Wolf Children is the long-awaited new anime from Mamoru Hosoda, director of LIFF favourite Summer Wars. When Hana falls in love, it feels like a fairy tale. She starts a family and has two beautiful children – Yuki (Snow), a girl, and Ame (Rain), a boy. But the family harbours a secret: their father is a ‘Wolf-Man’ and his affliction is passed on to his children. After he passes away, Hana takes their children to grow up in a village by a forest where they must choose between becoming human or wolf. Hosoda has crafted another captivating anime with a gripping, moving story and breathtaking animation.
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When anime director Mamoru Hosoda drew critical attention with his fantastic film The Girl Who Leapt Through Time in 2006, comparisons were immediately drawn between him and Hayao Miyazaki. With his follow up film Summer Wars in 2009, Hosoda should have truly stepped out of the shadow of Miyazaki because of his film’s distinct visual style, modern story and great sense of humor. Despite that, many have continued to call Hosoda the ‘new Hayao Miyazaki’. And now with his latest film, Wolf Children, Hosoda has told a story that bears similarities to many great stories that Miyazaki has told in the past, and in doing so clearly demonstrates how different he really is from the senior master animator.
‘Despite the film’s title, the central character is in fact the mother, a very strong female character. She loves her husband for what he is, copes with all the hardship in raising their children and when the time comes, gives them the freedom to experience the world. The original story written by Hosoda himself is full of keen observations of family life and seems to be deliberately based on reality rather than fantasy.’ (TwitchFilm)
A pass for all five films in the Fanomenon Anime Day 2012 (Asura, Wolf Children, Tiger & Bunny, Berserk 1, Berserk 2) is available for only £15 / £12.50: http://www.leedsfilm.com/tickets-passes/
© 2012 “WOLF CHILDREN” FILM PARTNERS
Recommended rating: PG.
