Story: The story does not stand out from all other movies I have watched. Instead, it is a simple and well written storyline about a woman raising two wolf children by herself. Although the actual concept is very simple - a life of a woman raising her children - each scene is meaningful and is just extremely pleasant to watch. We can truly see the benefits and joys of raising children from different scenes and how there will always be conflicts even within the happiest families.
Art: Probably one of the best animations I have ever seen. The character art and animation itself isn't extremely amazing but it fits with the overall tone of the movie - simplicity. As I said earlier, the story is simply about a life of a woman and so the simple yet smooth animation of each character really really fits in. Additionally, the background art is really beautiful. It demonstrates the beauty of countrysides in Japan and the artists really did push their limits in several scenes. Overall, the animation is smooth and simple, and the background art doesn't disappoint.
Sound: Amazing simple Japanese-style music. The soundtrack from each scene is really heartwarming. One of my favourite soundtracks from the movie is callled 'Sora Tsutsumi'. The melody is simple but combined with the well composed harmony, the overall sound is really beautiful and peaceful.
Character: My favourite character of all anime and movies I have watched is probably Hana. She represents the ideal mother and certainly lives up to the name of 'wolf mother'. She is overprotective of her pups just like a real wolf mother would be. Both Ame and Yuki are well thought out character that have interesting developments throughout the 2 hour span of the movie. Many other side characters are also beautifully developed in the movie.
Enjoyment: Many people say that Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki is a really slow-paced movie and I can certainly see why they say that. However, personally, I think that the slow pace actually helped emphasise different things in the movie and that did not bore me at all.
I do not think that the true meaning behind this movie is that mothers should be overprotective of their children or that children should listen to their parents but instead, I believe that the movie is made just to illustrate the beautiful nature that human beings possess - especially mothers. So after reading this review, take your time to think about all that your mother has done for you and thank her. No one can ever replace her.
Overall, I believe that Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki is a beautifully animated movie with beautifully thought out characters, beautifully composed soundtrack and a beautiful meaning behind it. I have intentionally repeated different forms of the word 'beauty' many times just to emphasise how beautiful I think this movie is.
A beautiful movie - 9.5/10
