So the giant walrus is a bit much, but this fifth volume of Wolf's Rain is a little smarter than it appears on the surface.

Short version, Wolf's Rain is a seven DVD-volume road trip undertaken by wolves that can look like humans. Longer version, it's a different take on the future of a decimated mankind, following the trials of the last existing wolves, living silently among the remaining humans by morphing into them. In this world, wolves are supposedly extinct, and are a mystical creature found in mankind's campfire stories. They're said to be the only creatures able to find paradise.

A set of young wolves has been convinced to seek out paradise by a white wolf named Kiba, a handsome devil in both his human and wolf form. A human named Quent is on a quest to destroy these wolves, while a powerful noble woman named Jaguara is capturing wolves to control access to paradise. All the while humanity is at war, nobles vs. us common folk.

Yeah, it's layered, breaking to varied story lines quickly and suddenly. Sometimes it's done expertly, sometimes it's confusing. But Wolf's Rain is never ugly or slow.

This anime looks awesome and sharp. Colors, character design, that snowfall floating slowly among characters and background mountaintops. The action is detailed, and every movement by both human and wolf looks believable and graceful.

From the opening minute of volume five, Wolf's Rain is a great ride. The wolves have been split up by Jaguara, with one captured by the woman's army, along with a strange girl the wolves met earlier on their journey. Kiba has also gone missing and the remaining four wolves are left wondering what to do. The white wolf's tale was the reason for this journey, and with him gone, is paradise something these guys really want to seek out? Getting there's been anything but easy to this point, and the war between the humans is rapidly spreading around them, as the commoners push for Jaguara's kingdom.

Little do they know, Kiba's found paradise, or so it seems. We find him in a melodic, heavenly meadow with a lush drinking pool and a sexy young female cat, who also can appear as a human. Kiba's at peace and his journey seems at an end. But how did he get to this place? And why doesn't it feel completely … safe?

The journeying wolves are saved by a band of Native American's – complete with teepees – who believe man evolved from wolves. Funny that the teepees are around, but the English dub voice sounds like a white boy from suburbia. The wolves find renewed energy for their journey during their visit to the village, and may get some help finding Kiba. Oh, and some of the Indians are actually horses. The talking kind.

Our captured wolf and girl find themselves rescued along the way to Jaguara's lair, by a pair of sympathetic humans. But getting away from these soldiers isn't easy. And after the wolves are pointed in the right direction to their captured brethren, they encounter something that may be too big for any of them to handle.

All the while, Quent, who was inexplicably kept alive by one of the wolves to start this volume, has grown even more hateful of his prey. He's a small player in this larger tale, but before this is all over, he may have a bigger say in how Wolf's Rain turns out. But he has Jaguara to contend with, who has her troops destroying everything between him and her land. She has plans that rival the scale and horror of Quent's, and there's no chance she'll find a warm spot in the cold, dark heart of her's.

Wolf's Rain isn't a perfect show. The settings come and go quickly. Snowy mountains, barren desert, a sea of ice, all in a viewing span of less than an hour. They're WALKING for heaven's sake. Some of the dialogue is overly simple and causes you to jab your elbow into the person next to you: "That was cheesy." You may find yourself rolling your eyes more than once per episode, and I'm guessing the opening animation song was drudged up out of some long-forgotten 1980s bargain music bin.

But Wolf's Rain is a good road-trip anime, with a lot of interesting side stories that add to a larger epic tale that's now running at full speed. Tanks, a few random killings and a lot of pretty animation don't hurt either.

Sweet full frame presentation. There's a tiny bit of aliasing, but for the most part this show looks excellent on DVD. Wolf's Rain pops in and out of a lot of settings, but from a dirty road, to a bright desert, to a moving sea of ice, to a snowy mountaintop, everything looks wonderful, with sharp colors reflective of each setting. I noticed little grain and couldn't find any spots or scratches.

There are English 5.1 and English and Japanese 2.0 options. I didn't notice too much difference between the 5.1 and 2.0 tracks, with most of the upgrades noticeable in how the music moves around. Both voice tracks are pretty solid, and make sometimes-weak dialogue come across better than it should. No problems with distortions or inappropriate noise.

Well, the Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex video game promo has me excited, but the rest bores me: three anime trailers, textless endings for the disc episodes, and DVD credits. I'm one of those spoiled DVD fans, who's used to a little more bang for his buck (or time, in this case). Sue me.

The menus are set in an old, hard-cover book, with pages turning to the options. There's also a nice insert poster in the case.

Wolf's Rain has been a mainstay on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, and some episodes are most definitely better than others. I went out and bought the first volume long ago, and lost interest in the show. Now I'm thinking I should have stuck with it. This fifth volume is host to three very good episodes, and one that's just OK. That's enough to Recommend it to the fans of the show, and suggest to people new to the show to Rent It.