I recently saw the film after getting quite a few requests for a review on my website. My initial reactions are that I do agree that it is Hosoda's best, most complete effort and a likable film that, as leonbloy puts it, "leaves a good taste in the mouth". If I were to compare it against what I consider the best anime films, such as those of Miyazaki or Satoshi Kon, I would say that it is a more straightforward experience comparatively speaking. One develops a sense of where the film is headed and the film accomplishes that goal without any real flaws nor risks either. That is okay - it works as a fairy-tale story and the end product is a charming one.

I am thinking of getting the Collector's Edition with art cards, anyone else got it ?

__________________
"A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge

Just been to see this with my eldest daughter (AKA "the excuse", as it was showing early in the morning on a Sat )

In short, I LOVED it. I didn't know anything about it. I knew it was on, but I confused it with a Danish film on werewolves and I didn't care about that one. As soon I saw it was a (non Ghibli) anime I knew I had to go, especially because on IMDB the reviews were very good.

Anyway... perhaps it could have been a tad shorter, but in any case I recommend it wholeheartedly. I agree with the comments above about the film (character development, style and quality of animation, etc.), so I won't bore you with all the details. Also I have not seen the other films by the same director, so I cannot compare it to them either, but that matters not as I found it excellent.

Go and see it. I am planning to get the DVD or at the very least record it and keep it when it comes out on TV.

I am going to order the collector's edition, I am convinced it looks soo good.

__________________
"A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge

A couple of questions...
Small spoiler alert!!!! Scroll down to read.














1) if a child in Japan stops attending school or indeed disappears altogether, nobody actually bothers? I thought that was quite odd
2) This could be a problem with the translation (I have seen the film in English): in the final speech Yuki says something like "it has been 10 years since I have left home at 12 to go to high school, and my mother still lives there,alone, but content", or something along these lines. If my calculations are correct, Hana would have been about 45 at the most, so pretty much still in her prime, instead that speech implied that she was an old woman ready to die any second now. Anyone else felt that that speech could have been concluded better?

End spoiler

Ame was already not attending school for a while. His "disappearance" from school was hardly unknown.

Also, I don't see how that line, Japanese or English, implied in any way of her age.

__________________
I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.

Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site

quote:

---

Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Roarkiller
Ame was already not attending school for a while. His "disappearance" from school was hardly unknown.

---

Indeed he was not, but still... Over here you would have social workers on your doorstep in no time, unless you home-schooled him, so I would expect she would have been on their radar. Also, how is she going to justify his not being there any more, even with the neighbours? You can't really make a child disappear for good.

quote:

---

Also, I don't see how that line, Japanese or English, implied in any way of her age.

---

I don't know... the way it had been phrased and the intonation of the voice suggested some kind of sadness, like (in my opinion) her life was over, etc. etc., while instead she is still young. When I left the cinema I was thinking about it and how she had sacrificed her whole life for her children, but then when I thought should would have been some 45 years of age, I though... "wait a minute!!"

Anyone got the Collector's Edition of Wolf Children ?


A few months back it was £19.99 everywhere, now I can't find it. Amazon have it for £74.99, Zavvi out of stock and Ebay have no listings.

I am too late !!!!!!!!!

__________________
"A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge

I personally love this film. I'm a huge fan of Mamoru Hosoda. I bought the blu-ray the moment it came out.....it always brings me to tears. Yes, I'm that sensitive. Watching Hana deal with her struggles and watching the children grow up- ugh. It gets me every time.

__________________

Along with The Tale of Princess Kaguya, I bought Wolf Children for my dad at Christmas. We watched it at the weekend. It was a really beautiful, touching film. We both loved it. I definitely want to see it again soon.

__________________

I agree that its a beautiful film. It talks with the same spirit that many Ghibli films do.

__________________
Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info

"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

It was recommended to me a while back by the young librarian in charge of the young adult section of the library. I enjoyed it very much...

__________________

"Wolf Children" is my new favorite film. I find it superior to even the best Ghibli films.