Wolf Children

“Hana” is one of those kindly people who wants to help out, so when she encounters a quiet young man who seems to be gatecrashing their lectures, she offers to share her books with him and pretty soon they are an item, living together and have two children “Yuki” and “Ame”. She (and we) know that he has quite an unique secret that comes in handy when they needed a nice pheasant for dinner, but when he is found dead in a storm drain, not only must she bring up the two children on her meagre savings, but move to somewhere where her children - who have inherited their father’s quirk - can be more relaxed than they can be in a city full of scrutinising eyes. She finds them a remote and ramshackle house which they have fun renovating and as the kids grow up, “Yuki” finds it easier to relate to her school friends whilst “Abe” suddenly turns a maturity corner and begins to yearn for a wilder...

A modern approach to the myth of the wolverine in the wolf extincted Japan. The animation is really fantastic, specially the background staging. The story is interesting and is quite touching the struggle of the mother to raise her children but at some point it becomes a bit boring for lack of rythm.

The movie is beautifully animated and an emotional Rollercoaster ride. Topped only by the excellent Soundtrack by Takagi Masakatsu.