One of the best movies I've ever seen.
Wolf Children is a humble tale of the struggles of adolescence and belonging viewed through
a lense of mild fantasy as we focus on Hana, a single mother who moves from Tokyo to the
rural country to better take care of her two children, Ame and Yuki. A tall order in and
of itself, but one that becomes more complex when you factor in that, unlike her, Hana's
children are lycanthropes; both humans, and wolves.
The strength of Hana's unyielding optimism in the face of her struggle to provide for
her children and leave both human and wolf paths open to them, as well and Ame and Yuki
growth as they try to come to terms with both their human and wolf side is masterfully captured,
and all three characters are amazingly sympathetic and compelling. Despite them all representing
conflicting thematic elements never once do you find yourself rooting for one over another;
they're all balanced perfectly and their stories are all the more resonant because of it.
You may have noticed that I'm talking a bit slower than usual for these videos, but that's
only because there really isn't all that much that needs to be said: Wolf Children is a
masterpiece of character driven storytelling, one you'd be doing yourself an unfathomably
large disservice by passing up.