The bond that a mother has with her children, it truly does surpass all reason and hold firm on grounds of unconditional love. I say maternal and not parental, because the story is based around the conditions of hardship without a father figure. Unfortunate, but it reflects the harshness of reality, that sometimes families don't always start out complete. But, they can be made so.
It's a strange film to review, one that takes a base level understanding and appreciation of all that the director attempts to portray. Through the passage of time, the events that unfold reveal so much about how the definition of "love" is malleable, interchangeable, and so very flexible. Love changes according to our current needs. But if our needs do not align with our wants, how do we go about living life effectively and honestly? Do we cast aside our needs and focus on our wants, knowing that others may get hurt? Or do we place our needs first, and push our wants to the side? For parents, this is not a question worth debating. Parents will do what is necessary, if it is for the benefit of the children.
While one of the central themes is the concept of wolf-humans, it can be ignored to an extent. This is simply for the fact that while it is indeed what gives Ookami no Kodomo its charm, you are pretty much left with the exact same story if the concept of "Wolf Blood" were to be taken away. Yes, perhaps if the children were not half-wolf, they wouldn't have gotten into so much trouble and made their mother's life difficult.
Or... would they?
Would they really have stayed quiet and docile if they weren't half wolf? In hindsight, the idea of children growing up wild and troublesome is not at all foreign to us. In fact, it is what is EXPECTED during adolescence, for children to cause trouble. To be the source of attention. To keep the focus on them, in case they wander off and do something naively sinister. The addition of this fantasy element can simply be attributed as a great exaggeration of normal, everyday children. That these children were wilder than most, and the mother (who did not have her husband for support) had trouble keeping them in check.
It isn't an original story. The concept of love coming together with the supernatural has been rehashed a great number of times throughout many a story. But, perhaps what makes this film stand out among its peers is the powerful and un-severable connection between love and family. And this is not to minimize the romance between our wolf-man and mother protagonists; however, the central focus was on the aftermath.
"The woman meets the man of fantasy. They grow closer together and, through fate and destiny, are joined in love."
And then... they what, they live happily ever after?
This film is what happens long after the beauty and the beast finally declare their love for one another. Certainly this story is not so grandiose, but the point is that in order to fully grasp elements of this story, one must be willing to accept the realities of child rearing.
Ookami no Kodomo stands out because it doesn't backtrack. It doesn't go back on its word. It doesn't produce an ugly lump of Deus Ex Machina from its pocket and tell the viewers, "All of that was complete nonsense! Everyone is happy! Happiness for everyone!"
Instead, what we as the audience is left with is a honest sense of reality, and a lungful of emotions that choke us for weeks to come.
Children must eventually walk their own path, no matter the opinion of the parent. No matter if they are wolf or human or anything else, an offspring is an individual. And this is one of the most prevalent emotion that we garner from this movie; one we know is there, but just can't accept. We can't accept it because we naturally want the mother and all of her cute children to live happily together. For such a time to last forever. But time waits for no one, and the ending (which I consider one of the more refreshing endings of a movie, because I respected the courage of the mother), delivers the message that a parent must eventually learn to let the children forge their own paths.
Personally, I thought that Hana was one of the most bravest, most real, most purposed and most fullest characters I've ever had the pleasure of seeing, in any movie or film. In such a unique situation, she learned to adapt and to care for her children the best that she could, without guidance and without help. They say that children don't come with a guide book. In Hana's case, she REALLY could have used a guide book. But, she didn't have one. And yet, she made it all work. She accepted her situation and sucked it in for her children, for the ones that she loved most in the entire world. For her husband, who she dreams of meeting again. She did so much for her children and the audience saw all of her hard work, and yet at the end she chooses to say, "But I haven't done anything for you yet."
The OST was simply magnificent. It was appropriate. And honestly, it needs few words to describe how on-point it was in terms of emotion and the progression of mood. Even without watching the movie, simply listening to the music can give the viewer a very good idea of the mood and feel of the movie. I daresay that the music made the movie, to a large degree.
It isn't appropriate for a review to tell someone, "Watch this!" or "Don't watch this!". And I wouldn't want to impose anything onto anyone. But, it is a work that truly deserves at least a chance, at least a glance. And if the words of some stranger on the internet are worth anything, one will not regret finishing it, start to finish. From utter happiness to the suffocation of sadness, and all points of emotion in between, it is certain to be a rollercoaster ride that'll gently stop at the very end.
