Okami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki (new Hosoda movie)

[ars89]

Originally Posted by Kirarakim

And apparently Mamoru Hosoda will be in attendance



http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...intl-film-fest


I bought tickets for the 4:00 PM show on March 9th. I am thinking this is too good to be true and I misread something.

I agree that is too good to be true

[TinyRedLeaf]

It's Feb 20. Have you checked your usual sources?

[Limenade]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

It's Feb 20. Have you checked your usual sources?

The japanese version is out on some sites so I imagine it'll be a couple days from those sites for subs.

[Branduil]

Hopefully an English version is available soon.

[Limenade]

No word on anyone working on the translations still?

[MeoTwister5]

Need... this... movie... can't wait... anymore...

[brocko]

Watch it people, the wait is over! GOGOGO!

[Kirarakim]

Now that I have the ticket to see it in NY I have to force myself to wait (well I have a lot of work to do)

Btw anyone in the NY area want a ticket? I have an extra one since my friend could not go. Just PM me.

[Utsuro no Hako]

Okay, watched it, enjoyed it, great movie and all ... but there's one thing that's bugging me.

Spoiler for The Old Man:

Anyone else feel there's some missing payoff with the old man? I kept expecting him to turn out to be a wolf or something, but no, he just disappears after the harvest and is never mentioned again.

[brocko]

^

Spoiler:

Funny you say that, because I never felt that way about him at all. If anything I more expected the lone wolf in the zoo to be a human-wolf hybrid.

I think the main reason you don't see much of the old man in the later parts of the film is that there is a succinct turning point in the film where the story shifts away from Hana to Ame and Yuki instead. The old man played his role in the mother's part of the story, after that it's the kids turn and their issues, which naturally wouldn't include the old man all that often.

[Haak]

Spoiler for Just in case:

Oh God that was so hard to watch.

I hate all the crap Hana had to go through to raise her children. And I hate that at the end of all that one of them still leaves her, even if it was his calling.

God damn you Hosoda...

[Guardian Enzo]

Might not be a bad idea to spoiler tag that under the circumstances...

[Utsuro no Hako]

Originally Posted by brocko

^

Spoiler:

Funny you say that, because I never felt that way about him at all. If anything I more expected the lone wolf in the zoo to be a human-wolf hybrid.

Spoiler:

Actually, until the zoo keeper said the wolf came from Russia, I expected him to turn out to be the old man.

I just think the way he disappeared made him seem like a convenient plot device who got discarded once he'd served his purpose. Just having him show up in passing during the second half, or mentioning that he died at some point, would've helped.

Originally Posted by Haak

Spoiler for Ending:

Oh God that was so hard to watch.

I hate all the crap Hana had to go through to raise her children. And I hate that at the end of all that one of them still leaves her, even if it was his calling.

God damn you Hosoda...

Spoiler:

And you know once Yuki gets into high school, she'll become a character in some action series and start spending summer break going to the beach and onsens and attending festivals. (She even comes with a childhood friend who can pop up at a convenient time and force the hero to re-examine his feelings for her!) Poor Hana. It's so lonely being the mother of an anime heroine.

[omimon]

The ending has a lot hidden questions that one might not bother asking but is still there. For example what will happen to Yuki and Ame once they become adults? Are they going to have kids of their own? We know from Okami's parents that wolf-people probably live in dog years so we can't expect the kids to live too long. Is Ame going breed with another human or is he going to stay in the mountain forever? So many questions yet we will never have a sequel.

[totoum]

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

Spoiler:

I just think the way he disappeared made him seem like a convenient plot device who got discarded once he'd served his purpose. Just having him show up in passing during the second half, or mentioning that he died at some point, would've helped.

Spoiler for old man:

He did make a quick cameo appearance in the second half and quite a memorable one:when told Ame is skipping class he says that people like Eddisson and him dropped out of elementary school.
The crowed at the Paris premiere loved that line, the whole crowed laughed and then cheered and applauded for like 20 seconds after he said it.
Even Hosoda seemed taken aback by the reaction.

[Reckoner]

Really enjoyed the movie, Hosoda is definitely the master. I do think the movie peaked a bit too early though, felt it reached its emotional high earlier in the movie, but nonetheless it is a joy to sit through. This may in fact be Hosoda's best yet, and I don't say that lightly.

Spoiler for Ending comment:

Thought it was really shitty that Ame left Hana at the end like that. It was his calling I understand, but he didn't even give her a proper farewell.

[Kanon]

This was well worth the wait. This is Hosoda's best work so far, which is saying something. Beautiful movie. It blended a lot of different themes very nicely, and felt more mature than Tokikake and Summer wars.

Spoiler:

My favorite part of the movie was Ame and Yuki's early childhood. Watching the two of them grow -Yuki in particular- was such a treat. Their little family was so endearing.

Hana impressed me a lot. Definitely my favorite character in the movie. That woman's inner strength is almost limitless. She went through so much hardships and yet managed to smile through it all. I loved the story behind her name, and I have to say she did her father proud. It's saddening that both of her children left the nest so early after everything she had sacrificed for them -although Yuki still seems to be close to her- but it had to happen at some point. It's a natural part of life.

I figured right away that the children would choose radically different path, and I expected Yuki to become the wolf since she was more in touch with her wolf side when she was a kid, as opposed to Ame who was more meek and fearful. This all changed after this fateful and wonderful run in the snow, where Ame experienced the joys of being a wolf for the first time. Afterwards, both children gradually started to tread their own path. I wish more time would have been spend on Ame's characterization, but it makes sense for us not to know much about his inner thoughts since Yuki is the narrator. As such, he may come across as bit ungrateful, but I don't think that was the case. He loved his mother but realized he couldn't be part of her world anymore. He had already found a sense of belonging and purpose in the forest and he couldn't turn his back on that.

Yuki's story became a bit more conventional once she started attending school, and it was still good. Her characterization was great, and I enjoyed her relationship with Shouhei. Seems to me she has already found her future husband.

The ending came at the right time. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see more of the trio's life, but I don't think it was needed. Hana had wonderfully fulfilled her role as a mother and the kids had found their path. I assume they'll all be okay from now on.

Originally Posted by Reckoner

Really enjoyed the movie, Hosoda is definitely the master. I do think the movie peaked a bit too early though, felt it reached its emotional high earlier in the movie, but nonetheless it is a joy to sit through. This may in fact be Hosoda's best yet, and I don't say that lightly.

Spoiler for Ending comment:

Thought it was really shitty that Ame left Hana at the end like that. It was his calling I understand, but he didn't even give her a proper farewell.

Spoiler:

He did give her a proper farewell. The wolf way. And it turns out it was what Hana needed to finally accept to let him go. He had already tried to tell her he wanted to live as a wolf earlier and it wasn't enough. She needed to see with her own eyes. I thought it was a masterful scene, full of subtlety and emotion.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by omimon

We know from Okami's parents that wolf-people probably live in dog years so we can't expect the kids to live too long.

That's an interesting comment. I think the movie strongly implies otherwise. There are two scenes which were particularly poignant when juxtaposed with each other:

(1) When Hana pleaded with Ame not to go into the forest again, she suddenly realised with a shock that, though he was just 10 years old, Ame was already, in his mind, a grown-up.

(2) In the school during the typhoon, when Sohei boasted that he would get a job as a newspaper boy, Yuki chided him, saying he wasn't old enough. At the point, she clearly saw herself as a child, and couldn't wait to grow up, like most human teenagers her age.

So, based on what is shown, it appears that the Yuki and Ame's age is very much in their minds — they are only as old as they feel they are. It's also worth noting that their father was a physically mature human man of about 20 years old or thereabouts when Hana met him. In "dog years", Ame would be an ancient 70 human years old when he left home but, physically, he wasn't yet a match for his father, even though he was beginning to look increasingly like him, right down to their choice of clothes.

Ame's increasing similarity to his father is part of what, to me, made his departure so painful. It felt like the wolf-man leaving Hana again. Like some other viewers here, I was greatly affected by the manner in which Ame left (it nearly cost Hana her life, too!). It felt wrong, but I take consolation from the fact that wherever he is, he appears to be near enough to "call home" every now and then.

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

Spoiler:

And you know once Yuki gets into high school, she'll become a character in some action series and start spending summer break going to the beach and onsens and attending festivals. (She even comes with a childhood friend who can pop up at a convenient time and force the hero to re-examine his feelings for her!) Poor Hana. It's so lonely being the mother of an anime heroine.

I'll just point out that it's very significant to me that it's Yuki, not Hana, who is narrating the story. Yuki, as a narrator, knows things that she could only know if she had spoken extensively with a mother, getting Hana to tell her more about her past. For someone who now effectively lives in another town, Yuki sure knows a lot, and that's only possible if she's keeping in close touch with Hana.

So, no, I don't think Hana is all that lonely. It is very remarkable, though, that she's only 32 by the end of the movie. At that age, she's a college dropout, a widow, a single mother and a survivor. A lifetime of experiences crammed into just about 13 years. It makes her a truly admirable woman indeed.

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Ame's increasing similarity to his father is part of what, to me, made his departure so painful. It felt like the wolf-man leaving Hana again. Like some other viewers here, I was greatly affected by the manner in which Ame left (it nearly cost Hana her life, too!). It felt wrong, but I take consolation from the fact that wherever he is, he appears to be near enough to "call home" every now and then.

Originally Posted by Kanon

Spoiler:

He did give her a proper farewell. The wolf way. And it turns out it was what Hana needed to finally accept to let him go. He had already tried to tell her he wanted to live as a wolf earlier and it wasn't enough. She needed to see with her own eyes. I thought it was a masterful scene, full of subtlety and emotion.

It's kind of as TLR said above. You could say it is the wolf-way, but Ame is human enough to realize everything his mother did for him. It just felt a bit cold hearted from him. Really loved Hana's character in this movie so that's just me feeling for her is all really . I don't hold it against Ame for leaving at the very least.

[ars89]

Hosoda has done it again. another masterpiece.

Spoiler for movie stuff:

Hana is one of the strongest women ever. To go through all of that at her young age was remarkable. She was my favorite character throughout the movie. Honestly from their childhood i thought the paths the kids took would be opposite. My one of two favorite scenes had to be the running through the snow part. Yuki had great characterization throughout. Ame might not have as much as Yuki, but i think that worked for him based on the path he chose at the end. Though i honestly thought Hana might not make it while looking for him. The scene of Ame running up the mountain and howling afterwords is my other favorite scene. I think the ending point was perfect, it also served nicely that Yuki was the narrator.