*This review contains spoilers*
Wolf Children is a 2012 animated film directed by Mamoru Hosoda, a man often compared to legendary Hayao Miyazaki for making high-quality, family-friendly films with mass appeal. Both of Hosoda’s previous works – The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars – were nice films that had their moments, but Wolf Children is a substantial improvement, delivering on a touching family drama with an entrancing twist that to me adds a lot to the justification of the initial comparison. The film follows Hana, a young woman who, during one of her university classes meets and falls for a mysterious man who eventually reveals himself to be a “wolf man”, someone who is able to transition between human and wolf. Hana is undeterred by this and the two form a relationship which leads to the couple having two children, Yuki and Ame, before the father’s tragic untimely death. This leaves Hana to raise the two half-human, half-wolf children as best she can.
The film has two different storyline paths following the initial romance, the first dealing with Hana’s struggles when she initially tries to raise the two children by herself, whilst also trying to hide their identities. Yuki and Ame at this point have very little control over when they transform into wolves and as such puts the mother in a position where she has to hide them away from public eye. This action has a lot of drawbacks such as if one of her children were to get sick, where would she take them for care, a hospital or a veterinary clinic. It also draws suspicion, to the point where she is almost forced to move and lose custody of her children. But perhaps the worst problem the family end up facing here is how they are alone in these problems; practically excluded from society with Hana having no one to help her in this time of need. Wolf Children has no problem showing how ruthless and harsh society can be when you just want to live a normal life, even if they are different from the norm. But Hana doesn’t let her family’s secrets get in the way of Yuki and Ame’s upbringing as they move to the countryside where they won’t be hassled by society and have the chance to be raised as both humans and wolves.
The second path focuses on Yuki and Ame themselves as they try to develop their own identities and how they want to live their lives, whether it be alongside humans or in the wild. Yuki and Ame are two very different personalities; Yuki being the outgoing older sister to Ame, the timid younger brother and in this part of the film we see proper contrast between the two. The way both siblings react to other people and circumstances make them seem like polar opposites to each other. Over the course of the film they both develop in their own separate ways, with Yuki’s personality leading her to act more like what a girl her age would be expected to act in order to find a sense of belonging amongst her classmates. Whereas Ame’s timid nature causes him to get ostracized and bullied, pushing him further away from human interaction and closer to nature, leading to him gaining an intrigue in wildlife and other animals. While Hana is never in complete agreement with what each of her children end up wanting, she doesn’t stop them from living their life the way they want. Wolf Children is more than a movie about the trials and tribulations a mother faces. It is about struggling to find a sense of identity and belonging, along with how far a mother can go to ensure their children’s happiness.
Regarding the film’s presentation, Wolf Children both looks and feels incredible. From the moment the film begins with Yuki’s narration over a beautiful field of flowers accompanied by a majestic piano piece, it will have you in its thrall. The story is an emotional experience at the core and the film capitalised on this fact immensely. Despite the amount of time-skips that took place it never stagnated the development on the main characters nor did it hinder my investment in them. We were always shown key events in their lives and felt as if we had observed the natural growth and changes with each child, a feat that is not easy to accomplish. The pacing here is also worth noting; most of the time the film does love to take its time on certain scenes, and considering the films acts almost like a fictional biography in how it tells its story, it overall adds to the experience. Viewers are shown the ups and downs this family faces in detail and puts more focus on the family and how they’re able to cope not only as individuals, but as a union. While I personally would have preferred to have a longer runtime to add to the conclusion, I cannot deny that Wolf Children does an excellent job at telling an emotional narrative within the confines of a film.
When it comes to anime, films tend to have higher quality animation and design compared to TV series. And while Hosoda at this point has not perfected the kind of “scenery porn” to the degree of a Makoto Shinkai, it still stands as one of the most stunning and breathtaking animated films in its visuals alone. The backgrounds were filled with vibrant colours with a particular attention to detail in nearly every scene. Most of the countryside setting is clearly inspired by Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro, especially when it comes to how Yuki explores their new home for the first time, adding to that sense of genuine child-like fascination the film clings to. The animation itself was smooth and soothing to watch with its own unique style to it, almost looking completely hand-drawn for the most part. A lot of CGI was used; a risk that commonly results in scenes looking out-of-place. But in Wolf Children, that rarely ever happens, with most CGI used providing the film with computer-generated camera shots that are unmatched in the medium thus far. And while some aspects of the film’s visuals such as disproportionate character designs can take away from the aesthetics to some, they are never focused on, with the film instead aspiring to leave you mesmerised with its exquisite animation.
The music here can tell a story just as well as words. Sections of the film contained no dialogue whatsoever, just lovely music conveying all that is needed to tell. The soundtrack is just as beautiful and impressive as the visuals, matching to create an atmosphere that truly entranced me into this family and world, and I could not get enough of it. The music never stands out, but is memorable in its own way; has its own kind of emotional impact. It does the job of heightening scenes to a higher level exceptionally well. Sound effects used are also well-executed – amplified for increased sorrow or tension and subdued when necessary for important scenes. When talking about the Sub vs Dub debate here I’ll be honest, I didn’t watch the subbed version. I only saw the English dub and even now I don’t think watching the subbed version is needed, because the dub overall is fantastic and deserves to be seen.
Wolf Children is one of the few movies that I truly believe you can’t go wrong with. Despite the many times I’ve heard about the beastiality scene and how uncaring the mother supposedly is, I call bullshit. To see Wolf Children is to see people’s lives unfold and blossom in the blink of an eye. It’s a heart-warming story full of the delights, struggles and confusion of life, both as a mother who wants the best for the children and as a young boy or girl trying to find where they belong in the world. These two perspectives do collide once the children have a chance to experience both lifestlyes as Yuki and Ame each go on their separate paths, Yuki choosing the life of a human and Ame the life of a wolf. The latter choice initially a bitter pill for the mother to swallow, essentially losing her 10-year old son to a dangerous life where he could very well die ala his father. However, after seeing Ame run into the mountains and stands proud as a wolf, she realizes he has found his own path and accepts his decision, stating towards the end of the film from the top of the lungs:
“You’re where you belong.”
That final farewell, saying to her child essentially "have a good life" is a crushing sentiment that can ruin one the more they hold onto the memories of them together, but is also a righteous notion that every parent or guardian at some point will have to let go. And at that point, it's all over in the blink of an eye. That is life.
