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How about if we review a new movie?
t'd Thought in
Wolf Children
- I don't know it, is it about werewolves? - Actually yes.
Wow! I like it! An ultra-brutal seinen with a lot of blood!
... Actually...
It's a Josei
Aaargh!
Do not tell me it's a love story played at slow motion between an
innocent girl and a mysterious boy who uses to be a werewolf!
As twilight!
Only the first 20 minutes, then the movie starts
and it focuses on two adorable wolf kids
that discovering the world around...
Do not get down, I repeat: that is a Josei, not a Shojo.
The director is Mamoru Hosoda, a director of hyper-commercial anime who lately
has gained prestige working for Madhouse
"The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" and "Summer Wars"
In this flics, Hosoda proves to be a great director
with his art mixing everyday topics with fantasy, and in fact people are starting
to compare him with Hayao Miyazaki - I expect he won't wix everyday topics
with fantasy as well as in Howl's Moving Castle...
This film is fabulous!
But it is interesting you talk about this movie, because apparently
Hosoda was about to direct it, but left Ghibli at the beginning of production.
Returning to Wolf Children:
The character design is by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
Known for being the character designer from Gainax.
In Wolf Children character design is simple... but attractive children are
huggables, and werewolves have a retro touch
that is not bad.
Let us evaluate it:
Its strength: The Realization
direction is fantastic, yes...
but it is a very Japanese-style management, that means slow, and recreation
into details, but I do not say it as evil but as something that
viewers must be used to
About the script, it is predictable and not at all epic...
But its narrative is excellent. I give it 4 ninja stars.
Visual Art has very detailed backgrounds, hyper-realistic.
Are there painted photographs?
... I think so...
But this is the hallmark of Madhouse, I do not think it's question to pan it.
Another issue is that the animation...
It's irregular
On one hand we have rotoscoping animated characters ...
over the hyperrealistical backgrounds
it feels as a
"painterly filter Movie"
then there are the children, they really have done an amazing job with them,
and secondly, the have animated characters in conventional animation,
in this case it's seen weird flat characters appearing over
pictures... I give it 3 ninja stars.
It's weak point: The Soundtrack
the original dubbing has quality and the music is not that bad...
But it's neither memorable. I give it 3 stars ninja.
Final Rating: 4 ninja stars,
it is praiseworthy
how Hosoda has taken Ghibli's style
and it has been retouched it to create their own. Characters are very human...
Although I don't like the girl's off's voice,
the undisputed star of the story is the mother,
that gives everything for raise the children who can not fit into society,
and even
she feels insecure to prepare them for the time they'll have to choose
if they want to live as humans
or wolves
Maybe they wanted to promote the film as a Shojo.
Possibly,
That would also explain why children end behave as
teenagers when they
are 10
and 11,
They explain that wolves quickly than people...
But it seemed weird to me.
By the way, when you say that Hosoda was a director of hyper-commercial anime
which earlier films he did?
... Digimon and Magical Girls flics
... Now I understand how funny should Miyazaki have found that this guy had been called
"The New Miyazaki"