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Wolf's Rain (TV).


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Sarki-Kun



Joined: 16 Jun 2004
Posts: 594
Location: Spain
PostPosted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 5:09 pm Reply with quote


Wolf's Rain (TV)

Genres: adventure, drama, fantasy, mystery, science fiction
Themes: post-apocalyptic, wolves

Plot Summary: In some distant future, it's common knowledge that all wolves have been extinct for 200 years. However, it seems this is false as wolves have not disappeared but rather have taken human form. Kiba, a lone wolf, wanders into a city, trying to sniff out the Lunar Flowers that are supposed to lead whoever follows the scent to paradise. The source of the smell is Cheza, a girl who sleeps in what appears to be suspended animation in a lab. She and the wolves are drawn to each other, and Kiba hopes to find paradise once he finds the source of the scent of Lunar Flowers. However, once Kiba finds Cheza, she is kidnapped by a mysterious person called Darcia, and his search begins anew. Before he leaves the city, he meets 3 other wolves, Tsume, Hige and Toboe. All four wolves have very different personalities and ideas, and their friendliness towards each other is a little rough around the edges. However, they soon band together to continue to search for paradise.
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Anime Marathon Discussion (Nov. 6th, 2015 - Nov. 15th, 2015) starts here

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Ok, first if all, I do not know if someone has already thought about if, but I believe it is an enough curious thing as for being commented. I would like to make everyone know that, the following spoilers, DO NOT include especific information about how the story goes, but they just mention some things that appear (with no relevance) from 21st chapter and so on. Just your decision Anime smile

Here it goes. spoiler[I am speaking about Jagara's city, which is obviously rather different from the rest. The city is a excessively organized place, and where all power of taking decisions goes to Jagara and her policemen (wolf's hunters). Civilians do not show any emotion (neither good or bad), they just help and contribute with the city.

At the beggining, this reminded me of something. It just looked as a japanese city, but a bit more senseless. But, on 24th chapter, it is possible to see a shop, and instead of being written "cash", it does "KACCA". And that is the russian word (written in cyrillic) for "cash" (read Kassa). So I just thought, could this city be as the old communist system in Russia?

In my opinion, yes, it could be. But, I can have more questions. Could they (I mean, the people who created Wolf's Rain) trying to imagine how would work this system nowadays?]


That's mainly a point that I would like to know if someone either sees it this way. Or if, at least, I have thought of something that the creater wanted to make viewers know...
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theLostProphet



Joined: 15 Aug 2004
Posts: 54
Location: The Land of Horse and Buggy
PostPosted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 6:43 pm Reply with quote
I imagined Wolf's Rain took place in Russia just by environments that were always portrayed: The cities were all rundown (excluding Jagara's), spread far apart from each other and industrial in nature. The landscape was either a barren desert or full of endless snow. Granted there was an episode or two when they were around trees, but mostly all we saw was the frozen tundra.

And if you want to go another route, wolves are only native to the northern hemisphere (maybe i'm wrong -- don't hit me Embarassed ), meaning that this anime had to take place in either Eurasia (most likely Russia) or America (Canada). Again, I would pick Russia because of the lack of evergreens.
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M.B.K.



Joined: 20 Aug 2004
Posts: 32
Location: Volgograd, Russia.
PostPosted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 8:35 pm Reply with quote
Furthemore, in "Wolf's Rain" ALL inscription has been made in Russian. By the way, correctly. Once a verbal announcement about train to the Moskow has been made in Russian. Correctly too.

One question. Why Russia and communism has remaining identical in consiousness of Western people? Rolling Eyes IMHO, it is all the same, that consider identical the Germany and nazism, for example.
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Rendart



Joined: 13 Jan 2004
Posts: 111
PostPosted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 9:44 pm Reply with quote
Just wanna clear something up that has no relevance to anything. KACCA doesnt mean cash... it means cashier or check-out. And most of the other writing was written using russian letters but I couldnt make any words out of them, I guess they just used russian letters to make a feeling of a russain environment. Just an honest Russian's 2 coppeks.

-Rendart
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M.B.K.



Joined: 20 Aug 2004
Posts: 32
Location: Volgograd, Russia.
PostPosted: Sun Nov 14, 2004 12:05 am Reply with quote
Rendart wrote:
Just wanna clear something up that has no relevance to anything. KACCA doesnt mean cash... it means cashier or check-out. And most of the other writing was written using russian letters but I couldnt make any words out of them, I guess they just used russian letters to make a feeling of a russain environment. Just an honest Russian's 2 coppeks.


Russian letter КАССА (pronouncing as "kassa") has following meanings:

1. cash-deck, till (in a shop);
2. booking-office, ticket-office (in a station);
3. box-office (in a theater);
4. safe, strong box (as a furniture);
5. cash (for a money);
6. saving-bank (as a institution);
7. case (for the polygraphy).

If you have seen Russian inscription КАССА in the any Russian shop, this meaning "cash-deck".

In addition, I think, English version of "Wolf's Rain" would been provided with a English subtitles about Russian inscriptions in this Anime. It would be more convenient for the non-Russian spectators.
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NetDiver



Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Posts: 65
Location: Northern Europe
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 2:11 am Reply with quote
I've only seen the first three episodes of Wolf's Rain but yes, the show has a very Russian feel to it. Even the wolf hunter (forgot his name Mad) ordered vodka on the first episode Wink.
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Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7328
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 3:35 am Reply with quote
M.B.K. wrote:
One question. Why Russia and communism has remaining identical in consiousness of Western people? Rolling Eyes


I'd say it's far from being just a western ideology, Wolf's Rain is a Japanese show after all.

Emerje
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M.B.K.



Joined: 20 Aug 2004
Posts: 32
Location: Volgograd, Russia.
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:05 am Reply with quote
NetDiver wrote:
I've only seen the first three episodes of Wolf's Rain but yes, the show has a very Russian feel to it. Even the wolf hunter (forgot his name Mad) ordered vodka on the first episode Wink.


"Wolf's Rain" is a paradoxical Anime in a this sense. On the one hand, all inscriptions in "Wolf's Rain" has been made in Russian. On the other hand, in this Anime no Russian names, and World of "Wolf's Rain" not alike the Russia. IMHO, the creators of "Wolf's Rain" aspired to show a some strange World of distant future with mixing various cultures, and using a Russian language appears as original expressive mean for this purpose.

In general, a not infrequent using Russian language in Anime is pleasant for us, Russians Wink
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M.B.K.



Joined: 20 Aug 2004
Posts: 32
Location: Volgograd, Russia.
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:10 am Reply with quote
Emerje wrote:
M.B.K. wrote:
One question. Why Russia and communism has remaining identical in consiousness of Western people? Rolling Eyes


I'd say it's far from being just a western ideology, Wolf's Rain is a Japanese show after all.

Emerje


I don't mean Anime under this discussion. I mean those Sarki-kun's words:

"At the beggining, this reminded me of something. It just looked as a japanese city, but a bit more senseless. But, on 24th chapter, it is possible to see a shop, and instead of being written "cash", it does "KACCA". And that is the russian word (written in cyrillic) for "cash" (read Kassa). So I just thought, could this city be as the old communist system in Russia?"
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Nani?



Joined: 20 Jul 2003
Posts: 632
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:27 pm Reply with quote
The one thing about Wolf's Rain is that there are a lot of cultural pieces in ths series that are not Japanese. The Kassa is one of them and the whole show had a Eurasian feel in general.
This fits the motif of a civilization that has had its best days in the past and is slowly chokeing on the damage it has done to the world around it.
The tone of the Book of the Moon reminded me certain Native American Prophecies which involve most white men destroying themselves. The Wolves seemed to be modeled after NAs with questions like "are you a wolf or a dog?" The the white one (I forget the names and borrowed a friend's copy), reminded me of a shaman or traditionalist.
Overall, I don't think the show was supposed to take place in this world per se. Pieces are supposed to remind us of the "real world" like the Soviet influence on signs. The nobles remind me of capitalist "old money" given a century or two. And the wolves seem native. It doesn't mean "Hub" for example is Russian, in fact he resembles a typical American Gumshoe detective.
All this means is that these Japanese, the same ones who made space look like America circa 1972, are drawing from many sources.

All the Best,

Nani?
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Mitsuhide A.



Joined: 17 Jun 2004
Posts: 200
Location: somewhere where you aren't
PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:13 pm Reply with quote
Im not sure how stupid this seems but i actually had a different interpretation of wolf's rain which focuses on the ideas of socialism.

spoiler[ i thought that the entire "search for paradise" was a representation of the marxist prolitareat revolution and the nobles were both nobility in literal and figurative sens. The wolves themselves represented the working class or at least the spirits of the class. The reason for their great power stems from the idea that the working class is the backbone of business and so in that manner, the working class is more powerful than the nobility. the people of the wolf's rain world represent the middle to lower middle class in that they would like to have a better life but they are content with their current life because they understand that changing it could worsen their own lives (the destruction of the world).]

i could go on and explain this in depth but id rather not. No i am not some communist. I can only say that this interpretation was highly inspired by my course work in my modern world class at the time.
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M.B.K.



Joined: 20 Aug 2004
Posts: 32
Location: Volgograd, Russia.
PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:29 pm Reply with quote
Mitsuhide A. wrote:
Im not sure how stupid this seems but i actually had a different interpretation of wolf's rain which focuses on the ideas of socialism.

[spoiler] i could go on and explain this in depth but id rather not. No i am not some communist. I can only say that this interpretation was highly inspired by my course work in my modern world class at the time.


Go on, please. It's interesting. Although Wolf's more similar with lumpen-proletarians less specimens of working class, IMHO.
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M.B.K.



Joined: 20 Aug 2004
Posts: 32
Location: Volgograd, Russia.
PostPosted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 9:53 pm Reply with quote
I think, the Paradise in the Wolf's Rain rather closer to Buddhism's idea of Nirvana neither to the Marxism's conception of Communism. spoiler[It has been confirmed by Darsia-sama's words about absence of joy in the Paradise because in no sorrow in the Paradidise.]

Wolves are seeking a deliveranse for sufferings of the World and not trying create something.

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Mitsuhide A.



Joined: 17 Jun 2004
Posts: 200
Location: somewhere where you aren't
PostPosted: Wed Nov 17, 2004 10:21 pm Reply with quote
Ok i guess i will go on but bear with me as i dont have the most in depth on Marx's ideas and i have only seen Wolf's Rain once

In continuing with the style of my previous, i will state the symbols of the story. spoiler[ now that i think about it, this could be considered an allegory that describes the proletariat. the character cheza symbolizes the government and having her means having power over the government. If you notice, the wolves tend to have more direction and more drive to reach paradise. In contrast, their journey is in disarray when she is in the hands of the nobles. As for paradise, it represents the goal of the different classes. In the case of the Wolves, Paradise is an egalitarian society. For the nobles, it could be seen as something such as a monopoly. ]

I would have to watch wolfs rain a few more times to see if this is interpretation holds true.
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DaGreatKobe



Joined: 21 Sep 2004
Posts: 66
Location: Los Angeles
PostPosted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 3:41 am Reply with quote
hey i would just like to say that there was a tribe of "natives" in the series. id go with that they incorporated a combination of ideas and cultures into the series. i didn't realize the russian influence in the series until now. good call. dont know where a tribe of "native americans" would fit in tho. i mean it could be a tribe of natives from another country, but is seems pretty american to me.
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