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Wolf's Rain Vol. 2: Blood and Flowers
Bandai // Unrated // August 24, 2004
List Price: $29.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
"The wolf seeks out the flower, and the flower seeks out the wolf. ...But you mustn't go with them."
"Why not?"
"It will lead to destruction."
In the distant future, humanity lives in great domed cities on a desolate Earth, and wolves are thought to have been hunted to extinction over 200 years ago. But unknown to man, wolves instead began to live amongst them, disguising themselves as humans. Legend has it that at the end of the world, wolves will lead the world to Paradise – and one wolf, Kiba, is convinced he knows the way.
Things take a turn for the weird in this volume as Cheza the Flower Maiden joins the group after escaping from Darcia. A bioengineered entity, she seems to have strange abilities, and an even stranger power over Kiba and the rest of the wolves. The government, with Cher's help, is after her, and her brief encounter with Blue makes the latter question her role in events. We also get a brief hint as to why Darcia is so interested in the red-eyed girl, and a cryptic warning about the true nature of Paradise...
It feels like we're treading water, however. Besides the introduction of Cheza, nothing else really happens. This is perhaps best exemplified by the fact that Cher has a bigger focus in these five episodes. Her character isn't terribly interesting or worthwhile, and nothing she says really helps move the story along. Her scenes seem more or less like breaks between the goings-on of the wolves. Hopefully her storyline is pared down in the next volume and the pace picks up a bit.
Video:
A nice transfer with some moderate aliasing here and there, but overall clean with bright, vibrant colors (partially owing the rich color palette of the show). The screenshots are duller. Exactly what I'd expect from a show that originally aired in Japan a mere year before its North American release.
Audio:
As with most anime series, the original stereo language track is the best – voices are appropriate for the characters and the acting is excellent throughout. Some may understandably opt for the English 5.1 track instead for a much fuller sound, though; I was tempted. It's a shame (but understandable) that five-speaker tracks aren't more common for television shows, as the sound here is excellent. There are some great visceral sound effects like a person's larynx being crushed. There's also an English stereo track, as well as English subtitles, of course.
The English actors do a decent job in spite of some questionable dialog in places, and the track is fine for those inclined that way. The real standout exception is Johnny Yong Bosch, who is just fantastic as a subtle, natural-sounding Kiba. Crispin Freeman (Tsube) has some fans and an instantly recognizable voice, but every character of his sounds the same to me, and a lot of the time it seems like he's mismatched with the characters he plays (Captain Tylor, of The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, is a prime example). He's closer here, but Tsube still sounds too deep, too heroic. Joshua Seth as Hige and Mona Marshall as Toboe have perhaps the most obvious "character voices" on the show, which can be distracting. And as in most dubs, stilted delivery occasionally rears its ugly head. But it's inherent in the trade, I suppose.
The music in Wolf's Rain is good (with the exception of the awful, awful opening song "Stray" which you can safely skip without missing any of the episode), but admittedly it's hard for Yoko Kanno to top her previous work in Cowboy Bebop. Music is not so much the focus here as it was there, but she still manages to work in some nice themes, including the striking credits song, "Gravity."
Extras:
A second Japanese set of cast interviews (eight minutes) is included on this set, covering the rest of the main cast (Quent, Darcia, Hubb, and Cheza). They're about as substantive as on the first disc, but it's nice to put a voice with a face. There's also a staff interview (six minutes) with producer Mashahiko Minami (quick, get this man some caffiene!), director Tensai Okamura, and sound director Kazuhiro Wakabayashi. Textless endings for three of the episodes and some obligatory trailers round out the list.
Conclusion:
The story is just starting to get going, but at 10 episodes in we're over a third of the way through the series. Despite the slow build-up, though, there's still enough here to be worthwhile. Recommended.
"Why not?"
"It will lead to destruction."
In the distant future, humanity lives in great domed cities on a desolate Earth, and wolves are thought to have been hunted to extinction over 200 years ago. But unknown to man, wolves instead began to live amongst them, disguising themselves as humans. Legend has it that at the end of the world, wolves will lead the world to Paradise – and one wolf, Kiba, is convinced he knows the way.
Things take a turn for the weird in this volume as Cheza the Flower Maiden joins the group after escaping from Darcia. A bioengineered entity, she seems to have strange abilities, and an even stranger power over Kiba and the rest of the wolves. The government, with Cher's help, is after her, and her brief encounter with Blue makes the latter question her role in events. We also get a brief hint as to why Darcia is so interested in the red-eyed girl, and a cryptic warning about the true nature of Paradise...
It feels like we're treading water, however. Besides the introduction of Cheza, nothing else really happens. This is perhaps best exemplified by the fact that Cher has a bigger focus in these five episodes. Her character isn't terribly interesting or worthwhile, and nothing she says really helps move the story along. Her scenes seem more or less like breaks between the goings-on of the wolves. Hopefully her storyline is pared down in the next volume and the pace picks up a bit.
Video:
A nice transfer with some moderate aliasing here and there, but overall clean with bright, vibrant colors (partially owing the rich color palette of the show). The screenshots are duller. Exactly what I'd expect from a show that originally aired in Japan a mere year before its North American release.
Audio:
As with most anime series, the original stereo language track is the best – voices are appropriate for the characters and the acting is excellent throughout. Some may understandably opt for the English 5.1 track instead for a much fuller sound, though; I was tempted. It's a shame (but understandable) that five-speaker tracks aren't more common for television shows, as the sound here is excellent. There are some great visceral sound effects like a person's larynx being crushed. There's also an English stereo track, as well as English subtitles, of course.
The English actors do a decent job in spite of some questionable dialog in places, and the track is fine for those inclined that way. The real standout exception is Johnny Yong Bosch, who is just fantastic as a subtle, natural-sounding Kiba. Crispin Freeman (Tsube) has some fans and an instantly recognizable voice, but every character of his sounds the same to me, and a lot of the time it seems like he's mismatched with the characters he plays (Captain Tylor, of The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, is a prime example). He's closer here, but Tsube still sounds too deep, too heroic. Joshua Seth as Hige and Mona Marshall as Toboe have perhaps the most obvious "character voices" on the show, which can be distracting. And as in most dubs, stilted delivery occasionally rears its ugly head. But it's inherent in the trade, I suppose.
The music in Wolf's Rain is good (with the exception of the awful, awful opening song "Stray" which you can safely skip without missing any of the episode), but admittedly it's hard for Yoko Kanno to top her previous work in Cowboy Bebop. Music is not so much the focus here as it was there, but she still manages to work in some nice themes, including the striking credits song, "Gravity."
Extras:
A second Japanese set of cast interviews (eight minutes) is included on this set, covering the rest of the main cast (Quent, Darcia, Hubb, and Cheza). They're about as substantive as on the first disc, but it's nice to put a voice with a face. There's also a staff interview (six minutes) with producer Mashahiko Minami (quick, get this man some caffiene!), director Tensai Okamura, and sound director Kazuhiro Wakabayashi. Textless endings for three of the episodes and some obligatory trailers round out the list.
Conclusion:
The story is just starting to get going, but at 10 episodes in we're over a third of the way through the series. Despite the slow build-up, though, there's still enough here to be worthwhile. Recommended.
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