiful. It has its just breathtaking highlights at some moments, but the visuals are simply breathtaking to look at overall.
There does seem to be quite a massive overdose of Acoustic and orchestral instruments, but for what Wolf Children does right on its OST, is further feeling the You are clearly immersed on what is happening by just making fit so perfect, yet so amazing at the same time. You can just tell the effort that was put in, with a large variety of 24 songs used in the entire movie, it is far from repetitive. It has one special song Ubugoe, which is simply heart felting every time I listen.
LEGACY:
A quirky but not very dramatic family flick about a Mom just adapting her new way of life because of her kids. It did not made me cry yet it made feel “fairly” happy, it did not made me think hard, yet I was immersed by simplicity, though I think people just give this film far tooo much praise than I think it should, and its going stay that way, for a long, long, long time...
SCORES:
6.5/10 – Flawed, yet good cast.
6.5/10 – Simple above average family story, though minus points for plot inconsistencies.
8/10 – Moments when the Animation failed because of CGI, but it has its own amazing highlights, and its overall great.
8/10 – Music is simply breath taking... Period.
6.5/10 – I truly immersed myself from 70% of the visuals and music, but 30% for the music.
FINALE: 7/10, with that animation!
