Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki (or Wolf Children Ame and Yuki) was one of the sweetest, most beautiful, depressing films I've ever seen.
It begins with our heroine Hana at college, where she spots the mysteriously handsome Ookami. She is instantly drawn to him, and after a few failed attempts, catches his attention, too. In a quick montage we see them get to know each other, and soon enough Ookami is comfortable enough to reveal his secret. He's a werewolf! Now, I was weary going into this movie knowing it was about werewolves, since it's been a bit overused in the past few years. But this movie goes beyond your expectations. It's not just "girl falls in love with pretty werewolf boy". It's SO MUCH MORE than that! It's about love (obviously), family, friendship, identity, strength, and believing in yourself. And surprisingly, it touches on these topics without any cheesiness. (Well, there was a bit of a cheesy moment towards the end, but I was too busy crying to notice).
The characters were wondrously developed. Hana was the best possible heroine. She may come off as a bit too loving and naive, but she had such a quiet inner strength and beauty that shone through with everything she did. Throughout the movie you see her constantly reading and educating herself, always wanting to be better and better with each day. She gets through multiple heartbreaking and soul crushing moments with a smile on her face, because that's how her father taught her. (If you've seen the movie, you get the particular sadness of this fact... ~sigh~) Ookami only made a brief appearance (20 minutes!!) but he made a lasting impression. He was so head over heels in love with Hana, you could just tell with every look he gave her. He's protective, supportive, and loving, the perfect match for Hana. And their children!! aaaah their children were so great. Yuki was the firstborn, feisty and strong and playful. Never taking no for an answer, she was a handful from day one, but turned into such a lovely girl. And Ame was absolutely adorable. As a child he was shy, quiet, tentative, and really precious. He grew up into a brave, independent young boy, who was very much like Ookami.
The plot is broken into 2 parts. Part 1 is Hana and Ookami falling in love, followed by Hana trying to figure out how to raise two wolf children on her own. Part 2 is Ame and Yuki facing the "big question": should they live their lives as wolf or human? The result might surprise you. And the animation! OH IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!! I loved it. It mixed very real imagery (so incredibly life like! oh the power of CG) with simple (but lovely!) animation. The stand out scene for me was when Hana, Ame, and Yuki were running through the snowy woods. It was so breathtakingly gorgeous and enjoyable!
Overall, this movie was everything good in this world, along with a whole lot of sadness. It went back and forth from cute to sad so quickly that I spent the entire movie half grinning/half sobbing. Which, really, is all I could ask from a movie.
