Forum - View topicANN Book Club -- Wolf's Rain.
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
 Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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Kay, here's the next week's schedule, so buck up! (Again, you can discuss anything about the show that precedes these episodes as well, just don't jump ahead.)
Episode 13 -- Men's Lament Episode 14 -- The Fallen Keep On a side note, with the article "no" the title could also be interpreted as "Castle of the Fallen"...interesting. Recap episodes 15-18 will be skipped. Episode 19 -- Dream of an Oasis Episode 20 -- CONSCIOUSLY There's more to discuss in these four episodes, actually, than there was in the twelve that preceded them... DISCUSSION IDEAS
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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Can't promise anything in-depth because some of the faith systems alluded to in this series are beyond my knowledge, and I'm still feeling a bit of burn-out after analyzing another series...
How in the world is Kiba an "emo," Tsume a "muscle guy" and Toboe a "baby-faced shemale"? (The only generalization that even comes close is Hige's shrewdness.)
The wolf worship is a fascinating tidbit (more on that below.) Cher also mentions that 200 years ago a certain disaster happened, causing various materials to vanish. This left only the Nobles with the knowledge of alchemy. Hm... Won't say anything about Jaguara for now, though.
Before Kiba leaves, Mew tells him that the Garden of Eternity is a place where time is frozen. It's stagnant with no conflict whatsoever, where contentment is a replacement for happiness. It's given to the person by no effort on their own, and eventually they forget the reason why they are here to begin with. (I don't mean to sound like an annoying fanboy pestering you, but the thematic parallels between Wolf's Rain and Texhnolyze are astounding. I note this because both series came out during the spring of 2003... Coincidentally enough, they're also being discussed at the same time here on ANN.)
Do you mean Hige, not Kiba? The latter never really gives up his search for Paradise, per se; it's just that the Garden of Eternity misleads him. Hige's bitterness seems to come from losing Kiba and Blue, and having no real self-motivation to go to Paradise himself. Toboe's problem stems from a desire to remain with humans. Also, some other quick notes: - We see two different flowers: the Lunar Flowers representing Cheza and the purple flower signifying the Garden of Eternity. What types of flowers are they? - The mythos about humans being created by wolves is interesting for another reason, but I think this could be an explanation for the humanistic traits of the wolves we see: the humans are modeled after them, so this world is actually reversed from the reality of our own. - Interesting that Tsume is the only one who remains resolute in searching for Kiba and continuing the journey during these episodes. - Isolated from the others, episode 13 might be my favorite of the series. Hubb and Quent are really entertaining to watch, and I love the setting for most of this episode -- something about traveling with desert and then snow surrounding you is very romantic to me. - Something else I wanted to talk about, but I forget. Gah. |
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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Not sure why I'm bringing this back, but I am. At the very least, I can share my thoughts on this run of episodes, probably my four favorite episodes in the show, not that the OVA doesn't have its marvelous moments.
I broke down my analyses of these episodes according to my bullets. There's...a lot...to say about each bullet, so this post will be a beast. First, though:
- I wish I knew something about flowers, but I don't. As far as visual symbolism goes, the Garden of Eternity's flower looks a lot like a Lunar Flower, but there are dark petals beneath the ones on top. This may not mean anything, but it's very interesting in light of what we see happening to the new Lunar Flowers at the end of the last episode of the show...what appears to be perfection is only imitation. - This only helps to illustrate the methods of the wolves' illusion, doesn't it? Cher says, "There must be another world (Paradise) that human beings have lost sight of at some point, and the animals are sensitive to that." The wolves simply use humans' short-sightedness against them. They have no desire for Paradise, or any understanding of the spiritual realms that gave birth to their race anymore, so the wolves just show them what they think exists: normal human beings. How is not the point, it's the principle of worldliness and self-deception that's being targeted. After all, this is an allegory, and allegories don't like to explain things 100% of the time, relying instead on symbolic abstraction. Heck, look at the Nobles. Their identity is a gappy one with more questions than answers, but all that really matters is their ultimate paradoxical symbolism with the wolves. --------------------------------------------------------------------- I have to agree with HellKorn that episode 13 is my personal favorite as well. There's a raw poeticism to both how the setting changes from a desert to deep snow and these two discarded men dragging each other across the middle of nowhere chasing something they've given up everything for, and may be better off letting go. Beyond that, though, I like what this episode has to say about Hubb. He's angry that everything in his life has been taken away from him even though he followed "all the rules" to the letter. He hasn't done anything wrong, and he's very vindictive about it. Why did he lose his wife and his job if he's always tried to be a good, responsible citizen...and here he is throwing back with some old nut who believes in wolves. He lets it all out when the car stops and he and Quent overhear the march of Freeze City's troops mobilizing for war. He starts cussing them out and Quent asks what has him so riled. Hubb starts blaming everything that's happened to him on the conspiracies of the Nobles, and being left out of the loop. Quent calls him out on this, and says that the fault of ignorance lies with him: "You were just watchin' the scenery go by." He has no one to blame but himself for his problems because he was the one that didn't see the world changing around him and realize he needed to change the way he lived. Cher did, and that's why they separated, precisely because Hubb was always being a "good little boy" and doing whatever the Nobles wanted him to do, without regard for where it was all going. He followed all the rules, but he wasn't doing the real "right" thing and living his life, seeing the signs of the encroaching apocalypse and reacting like Cher did. If it hadn't been for Cher, actually, he'd be like the hundreds left in Freeze City doomed to die as Jaguara closes in. One of my favorite little scenes in the episode is the flashback Hubb has of Cher standing on the balcony and releasing their caged canary, freeing the bird, staring into space with dreams of freeing herself as well by opening Paradise through her research. Presumably, this is a scene from a time just before they divorced, because of course, Hubb just thinks it's very strange. The more Cher pressures him with talks about Cheza, the more he just wants her to be his sweet little wife again and stop getting involved in things he doesn't understand. So in order to save herself, she has to leave him behind. Hubb still hasn't realized what he has to do yet, even if he has begun the journey of chasing down his ex-wife. He doesn't believe in the wolves or the Book of the Moon, per se, he's just chasing his woman, but at least by finding her, there's some hope for him. He is starting to believe and he is intrigued by the wolves, whether he think it's real in full or only in part. He won't end up like the delusional people living in Jaguara's keep, who we meet in the next run of episodes, but he certainly could have...either way, it all ties into the show's theme of giving up worldly complacency for something greater. -------------------------------------------------------------------- As for those nobles, this is about as much history as we ever get on them, and combined with an offhand statement from Iyek, if you're really sharp, you can actually figure out the big ending twist of the series regarding their history before it's revealed in the OVA. I did not when I first saw the series, but it is possible to identify based on the clues we are given. 1. The Nobles are human, yet somehow superhuman. They have mastery over magic, which utterly fascinates them, and they are given automatic providence to rule in the world. However, they are secretive and selfish, and isolate themselves from one another. 2. That may not have always been the case however. Cher's oral history of the nobility suggests that at one time they made knowledge of their alchemy readily available (even though they were the only magic users) and created a bridge to the universe using their arts, creating an age of prosperity on the earth. However, a certain accident taking place 200 years ago left their great institutions in shambles, raptured away a large portion of the population, and forever cursed the house of Darcia with Paradise Sickness. Since that time, their alchemy was locked away to only the most ancient houses of nobility, and the historical records of their line fairly well destroyed. 3. The earth-shattering incident was caused by Darcia the First, who was obsessed with finding Paradise. He wrote the Book of the Moon as a book of both method and prophecy for opening Paradise and predicting how the world would end once Paradise was found by the wolves, if not the Nobles. Still, Darcia's writings seem to suggest that Paradise is a place for the wolves, not the Nobles, to rule. This is a very different view from both Orkham and Jaguara, but that will come up later. For now, it's clear that whatever happened 200 years ago, Darcia the First was to blame and it left his descendants "cursed by Paradise." 4. This curse may affect each member of the house differently, but we only have two examples of it in the story. In Hamona's case, when she "contracted" it, her soul stole away to Paradise and left her body behind, albeit still "technically" alive in a comatose state. Darcia's case was quite different. His eye "transformed" into a wolf's eye that haunts him constantly with a lust for Paradise and a wolf's vision of the world that is, of course, directly opposed to a Noble's. It's no wonder the Darcia household fell into disarray. What a wolf finds luxurious is not what a Noble finds luxurious, and there was probably great conflict there, as Darcia laments constantly. The way it's phrased in both language versions of the show suggests that he wasn't born with that eye, oddly enough, but that it just became a wolf's eye at some point in his life as part of the disease. Hm. 5. This is all very interesting, but no conclusions can be drawn until we hear Iyek say something very interesting in episode 19. "All humans were born from the spirit of wolves. Except for the Nobles, anyway." So, where did the Nobles come from? The answer will dictate the tragic fate of Kiba's quest for Paradise, and make episode 14's title very very very ironic. I can't say more than that until the last five episodes. -------------------------------------------------------- Speaking of Darcia, you may remember his rather mopey confusion about what he wants in life. Let's face it: his life does suck. He's the last of his line, a disgraced house with no subjects to begin with, holding a bad history in all the other Nobles' eyes as well as fearful subjects of those Nobles. His one true love was taken temporarily from him by a strain of his own curse, and then by another wicked Noble, this time for good. Oh yeah, that curse causes him a lot of crap, too, but he can't rest in peace like his love, although he clearly wishes he could. All he wanted out of life was to bring Hamona back and be a strong and happy ruler, with what little reputation he had, of course, at least he was in love. Of course, he wished to take Hamona to Paradise, but I'm sure he rued ever wishing that when she was taken there without him, so his attempt to bring her back comes first, Paradise second, and even then, he wants to go there only to rid himself of his curse so this doesn't happen again. When Hamona is killed, well, there goes that plan. And here's his problem. He has no idea what to do. The Noble part of him wants to mourn her death, perhaps kill himself, in any case, he despises Paradise and wants no part of it. But his wolf's eye still hungers for Paradise, (where Hamona actually is, weirdly enough) and wants to continue trying to open it. In the end, all he can do is angst. We see in his near-execution of Cheza that he's tempted to take Kiba's chance at Paradise away from him, just as his own desire was taken away. But he does hesitate. He asks Kiba why the wolves want to find Paradise so much, and what is it that it holds for them. Kiba responds "A future. Not hope, not despair, a future." An arrival. No more journeying. Darcia is devastated by this response. He can't imagine a future without Hamona. She's gone. The big confusion for viewers here is that Hamona is IN Paradise, so what's Darcia's damage? Well, you have to keep in mind that he is a terribly arrogant and ambitious Noble. Clearly he wanted to rule Paradise among the living, as a Noble, not serve wolves and the Great Spirit among the dead. That's not a future for an arrogant Noble. As a Noble, he has really died with Hamona, as evidenced by his abandonment of his mask and succumbing to destruction of his own keep. But the second part of him still lingers, and he still can't let go of his desire to make something of himself, or his cursed lust for Paradise...oh, crap. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- If Paradise holds "a future" for the wolves with great rewards and dominion over a perfect world, what does that make the Garden of Eternity? Well, it can't be a future if nothing ever changes. It is, in fact, a slow death. That's why the owl is there, the emblem of ignorance, un-life, and even a literal death in this case as Kiba is unknowingly being absorbed by the deadly desert weed. These episodes mark one of my favorite observations on what true Paradise is, an observation also noted in Mitch Albom's touching little book "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" and aspects of Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," both of which hold echoes to Wolf's Rain's themes of "the spiritual journey" in many ways, actually. Paradise wouldn't be just a place of being blissfully lackadaisical all the time, because Paradise is supposed to be a perfect life, and life is, well, EXCITING! Peace can only be achieved through suffering, which has to be remembered, not forgotten, and settled in one's own mind before inner peace is earned. (We'll see this in the OVA.) There is peace, yes, but there's also meant to be fulfillment and celebration and joy to pursue. The complacency of the Garden of Eternity is not unlike the pampered non-life Jaguara's citizens experience in their fake Paradise as well, or the fake Paradise Hubb experienced in his successful, yet meaningless life. Kiba is fooled into thinking this place is the real Paradise, but of course it could never be. Another big part of this is the Garden of Eternity making all creatures simple, equal, and with no ties to their past, a pretty common view of "heaven" that a lot of people dream about, but is very depressing when you think about it. Real freedom and happiness would allow you to revel in your accomplishments and treasure your memories, not discard them for a lack of responsibility and indifference to knowledge. It would be a place of great diversity and a perfect opportunity to strive to better oneself and others, instead of just feeling good all the time. It should be a place of answers, not questions that are slowly forgotten. The elder of the native tribe tells Kiba that the simple happiness he found "was enough for most people," but clearly not enough for Kiba or he wouldn't have come back when he was called. Mew is one of those people, which is why she has to give up her self-deception and let Kiba go in the end. "You and I are more different than you realize." Paradise shouldn't be a place of deception, but a place of truth. Sadly, most people embrace ignorance and illusion, even Toboe is guilty of this, as I'll discuss below. Mew's assertion that "Well, if you think this is Paradise, then it must be" is a dangerous one. (Actually, this same problem plagues the modern christian church, turning it into a haven of feel-good refreshment and fake sympathies instead of a haven for knowledge, understanding, and challenging how we live, but that's another topic, isn't it?) --------------------------------------------------------------- Actually, HellKorn, I did mean to type "Kiba," and not Hige, but since you've brought up an excellent point in that all the wolves change a lot after Darcia's keep falls and Cheza is taken, I'll make observations on each of them. All of them change because of severe blows to their confidence and faith in reaching Paradise. Kiba-- Kiba does, in fact, give up on Paradise. It's not entirely willful, no, but I hesitate to say he was just fooled completely. Consider the detailed confession of his past he pours out to Mew. His relative position, the weakness of being worn down physically and having doubt rain down on him when his best efforts take Paradise further from him, what scene does this remind you of? Well, of course, it's just like when he spilled his guts to Tsume after being torn down by the fallen wolves in episodes 5 and 6. He really needs some catharsis at this point, so he falls into some much-needed indulgence. He hears the voices of the others calling him back, he hears Cheza calling for help, but he chooses not to question what it all means. He sees the owl and decides to ignore it. Part of it is the poison setting his mind adrift, but he's already in a position to just throw in the towel and say, "This is Paradise to me. I just want to forget. I just want to feel good about what I've done, because blindly searching is just too hard." He accepts what's in front of him, and I really can't blame him even if he is wrong. In a way, I don't think the Garden of Eternity was bad for him. It gave him a little rest when he was an emotional wreck, and reaffirmed for him what the real Paradise was...and what it wasn't. The most telling hint for suggesting that Kiba is deceiving himself in these episodes rather than being fooled? When he examines the flowers of the Garden to see if they are like the Lunar Flowers, and it crumbles in his hand. He seems very concerned at first, but he looks up at Mew, and there she is, so cute and loving, and he disregards the flower. It promptly respawns exactly where it was, as if it forgot that it had ever died at all. Toboe -- Toboe's act of "giving up" is far more willful, but it is also not what it appears.
Perhaps in part. But keep in mind that characters don't always say what they really mean in well-written shows, and Wolf's Rain is nothing if not very well-written. Toboe is also lying to himself. He thinks Iyek's village is a peaceful place, one of rest and equality and catharsis, (sound familiar?) but he doesn't really think it's Paradise. Otherwise, he would be far more resolved when Tsume asks him "Are you sure?" The real telling moment in Toboe's reasons for giving up is in his conversation with Mr. Ed. (Um, I mean the horse.) He remembers his greatest haunting memory of inadequacy: when he "let his granny die." It's more accurate to say that he killed her because of his own childishness. In every way, Toboe feels weak, and the only thing that validates him is his usefulness to humans. So he settles for an imperfect peace and an easy life among Iyek's people. He tells the horse "I don't have what it takes...if I'm gone, I won't get in their way." He's found his own Garden of Eternity, and he would rather stay there than suffer any longer from feeling incapable of reaching a place that may or may not exist. Toboe's mind is mostly changed for good when he hears about Kiba's adventure, oddly enough. When the Chief says that complacent bliss is enough to satisfy most people, it applies just as much to Toboe, who, like Kiba, feared his own inadequacy and failings of the past so much that he ended up "settling" for less than he should. Fortunately, he does resolve to be the big man (wolf?) and surge for the goal despite the doubt and the hardship. Which leads the horse to say, "You've got what it takes to get to Paradise, and then some," and show off his pearly whites. Hige -- Hige is dealing with some personal issues, pretty much. He's never thought of himself as deserving to go to Paradise, although the reasons for this won't be clear until the next several episodes. It is no spoiler to say, however, that Hige has trouble fitting in. Girls find him repulsive, guys find him to be a smart-mouthed lard, and for whatever reason, he's never been able to stay in a pack. He's in this quest for Paradise just for the ride. Kiba finds him useful, and Blue likes him. When both those pins are pulled, there's no reason for him to strain himself any more. He never really had any faith in Paradise. But he has a slight change of heart when he sees, of all people... Tsume -- ...Tsume taking up the lead and deciding to go the distance even if everyone else has given up! Now, this is curious. Why would Tsume do this? He had no faith in Paradise when the journey started, and only resolved to pursue it when he came to admire Kiba and wanted to give him emotional support in episode 6. But now it seems so personal. It's surprising for the audience as well, so Tsume has to explain himself, and he does. Tsume hasn't done much with his life, and, like Cher, the sudden reality of the apocalypse leaves him with ants in his leather pants. "If wolves really do cause the world to end, I want to be there when it happens. So I'm gonna find him." It's almost as if he's saying, "Kiba, you thought finding Paradise was a big deal, you're gonna love this: we're going to usher in the new world altogether! It's our job and you were right!" He may not even realize that his deep respect for Kiba has become a personal passion for Paradise along the way, as his life, filled with self-deprecation as it has been, is finally being given meaning in the quest and his friendship with Toboe, devotion to Kiba, and modicum of affection for Hige as well. His new sense of self-respect was clearly developing in the Forest of Death episode where he challenged Kiba's authority for the sake of the quest. At least Hige notices that "You sound like Kiba." Because he's so reserved, Hige hadn't seen this change of heart in him until now, and he finally comes to respect Tsume like he respects Kiba (clearly he didn't in the Forest of Death episode, now he does.) Unfortunately, this is only going to be a huge problem several episodes from now. ----------------------------------- Whew! I'll leave a few days for reply as I've thrown an awful lot out there, and then I'll put up the next "week" of discussion, which may end up being more like five days. |
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Vampire_Star
 Posts: 1 Location: Hell |
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i didn't really like Wolf Rain at all..
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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Sorry for the late reply. Been a bit busy. ANN being slow doesn't help matters much, either.
Is this to imply a dichotomy between those with the drive and focus (hence the qualities needed to go to Paradise), or that because humanity has moved away from their "mythology" within their religious beliefs that they have become ignorant of what they are? If it's the latter... well, I'm not sure how to give an adequate response. True, I do think that people shouldn't be as easily dismissive for that which we have no explanation for, per se; however, that doesn't mean one should give leeway to whatever pops out from the human imagination. And it's not as though we treat all religions equally, anyhow; some have died out over time simply because they were not convenient for the dominating society at the time. (Not to mention how we view, say, Greek mythology today as nothing more than mere fiction.) Or perhaps I'm seeing something that's not there!
Question about this: what exactly defines perfection? I definitely agree that excitement is part of an admirable life -- be it through grand, adventurous journeys, or the day-to-day livings. (Essentially, having valuable direction and never compromising on it, never caving in on stagnation.) Where I have problems with conceiving what a "perfect life" constitutes is whether or not suffering is a part of it -- obviously it will be retained in memory, but whether it continues in action, as well. Or, if not suffering, conflict of some sort (and conflict does not necessarily lead to suffering). It'll be interesting to see how our views of the show diverge, if at all.
I'm thinking more of a subconscious drive, actually. Kiba is defeated after the events at Darcia's Keep, losing his companionships and Cheza (consequently, his direction). The desire to find it is still there, but his more surface frustrations allow him to temporarily give in to the illusion. (See my point on compromising above... which more or less agrees with what you say about Kiba and Toboe.)
Well, this makes some of the yaoi fan-fiction make more sense. (Not really.) 
Also sorry for not being able to add much, but: 1) You're more familiar with it than someone who has only watched this series once before and 2) You've done a great job of coverage so far.
Well, aren't we a bundle of insight! |
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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Well, it's not explicitly stated, but given that there's no division granted to humans who pursue Paradise and who don't, (Granny and other "good" people like Quent's family go there, and Cher has a pretty damning little speech in the OVA about this) I would definitely say the latter is closer, however...
You're viewing it a little too narrowly. It's not necessarily a matter of religion. They use the lost mythology of the wolves to give an identity to what they're endorsing, but it isn't "religion good, worldliness bad." It is interesting, of course, that they would "make up a religion" with elements from several different ones instead of trying to incorporate an existing religion into the story. To get to the point, it's more about making yourself uncomfortable for a better life, and not in material terms. So maybe "spiritual goals good, material goals bad?" At least this holds true for the human element to the story that we see in Hubb and Cher. For the wolves...I guess it broadens, but the idea is similar. The story is basically saying that if you knew what the truth was, and what kind of impact it had on your soul and how you live your life, would you give up everything for the pursuit of that goal? It's a testament to faith in something above the tide of society and the carnal drive of mundane life. At least, that's the best way I can peg it down. Like Evangelion, it might have a "theme" you can put in words, but it's easier to think of it as having a "worldview," in this case a pretty broad but heavy emphasis on "theism/spiritualism" in general, which is just gonna dictate how anything is portrayed about human nature. So, you have a lot of themes about faith, self-sacrifice in the name of doing what's right, "the fallen" who would usurp the gods, a dim view of human beings trying to create perfection, karmic ideals, eternal rewards versus temporary ones, gain the world but lose your soul ideas, dangers of blind faith and complacency, etc. It's all burritoed up in there.
That's a pretty sticky question, and not easy to answer. My personal view is that perfection is the reward for suffering and conflict, and would therefore only be appreciated because of the turmoil it took to attain. (It's no secret that people that express a strong belief about anything tend to get ousted and persecuted. Tolerance is the new good, intolerance the new evil. I'm not talking politics, I mean with anything. The greatest sin is now offending someone or making them uncomfortable. Hm. Where have we heard that before?) I think perfection, like eternal life in general, is something people find difficult to fathom or even really desire because it's something that does not exist, something too good for us flawed human beings to perceive liking at all. (C.S. Lewis wrote a brilliant book based on this idea, that the people who went to hell, if given the chance to go to heaven, had made themselves the kinds of people who would hate it, so it wouldn't matter.) Maybe that would be different, however, if we did attain it, in a form and realm where we could understand and embrace it. I would expect it to be exciting, but maybe not tumultuous. But that's me, and a bit irrelevant. The story of Wolf's Rain seems to communicate that Paradise (the new one that kind of glomps the existing world) is JUST like the real world, probably with conflict and excitement and hierarchies of wolves, humans, flowers, and all life in a new kingdom that rivals the old world's. The only difference is that it would be devoid of evil, and, once birthed with no speck of evil, would last forever because there was no evil to spread or decay the new slate. (We all know how that works out, but oh well.) Kiba states specifically that he seeks Paradise for "a future" and "to survive," because he fully expects to live forever and he can't do that in a world that decays because of evil. ANYWAY! Next couple days' schedule, sorry, I kinda forgot about it. Episode 21--Battle's Red Glare Episode 22--Pieces of a Shooting Star Episode 23--Heartbeat of the Black City Episode 24--Scent of a Trap Episode 25--False Memories I'm not going to do discussion questions. Much of what's addressed in these episodes is just a follow-up of themes that have emerged in the previous four. I will say that I'm happy the greatest plothole of the series thus far was filled in in these episodes (Hige) and I find the most fascinating parts of these episodes to be entirely human-centered. (Hubb and Cher's conversation in the truck, and especially the observations on the citizenry of Jaguara's keep, along with the engrossing scene in the refugee truck with the two crazy guys and Quent.) |
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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Not able to contribute much right now due to various issues, but I'll mention a few things (which JO may or may not elaborate on):
- Blue's comments are interesting in the first couple episodes. Awareness of her true nature is one noticeable aspect already touched upon, but what she specifically says about Paradise is rather telling and nicely-done foreshadowing. (Oh, and she also comes to learn that her village was, in fact, decimated by Jaguara's troops searching for wolves, and not by the god-like animals themselves.) - Hige's past is revealed: an unknowing "traitor" to other wolves that Jaguara had captured in the past. The disorientation in these episodes is nicely done. (Though I'm still a bit confused as to why the men didn't capture him.) - Nice bits of animation with the fight between Toboe and the giant walrus. Also really enjoy the keen attention to facial expressions that pops up every now and then. - The world and its people are collapsing slowly. In the truck that Quent is occupying, a man consumed with living for immediate self-pleasure kills another who can only harp on how it's all coming to an end. Destruction and deportation are occurring at an alarming rate, all except at... - .. Jaguara's Keep. (Which gives me yet another sense of deja vu compared to the other series I'm watching and analyzing...) It's distinctly divided between two groups: the haves and the have-nots. Any attempts by the latter to integrate themselves in the former is highly risky: fake "passes" are sold and essentially traps for anyone trying to access the city. - The city itself is quite well off, and the people perfectly complacent. They have no desire to learn of anything that may trouble -- who would want to, in such a clean, peaceful place like that? They freely ignore the troubles of the outside, and indeed that they are being kept under watch at all. - The two major villains also come to the forefront here. Jaguara is unsurprisingly easy to hate, which is an interesting contrast to my opinion of Darcia. I mean, yeah, I know what he represents and the role he ultimately plays, but I'm quite amused by him. Can only chalk it up to his mask and fittingly smooth, deep voice (by the Japanese voice actor; I actually forget Blum's take on the character).
Ah, yeah, that makes sense. Find that to be an agreeable view on that matter. I'll comment about Paradise later -- probably once the last episode discussion is underway. |
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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Yes, Blue's situation is an odd one. She doesn't have that "wolf's pride" that the other wolves possess, but she still longs to go to paradise for her own reasons, even if she doesn't think she would be allowed in. This is only enhanced by the fact that she has nowhere else to go and can't stay with the one she cares about most any longer. So it's only fitting that she travels with Cher, whose situation is very much the same. (And they're both spunky femme fatales.) I'm trying to remember what Blue said about paradise specifically, but I'm drawing a blank. Maybe you could remember? As for Blue's relief that the wolves didn't cause the destruction of Kyrios, well, that's 90% correct. Sadly, there's a 10% twist that has kept Quent pursuing them for all these years. After all, he's not stupid. He must have seen something to have so strongly convicted him that it was wolves that killed his family. That won't come up, though, until the OVA.
Yes, that was spooky. It even got my roommate's attention when I was watching it. At first I was miffed that we didn't get to see what Hige's false memories were, or how he had been bred and brainwashed by Jaguara, but then I realized that it doesn't really matter. The important thing is that the biggest plothole in the series has FINALLY been cemented over. Seriously, how did Jaguara figure out when to strike at Darcia's keep? How did she know where all the wolves were at any given time and be able to head them off so very well? It was all way too convenient, and we finally have our answer. Hige was being watched the entire time, and when Darcia went out of his way to get Cheza in a hurry, she saw it and took the perfect opportunity to kill Hamona. She chased the wolves and struck in areas where they were located to usher them toward her own keep. Now in ordinary circumstances, she would have killed off the pack Hige was with (as has happened in the past, we learn, no wonder he can never find a pack to stay with) but Kiba is special, so she doesn't. By that token, it makes sense that the soldiers didn't capture him. They know where he is at any given time, and until Jaguara finds him to be problematic, he's allowed to go anywhere he likes under surveillance. If he did clearly figure out what was going on, of course, he'd be caught, stuffed and mounted like those before him. I think one of them says something like "Doesn't look like any others are with him," which meant they probably expected him to rendezvous with more wolves, allowing them to capture them. So, hey, let him. (He figures this out and DOESN'T, thankfully, but they're still captured.) Hige, by the way, says something interesting to Blue at the end of this run of episodes. He says that this whole time all he could focus on was reaching Paradise, and blocking out anything else. It's no wonder he thought he was inadequate to reach paradise, and wanted to give up so many times. He must have known there was something wrong with his own past, that thing around his neck, and why no pack would ever accept him. Unfortunately, by blocking it all out, he only ignored the warning signs that led his teammates right to the trap he had been primed to lead them into. Poor guy. No wonder he just wants to forget about it all and stay with Blue.
More struggling with inadequacy on Toboe's part. But for once he actually gets to break free of it. (Fun fact: this is the last time any of our leads eats in the entire show. I just noticed this on rewatch. I mean, Quent has a glass of vodka later, but that's Quent. After that, he nearly starves to death, as does Hubb and the wolves. I mean, that's a few days and eight episodes with no food! Ouch.)
Well put. The men are two extremes of how humanity would probably approach the apocalypse: denial and despair. Of course they're at odds with each other, but they're both nuts. It's a great scene, albeit really disturbing. I'm not sure what Jaguara's criterion is for accepting people into her city, besides wealth. The upper echelons of the city contain only nobles, and below that, privileged humans. Still, people like the bookseller and the resident soldiers aren't stinking wealthy, and Quent, despite being a total bum, is allowed to walk around the highest plains of the city because of his privileged pass (that was once a soldier's.) I think it has something to do with loyalty to Jaguara herself, a near-worship of Jaguara, being rewarded with riches and comfort, rather than pre-possessed wealth. Why wouldn't Jaguara want to be worshipped? Of course, people that worship her are likely to hold her ideals... ...which brings us to another "false Paradise." Like the ones before it, Jaguara's keep offers bliss and a life devoid of worries at the cost of freedom, knowledge, and meaning. Except that Jaguara's keep is the ultimate epitome of this, the end result to the little examples that have come before. People have completely given up their free will for ultimate comfort and the promise of perfection. But it's a false promise, as the humans are all being led on to their doom by an indifferent noble. If they were paying even the slightest bit of attention to what's going on, they would know that, but people like that aren't the kind that would be accepted into that city. The cat sums it up pretty well when he says, "The people here are all zombies. They don't think, they don't feel, and they don't question." They would rather sink into their own selfish hearts and wallow in worldly perfection than dare to face the ugly reality of a purpose-driven life in the face of the apocalypse. These are the kind of people who will take the easy choice over the right choice. They would never take up the journey for a real paradise, because it's filled with doubt and hardship. There's no fear, however, in the temporal paradise that offers them the world for their own souls, making them, as Blue observes, "not human at all." Looking at it practically, there's no way to have both ideals. Whenever someone embraced one, the other was lost to them. If someone valued security and relative happiness, they never would pursue the truth and try to expose the nobles' role in the apocalypse or start reading banned literature to find out what to do to survive it. They'd be arrested immediately. Case in point: Hubb. If someone valued truth and a higher purpose, they could never be satisfied with Jaguara's paradise: it would drive them as crazy as it drives the wolves, Cher, and even Quent, who is closer in temperament to a wolf than he would ever want to admit, I'm sure. They wouldn't be happy with the pleasures offered them, they'd be wary of what was happening behind the scenes and what it all really meant. The two values are incompatible for all but the bookseller's cat, who lives in the comfort of Jaguara's city, but still sees things for what they really are, helping the others get to the city's heart. He can't be targeted for sharing his views...he can't talk. Blue tells him "You don't know how lucky you are." Hubb has a line later on in the series, "I'm seeing the world as it really is for the first time, just as it's about to end." Well, at least he was redeemed at all, unlike the poor saps in the pearly city on the brink of turning to ashes.
He sounds just as good as the seiyuu if not better. (Steve Blum's one of those few VAs that I can say is not only a good "voice actor" for certain parts but a really talented actor in any role he plays, period.) Exact same approach anyway: cold, seductive, and mournfully wicked. I really liked Darcia and thought he was totally fascinating until...the last few episodes. He ceased to be pretty, and then he went mad. Woobie-points officially deducted. Now, to dwell on Jaguara for a bit, since Darcia has yet to do much. She only appears onscreen for one full episode and unhelpful snippets of a few others, but we learn much more about her before that, just by looking at the city she has built. Jaguara's city is really a reflection of her character in a Dorian Gray kind of way. Opulent and comfortable, the picture of perfection on the outside, but twisted, deceptive and empty on the inside. The city steals your physical senses, as well as your sense of self. The higher up you go in the city, the more this proves true, until the ugliness and poverty underneath and outside it is forgotten. Statues of Jaguara and testaments to her providence thickly coat the city. People are so grateful to her, worshipful of her (nearly the goddess of comfort and pleasure) that they are willing to deny any unpleasant truth, even if it takes place in their own city. For as much as the series is about passion for meaning versus worldly comfort and bliss, Darcia is not a villain that exemplifies worldliness at all. No, the epitome of that evil is Jaguara. (Darcia symbolizes a perversion of the passion for meaning in life, aka power lust, "a god am I," but that's another topic.) Jaguara is obsessed with her own beauty first and foremost. She's pretty ugly on the inside, but she doesn't understand that. She treasures opulence and comfort. She's ravishing and she knows it. She's obsessed with magic far more than even the other nobles, mostly the kind that can make her city more "perfect" and rid the world of wolves. (If only she knew what the Nobles really were, but no, only the Darcia family understands that.) This trait of cloystered self-indulgence probably plagued all nobles, as Orkham was certainly that way. The exception is Darcia, who is cursed with the wolf's desires and inevitably lets his House fall, as its ignorant indulgences could no longer satisfy him. Jaguara later calls him "the unrivaled instigator," which is an interesting title considering that's the role wolves have played for humans like Hubb, Cher, and Quent. By the by, I've mentioned the Nobles' obsession with magic. Jaguara's uses of it make far clearer its use to them. From the moonlight crucible that absorbs power from the moon to the magic circles, orbs and sacrificial...recipes...(she EATS wolves and drinks their blood! eeeew!) that sap power from the wolves themselves, all of it is aimed toward imitating the powers the wolves possess and using them to her own aims. The Book of the Moon that the Darcias possessed and the alchemy they used to explore space and create Hanabito served the same purpose. The Nobles hate wolves, and yet are completely obsessed with attaining their powers. Hmmmm. (Truth in fiction: most Wiccan practices are centered around attaining godlike power over oneself and the natures surrounding you. The witchcraft in Wolf's Rain is used the same way.) Jaguara is about to reveal everything important about her character in the next episode, but it's pretty stunning how much we've already learned about her when she's hardly spoken a word, isn't it? When Darcia arrives and her paradise is unveiled, her selfishness will only be amplified and where it stemmed from will be made clear. She wants to open paradise too...but why? Anyway, the final run of episodes: Episode 26--Moonlight Crucible Episode 27--Where the Soul Goes Episode 28--Gunshot of Remorse Episode 29--High Tide, High Time Episode 30--Wolf's Rain These episodes, ESPECIALLY 26, contain the most allegory by far, as well as answering all those pressing questions about the Nobles (almost), and are pretty emotional to boot. (I have yet to watch episodes 27 or 29 without crying. Usually I get used to something like that quicker, but not this time.) The ideas are so dense here that I'll probably go through a few montage-esque scenes image-by-image when I discuss them, but I'm dying to hear some input from you all first!  Have at it!
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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Fix'd.
(Though I'd like to be proven wrong!) I'll get around to watching it tomorrow and will post my thoughts later in the day, as well as respond to your excellent post above. |
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eyeresist
 Posts: 995 Location: a 320x240 resolution igloo (Sydney) |
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Thought-provoking stuff here!
My understanding is that the wolves' quest is about spiritual purity. They are purer than humans in that they are freer, or at least want to be free, to be without masters and without material ties. Humans, on the other hand, abase themselves for security, in Jaguara's city and elsewhere. That's why a wolf with a collar is so shameful: it shows not only association with the low humans, but association to the point of sharing their desire to be limited, to be mastered, to be humbled. The other sin is to turn against one's own, as seen in the example of Blue, but also others. These are the two things which arouse strongest condemnation and shame in the wolves, and the qualities we are supposed to regard as separating them from the crawling, back-stabbing humans. A few humans can rise to near the wolves' level, but there's always a sad sense that they are limited by their nature, even Hubb, who I regard as being closest to the wolves, in his single-minded dedication to Cher. Of course, if the humans want Paradise, the easiest way (they think) is to cheat, like Darcia and Jaguara. But of course, the horrible things they do to attain the nature of the wolf make them even more impure and less likely to see Paradise. Is there really a Paradise? Is a pure world, without human corruption possible? (Remember, the humans are fallen wolves.) Or is the journey the important thing, not the elusive destination? Are the wolves looking for Paradise because they are morally pure - or does moral purity come from undertaking the quest for Paradise? This question is unanswerable, but if the second part of it is true, that means there's hope even for lowly humans such as we. |
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
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Yay, your wrong got proved! 
It is a quest of spiritual purity, or maybe spiritual integrity? Not so much never doing anything wrong or indulging in any earthly desires, like a Buddhist ideal, but more valuing your spiritual health over your mortal well-being. (Which can prove fatal, obviously, but that's why most people stick to that cooshy-self abasement we see exemplified throughout the show.) It's almost that idea of being lowered to a standard or challenging it, isn't it? The reason wolves that are viewed as "dogs" are so disgusting is that they abandon the quest to return to Paradise for some worldly incentive to keep their skins on their backs. By contrast, though, Toboe is one of the most relatable wolves in the show principally because he sees good in humanity and tries to bring it out rather than "being tamed by" human beings, he really loves them and wants to care for them rather than scratch his own itch for safety. (Or should I call him expressive instead of relatable? Some people love him, but some also see him as very wussy...)
Yes, I'd say that Hubb and Cher are both as close to the wolves' level of dedication that you can get, and surprise surprise, they're also the most likable human characters. They have a wolf/flower relationship all to themselves, one that I suspect was implied to be male/female in general, and I've mentioned this before. This brings up the big problem a lot of people have with the series in that it can't make up its mind whether human beings go to Paradise or not. One minute it says they do, one minute it says they don't. A lot of the best feasible answer has to do with a "required death" and the key idea of there being two paradises. (Kinda. A "true" paradise, one, and a "new" paradise, many.) The Required Death The wolves are viewed as this ideal for the human spirit that can't really be reached. No one is that detached from mortal concerns. Even the world-wise wolves like Hige and Tsume feel "pathetic" for living for anything else other than what they were born to be doing. Tsume commands a whole pack of human beings in the city, has plenty of food to live off of, and he's still miserable because he can't possibly earn their thievish respect, much less his own. Any human being with a disposition like Tsume's would probably be very comfortable in the lifestyle he's settled into, but one visit from Kiba gets his blood boiling where it had been simmering for a while, no doubt. The reason the wolves are viewed as spiritually pure, I guess, is because they were born directly from the Great Spirit (just kind of assuming that this mother nature figure is an omniscient god symbol, that would make them akin to angels) while human beings were a combination of divine essence (wolves) and earthy beastliness (original dumb man-creatures). Thus, humans are fallible and tend to damn themselves while wolves (non-fallen wolves, that is) are not, and continually search for Paradise and nurture the flowers that guide them there. Hubb and Cher are "only human," which is why Cher tells Hubb that they can't go to Paradise because "it would become tainted with us in it." Head-scratcher: Hamona goes to paradise, Granny goes to paradise, and it is certainly implied that Quent does as well as his family. So what gives? Well, many religions hold that in death, the soul is released from the body, pure and undiluted. It's a big old cliche that if the soul is pure, it goes to heaven, and if it's tainted, it goes to hell. Your definition may vary on those standards, but fiction always boils it down to "good people" and "bad people" and Wolf's Rain is no exception. This is what I call the "necessary death" view of Paradise. Human beings could go to paradise, but only the purest parts of them, the soul that was untainted by worldly ties, the part that the wolves are in whole. Now, you screw up that part of you and sell your soul and the pursuits of your life to the world, you go where Darcia goes when he tries to open paradise. Whatever happened to him, it wasn't pleasant. He may have been a wolf, but a combination of Cheza's blood and him only resulted in a fiery and damning death, because he was an anti-wolf of sorts, if you can call it that. Point being that until the soul is eventually freed from its flawed human existence, humans can't help but fall to their own fears and desires, and become complacent in a life that serves them rather than fulfills them or anyone else for that matter. If someone is "good" and tries to live above a base cycle of self-satisfaction, they die and their soul goes to paradise. Simple enough. So...Hubb and Cher are good people. Why couldn't they go to paradise again? (Although they probably did in death, they didn't physically go there.) Why did Darcia a-splode when he attempted to waltz in? This brings me to: Two Different "Paradises" The world of Wolf's Rain is cyclical, meaning that the world never really ends, it just kind of reincarnates itself in a samsaran rhythm of death and rebirth. This is hindu in nature and the attaining of nirvana is the goal of ending the samsara for a respective individual. This applies to but does not allegorically correspond to Wolf's Rain, as nirvana is translated to not an individual achievement but a universal one, tweaking the idea with a few other religions more concrete apocalyptic prophecies. (Actually, I'd just love to make a long list of references to different religions in Wolf's Rain as it draws from every major religion in the world in some form or fashion, but I'll leave off that for a while.) Moving on, I'm going to define two paradises in order to better illustrate the human afterlife discrepancy and just what the heck the wolves are trying to do if technically all they have to do to get to paradise is die. There is a True Paradise and a new paradise in the story, an idea perhaps taken from the prophecies of Revelation (along with the blood red moon and stars falling from the sky bringing fractionings and death) but could just be an idea of the creators, so I'm not going to attach too much context to it. The new paradise is the one Darcia the First writes about in the prologue of episode 27, and the one that eventually occurs in the story's conclusion. This new paradise is the pure re-birthing of the world caused by a rejuvenation of the cycle. This new world is completely perfect, but some remnant of the old one it is built on inevitably transfers over, introducing evil and the fall of man to what could have been but could never really be paradise. There are many of these, and they will, as flowers and as all mortal life, bloom and die in eternal succession. The True Paradise is the one that everybody is going to when they die. Which would explain why the new paradise is fittingly unpopulated. The characters didn't all cease to exist or anything, as Toboe is clearly shown living it up somewhere. (Made me feel better about that horrible horrible scene.) It's also where the Great Spirit resides and where the wolves originally descended from and are so eager to return to. So why doesn't everyone just die and go in that way? Because it would defeat the purpose of the wolf's mission: all that would mean is the world's eventual death, a birth of a new paradise, and oh great, the wolves have to come down and reincarnate AGAIN to create a race somewhat able to keep evil at bay until it corrupts the entire world and it dies again, rinse and repeat. The wolf's mission is for "paradise to appear on the earth." Not earth becoming paradise again, as the presence of original evil will make it finite, but to literally open up the new Paradise on earth so that when the earth dies, all that will remain is the pure clean Paradise that is completely free of any power of evil. It is a Paradise controlled by the Great Spirit and ruled by the wolves. The goal is to make that the only world left. It's one that will never end, directly extended from the True Paradise, much like the New Jerusalem prophesied in the second coming in Revelation is not, in fact, just the heaven where people go when they die, but something of a merger deal between that dimension and the post-apocalyptic evil-free earth. This True Paradise is the one that Hubb, Cher, and Blue would probably not be able to walk into. That's why Cher tells Hubb that the only thing they can do is die out. Cher's not giving up, after all the only thing she gave up everything for was pursuing Paradise and it's not like she or Hubb stops traveling for that desire. She's just acknowledging the "necessary death" that was brought up. Humans and their thirst for power and self-satisfaction, could never enter Paradise without having those shackles to their flawed nature stripped away first. That's basically all the divine rejection of humanity adds up to. In fact, not even spirit-driven wolves are pure enough to call the True Paradise down to the world. Only a wolf who has lived purely, for nothing else but his pride, his mission, and his passion for perfection, would be given the right to open Paradise. This is Tsume's lament. He has changed to the point where he wants to lead the way in ending the old world and bringing about the perfect one, but he knows he's a bit too tied to the world and filled with doubt and fear to be worthy of it. Goodness knows Hige is too self-concerned and self-deprecating, and Toboe is fatally fond of humans. It could only be Kiba and no one else. Really, Kiba's concern that Darcia would taint the True Paradise if he opened it is ill-founded, because the audacity of the attempt completely destroys him in a disco inferno. (The concern that Darcia will stop Kiba from opening the True Paradise...not so ill-founded. He does cause that massive hiccup.) This makes Darcia's endgame vendetta, while still incredibly insane, understandable. He, in his massive ego, thinks that by becoming a wolf, he is automatically pure and free of evil. He doesn't go out of his way to kill any wolves, you may notice. He only targets humans. That's because humans are tainted and imperfect, in his mind's eye, just because they're human beings. Everything in the world must be stripped away for Paradise to open properly. (He apparently never considered the option that once Paradise was opened, they'd just be eradicated along with the entire world, but then again, he's nuts and thinks that only wolves go to Paradise and not humans...he mistakenly thinks Hamona's not there despite ALL evidence to the contrary he's clearly chosen to ignore.) He doesn't mind killing off wolves if they get in his way, though, because while they aren't currently tainting the world, he knows they can't open Paradise. That's Kiba's job and his alone, so it doesn't matter one lick if they live or die, they'll go to Paradise anyway. Side note:
Strictly speaking, this is a little inaccurate. Human beings are a combination of earthly primalism and divine intervention: earth-beast and spirit-pure wolf. Man was created from wolf, and is therefore a torn, dichotomous creature, blessed yet flawed. The fallen wolves are something much worse than that: wolves who despite being perfect creations, chose quick earthly power over a promised eventual return to divine power. (Toboe accuses Tsume, arguably the most "impure" of the wolves, of this. He chooses to rule over a pack of humans because it's an unchallenged position of power. But he was meant for far better than that, even if it's a shift from holding power to feeling quite powerless at times.) Simply put: Created humans are bound to imperfection and worldly sin. Fallen wolves embrace imperfection and worldly sin. Humans are humans and it's a yin-yang existence, but if wolves are angels, fallen wolves are demons. The story doesn't outright TELL us what constitutes a fallen wolf human and what constitutes a created human, although it does make plain that both origins are accurate tales through Darcia "In this world there are only wolves and the creatures that were created from them. Yes, not all humans are born from the wolf. Some are wolves that embraced the guise of humanity." On that note, there are enough glaring clues to safely assume what divides Nobles from the common man. Iyek almost outright says it: "All humans were created from the spirit of wolves. Except for the Nobles anyway." The Nobles, and just the nobles, are the true "fallen wolves." (I kinda wonder if Hamona's "character" wasn't created partially to show that even these fiends are redeemable, although they're more wicked than their lower human counterparts.)
Wolf's Rain takes on an interesting perspective to those first three questions. Most stories that proclaim the journey to be more important than the destination conclude that the destination does not exist or cannot be reached, and those that proclaim the destination to be more important than the journey end in complete success. Wolf's Rain does neither because it employs a combination of both through one unique plot device. In most all post-apocalyptic stories, at least those of Western fame, the god-figure in question brings about the new world. People pretty much have nothing to do with it, fate is fate. However, Wolf's Rain puts an Eastern individual enlightenment twist on it: it's the people who decide to open Paradise or not. It is their responsibility. That's very unique. It means then, that the journey is more important not because the destination is unreachable, but because it EMPOWERS the destination. The destination is nothing without the journey itself, and it's only unattainable if the quest was flawed. In this case it was, and this flaw's name was Darcia the Third. Either way, the persons of the story must achieve "enlightenment," but it is a western-based "global enlightenment." It's a nice double-answer to the question of faith vs. satisfaction. Given the case of Tsume and Hubb, (and all the other characters to a lesser extent) I'd like to think that moral purity (although again, it's more like integrity, value over spotlessness) is achieved through the pursuit rather than pursuers only being those who were morally pure to begin with. Both Tsume and Hubb are dragged into the pursuit for the wrong reasons, and hardly willingly even for those flawed motives, but they are changed through the realization of what they were really meant to be pursuing, and it's a change for the better, I'd say. I like to think highly of the fates of the human characters in this story. After all, why else would the story portray them so positively, or shockingly enough, let a Noble go to Paradise?
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Top Gun
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Just wanted to pop in and say that I'm really enjoying this discussion. Wolf's Rain was one of my favorite series (and one of the very first real anime series I saw any part of...right at the end, unfortunately
), but I've only watched through the whole thing once, and I certainly didn't pick up on all of these nuances (the exact nature of the Nobles was definitely something that escaped me). I'm really getting a yearning to rewatch the series with a more critical eye, to see what else I'm able to pick up on.
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JacobC
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I only got it the second time around. It's very blink and you miss it stuff, but it sure makes the story make a lot more sense!
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eyeresist
Posts: 995 Location: a 320x240 resolution igloo (Sydney) |
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I haven't actually watched the series for a while, but my feeling was very strongly that humans were not created by but actually descended from wolves. It seemed to me that the real danger of staying with the wolves who let themselves be enslaved in the city, was that eventually they would forget they were wolves, and eventually, literally, become human.
And if we look at the world of the story, the wolves are vanishing, and the world is ending. Perhaps the wolves weren't hunted into extinction (as is suggested by Jaguara's hunts), but were corrupted and became human (the constant temptation our heroes face). If so, perhaps this is the reason that the world is ending - after the moral Fall of the wolves, a world populated only by corrupt humans inevitably falls to chaos. |
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JacobC
ANN Contributor
Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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Same difference, really. If you want to get technical about the relationship, though, it is described as such: "Back when man was still an animal..." (the wolves are sent from Paradise by the Great Spirit to protect the world from evil) "...They taught the beast-men many things and then, from part of their own bodies, they created mankind." So the wolves were divine and the creatures that would become humanity were savage beasts. The wolves imparted some of their essence into the man-beasts to make a better creature: human beings. So, you could say that men were created from wolves, but also somewhat descendant of them. However, humanity was only given dominion over the world because of what the wolves gave them. They still have a great capacity for evil that wolves do not possess...unless they reject paradise and become fallen wolves, which you noted...
That's a very interesting way of looking at it! I think it was probably due to a large number of factors, but let's not forget that humans aren't so much to blame for the decline of the world and the murder of wolves as the Nobles are. The Nobles are the ones who have inevitably made society what it is, and the Nobles are fallen wolves. I think mankind is consistently portrayed as a very powerless race, honestly. They are not a pure good, and they're not a pure evil, but they have an infinite capacity for both. It's their drive to survive versus their drive for purpose (essence of the wolf and essence of the primal) that gives them the power to struggle against whatever force dominates the earth. Because the world is a "new paradise" that was corrupted over time, it is given over less and less to the good of the wolves and the True Paradise, and more and more to the evil of the Nobles and an icy Hell.
It is interesting to think of the Nobles as an ancient race, however, when certain wolves that become human may or may not have joined them over time. (I'm not really sure if that can happen or not, though. I always kinda figured that the Nobles were fallen from antiquity and later wolves wouldn't be aware of how to defect even if they wanted to, but then there is wolf-Darcia's attack on Kyrios and Quent's family, which is hard to explain anyway, but may be better explained with that theory.) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I figure I should start commenting on these last five episodes. As I had previously mentioned, I wanted to go through some of these beat-for-beat because it seems like the creators just shtuffed ALL the symbolism and "a-ha!" moments of the entire show into these last five episodes, boom-boom-boom, and they merit a very close look. I'll just start with one now, though, as I am at work and have to rely on subtitling on the speaker-less work computer, which means a lot of rewinding. (I love this job. I'm nearly encouraged to goof off between half-hour station breaks! )
Episode 26 in extreme depth:
...He's realized that it's not a desire he came up with, but, like Jaguara said, part of his blood and who he was meant to be. It's not a curse that was given to him, it's a calling that had always been buried inside him and he's just now beginning to realize in full. This could have been a really good thing, and the first time I saw the show, I thought it was going to be, but he's not willing to submit to a calling. He wants to control it, a power-hungry Noble to the end, and prove his right to rule over even Kiba. This delusion (that word again) is probably stoked further by the fact that the poison is killing him slowly and driving him mad. Let's just say he'll be using the Moon Stone in a drastically different (and nearly more effective) fashion than his grandfather. By the by, I was thinking about rejuvenating the Paranoia Agent thread in January, just a heads-up, if anyone wants to join in there... |
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