×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
Chasing Flowers - Wolf's Rain and Romanticism


Goto page 1, 2  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Marzan



Joined: 29 Mar 2009
Posts: 514
PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 2:15 pm Reply with quote
Very interesting read that gave another point of view on a series that perhaps I tried to take to literally on my first viewing.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
animefan1238



Joined: 28 Nov 2006
Posts: 298
Location: Ma
PostPosted: Wed Mar 08, 2017 6:45 pm Reply with quote
Interesting read. I haven't watched the show in about 10 years. With the re-release and this is might have to break it out and watch it again.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address
jdnation



Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 1993
PostPosted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 1:10 am Reply with quote
It's been years since I'd seen this. A very intriguing show. But I recall there was some issue where they had no idea how to end it? And then much later on we got a new final 4 episodes. Was that actually due to production issues? Or was it because they were making up the story as they went along?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Akane the Catgirl



Joined: 09 Oct 2013
Posts: 1091
Location: LA, Baby!
PostPosted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 1:13 am Reply with quote
@jdnation

The issue was that there was a SARS outbreak at Studio Bones. They had to air four recap episodes of the entire series, while the last four episodes went straight to DVD.

I wish this thread got a bit more love, to be honest. I really liked this show when I first watched it. I even cried really hard at a certain moment during the last few episodes. I can't wait to sit down and watch it again. Smile
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
princess passa passa





PostPosted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 1:46 am Reply with quote
Watched this on Adult Swim (I think?) when I was waaay too young so everything flew over my head. Tried reading the article in hopes that it would jog my memory but nope.

Clearly, as a young teenager hot boys/wolves is what kept me watching...
Back to top
CeaseActivity





PostPosted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 9:14 am Reply with quote
I need to get into this show. It looks great visually, if nothing else.
Back to top
Nilrem



Joined: 06 Dec 2003
Posts: 142
PostPosted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 11:55 am Reply with quote
That's a well thought out article that points out some things I either missed or have forgotten about in the years since I watched Wolve Rain, I guess it's time to dig out the DVD set after I finish the series I'm currently watching Smile (I've been wanting to watch it again for a while).
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
bemused Bohemian



Joined: 09 Jun 2009
Posts: 404
Location: central Mizzou (Moral Oralville)
PostPosted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 1:06 pm Reply with quote
Nice work, Anne. I appreciate your smartly crafted, reasoned exposition analyzing the symbolism, crux of Wolf's Rain. It has been a great help dissembling whatever confusion I had during an earlier watch years ago.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5294
PostPosted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 6:16 pm Reply with quote
jdnation wrote:
It's been years since I'd seen this. A very intriguing show. But I recall there was some issue where they had no idea how to end it? And then much later on we got a new final 4 episodes. Was that actually due to production issues? Or was it because they were making up the story as they went along?
The production issues where that they were behind(I've heard it had something to do with the sars outbreak), so they created the four recap episodes, so they could finish the other episodes. But because they were allocated 26 episodes, they had to release the least 4 as OVAs.

I never got the impression that the story wasn't completed or that they didn't know what they were doing. Being an original show, I assume the story was completed before the show even went into production. The problem with the ending(if you class it as a problem) is that it, and the rest of the show, is heavily base on Japanese religion. There is a great page I fount that explains it
http://www.absolutelyanime.com/2015/08/understanding-wolfs-rain/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
PumpkinMouse



Joined: 05 Oct 2014
Posts: 80
PostPosted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 8:55 pm Reply with quote
Years ago, I found a very long post on a forum that I can't remember the name of anymore (I wanna' say the background was blue...?) that laid out how the humans, the wolves, and Kiba were all representatives of different points on the cycle of reincarnation. It might've been referencing the bhavacakra, but I'm not too sure.

I don't remember the exact details, but I remember the author of the post suggesting that Kiba was on the point of reincarnation where he was too noble to be reborn as a human, but not worthy enough to reincarnate as a being greater than a wolf/actually open Paradise, so he was continuously reborn as the white wolf who leads others to Paradise. I think there was an actual term for a creature that gets stuck at this point in reincarnation, but I can't seem to find it online and I know pretty much nothing about Buddhism, so if anyone with more knowledge than me wants to chime in, feel free! The author had references for what the other characters represented on the wheel of reincarnation, but Kiba's interpretation is the only one I can remember after all this time. Anime cry

I really liked the idea when I read it, and I I felt like it really jived with the bittersweet ending of Wolf's Rain, but I think it's also pretty cool that there's enough meat on the show's bones for all kinds of interpretations, like Anne's Romanticism article or the Christianity and Hinduism interpretations that MarshalBanana linked to.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
KH91



Joined: 17 May 2013
Posts: 6176
PostPosted: Sat Mar 11, 2017 6:14 pm Reply with quote
I came here to point out the artwork in the thumbnail before entering the article had: "Dat flower booty", but I stayed for the article and you pretty much came up with the same thoughts I had regarding the ending. To that I say...well done.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Arkthelad



Joined: 06 Jan 2013
Posts: 108
PostPosted: Sun Mar 12, 2017 6:54 am Reply with quote
I agree with everything in this article but I feel like it emphasizes what for me is a central flaw in Wolf's Rain. It get's too caught up in exploring all these themes that it sacrifices the dramatic integrity of the story. For example, I understand what the human characters were supposed to represent thematically, but were they really necessary to the narrative? everything they did seemed incidental and took attention away from the wolves.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
wolfox10



Joined: 14 Mar 2013
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2017 12:50 am Reply with quote
Finally got the time to read this article wow gave me a whole other perspective of this great show. Been a long time since I watched it and was too young lol.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
KlarkKentThe3rd



Joined: 21 Dec 2010
Posts: 108
PostPosted: Sat Dec 11, 2021 9:57 pm Reply with quote
EDIT: I only now realized I have necroposted. Was fully under the impression this thread is for a recent (2021) article. Delete this post if you wish.

I would say Romanticism either really did inspire Wolf's Rain, or both things, the movement and the anime, came from the exact same idea (which inspired both).

A hot take: while Rationalism went way too far in the materialistic "everything can be explained as a bunch of atoms banging against each other" direction, Romanticism was the pendulum effect: it went way too far in the opposite direction. It is like europeans were suffering from a severe case of split personality, a very unhealthy way to exist. What I'm trying to say here is, when it comes to explaining reality, or understanding The Meaning of Life™, neither do their jobs well. Rationalism and Romanticism should unite and become 1 instead, because both have merit, and some things they can only do together.

Alright, with the mini-essay over, will end with choosing a more literal approach to the show's writing. Yes, the symbolism is there. But so are the actual events that do happen.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3426
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Sat Dec 11, 2021 10:59 pm Reply with quote
KlarkKentThe3rd wrote:
EDIT: I only now realized I have necroposted. Was fully under the impression this thread is for a recent (2021) article. Delete this post if you wish.

The article was included in the carousel on the front page, and considering the recent passing of the creator, it's clear it's an intentional republication.

i.e. feel free to post away...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group