I honestly don't think it's time for the Luffy video. Not yet. In many ways, we just haven't reached a good point to talk about Luffy's character and story. Which is a conundrum since the entirety of One Piece is Luffy's story.
After seeing the announcement in the community tab (April for the Luffy video), I have thought a bit more about it. And we might actually be coming very close to the point where talking about him can be done. Because the big question now is: How much Nika will be in the Luffy video? Since that can quickly become its own video. Especially if there's a sudden "chosen one" or "prophecy" kind of thing going on.
Melon Tee using her fame as the One Piece media literacy expert to spread the word of the most underground and underrated stuff ever will always be the best thing ever
That's what I want though! I came for the One Piece, and I want the personalities to then further curate more media. I need the gestalt of the memes and the loving tears of the fans to guide me. If I just listened to the clickbait I'd be suffering through the *autistic elf show.* Embrace the gestalt, embrace the curation of the collective.
They actually can't transform into humans. They are wolves the entire time. They have some sort of concentration based illusion power they use to force people to perceive them as humans, but the illusion obviously breaks when they touch someone like when Tsume tried to save the kid by grabbing him.
I love Wolf's Rain to tears, and the sub is superb, but...I would argue the dub is better. It is performed by veterans of the time, and the translated scripts does a LOT to clear up a few things in the worldbuilding. ▪The wolves' human forms are a magic illusion spell they have learned to instinctively (and reflexively) cast on the perceptions of others around them. This exists to protect their identity as wolves, but it is far from perfect. There are a few ways to see through it. For example, Quint can see through it sometimes when he's drunk. ▪Blue is only half-wolf (the other half being domestic dog) and that's part of the reason it takes her so long to figure out a lot of stuff. (And a major source of personal drama for her, because she still loves Quint, who still hates wolves.) ▪Jagara & Hamona are twins. That's why they look identical. (Also because 2000s anime really likes Generational Xerox character designs.) ▪Between the nobles' propaganda, the wolves disguises, and the fact that wolves look like domestic dogs, most humans who manage to see a wolf un-disguised mistake it for a big, but otherwise-ordinary dog. The wolves working in the small town on the outskirts play up this confusion to avoid being recognized for what they are while trying to make ends meet. ▪Hige betrayed all the packs he led to Jagara not to save his own life, but because he was captured and brainwashed to do so at a very young age. He didn't even realize he was doing it because of how deep the brainwashing was. By the time he realized it, he couldn't even resist it if he wanted to anymore, and the guilt he felt over leading the people he got close to to their deaths caused him to start developing suicidal depression.
Yes. The Japanese cut intentionally had the leads played by relative newbies (secondary characters were voiced by veterans like Unshou Ishizuka and Maaya Sakamoto), whereas the English dub was literally Cowboy Bebop 2.0 -- same studio, same voice director, many of the same voice actors, different scriptwriter (but Lia Sargent did well), and the American staff wanted to prove they could outdo their previous "best ever" work… and I think they did…
Kiba loses to Darcia but makes it to Cheza before dying. Thiusands of Lunar flowers bloom creating paradise. It fades to black and It ends at the beginning with Kiba entering the city from the first episode. Signifying a cycle thats bound to repeat over and over again.
I realized the series is like stuck a loop of creation and destruction, the Wolves represent the will to strive and create something better, this cyclical nature loops as we call it paradise.
It's suck in a loop but to my understanding it's not meant to be that way. What I understood from the final conversation between cheza and Kiba is that they have met before in the past and they will meet again and again until they open paradise in it's truest and purest form. Cheeza died before she could take root and bloom and thus open paradise in the shape of the chosen wolf (Kiba) that's why the end shows another reincarnation and also a Glimpse of a Lunar flower in the city. Meaning this time Paradise is closer since in the last cycle they never actually saw a real Lunar Flower until Cheza Died and returned to her Flower form and that is why Kiba says it's the same endless road he subconsciously knew this wasn't the first time he failed and that makes his death all the more Heart breaking since he was so CLOSE to it.
Wolf’s Rain was one of my first anime, and it’s remained a favorite of mine throughout my life. The soundtrack (which I’m surprised you didn’t talk about more) is absolutely amazing. I think I remember the first scene of the anime is Kiba lying in the snow, appearing to be dying almost. I always interpreted that as a possible ending to a cycle before the one we experience in the show, and it could possibly be his driving motivation to once again form a pack and seek paradise once again to undo what happened last time. I love this series and I love that you got to experience it too! (P.S. That Toboe scene at the end made me cry so hard, just thinking about it can get me going sometimes.)
Same, it was the first anime I ever watched, and I was hooked. I’d never seen something that had the depth and darkness Wolf’s Rain had, and I was immediately sucked into Ergo Proxy, Texhnolyze, Lain, etc. Wolf’s Rain was my introduction to anime.
I can't gush enough on how much this series matters a lot to me. I am so happy you are talking about it. The music is so good and as flawed as the story is, I love the main characters and the ending hits hard. I hold Kiba, Cheza, Hige, Blue, Tsume, Toboe, and Quent Yaiden close to my heart
YOOOO, I PHYSICALLY SHOUTED WHEN I SAW THIS POP UP My FAVORITE anime/tv show video essay creator making a video on what defined my childhood and practically single-handedly programmed my taste in fiction, this is the crossover of my LIFE
Oh my! I'm always glad to hear people talk about this anime. Wolf's Rain tends to leave people speechless. It certainly has the feeling of gloomy doom that MelonTeee mentions and the events in the series just enforce that. Most people either don't like it for being weird or love it for the characters touching a chord. And the characters are hard not to love. I wouldn't say it feels dated, I usually do an anual watching and now I'm watching Angels of Death and the former feels a lot more 2000's, even being recently adapted into an anime. Still, it's the kind of thing you won't get with one watching, there are details in the background and a lot of foreshadowing and important information sometimes is mentioned in the middle of an action scene, as that info is important but not as important as the characters trying to survive. If you don't pay attention you will miss stuff. For example, Hige didn't betray all those packs, if you see the background you can see a lot of wolves identical to him but with different numbers on the collars, so it's implied he was cloned or bred and somehow brainwashed by Jagara, who liked to consume the wolves. Also the wolves don't shapeshift. They never turn into humans, they can't, but they do create an illusion that makes the humans believe they aren't seeing an animal but a human. That's why Jagara soldiers can track them with their machines, and some people more connected with nature (like the tribe), or with their mind "unwell" (like the old man of the van, the hunter when he's extremely drunk or the chubby skater kid at the city) can actually see their true form. As the viewers, we get that mixed version, sometimes seeing them as humans and some others as their true self, which is a really original take and I think the odd scenes are a reminder they aren't humans and to make the viewer wonder about what is truly happening when the flower path appears or they see visions of the paradise. What paradise was actually real? The wolves? The nobles? The place at the desert were the souls rest after dying? As MelonTeee says, that's for the viewer to consider.
I don't know if this gets discussed later, but they aren't shapeshifting. When they appear human it is an illusion that presents them as human, but their body remains that of a wolf. You can see that in the first episode when Tsume reaches out a hand to catch the young boy, but when they contact, he is biting the boy's shoulder instead, and the boy cries out in fear when the illusion is broken.
Two things, the Wolf's Rain is 26 episodes + 4 ovas and has 4 recap episodes situation. Not sourcing this so my retelling will be extremely brief and possibly wrong, but nearly the entire staff got sick and so they threw together the recap episodes to fill the tv slot. WR was always meant to just be 26 eps but the last four episodes had to be made later due to the aforementioned circumstances. Second, it's been ages since I watched Wolf's Rain so the details of Everything escape my memory, just the dregs of a sad contemplative dream. BUT I remember one bit of Lore because it's so damn weird when you consider every scene of the show. the wolves don't shapeshift or turn into humans at all. They are always wolves. They just have really good illusion magic. This makes some moments make way more sense, and some a whole lot less.
God this is probably one of my most favorite and cherished anime ever but it always makes me ugly cry especially the last 2 episodes. No matter how many times I watch it always makes me sob grossly
Wolf's Rain is my all-time favorite anime. As I get older and rewatch it, I come to appreciate it more and more. The characters, the world, the aesthetic, the music I love it all so much.
Nearly 20 years later, and Wolf's Rain shows itself to a newer audience just to make more people wonder WTF did I just watch. For me, the characters and story were incredible, the ending is heart wrenching as you watch these characters you've come to know, and love die and then the final fight between Kiba and Darcia where there is no true victor; it's still the saddest ending I can think of. Just writing this is bringing back the sheer grief I felt the first time I watched the End of Wolf's Rain, it's so powerful. Melon you are completely correct in calling this piece of work, art, it truly is.
I always took the ending to be more metaphorical then literal. We all strive for something better, to be better, to make other's lives better, and it all will be forgotten, but that doesn't mean the journey isn't worth it. I feel the ending is telling everyone watching to "Run for paradise."
I don't have met maybe 4 people irl and maybe like 10 online that knew about this show since I first watched it circa like 2002 at 1am on adult swim when I was like 12 or 13. So to see this video essay when I search it on RUclips out of boredom and nalstalgia really surprised me. Actually the amount of coverage it has on RUclips in general surprised me. Thanks
No way you're doing a Wolf's Rain video. This anime traumatized me as a kid. It still is so hard to watch honestly. But such a fantastic story, if y'all have never seen it go now: it's worth it!
Never seen it, but in my J-Pop & JRPG phase as a teen, I discovered Maaya Sakamoto and her singing the theme to Wolf's Rain; Gravity. Love that song so much. The lyrics are just so in the feels
Toboe and Hige were def my favorites in this series, and I *loved* their relationships with Tsume and Blue. The series is so unique and doesn't get enough love, in my opinion. XD As for the ending... I always liked to hope it was a beginning anew, where Kiba would re-find the pack and have a better beginning then tragic ending.
So nostalgic. I honestly can’t remember if I ever finished this, but it’s a series I won’t be able to watch now. I will continue listening to Stray & even more Can You Bite the Hand bc those songs bang.
What a blessing this video is. Last night, I finished this masterclass of a show. The watching of it I prolonged for god knows what reason, but that aside, I knew for many years that it would become an instant favorite of mine, but I didn't expect to see a deep analysis of it the very next day to prolong my enjoyment. It's so refreshing to see that, since the only thing that I've been able to find on the internet about this show is mostly its breathtaking soundtrack. And i love how just because I decided to check my missed notifications, I was gifted this video. I can't wait to hear a different interpretation of the ever-present yearning for "Paradise".❤
I thought i was one of the only 10 people that watched this anime. I would never have guessed to see a review of this here. I love your onepiece videos but honestly its great to hear you talk about older/less known anime. Would love to see more like this! Here are a few others: city hunter, video girl ai and dna2
This show speaks to this gutteral feeling of longing deep inside that I have been striving to find in media wherever I go because it is hurting in such a comforting manner. I rarely find anything that lives up to this. The music, environments and general vibe of this anime just outmatches most things I know and I find it hard to recommend since I can understand how it can feel like a drag. Nevertheless to me it is a piece of art that I will forever hold dear and close to my heart.
A child me found wolfs rain on accident by flipping through channels. I remember the scene I saw, a white wolf running at a wall of guns and trying to fight for something. Later in life I would find the anime and watch it again from the start. But that moment is printed on my brain, the determination from Kiba and the stunning music composition, priceless ❤ it’s goofy at time and plot holes can be found everywhere but this holds a special place in my heart
Wolf's Rain is one of my favorites. I do think it takes a few watches to understand. (Or at least do your best) LOVE the soundtrack. One part I always cry is when Quent and Blue are reunited. The moment he realizes who she is and turns around. omg teeeaaars It's stated several times that Paradise is only for wolves. So, my understanding is that Darcia was an "impure wolf" and was rejected. Cheza was going to bring the new world. But Darcia's eye sullied it. What we see at the end is our modern society (reborn with evil). Everyone is reincarnated and the search for REAL Paradise starts again. It makes me think this cycle has happened many, many times. And the main characters have met many, many times; though they may not remember.
I watched this show as it came out on Tonami and it became my instant favorite. The darkness and bittersweet hope spoke to my then hurting soul and it felt more 'real' than anything else I had seen at that time. My first experience with a dystopian/apocalyptic world that felt like it was truly dying. My closest friends at the time started calling ourselves a pack and we adopted their names as nicknames for one another. To this day many of the people who knew me then still call me Kiba (or only knew me as Kiba). I am only close with "Toboe" as an adult, our Hige, Blue and Tsume branching off on their own life paths as people do, but our bond is deeper than ever. I guess we continue searching for paradise together, building new packs and relationships as we navigate life. I remember watching the finale in a random hotel room, with the volume so low I could barely hear it, then not being able to sleep after feeling the weight of it all. Everyone died, Ragnarök came, then the world was born anew.
Screaming that someone actually was able to capture the madness and greatness of Wolf’s Rain! I literally cried as they recapped the ending, even though I’ve seen it several times at this point. WR is definitely art to be experienced but boy will it mess with your mind.
So a couple of things. The wolves use magic to glamour themselves as humans. I believe its talked about a bit with Kiba and the native tribe. Which is why they jump cut around. It seems to allow limited humanoidal manipulation of objects but has moments where they accidently hurt others when they use their hands because its actually their jaws/claws. Also at least in my interpretation the human settlements are far apart and probably dont communicate outside of word of mouth and misinformation by travelers. They probably dont know forests exists or settlements have wolf/halfwolf/domesticated dogs. I'll have to rewatch to see if it comes across as the scenes showing the wolves as their unglamoured forms or just enslaved wolves.
Binged Wolf's Rain for this video because in MelonTeee I trust. Very glad I did because DAMN what a series. The portrayal of a bleak dystopia but not one without hope really struck me. This isn't the kind of series that usually grips me but when I wasn't watching it, I was thinking about it. When I was watching, I didn't want to stop (and it wasn't just because I needed to see super slay Tsume). Thank you Haza for this...I will be thinking about these wolves for a while...
Hell yeah I loved this show when I was a teenager. Highly recommended! It was my brother's favorite for many years! Thank you for the video and the trip down memory lane, I hope you have a great day and I appreciate all the hard work you put into this wonderful video!
Whenever I finish a show that I absolutely adore I almost always end up searching for videos about it, video essays, because I'd like to know what other people feel or think of said show, with Wolf's Rain it wasn't like that. I watched this when video essays weren't really a thing, so I was left alone to ponder on my own, much akin to the characters here. One of the things I love about wolves, is this duality they tend to portray them with, which is the Lone Wolf vs the Pack Wolf, which is beautifully demonstrated here, most of them, specially Kiba, he starts as a loner and it is only when meeting other wolves when trying to figure stuff out not on his own that he grows more into being in his human form, and both wolves and humans can be like that, but the thing about wolves is that they are connected with nature, they can literally reshape the environment, hence why they seek the flower, their journey in search of paradise, and humans are content with their lives, which is why they reject wolves or keep them as pets, or in the worse case as tools. People think wolves bring about the end of the world but they just sense it, and it should be a signal about it, but since we've grown to despise them we see it as a bad omen, and no one can tell you a bad prophecy if there is no prophet, we see it as a threat or a curse instead of help in order to change or reach out and make things better. Maybe we were all once wolves who simply forgot because it was easier that way, more pleasant to be just a human, instead of realizing we were one and the same and both looking for the same thing.
I think its awesome that you reflected on Wolfs Rain. I remember watching this anime when i was like 12 and that ending to me was so beautiful but fucked. I think your spot on when you said that the world reincarnated to a better society but repeating that ending again. I interpreted reincarnation being soiled by evil and that cycle repeating. It was a great story. Thanks.
Wow. It’s been a while since I’ve thought about Wolf’s Rain. It was one of the first anime I watched, back when whole series of anime could be uploaded on RUclips without copyright worries. I remember being sad and confused by how it ended. This will be an interesting look at it 15+ years later.
I remember watching this anime when I was like 15 or 16 so like, a long time ago, and experiencing one of the strongest feelings of hollowness I had ever experienced until then at the end of the anime First, Toboe's death just traumatized me and then that whole little speech Tsume gives, saying goodbye to Toboe...like, how are you supposed to not be a mess after watching that!? 😂 And then after I could finally pull it together to finish the rest of the show and just get it over with the ending just destroyed me I legit got so depressed for like a good month and a half I was obsessed with the sound track I would just listen to it to find some solice In particular "stangers" and "beyond me" Looking back on it now, I can laugh about the experience, but I do remember this anime hitting me so hard it really is something you have to experience for yourself It sticks with you for a while Still love it, though it's just such a beautiful and poetic story, and the animation is gorgeous not to mention the music 10/10 Sorry you just saw the ending for the first time, it can be an unsettling feeling I was just as confused as you, not knowing what to make out of most of it but just knowing it had changed me somehow, and i was not the same as the one before watching that anime lol 😂 I know it sounds dramatic, but you do have to watch it to get it
THIS IS SUCH A GOOD SHOW I ADORE IT OMG I'm so glad to see this especially from you this is gonna be so awesome to watch I'm already getting teary this was my childhood fr ;v;
2000s kiddos would wake up to Inuyasha’s outro , I woke up to this outro.. I can honestly say wolf rain was my introduction into the marvelous world of anime .. it’s still so good to this day 🙏🏽
So I haven't even started the video but i wanna say i almost had a heart attack watching the thumbnail 😂 it's one of my favourite anime of all time, there isn't enough appreciation for this beautiful piece of art ij this world
There is a certain running thread in Japan of wolves being a bit of a metaphor for a warrior or fighter's spirit. I think that the wolves represent a little bit of the pro family but anti-social instinct that many cultures have but that might be a little more difficult to express in a socially conscientious society like modern Japan. So I suspect that Wolf's rain is a bit of a slice of life series and is kind of like one of those plots that's supposed to be watching the nature of the characters carry them forward like watching a leaf get carried by the water of a river. Sure there was much suffering but there was also honest joy, love and freedom.
I only got to watch this series after ADORING IT when I was young, roughly 10 or so years ago when it was getting popular on RUclips. I am obsessed with it. I have watched it with friends 4 times in a row and every time I finish the series I'm left wanting more and more. I wish this series got the love it deserved, and I wish more people knew about it. It genuinely changed my life.
I watched this show as a teenager on Cartoon Network with my little brother. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch it again since my brother passed away, but this show is so good and I'm so glad you're talking about it!
This anime rang out to me the most due to the reoccurring themes of loneliness and perseverance. On that token, something I noticed in this series is the presence of masks, disguises, and hiding identities. The wolves have the ability to cast illusion, but everyone else wore masks or had jobs that overshadowed the individual. Everyone in society doesn't know who they are, where they came from, or where they're going. In my opinion, why the world is ending. Cities and factions of humans are fractured, and without memories of love to bind, before long, we're a enemies. This can't be the way, there must be a better way. Paradise is calling, and I think we can do it if we try. But everyone's too tired to try again, and so it all ends. All the pain, all the beauty. A grim outlook of how our society too can end. And at the end, is all that really matters. Me, my purpose, my opposition, and what I'm willing to do to ensure that something can continue to see tomorrow.
I loved this series in my youth, and I feel it is the basis for a lot of the anime I enjoy. One of the few series I found in the long time since I finished this is Casshern Sins, a post-apocalyptic robot tale that I think came out about a decade later. Dunno if you have seen this, but thank you for covering one of my all-time FAVORITE shows 🐺🌧😍😭
This was one of the first animes i ever watched and to this day is still one of my favourites. I cried like a baby at the ending, but i loved every second of it.
I haven't seen this series in years but I loved it so much as a teen. It's so nice to see someone talking about it. I might have to watch it again some time soon
Thanks for covering this series. I always interpreted the conclusion to be about how people need to be in a constant state of searching, in a constant state of forward movement, as that is what is able to keep people going through life. That's why the search for paradise is contrasted with these false paradises in the series (the Nobles' paradise, as well as the false paradise Kiba and then later those poor soldiers get trapped in), because they keep people stagnated.
Wolf’s rain!! Good to hear you’re into the less mainstream stuff, now I’m expecting a video on Zankyou no Terror Iceland music in my Japanese anime ost? More likely than you think 🇮🇸
I first watched this series when it aired on adult swim (so buttfuck long ago) and Toboe’s death scene still makes me tear up. 🥺 Anyway great review. I hope you do more underground anime in the future!!
I saw Wolf's Rain when I was a teen and kept rewatching it later when I became an adult. At first I thought that the wolves had died and basically gone to paradise which could have been their form of 'heaven' almost. However, later I began to to think if this is like an ouroboros cycle (probably butchered that word) but it is basically: birth, death and rebirth-- and repeat. It is something that will repeat in means of balance but the psychology aspect of things is really fascinating. So many possible endings.
I remember when I first watched Wolfs Rain. I was a young anime loving teen back in 2008 and it was Thanksgiving. The show came in the mail and i spent two days binging it. The dispair and waves of emotion upon completing it shook me to my very core. What a beautiful work of art
I personally subscribe to the interpretation that it's about how we all run our whole lives for a goal none of us will every truly reach, and that "paradise" doesn't exist, that you'll never be happy and no matter what you get or where you are you'll still be searching for that something to finally fix you.
Wolf's Rain always feels like an ephemeral, melancholic dream. It's a wonderfully depressing experience & the opening has been stuck in my head for decades!
Omg I nearly forgot about this anime! I remembered my best friend from school introduced me to this years ago when she was obsessed with wolves at the time!
Wolf's Rain takes me back to those early years of Adult Swim. I was just thinking about it some time ago and how I am not sure I fully understood it like I did back when I watched it. Honestly this will help me get that better understanding I am looking for
Watching this series for the first time at like ten years old was insane lol I absolutely did not fully grasp what was happening by the end of it. But it stuck with me and it's still one of my favorites today.
The dreams and good moments against the oppressive environment really puntuates moments of peacefulness. I remember watching this a a kid on tunami. It was a really perfect thing to see as a midwest rust belt teen
I think you summarized my feelings for Wolf's Rain the best way possible: I have no fucking idea what to make of it, even by watching it twice. I liked it, but man is it confusing and weird. Though it's exactly that weirdness that makes it stand out from other stories. It's not like S.E. Lain, where everything is so much abstract that it has no form or shape, but it surely doesn't guide you by the hand to tell you what it wants to tell either. I also do agree, cutting it to 13 episodes would've make it much more concise. There's episodes where fucking nothing happens, plus all those recap episodes. The OST might be the best OST for any anime ever, as well. God bless Yoko Kanno. Fun fact: the most viewed version of San Sebastian, by Sonata Arctica, on YT is an AMV of Wolf's Rain, and that's how I got to know the anime lmfao
@10:58 The recap episodes happened because of the SARS epidemic that hit Japan. They didn't have time to produce 4 full episodes because of the interruption in production, so those 4 episodes were cobbled together and aired. That's why on episode 26 there's an "end credits" sequence that doesn't really seem to fit with all the drama and action still occurring. That was the final aired episode without the final ending. They then released the 4 final episodes as OVAs to officially finish the story.
I freaked out when I saw that you did a video about this show. This anime had a stranglehold on middle-school me. It definitely was a point of awakening and confusion as far as my sexuality goes. I still think about this show today, even though I haven't watched it since... 2005 at the latest. Wow I'm old
Melon coming for the feels and nostalgia. I remember crying so much in front of Wolf Rain when I was 12 or 13 y.o. , such a fever dream hahaha It's one of the anime who made a big impact on me. In my opinion they are always wolves, the human forms are not really real.... I don't know, these forms never felt real
OMG Wolf Rain the trauma! the director was also that of cowboy bebop., however the themes and atmospheres were beautiful, the theme song was beautiful, I cried a lot with this Anime. Ps Mamoru Miyano is my favourite Seiyuu.
Idk if anyone pointed this out so sorry for this info dump, but the reason for the wolves being killed 200 years ago might be in connections with japan, and what they did to there wolves. Which sadly yes they where all killed off in 1905, and the anime was released in 2003. And in japan they even have a yokai that are wolfs that gain the ability to turn human. Kinda like fox yokai for a lack of a better example. I only know of this cause someone pointed this out to me years ago. Because, yeah I had no idea about this either. XD extra! I could be wrong, but Y2K was pretty much a theme with a lot of japanese works or the idea of it, and seeing how these era of anime had like one of the most fashionable styles I've still ever seen despite it's idea of the end of the world really is kinda funny to me as well.
To me, it sounds like the story is about myth; that paradise existed once, but now that there's these others here, we can't have paradise. That even when you reach that paradise, it'll be moved just out of reach for some other reason.
Thank you for the video. I was a fan of the anime for so long and somehow got my own answer about the ending, which I would like to share. First, my interpretation of going to paradise for the characters with lapsed faith is to cleanse their own darkness. I think almost all main characters other than Kiba redeemed themselves from their own sin/trauma. The difference between Kiba and others comes from the fact that Kiba is a key to paradise while others are contents of paradise as we can see others already have some kind of peace in their dream, while Kiba dreams nothing from the lullaby of Cheza. Kiba understands others more sincerely and exactly through the delusion he had during the comma and got matured. But still, he is more a key than a content of paradise. He facilitizes the pack to find their own salvage but he himself is in hell in the end, and the hell will be eternal if he keeps fail to open the paradise as it was the case in this sequence. What Kiba found out in the end is that what he needed was things to protect, not merely finding paradise. The pack failed to reach paradise because Darcia also didn't understand that the way paradise open is not by "using" the moon flower but to protect the flower and let it bloom where it should be (on the caldera of the mountain). Kiba also didn't know what to do with Cheza. Instead, Cheza knew what to do and tried to turn into flower on the crater asap, even abandoning Kiba. Due to the fact that Kiba's instinct to find paradise is equivalent to protecting precious things like friends (but a little bit less than hope to open paradise which left Kiba in hell), the paradise could have been opened so that the hope remained for the future. I think this is a good metaphor for what our eager to achieve purpose can result in. For example, some part of economic growth, or some purpose inside, led people who already have a piece of paradise to bloom their own peace. But through another path, it can make things worse and turn things terrible to imagine as nobles' purpose led the world to dystopia or almost apocalyptic situations. Not by using and controlling, but by protecting it and making things bloom as what their nature embodies will bear hope and betterment than before. A cruel reality (represented by nobles, especially overpowered Darcia) might deter us from protecting what we think is precious. Though, the struggle will allow us another chance to meet each other and try the next round to accomplish a trip to the paradise through legend. The legend is a device that overcomes the limitation of will inside the mortal body. By keeping hope in such ways and finally paradise open with our wolves inside, then is when Kiba's hellish repetition will end. This is all I have it in mind. It was an opportunity for me to organize my thoughts about Wolf's rain. Sorry for too long a comment, and thank you again.
I had never considered the thought that Wolf's Rain can be classified as some 'Furry shit', funny that. I didn't think of them as shapeshifting between wolf and human, I had always assumed they simply are both at all times and the visual change just lets us the audience know which part of themselves they are acting on, or which others are seeing them as. So in that meeting between Kiba and Tsume their recognizing each other as wolves is significant because they can identify when another is a wolf. That or it's something like a Faerie Glamour, where they're always wolves and the human form is some type of projection or illusion. I dunno the only thing I remember for sure is that it was kept very vague. I believe the comments about Wolves being extinct is meant to refer to the unique type of Wolf Person that our protagonists are. Great pick, Haza!
can't hype up the OST enough, Wolf's Rain was the first Yoko Kanno OST I ever heard, and she went SO HARD on it. literally all bangers, top to bottom also, regarding the ending, I always felt that it was a literal paradise that got created, but the corruption brought by Darcia's eye making it through brought in his, like. nihilism and his cruelty. and thus, warped Paradise into a reflection of our modern-day reality. hence, setting Kiba on his search again, to find true Paradise. also also, the wolves are always wolves, but have a Glamour they can use to pretend to look human and live among humans. and sometimes, they visually appear human to the viewer just for the sake of having human faces to emote with. but they're always wolves, they don't literally have hands. it's less confusing than it sounds in practice.
a Melon vid about Wolf's Rain in 2024?? a gift truly ... WR is one of my fave animes ever, yes it is weird, yes some stuff seem bizarre but it evokes so many emotions while watching it ... i should rewatch it at some point cause i think this is a timeless piece ... and i wish we could get stuff like that more often this days ... a similar show this days would be Heavenly Delusion for example, also quite a bit underrated in my opinion ... their essence is very similar to me ...anyway that was all i waned to say i guess and let me end this with the famous saying "they got that dog in them"
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
Melon will do anything to avoid that Luffy video at this rate
To hell will luffy everyone should be worshiping johnny and yosaku! You guys don't understand that these guys are the world's greatest swordsmen!
It’s not fucking fair man. We’ve been waiting for months 😭
I honestly don't think it's time for the Luffy video. Not yet. In many ways, we just haven't reached a good point to talk about Luffy's character and story. Which is a conundrum since the entirety of One Piece is Luffy's story.
Trying to encapsulate Luffy before the story is over, is like trying to say *the One Piece is a fucking afro.* It goddamn better not be!
After seeing the announcement in the community tab (April for the Luffy video), I have thought a bit more about it. And we might actually be coming very close to the point where talking about him can be done.
Because the big question now is: How much Nika will be in the Luffy video? Since that can quickly become its own video. Especially if there's a sudden "chosen one" or "prophecy" kind of thing going on.
Melon Tee using her fame as the One Piece media literacy expert to spread the word of the most underground and underrated stuff ever will always be the best thing ever
That's what I want though! I came for the One Piece, and I want the personalities to then further curate more media. I need the gestalt of the memes and the loving tears of the fans to guide me. If I just listened to the clickbait I'd be suffering through the *autistic elf show.* Embrace the gestalt, embrace the curation of the collective.
It’s more underground in America very less in France the show was cool sad though
Wolf's Rain was quite huge in the Western anime community for a while IIRC. I certainly wouldn't call it "the most underground" by any means.
They actually can't transform into humans. They are wolves the entire time. They have some sort of concentration based illusion power they use to force people to perceive them as humans, but the illusion obviously breaks when they touch someone like when Tsume tried to save the kid by grabbing him.
I wasn't sure about that, thank you for confirming my interpretation
So they are inverted medieval werewolves! fucking fascinating
That's fucking awesome
Yeah, I believe it's from mythology. Similar to how you hear stories of Coyotes and Foxes doing the same
was about to write it, like "huh actually" lmao
I love Wolf's Rain to tears, and the sub is superb, but...I would argue the dub is better. It is performed by veterans of the time, and the translated scripts does a LOT to clear up a few things in the worldbuilding.
▪The wolves' human forms are a magic illusion spell they have learned to instinctively (and reflexively) cast on the perceptions of others around them. This exists to protect their identity as wolves, but it is far from perfect. There are a few ways to see through it. For example, Quint can see through it sometimes when he's drunk.
▪Blue is only half-wolf (the other half being domestic dog) and that's part of the reason it takes her so long to figure out a lot of stuff. (And a major source of personal drama for her, because she still loves Quint, who still hates wolves.)
▪Jagara & Hamona are twins. That's why they look identical. (Also because 2000s anime really likes Generational Xerox character designs.)
▪Between the nobles' propaganda, the wolves disguises, and the fact that wolves look like domestic dogs, most humans who manage to see a wolf un-disguised mistake it for a big, but otherwise-ordinary dog. The wolves working in the small town on the outskirts play up this confusion to avoid being recognized for what they are while trying to make ends meet.
▪Hige betrayed all the packs he led to Jagara not to save his own life, but because he was captured and brainwashed to do so at a very young age. He didn't even realize he was doing it because of how deep the brainwashing was. By the time he realized it, he couldn't even resist it if he wanted to anymore, and the guilt he felt over leading the people he got close to to their deaths caused him to start developing suicidal depression.
Yes. The Japanese cut intentionally had the leads played by relative newbies (secondary characters were voiced by veterans like Unshou Ishizuka and Maaya Sakamoto), whereas the English dub was literally Cowboy Bebop 2.0 -- same studio, same voice director, many of the same voice actors, different scriptwriter (but Lia Sargent did well), and the American staff wanted to prove they could outdo their previous "best ever" work… and I think they did…
Yes thank you!! So much I wanted to say during the watch!! So if I may... What's your take of the end? @canido19
@@Soufriere84I love that kiva was vash the stampede!!! I used to follow voice actors! Lol
Kiba*
Did not expect a Wolf's Rain video in 2024 but I welcome it.
This anime always feels like a half-remembered fever dream. Don’t remember how it ends, just lots and lots of angst
Kiba loses to Darcia but makes it to Cheza before dying. Thiusands of Lunar flowers bloom creating paradise. It fades to black and It ends at the beginning with Kiba entering the city from the first episode. Signifying a cycle thats bound to repeat over and over again.
I think a lot of Americans watched this on adult swim when it aired. It was a angsty fever dream of my childhood and I’m happy to see you cover it!
I realized the series is like stuck a loop of creation and destruction, the Wolves represent the will to strive and create something better, this cyclical nature loops as we call it paradise.
It's suck in a loop but to my understanding it's not meant to be that way.
What I understood from the final conversation between cheza and Kiba is that they have met before in the past and they will meet again and again until they open paradise in it's truest and purest form.
Cheeza died before she could take root and bloom and thus open paradise in the shape of the chosen wolf (Kiba) that's why the end shows another reincarnation and also a Glimpse of a Lunar flower in the city.
Meaning this time Paradise is closer since in the last cycle they never actually saw a real Lunar Flower until Cheza Died and returned to her Flower form and that is why Kiba says it's the same endless road he subconsciously knew this wasn't the first time he failed and that makes his death all the more Heart breaking since he was so CLOSE to it.
Wolf’s Rain was one of my first anime, and it’s remained a favorite of mine throughout my life. The soundtrack (which I’m surprised you didn’t talk about more) is absolutely amazing. I think I remember the first scene of the anime is Kiba lying in the snow, appearing to be dying almost. I always interpreted that as a possible ending to a cycle before the one we experience in the show, and it could possibly be his driving motivation to once again form a pack and seek paradise once again to undo what happened last time. I love this series and I love that you got to experience it too!
(P.S. That Toboe scene at the end made me cry so hard, just thinking about it can get me going sometimes.)
Same, it was the first anime I ever watched, and I was hooked. I’d never seen something that had the depth and darkness Wolf’s Rain had, and I was immediately sucked into Ergo Proxy, Texhnolyze, Lain, etc. Wolf’s Rain was my introduction to anime.
I think their human form was a visual illusion, not a physical transformation
I can't gush enough on how much this series matters a lot to me. I am so happy you are talking about it. The music is so good and as flawed as the story is, I love the main characters and the ending hits hard.
I hold Kiba, Cheza, Hige, Blue, Tsume, Toboe, and Quent Yaiden close to my heart
The music is legendary. Yoko Kanno DID HER THING with this OST and the related tracks.
@@silentsmashbros4902 Yoko Kanno fucking COOKED and then SERVED
YOOOO, I PHYSICALLY SHOUTED WHEN I SAW THIS POP UP
My FAVORITE anime/tv show video essay creator making a video on what defined my childhood and practically single-handedly programmed my taste in fiction, this is the crossover of my LIFE
Oh my! I'm always glad to hear people talk about this anime.
Wolf's Rain tends to leave people speechless. It certainly has the feeling of gloomy doom that MelonTeee mentions and the events in the series just enforce that.
Most people either don't like it for being weird or love it for the characters touching a chord. And the characters are hard not to love.
I wouldn't say it feels dated, I usually do an anual watching and now I'm watching Angels of Death and the former feels a lot more 2000's, even being recently adapted into an anime.
Still, it's the kind of thing you won't get with one watching, there are details in the background and a lot of foreshadowing and important information sometimes is mentioned in the middle of an action scene, as that info is important but not as important as the characters trying to survive.
If you don't pay attention you will miss stuff.
For example, Hige didn't betray all those packs, if you see the background you can see a lot of wolves identical to him but with different numbers on the collars, so it's implied he was cloned or bred and somehow brainwashed by Jagara, who liked to consume the wolves.
Also the wolves don't shapeshift.
They never turn into humans, they can't, but they do create an illusion that makes the humans believe they aren't seeing an animal but a human. That's why Jagara soldiers can track them with their machines, and some people more connected with nature (like the tribe), or with their mind "unwell" (like the old man of the van, the hunter when he's extremely drunk or the chubby skater kid at the city) can actually see their true form.
As the viewers, we get that mixed version, sometimes seeing them as humans and some others as their true self, which is a really original take and I think the odd scenes are a reminder they aren't humans and to make the viewer wonder about what is truly happening when the flower path appears or they see visions of the paradise.
What paradise was actually real? The wolves? The nobles? The place at the desert were the souls rest after dying? As MelonTeee says, that's for the viewer to consider.
I don't know if this gets discussed later, but they aren't shapeshifting. When they appear human it is an illusion that presents them as human, but their body remains that of a wolf. You can see that in the first episode when Tsume reaches out a hand to catch the young boy, but when they contact, he is biting the boy's shoulder instead, and the boy cries out in fear when the illusion is broken.
glad I ran to the comments cuz I was going to say this.
Two things, the Wolf's Rain is 26 episodes + 4 ovas and has 4 recap episodes situation. Not sourcing this so my retelling will be extremely brief and possibly wrong, but nearly the entire staff got sick and so they threw together the recap episodes to fill the tv slot. WR was always meant to just be 26 eps but the last four episodes had to be made later due to the aforementioned circumstances. Second, it's been ages since I watched Wolf's Rain so the details of Everything escape my memory, just the dregs of a sad contemplative dream. BUT I remember one bit of Lore because it's so damn weird when you consider every scene of the show. the wolves don't shapeshift or turn into humans at all. They are always wolves. They just have really good illusion magic. This makes some moments make way more sense, and some a whole lot less.
That wolf rain opening will always stay on my mind
Glad someone is not forgetting this masterpiece
Strayyyyyy
It's such a banger
Yesssss
🎶In the cold breeze that i walk along~
"No regrets cause I got nothing to looose~"
It’s the ending for me. Gravity. I love it.
God this is probably one of my most favorite and cherished anime ever but it always makes me ugly cry especially the last 2 episodes. No matter how many times I watch it always makes me sob grossly
Wolf's Rain is my all-time favorite anime. As I get older and rewatch it, I come to appreciate it more and more. The characters, the world, the aesthetic, the music I love it all so much.
finally, Wolfs rain is gaining some traction. i’ve never met anyone who has also seen this anime. i love wolfs rain whole heartedly !!
Same. I come here to connect
I just finished it and it's a masterpiece. It's definitely in my top 10 favorite anime
Nearly 20 years later, and Wolf's Rain shows itself to a newer audience just to make more people wonder WTF did I just watch. For me, the characters and story were incredible, the ending is heart wrenching as you watch these characters you've come to know, and love die and then the final fight between Kiba and Darcia where there is no true victor; it's still the saddest ending I can think of. Just writing this is bringing back the sheer grief I felt the first time I watched the End of Wolf's Rain, it's so powerful. Melon you are completely correct in calling this piece of work, art, it truly is.
I always took the ending to be more metaphorical then literal. We all strive for something better, to be better, to make other's lives better, and it all will be forgotten, but that doesn't mean the journey isn't worth it. I feel the ending is telling everyone watching to "Run for paradise."
I don't have met maybe 4 people irl and maybe like 10 online that knew about this show since I first watched it circa like 2002 at 1am on adult swim when I was like 12 or 13. So to see this video essay when I search it on RUclips out of boredom and nalstalgia really surprised me. Actually the amount of coverage it has on RUclips in general surprised me. Thanks
No way you're doing a Wolf's Rain video. This anime traumatized me as a kid. It still is so hard to watch honestly. But such a fantastic story, if y'all have never seen it go now: it's worth it!
MelonTeee, please never stop making, *checks notes*, "word vomit"
Hearing that "Wolf’s Rain" is an underground cult classic, makes me feel sooooo freaking old. Mainly because it was a big deal back in the day.
That opening still gets stuck in my head decades later for no fucking reason.
Never seen it, but in my J-Pop & JRPG phase as a teen, I discovered Maaya Sakamoto and her singing the theme to Wolf's Rain; Gravity. Love that song so much. The lyrics are just so in the feels
Toboe and Hige were def my favorites in this series, and I *loved* their relationships with Tsume and Blue. The series is so unique and doesn't get enough love, in my opinion. XD As for the ending... I always liked to hope it was a beginning anew, where Kiba would re-find the pack and have a better beginning then tragic ending.
So nostalgic. I honestly can’t remember if I ever finished this, but it’s a series I won’t be able to watch now. I will continue listening to Stray & even more Can You Bite the Hand bc those songs bang.
What a blessing this video is. Last night, I finished this masterclass of a show. The watching of it I prolonged for god knows what reason, but that aside, I knew for many years that it would become an instant favorite of mine, but I didn't expect to see a deep analysis of it the very next day to prolong my enjoyment.
It's so refreshing to see that, since the only thing that I've been able to find on the internet about this show is mostly its breathtaking soundtrack. And i love how just because I decided to check my missed notifications, I was gifted this video. I can't wait to hear a different interpretation of the ever-present yearning for "Paradise".❤
I thought i was one of the only 10 people that watched this anime. I would never have guessed to see a review of this here. I love your onepiece videos but honestly its great to hear you talk about older/less known anime. Would love to see more like this! Here are a few others: city hunter, video girl ai and dna2
This show speaks to this gutteral feeling of longing deep inside that I have been striving to find in media wherever I go because it is hurting in such a comforting manner. I rarely find anything that lives up to this. The music, environments and general vibe of this anime just outmatches most things I know and I find it hard to recommend since I can understand how it can feel like a drag. Nevertheless to me it is a piece of art that I will forever hold dear and close to my heart.
A child me found wolfs rain on accident by flipping through channels. I remember the scene I saw, a white wolf running at a wall of guns and trying to fight for something. Later in life I would find the anime and watch it again from the start. But that moment is printed on my brain, the determination from Kiba and the stunning music composition, priceless ❤ it’s goofy at time and plot holes can be found everywhere but this holds a special place in my heart
I got so excited seeing the title! This anime is so dear to me and I love your thoughtful videos
Wolf's Rain is one of my favorites. I do think it takes a few watches to understand. (Or at least do your best) LOVE the soundtrack. One part I always cry is when Quent and Blue are reunited. The moment he realizes who she is and turns around. omg teeeaaars
It's stated several times that Paradise is only for wolves. So, my understanding is that Darcia was an "impure wolf" and was rejected. Cheza was going to bring the new world. But Darcia's eye sullied it.
What we see at the end is our modern society (reborn with evil). Everyone is reincarnated and the search for REAL Paradise starts again. It makes me think this cycle has happened many, many times. And the main characters have met many, many times; though they may not remember.
This is my most favourite series. I love it to bits. It has never left my heart.
Thank you
I watched this show as it came out on Tonami and it became my instant favorite. The darkness and bittersweet hope spoke to my then hurting soul and it felt more 'real' than anything else I had seen at that time. My first experience with a dystopian/apocalyptic world that felt like it was truly dying.
My closest friends at the time started calling ourselves a pack and we adopted their names as nicknames for one another. To this day many of the people who knew me then still call me Kiba (or only knew me as Kiba). I am only close with "Toboe" as an adult, our Hige, Blue and Tsume branching off on their own life paths as people do, but our bond is deeper than ever. I guess we continue searching for paradise together, building new packs and relationships as we navigate life.
I remember watching the finale in a random hotel room, with the volume so low I could barely hear it, then not being able to sleep after feeling the weight of it all.
Everyone died, Ragnarök came, then the world was born anew.
This is my favorite anime! I even have gone by "Cheza" in my travels and have white husky mix named "Kiba". I am so glad you enjoyed it!
I've seen it back in the days, and man, it was something else. Gotta rewatch it sooner or later.
Screaming that someone actually was able to capture the madness and greatness of Wolf’s Rain! I literally cried as they recapped the ending, even though I’ve seen it several times at this point. WR is definitely art to be experienced but boy will it mess with your mind.
So a couple of things. The wolves use magic to glamour themselves as humans. I believe its talked about a bit with Kiba and the native tribe. Which is why they jump cut around. It seems to allow limited humanoidal manipulation of objects but has moments where they accidently hurt others when they use their hands because its actually their jaws/claws. Also at least in my interpretation the human settlements are far apart and probably dont communicate outside of word of mouth and misinformation by travelers. They probably dont know forests exists or settlements have wolf/halfwolf/domesticated dogs. I'll have to rewatch to see if it comes across as the scenes showing the wolves as their unglamoured forms or just enslaved wolves.
Binged Wolf's Rain for this video because in MelonTeee I trust. Very glad I did because DAMN what a series. The portrayal of a bleak dystopia but not one without hope really struck me. This isn't the kind of series that usually grips me but when I wasn't watching it, I was thinking about it. When I was watching, I didn't want to stop (and it wasn't just because I needed to see super slay Tsume).
Thank you Haza for this...I will be thinking about these wolves for a while...
Hell yeah I loved this show when I was a teenager. Highly recommended! It was my brother's favorite for many years! Thank you for the video and the trip down memory lane, I hope you have a great day and I appreciate all the hard work you put into this wonderful video!
AUUUGHH WOLF'S RAIN MY BELOVED
Whenever I finish a show that I absolutely adore I almost always end up searching for videos about it, video essays, because I'd like to know what other people feel or think of said show, with Wolf's Rain it wasn't like that. I watched this when video essays weren't really a thing, so I was left alone to ponder on my own, much akin to the characters here.
One of the things I love about wolves, is this duality they tend to portray them with, which is the Lone Wolf vs the Pack Wolf, which is beautifully demonstrated here, most of them, specially Kiba, he starts as a loner and it is only when meeting other wolves when trying to figure stuff out not on his own that he grows more into being in his human form, and both wolves and humans can be like that, but the thing about wolves is that they are connected with nature, they can literally reshape the environment, hence why they seek the flower, their journey in search of paradise, and humans are content with their lives, which is why they reject wolves or keep them as pets, or in the worse case as tools. People think wolves bring about the end of the world but they just sense it, and it should be a signal about it, but since we've grown to despise them we see it as a bad omen, and no one can tell you a bad prophecy if there is no prophet, we see it as a threat or a curse instead of help in order to change or reach out and make things better.
Maybe we were all once wolves who simply forgot because it was easier that way, more pleasant to be just a human, instead of realizing we were one and the same and both looking for the same thing.
I think its awesome that you reflected on Wolfs Rain. I remember watching this anime when i was like 12 and that ending to me was so beautiful but fucked. I think your spot on when you said that the world reincarnated to a better society but repeating that ending again. I interpreted reincarnation being soiled by evil and that cycle repeating. It was a great story. Thanks.
I watched Wolf’s Rain as a preteen back in 2006, and it caused me to have my first existential crisis. 😂
Wow. It’s been a while since I’ve thought about Wolf’s Rain. It was one of the first anime I watched, back when whole series of anime could be uploaded on RUclips without copyright worries. I remember being sad and confused by how it ended.
This will be an interesting look at it 15+ years later.
That's the perfect birthday gift for me✨ I love your videos! And Wolfs Rain will always have a special place in my heart♥️
I remember watching this anime when I was like 15 or 16 so like, a long time ago, and experiencing one of the strongest feelings of hollowness I had ever experienced until then at the end of the anime
First, Toboe's death just traumatized me and then that whole little speech Tsume gives, saying goodbye to Toboe...like, how are you supposed to not be a mess after watching that!? 😂
And then after I could finally pull it together to finish the rest of the show and just get it over with the ending just destroyed me
I legit got so depressed for like a good month and a half
I was obsessed with the sound track
I would just listen to it to find some solice
In particular "stangers" and "beyond me"
Looking back on it now, I can laugh about the experience, but I do remember this anime hitting me so hard it really is something you have to experience for yourself
It sticks with you for a while
Still love it, though it's just such a beautiful and poetic story, and the animation is gorgeous not to mention the music 10/10
Sorry you just saw the ending for the first time, it can be an unsettling feeling
I was just as confused as you, not knowing what to make out of most of it but just knowing it had changed me somehow, and i was not the same as the one before watching that anime lol 😂
I know it sounds dramatic, but you do have to watch it to get it
Discovering this on a Melon Tee video is a blessing
THIS IS SUCH A GOOD SHOW I ADORE IT OMG I'm so glad to see this especially from you this is gonna be so awesome to watch I'm already getting teary this was my childhood fr ;v;
2000s kiddos would wake up to Inuyasha’s outro , I woke up to this outro.. I can honestly say wolf rain was my introduction into the marvelous world of anime .. it’s still so good to this day 🙏🏽
This is a severly under rated anime.
I’m so glad to see people experiencing Wolfs Rain. It was the First anime I ever watched and it’ll always have a spot as one of my all time favorites
So I haven't even started the video but i wanna say i almost had a heart attack watching the thumbnail 😂 it's one of my favourite anime of all time, there isn't enough appreciation for this beautiful piece of art ij this world
There is a certain running thread in Japan of wolves being a bit of a metaphor for a warrior or fighter's spirit. I think that the wolves represent a little bit of the pro family but anti-social instinct that many cultures have but that might be a little more difficult to express in a socially conscientious society like modern Japan.
So I suspect that Wolf's rain is a bit of a slice of life series and is kind of like one of those plots that's supposed to be watching the nature of the characters carry them forward like watching a leaf get carried by the water of a river. Sure there was much suffering but there was also honest joy, love and freedom.
I only got to watch this series after ADORING IT when I was young, roughly 10 or so years ago when it was getting popular on RUclips.
I am obsessed with it. I have watched it with friends 4 times in a row and every time I finish the series I'm left wanting more and more. I wish this series got the love it deserved, and I wish more people knew about it. It genuinely changed my life.
I watched this show as a teenager on Cartoon Network with my little brother. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch it again since my brother passed away, but this show is so good and I'm so glad you're talking about it!
This anime rang out to me the most due to the reoccurring themes of loneliness and perseverance. On that token, something I noticed in this series is the presence of masks, disguises, and hiding identities. The wolves have the ability to cast illusion, but everyone else wore masks or had jobs that overshadowed the individual. Everyone in society doesn't know who they are, where they came from, or where they're going. In my opinion, why the world is ending. Cities and factions of humans are fractured, and without memories of love to bind, before long, we're a enemies. This can't be the way, there must be a better way. Paradise is calling, and I think we can do it if we try. But everyone's too tired to try again, and so it all ends. All the pain, all the beauty. A grim outlook of how our society too can end. And at the end, is all that really matters. Me, my purpose, my opposition, and what I'm willing to do to ensure that something can continue to see tomorrow.
I loved this series in my youth, and I feel it is the basis for a lot of the anime I enjoy. One of the few series I found in the long time since I finished this is Casshern Sins, a post-apocalyptic robot tale that I think came out about a decade later. Dunno if you have seen this, but thank you for covering one of my all-time FAVORITE shows 🐺🌧😍😭
MELON AAAAAH im so happy about someone talking about wolfsrain its one of my favorites!
This was one of the first animes i ever watched and to this day is still one of my favourites. I cried like a baby at the ending, but i loved every second of it.
I haven't seen this series in years but I loved it so much as a teen. It's so nice to see someone talking about it. I might have to watch it again some time soon
What a coincidence you made a video on Wolf's rain just as i randomly remembered it exists a few days ago.
I once described this show to a friend who was having trouble getting into it as a meditation on loneliness, and paradise is other people.
Omfg Wolfs Rain! Its so nostalgic! xD
I was a young teen seeing this!
Thanks for covering this series. I always interpreted the conclusion to be about how people need to be in a constant state of searching, in a constant state of forward movement, as that is what is able to keep people going through life. That's why the search for paradise is contrasted with these false paradises in the series (the Nobles' paradise, as well as the false paradise Kiba and then later those poor soldiers get trapped in), because they keep people stagnated.
Wolf’s rain!! Good to hear you’re into the less mainstream stuff, now I’m expecting a video on Zankyou no Terror
Iceland music in my Japanese anime ost? More likely than you think 🇮🇸
I first watched this series when it aired on adult swim (so buttfuck long ago) and Toboe’s death scene still makes me tear up. 🥺
Anyway great review. I hope you do more underground anime in the future!!
i appreciate your commentary immensely. gonna watch this soon
I saw Wolf's Rain when I was a teen and kept rewatching it later when I became an adult. At first I thought that the wolves had died and basically gone to paradise which could have been their form of 'heaven' almost. However, later I began to to think if this is like an ouroboros cycle (probably butchered that word) but it is basically: birth, death and rebirth-- and repeat. It is something that will repeat in means of balance but the psychology aspect of things is really fascinating. So many possible endings.
I remember when I first watched Wolfs Rain.
I was a young anime loving teen back in 2008 and it was Thanksgiving. The show came in the mail and i spent two days binging it.
The dispair and waves of emotion upon completing it shook me to my very core.
What a beautiful work of art
I personally subscribe to the interpretation that it's about how we all run our whole lives for a goal none of us will every truly reach, and that "paradise" doesn't exist, that you'll never be happy and no matter what you get or where you are you'll still be searching for that something to finally fix you.
I like this
Well, I guess I'll add this to the list and come back to the video only after watching the series
Wolf's Rain always feels like an ephemeral, melancholic dream. It's a wonderfully depressing experience & the opening has been stuck in my head for decades!
Omg I nearly forgot about this anime! I remembered my best friend from school introduced me to this years ago when she was obsessed with wolves at the time!
Wolf's Rain takes me back to those early years of Adult Swim. I was just thinking about it some time ago and how I am not sure I fully understood it like I did back when I watched it. Honestly this will help me get that better understanding I am looking for
It’s really nice to see someone finally cover this anime as it was my childhood.
Watching this series for the first time at like ten years old was insane lol I absolutely did not fully grasp what was happening by the end of it. But it stuck with me and it's still one of my favorites today.
The dreams and good moments against the oppressive environment really puntuates moments of peacefulness. I remember watching this a a kid on tunami. It was a really perfect thing to see as a midwest rust belt teen
Oh my God I can’t believe your talking about wolves rain, I grew up loving that show in the early 2000s I feel like it’s so underrated I loved it.
YEAH WOLF'S RAIN MENTIONED
I think you summarized my feelings for Wolf's Rain the best way possible: I have no fucking idea what to make of it, even by watching it twice. I liked it, but man is it confusing and weird. Though it's exactly that weirdness that makes it stand out from other stories. It's not like S.E. Lain, where everything is so much abstract that it has no form or shape, but it surely doesn't guide you by the hand to tell you what it wants to tell either. I also do agree, cutting it to 13 episodes would've make it much more concise. There's episodes where fucking nothing happens, plus all those recap episodes. The OST might be the best OST for any anime ever, as well. God bless Yoko Kanno.
Fun fact: the most viewed version of San Sebastian, by Sonata Arctica, on YT is an AMV of Wolf's Rain, and that's how I got to know the anime lmfao
@10:58 The recap episodes happened because of the SARS epidemic that hit Japan. They didn't have time to produce 4 full episodes because of the interruption in production, so those 4 episodes were cobbled together and aired. That's why on episode 26 there's an "end credits" sequence that doesn't really seem to fit with all the drama and action still occurring. That was the final aired episode without the final ending. They then released the 4 final episodes as OVAs to officially finish the story.
I freaked out when I saw that you did a video about this show. This anime had a stranglehold on middle-school me. It definitely was a point of awakening and confusion as far as my sexuality goes. I still think about this show today, even though I haven't watched it since... 2005 at the latest. Wow I'm old
I absolutely loved this anime. ❤️
The fact that it only has one season and ended the way it did made it absolutely perfect 👌
Melon coming for the feels and nostalgia.
I remember crying so much in front of Wolf Rain when I was 12 or 13 y.o. , such a fever dream hahaha
It's one of the anime who made a big impact on me.
In my opinion they are always wolves, the human forms are not really real.... I don't know, these forms never felt real
OMG Wolf Rain the trauma!
the director was also that of cowboy bebop., however the themes and atmospheres were beautiful, the theme song was beautiful, I cried a lot with this Anime.
Ps Mamoru Miyano is my favourite Seiyuu.
Idk if anyone pointed this out so sorry for this info dump, but the reason for the wolves being killed 200 years ago might be in connections with japan, and what they did to there wolves. Which sadly yes they where all killed off in 1905, and the anime was released in 2003.
And in japan they even have a yokai that are wolfs that gain the ability to turn human. Kinda like fox yokai for a lack of a better example. I only know of this cause someone pointed this out to me years ago. Because, yeah I had no idea about this either. XD
extra! I could be wrong, but Y2K was pretty much a theme with a lot of japanese works or the idea of it, and seeing how these era of anime had like one of the most fashionable styles I've still ever seen despite it's idea of the end of the world really is kinda funny to me as well.
To me, it sounds like the story is about myth; that paradise existed once, but now that there's these others here, we can't have paradise. That even when you reach that paradise, it'll be moved just out of reach for some other reason.
Thank you for the video. I was a fan of the anime for so long and somehow got my own answer about the ending, which I would like to share.
First, my interpretation of going to paradise for the characters with lapsed faith is to cleanse their own darkness. I think almost all main characters other than Kiba redeemed themselves from their own sin/trauma. The difference between Kiba and others comes from the fact that Kiba is a key to paradise while others are contents of paradise as we can see others already have some kind of peace in their dream, while Kiba dreams nothing from the lullaby of Cheza. Kiba understands others more sincerely and exactly through the delusion he had during the comma and got matured. But still, he is more a key than a content of paradise. He facilitizes the pack to find their own salvage but he himself is in hell in the end, and the hell will be eternal if he keeps fail to open the paradise as it was the case in this sequence.
What Kiba found out in the end is that what he needed was things to protect, not merely finding paradise. The pack failed to reach paradise because Darcia also didn't understand that the way paradise open is not by "using" the moon flower but to protect the flower and let it bloom where it should be (on the caldera of the mountain). Kiba also didn't know what to do with Cheza. Instead, Cheza knew what to do and tried to turn into flower on the crater asap, even abandoning Kiba. Due to the fact that Kiba's instinct to find paradise is equivalent to protecting precious things like friends (but a little bit less than hope to open paradise which left Kiba in hell), the paradise could have been opened so that the hope remained for the future.
I think this is a good metaphor for what our eager to achieve purpose can result in. For example, some part of economic growth, or some purpose inside, led people who already have a piece of paradise to bloom their own peace. But through another path, it can make things worse and turn things terrible to imagine as nobles' purpose led the world to dystopia or almost apocalyptic situations. Not by using and controlling, but by protecting it and making things bloom as what their nature embodies will bear hope and betterment than before.
A cruel reality (represented by nobles, especially overpowered Darcia) might deter us from protecting what we think is precious. Though, the struggle will allow us another chance to meet each other and try the next round to accomplish a trip to the paradise through legend. The legend is a device that overcomes the limitation of will inside the mortal body. By keeping hope in such ways and finally paradise open with our wolves inside, then is when Kiba's hellish repetition will end.
This is all I have it in mind. It was an opportunity for me to organize my thoughts about Wolf's rain. Sorry for too long a comment, and thank you again.
OMG A WOLFS RAIN VIDEO WHAT
I actually intended making one myself bc there are many things unspoken about this masterpiece. Can't wait to watch :D
I love this show, I first watched years ago when I was maybe 12 and each time I watch it since, it never fail to make me cry.
I had never considered the thought that Wolf's Rain can be classified as some 'Furry shit', funny that.
I didn't think of them as shapeshifting between wolf and human, I had always assumed they simply are both at all times and the visual change just lets us the audience know which part of themselves they are acting on, or which others are seeing them as. So in that meeting between Kiba and Tsume their recognizing each other as wolves is significant because they can identify when another is a wolf. That or it's something like a Faerie Glamour, where they're always wolves and the human form is some type of projection or illusion. I dunno the only thing I remember for sure is that it was kept very vague.
I believe the comments about Wolves being extinct is meant to refer to the unique type of Wolf Person that our protagonists are.
Great pick, Haza!
i listen to the ost to this day. One of the most beautiful stories and aesthetics/OSTs.
❤❤❤ wolfs rain was my favourite anime in high school, the soundtrack is still one of my absolute favourites
glad to hear that I wasn't the only one who loved wolf's rain while being utterly confused by it
can't hype up the OST enough, Wolf's Rain was the first Yoko Kanno OST I ever heard, and she went SO HARD on it. literally all bangers, top to bottom
also, regarding the ending, I always felt that it was a literal paradise that got created, but the corruption brought by Darcia's eye making it through brought in his, like. nihilism and his cruelty. and thus, warped Paradise into a reflection of our modern-day reality. hence, setting Kiba on his search again, to find true Paradise.
also also, the wolves are always wolves, but have a Glamour they can use to pretend to look human and live among humans. and sometimes, they visually appear human to the viewer just for the sake of having human faces to emote with. but they're always wolves, they don't literally have hands. it's less confusing than it sounds in practice.
a Melon vid about Wolf's Rain in 2024?? a gift truly ... WR is one of my fave animes ever, yes it is weird, yes some stuff seem bizarre but it evokes so many emotions while watching it ... i should rewatch it at some point cause i think this is a timeless piece ... and i wish we could get stuff like that more often this days ... a similar show this days would be Heavenly Delusion for example, also quite a bit underrated in my opinion ... their essence is very similar to me ...anyway that was all i waned to say i guess and let me end this with the famous saying "they got that dog in them"