Wolf Children (Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki) Movie Discussion

Off-Topic
#1

This is the discussion page for Wolf Children, which we recently watched at the latest Kaza Movie night.

It took me a couple days to get this up, but I really want to hear everyone’s opinions of this movie, even those who couldn’t make it to the showing. I’m still trying to piece together a proper review so I’d love to hear you guys in the meantime.

You may discuss anything that happened in the movie without using spoiler tags but remember to tag references to all outside works with an appropriate [spoiler].

What would you rate this movie?

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0 voters

#2

I watched it twice, the first time 2 years ago, and the second time 2 months ago. It was as good as the first time.

I really like how we are seeing Ame and Yuki grow as time passes, especially Yuki. She really really grew on me.
The art is really good.

I don’t really know what to add. I recommend it to my friends and family.

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#3

It’s definitely not my favorite of Mamoru Hosoda’s works. Wolf Children is a beautifully animated, well-written movie, but it honestly makes me feel depressed just thinking about the whole package. The movie goes to leaps and bounds to make you care for the mother and her kids. Once the kids have gone and started doing their own thing, it feels like someone tore my heart out in my sleep. I don’t like coming out of a movie feeling depressed, but that shouldn’t dissuade anyone from watching this movie. It’s a great film. I just like The Girl Who Leapt Through Time a lot more.

#4

I personally liked the movie a lot.

Here I feel somewhat differently to be honest. For me this is kind of a coming of age thing, and that pain that you feel is simply the pain a parent feels when their child grows up and leaves their parents house. Because of that, I actually didn’t feel pain, and more easily reached the point of accepting that and being proud of both the children and the mother. Granted, for both this is somewhat early considering the time and age this usually happens.

Also, when we watched, my version was ca. 5 minutes shorter than everyone else’s, and in retrospect I think the German version indeed had a scene less and that quite early, as you guys sometimes talked about moments that already happened quite some time ago for me. However, I won’t start any witch hunting with calling “unnecessary censorship” or the like, because I think I still got the message the movie wanted to convey, so the missing scene most likely wasn’t crucial. I’ll also check the audio commentary that’s on the DVD I bought, maybe there’s something interesting to learn from that. If there is, I’ll edit this post or post another reply.

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#5

I’ve seen it twice. Once back when it was released, and a second time last year with my mom. The second watch reinforced my opinion of the first watch, and my mom agreed. Still, my memories aren’t fresh, so I can’t go into much detail…

The first half is pretty good. The romance is short but given enough time to add some attachment. It obviously isn’t the focus, but a nice amount of detail and time was given to it. The initial montages of Ame and Yuki growing up are adorable and funny, and also present the stress of being a parent. You get some of the mom’s joy and sadness over her situation. The move to the countryside provides more kiddy cuteness and the mother starts to develop into a really amazing character along with the people living in the little village.

Then we get a time skip… And the kids are teenagers. One gets wrapped up in a drama that isn’t very interesting and doesn’t really get a conclusion, and one gets wrapped up in a… something… that gets a conclusion, but is just booooring. The mother gets a bit of a backseat in this part of the film, which I don’t think was the way to go. Then the film just ends at a random spot.

Much like every single Shinkai film except Kimi no Nawa, it starts off great and ends a lukewarm pot of animu soup.

#6

The first time I saw it was at a screening at an anime convention. It was a lot more moving than I thought it’d be, but I still don’t really like the mom’s son…

#7

I’ve only watched this once so my memory’s a bit hazy. I remember really loving the first half of the show. It was the right mix of light and heavy drama, and I like how the movie portrayed everyday life and all its little wonders. The part where the villagers start helping the mom with small acts of kindness made me almost teary and simply made me feel all homey and comfty and the passage of time throughout the show is heartfelt. It almost feels like you’re growing up with the mom and the kids.

The latter half felt a bit lost to me and loses that warm feeling you get in the first half. It just felt off.

#8

I happen to have watched this with my college friends before, so I started on this film quite a bit late - around the time where an incident in a snowy place happened. Didn’t stop me from being hit by feels train later on haha.

What I like about this is the beautifully emotional portrayal of what mothers feel as they take care of their children. It was so heartfelt. The fact that her children are half-human, half-werewolf also added some nice drama over the theme of finding a place to belong.

Its weakness for me would be the way the ending was executed, which didn’t felt conclusive enough. Other than that, I think this is a solid piece as far as I have seen it. Maybe I’ll change my mind if I get to watch the part that I missed out, but for me it’s a 4.5.

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