Over the weekend, I watched Wolf Children for the first time with it being released in 4k in theaters. Man I heard great things about it, but it really turned into something special.
The first act was a bit slow. Though we see Hana falling for Ookami. Kind of going through their time together. Though the moment that he has the courage to tell Hana that he is part wolf. Of course, it's easy to understand why he feared telling Hana this. Of course, that doesn't bother Hana because she loves him for who he is rather than what he is.
Sadly, the real story doesn't start till Ookami dies and Hana is alone with her 2 kids, Yuki & Ame. Being a single mother is hard enough as it is, but for Hana, she also has to take care of 2 kids who were part wolf. Hana has no one she go to, so she has to carry the shoulders by herself. When Yuki is sick she is held at a crossroad of whether to take her to a hospital for humans or animals. Sadly, she knows she can't go to either and had to talk to them on the phone.
With child services coming to their door, Hana eventually moves to the countryside, and again she takes a beaten down home and makes it a home for her, Yuki & Ame. Which is also more suited for rasing both Yuki & Ame. Though once again Hana continues ot push forward, she continues to make mistakes. One relationship I loved is how Nirasaki looked after her like a daughter. His question of why is she smiling if she had made a mistake was interesting. For Hana she had to continue to move forward and there wasn't any time to be in misery. After all she has to look out for her kids. Though gardening is one where she really needed to learn. Though her neighbors and most particularly Nirasaki saw that she was a mentally strong woman. To see how they came to aid Hana with gardening was sweet. For Hana she perhaps finally found a place of her own that she can live with her kids.
Once the mention of taking Yuki & Ame to school approached took us to the most interesting part of the story. Yuki was always seen as the energetic kid and Ame the reserve one. Yuki's promise to Hana was to never turn into a wolf at school. As we see Yuki making friends, she was very much adapting to the human side. Meanwhile, Ame when he began school he was not fitting in, and you could even see what short scene of him being bullied. Both of these kids are part human and part wolf. For Yuki there was great joy of happiness on her human side and for Ame much the opposite. It wasn't until he met Sensei where the found his calling. The argument that Yuki & Ame had about who was right was interesting because neither of them were wrong. They each had a different route for their happiness. Yuki was for being human while for Ame it was being a wolf.
There are bits of similarities with Yuki and her father because they sought to live with humans even with knowing they are part wolf. Which is why when Souhei is introduced in the story it brings a dynamic because for Yuki, he is the first one who picked up the slightest hint she might not be human. Of course, he would have never guessed that. Which leads to when Yuki defends herself against Souhei and her fears are heightened. Though the moment Souhei admits that a wolf attacked him and not Yuki is kind of when he realized he was in the wrong. As he continues to visit Yuki, their friendship grows until the final scene where they are left alone in school where Yuki tells him she is a wolf. Though obviously Souhei knew this all along as he saw her transform, but he was willing to take that scret with him. Yuki feeling the same feeling of relive that her father felt when she told Hana that. Now Hana can continue walking the path of human.
For Ame he continued to skip school and even spent time in the mountains with Sensei. Until he passed away. This is the point in the movie where things get conflicted because he goes against what Hana asked of him. As Hana tries to go look for him in the rain, you are left with the impression of why is he doing this. As we fear is Hana going to survive. One of the consistent themes of this story is how Hana continues to do what is best for her kids even if she makes mistakes along her way. She has treated both her kids as human more so then kids. Though Ame himself decided to walk the path of the Wolf, and thus he already reached the point of adulthood. It was in the dream she had with Ookami that she realizes what she needs to do. Probably the hardest thing a mother can do is to say goodbye to her children.
Hana's journey from raising both Yuki & Ame was not of easy one. It really showed how hard the journey it can be to be a single mother and raising her kids. Though through it all there are others who recognize that determination and strength. As we see the help she got from the neighbors. She has now raised Yuki & Ame enough for them to make their choice. Yuki is going to school and being a human where she found a partner with Sohei. While Ame learned under Sensei and will be the one to protect the forest. His love for her mother remains as you see him howling, which tells his mother he is doing ok stiil.
A Beautiful masterpiece.