Wolf Children

Wolf Children

The poster shows a young woman holding two children, both with tails and wolf ears standing in a grassy field on a cloudy day with the sun coming out. At the top is the film's title, written in Japanese white letters and the tagline, written in blue letters. At the poster's bottom is the film's release date and production credits.

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Mamoru Hosoda
Produced by
  • Yuichiro Saito
  • Takuya Ito
  • Takashi Watanabe
Screenplay by
Story by Mamoru Hosoda
Starring
Music by Takagi Masakatsu
Edited by Shigeru Nishiyama
Production
companies
Distributed by Toho
Release dates
  • June 25, 2012 (2012-06-25) (France)
  • July 21, 2012 (2012-07-21) (Japan)
Running time
 117 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese
Box office $55 million[1]

Wolf Children (Japanese: おおかみこどもの雨と雪 Hepburn: Ōkami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki, lit. "Wolf Children Ame and Yuki") is a 2012 Japanese animated fantasy film directed and co-written by Mamoru Hosoda.[2][3] The film stars the voices of Aoi Miyazaki, Takao Osawa and Haru Kuroki. The story follows a young mother who is left to raise two half-human half-wolf children, Ame and Yuki, after their werewolf father dies.

To create the film, director Hosoda established Studio Chizu, which co-produced the film with Madhouse. Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, the character designer for Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (1990) and Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995), designed characters for the film. Wolf Children had its world premiere in Paris on June 25, 2012, and was released theatrically on July 21, 2012 in Japan.[4] It is licensed by Funimation Entertainment in North America and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 23, 2013.[5] It was screened in the UK at the end of October 2013 with a DVD and Deluxe Blu-ray/DVD edition from Manga Entertainment following on December 23, 2013.

Plot

College student Hana falls in love with a werewolf and has two half-wolf, half-human children with him: a daughter, Yuki, and a year later a son, Ame. Soon after, their father is killed while hunting food for the children.

Hana's life as a single mother is difficult; Yuki and Ame constantly switch between their human and wolf forms, and Hana has to hide them from the world. When she is visited by social workers concerned that the children have not had vaccinations, Hana moves the family to the countryside away from prying neighbors. She works hard to repair a dilapidated house and sustain the family on their own crops.

One winter day, Ame almost drowns in a river after trying to hunt a kingfisher, but Yuki rescues him and Ame becomes more confident. Yuki begs her mother to let her go to school like other children. Hana accepts on the condition that Yuki keeps her wolf nature secret. Though Yuki's classmates find her strange at first, she soon makes friends. However, Ame is more interested in the forest, and takes lessons from an old fox about survival in the wild.

In fourth grade, Yuki's class receives a new transfer student, Souhei, who realizes something is strange about her. When he pursues her, Yuki transforms into a wolf and inadvertently injures him, leading to a meeting with their parents and teachers. Souhei tells them a wolf attacked him, absolving Yuki of blame, and the two become friends.

Yuki and Ame argue over whether they are human or wolf. Two years later, while Yuki is at school, a storm gathers and Ame disappears into the forest to help his dying fox teacher; Hana follows him. The other children are picked up from school by their parents, leaving Yuki and Souhei alone. Yuki reveals her secret to him by transforming into a wolf. Souhei tells her he already knows, and promises to keep her secret.

As Hana searches the forest for Ame, she slips and falls unconscious. Ame finds her and carries her to safety. She awakens to see Ame transform into an adult wolf and run into the mountains. She realizes he has found his own path and accepts his goodbye.

In the following year, Yuki leaves home to move into a dorm in junior high school. Ame's wolf howls can be heard far and wide in the forest. Hana, living alone in the house, reflects that raising her wolf children was like a fairy tale, and feels proud to have raised them well.

Voice cast

Character Cast
Japanese English
Hana (花) Aoi Miyazaki Colleen Clinkenbeard
The Wolfman Takao Osawa David Matranga
Yuki (雪) Haru Kuroki,
Momoka Ono (大野 百花 Ōno Momoka) (child)		 Jād Saxton, Lara Woodhull (child)
Ame (雨) Yukito Nishii (西井 幸人 Nishii Yukito),
Amon Kabe (加部 亜門 Kabe Amon) (child)		 Micah Solusod, Alison Viktorin (child)
Sōhei Fujii (藤井 草平 Fujii Sōhei) Takuma Hiraoka (平岡 拓真 Hiraoka Takuma) Jason Liebrecht
Sōhei's mother Megumi Hayashibara Lydia Mackay
Grandpa Nirasaki (韮崎 Nirasaki) Bunta Sugawara Jerry Russell
Mr. Nirasaki Takashi Kobayashi (小林 隆 Kobayashi Takashi) Kenny Green
Mrs. Nirasaki Tomie Kataoka (片岡 富枝 Kataoka Tomie) Wendy Powell
Mr. Tanabe (田辺) Shota Sometani Sonny Strait
Hosokawa (細川) Tadashi Nakamura R. Bruce Elliott
Yamaoka (山岡) Tamio Ōki Bill Flynn
Tendō (天童) Hajime Inoue (井上 肇 Inoue Hajime) Kent Williams
Kuroda N/A Mike McFarland
Mrs. Horita (堀田 Horita) Kumiko Aso Jamie Marchi
Uncle Horita N/A Mark Stoddard
Aunt Horita N/A Melinda Wood Allen
Mrs. Doi Mitsuki Tanimura Kate Oxley
Uncle Doi (土肥 Doi) N/A Bob Magruder
Aunt Doi N/A Linda Leonard
Shino (信乃) Rino Kobayashi (小林 里乃 Kobayashi Rino) Leah Clark
Bunko (文子) Chika Arakawa (荒川 ちか Arakawa Chika) Felecia Angelle
Sōko (荘子) Fūka Haruna Alexis Tipton
Keno (毛野) Mone Kamishiraishi (上白石 萌音 Kamishiraishi Mone) Kristi Kang
Tadatomo (忠与) Tensei Matsuoka Eric Vale
Radio Announcer Taichi Masu (桝 太一 Masu Taichi) J.C. Miller

Release

At a press conference held on 18 June 2012, the director Mamoru Hosoda announced that Wolf Children would be released in 34 different countries and territories.[6] This film was first released in France on June 25, 2012, marking its international debut.[7] It was subsequently released in Japan on July 21, 2012.[7] The film made its US premiere at the 2012 Hawaii International Film Festival and had a limited release in the US on September 27, 2013.[8] The film's Blu-ray and DVD release date for Japan has been confirmed for February 20, 2013.

The Newport Beach Film Festival in Newport Beach, CA, screened Wolf Children on April 27, 2013.[9]

Wolf Children was screened at Animefest 2013 in May in the Czech Republic[10] and at Animafest Zagreb 2013 in June in Croatia.[11]

Other media

In addition to the film, two novelizations and a manga written by Hosoda (with art by Yū (優)) were released by Kadokawa Shoten.[12] The manga was translated into English by Yen Press and was nominated for the "Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia" category at the 2015 Eisner Awards.[13] As tie-ins to the film, a film picture book, an art book, and a storyboard book were released from Kadokawa, Media Pal, and Pia.

Reception

Box office

Wolf Children was the second-highest grossing film in Japan on its debut weekend of 21–22 July 2012, beating Pixar's animation Brave, which debuted in Japan on the same weekend.[14] It attracted an audience of 276,326 throughout the weekend, grossing 365.14 million yen.[14] The film subsequently surpassed Hosoda's previous work Summer Wars' gross of around 1.6 billion yen during the weekend of 12–13 August 2012.[15] In total, Wolf Children grossed 4.2 billion yen, making it the fifth-highest grossing movie in Japan in 2012.[16]

Critical reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports a 93% approval rating with an average rating of 8.3/10 based on 15 reviews.[17] On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 66 out of 100, based on five critics, signifying "generally favorable reviews."[18]

Mark Schilling of The Japan Times gave the film three out of five and wrote that "The Miyazaki influence on Hosoda's own work seems obvious, from his cute-but-realistic style to his concern with pressing social issues and the messy emotions of actual human beings". He felt the film was "on the conventional and predictable side ... appealing to Jane Eyre fans in one scene, Call of the Wild fans in the next" and criticized its "well-worn, stereotypical rails".[19]

Thomas Sotinel of Le Monde gave the film five out of five.[20] Dave Chua of Mypaper also praised the film's "magnificent understated eye for detail, from the grain of wood on doors to the lovingly captured forest scenes, that help lift the movie above regular animation fare."[21] Chris Michael of The Guardian gave the film four out of five, writing that "telling the story through the eyes of the harried, bereaved but indomitable mother gives this calm, funny, only occasionally schmaltzy family film a maturity Twilight never reached."[22] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described it as "an odd story, told in a one-of-a-kind style that feels equal parts sentimental, somber and strange," and felt the English language performances were inappropriately sweet and simplistic.[23] Steven D. Greydanus, writing in the National Catholic Register, named the film a runner-up in its list of the best films of 2013, writing: "Despite brief early problematic content and an ambiguous climactic letdown, the main story is magic."[24]

Awards

Wolf Children won the 2013 Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year,[25] the 2012 Mainichi Film Award for Best Animation Film,[26] and the 2013 Animation of the Year award at TAF.[27] It won two awards at the Oslo Films from the South festival in Norway: the main award, the Silver Mirror, and the audience award.[28] It won an Audience Award at 2013 New York International Children's Film Festival[29] and the 2014 Best Anime Disc award from Home Media Magazine.[30]

References

  1. ↑ "Okami kodomo no ame to yuki (2012)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Summer Wars' Mamoru Hosoda Creates Anime Film for July". Anime News Network. 2011-12-13. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  3. ↑ "Ame & Yuki Film by Summer Wars' Hosoda Slated for July 21". Anime News Network. 2012-01-16. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  4. ↑ "Paris to Host World Premiere of Mamoru Hosoda's Ame & Yuki Film". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
  5. ↑ "Funimation to Release Wolf Children, Toriko on Home Video". Anime News Network. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  6. ↑ 宮崎あおい ： 夫役・大沢たかおと相合い傘で登場　「大きな優しさに支えられた」. Mainichi Shimbun Digital Co.Ltd (in Japanese). 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  7. 1 2 "Paris to Host World Premiere of Mamoru Hosoda's Ame & Yuki Film". Anime News Network. 2012-05-30. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
  8. ↑ "The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki". HIFF Website. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  9. ↑ ”Wolf Children Newport Beach Film Festival 2013 Screening”
  10. ↑ "Vlčí děti" [Wolf Children] (in Czech). Animefest. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Okamikodomo no Ame to Yuki / Wolf Children". Animafest Zagreb. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
  12. ↑ "hyaloplasm" (in Japanese). Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  13. ↑ "All You Need Is Kill, In Clothes Called Fat, Master Keaton, One-Punch Man, Mizuki's Showa, Wolf Children Nominated for Eisner Awards". Anime News Network. April 22, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  14. 1 2 "『海猿』V2で早くも動員200万人突破！『おおかみこども』ピクサー新作超えて2位初登場！【映画週末興行成績】". Cinema Today (in Japanese). 2012-07-24. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  15. ↑ "『海猿』が『仮面ライダー』から首位奪還！本年度No.1『テルマエ・ロマエ』超えまでわずか！【映画週末興行成績】". Cinema Today (in Japanese). 2012-08-14. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  16. ↑ 2012年度（平成24年）興収１０億円以上番組　(平成25年1月発表）. Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, Inc. (in Japanese). 2013-03-30. Retrieved 2013-05-30.
  17. ↑ "Okami kodomo no ame to yuki (The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Wolf Children". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  19. ↑ Schilling, Mark (2012-07-20). "'Okami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki (Wolf Children)'". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  20. ↑ Sotinel, Par Thomas (2012-08-28). ""Les Enfants-Loups, Ame et Yuki" : une épopée intime dans un Japon oublié". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  21. ↑ Chua, Dave (2012-09-06). "Movie Review: Wolf Children". Mypaper. AsiaOne. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  22. ↑ Michael, Chris (October 24, 2013). "Wolf Children – review". The Guardian. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  23. ↑ Turan, Kenneth (September 26, 2013). "Review: Mamoru Hosoda's 'Wolf Children' anime is wild". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  24. ↑ Greydanus, Steven D. (January 17, 2014). "SDG's Top Films of 2013". National Catholic Register. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Japan Academy Prize (2013)" (in Japanese). Japan Academy Prize. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  26. ↑ "Wolf Children, 'Combustible' Win at 67th Mainichi Film Awards". Anime News Network. February 7, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  27. ↑ "Wolf Children, SAO, Kuroko's Basketball Win Tokyo Anime Awards". Anime News Network. March 24, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  28. ↑ Prize winners - Films from the South 2012. Films from the South.
  29. ↑ Groves, Sara (19 March 2013). "NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2013 AWARD WINNERS" (PDF). New York International Children's Film Festival. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  30. ↑ "Wolf Children Wins 'Best Anime Disc' Award from Magazine". Anime News Network. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
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