Ame & Yuki - The Wolf Children

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Anime movie
title Ame & Yuki - The Wolf Children
Original title お お か み こ ど も の 雨 と 雪
transcription Ōkami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki
Okami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki (Logo) .svg
Logo of the film
Country of production JapanJapan Japan
original language Japanese
Publishing year 2012
Studio Studio Chizu
length 117 minutes
Rod
Director Mamoru Hosoda
script Mamoru Hosoda, Satoko Okudera
production Takuya Itō , Yuichiro Saito , Takafumi Watanabe
music Takagi Masakatsu
synchronization

Ame & Yuki - Die Wolfskinder ( Japanese お お か み こ ど も の 雨 と 雪 , Ōkami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki , German: Die Wolfskinder Ame und Yuki ) is an anime feature film by the Japanese director Mamoru Hosoda from 2012.

action

The story takes place over thirteen years and tells of the 19-year-old student Hana, who lives in a city and falls in love with a wolf man. She then gives birth to two children who are named "Yuki" and "Ame", which translates as "snow" and "rain" and indicates the weather conditions in which they were born. The older Yuki is curious and alert, while her younger brother Ame is rather shy. Both parents try to hide the secret of their "wolf children" and live inconspicuously in a house on the outskirts, protected from the eyes of the public. After Hana's husband suddenly dies in an accident, she decides to enable her children to lead a more normal, freer life and moves with them away from the people, to a remote rural area that is completely different from her previous world.

Little by little, with the help of her neighbors, Hana learns more and more about growing vegetables and finally takes a job at the research center for forest and nature. Yuki urges her mother to let her go to elementary school. Hana finally agrees on the condition that Yuki keep her wolf identity a secret.

Yuki quickly makes friends and integrates more and more into her environment, while Ame finds it very difficult to socialize and often skips school until he does not attend her at all. Instead, he roams the mountains and meets an old fox, the guardian of the mountains, who takes Ame under his wing.

Yuki, on the other hand, clashes with the new classmate Sōhei. He irritates her so much that she loses control of herself and injures him with her wolf claws. Although Sōhei knows Yuki's secret, he remains silent. Little by little, a friendship develops between the two.

The more Ame feels drawn to the great outdoors, the more Yuki would like to lead a normal life as a person, which the siblings often get into arguments about.

One day, Ame is 10 and Yuki 11, a heavy storm breaks out. Ame, whose teacher, the fox, recently passed away, decides to take his place against his mother's wishes and henceforth to live as a wolf in the woods. Instead of picking up Yuki from school by car, Hana storms through the forest in search of Ame. Eventually she slips on a mountainside and is injured and passed out. Hana meets her husband again in a vision, who gives her to understand that Ame has grown up and will go his own way.

Meanwhile, Yuki and Sōhei remain alone at school and hide. They imagine what it would be like if no one came back to school to pick them up and how they would shape their lives then. Yuki finds the courage to show Sōhei her wolf form.

Ame has found the still unconscious Hana in the meantime and brings her back home. Hana comes to and tells Ame that she accepts his decision.

A year later, the now 12-year-old Yuki also leaves her mother's house to attend a boarding school. Hana stays in the house and lives a happy, simple life there.

Characters

The following list shows the main and secondary characters with short character descriptions.

main characters

Hana ( 花 , Hana )
Hana is a 19-year-old college student at the beginning of the storyline. There she met her future husband, a "wolf man", and fell in love with him instantly.
She has two children with him, Yuki and Ame, and as the story progresses she moves with them to the country, where she looks after them. Over the years she learns more and more about growing vegetables. Hana means flower.
Wolfman (彼（お お か み お と こ）, Ōkami-Otoko , the character used means "He")
His real name remains unknown. He is a wolf man descended from the Honshu wolf . He also attended the same university as Hana and later married her. He was always worried about Hana, but this led to his premature death.
Yuki ( 雪 , Yuki )
Yuki is the daughter of Hana and the Wolf Man and the big sister of Ame. She was born on a snowy day and was therefore given the name "Yuki" (Eng. "Snow"). Yuki is very active and curious. She learns over time that she wants to live life as a person.
Ame ( 雨 , Ame )
Ame is Yuki's little brother. He is shy, reserved and rather introverted. He was born on a rainy day and was therefore given the name "Ame" (German for "rain"). Little by little, the instinct of a wolf is awakened in him. He learns from a fox in the woods and takes his place.

Supporting characters

Sōhei ( 草 平 )
He is in the fourth grade of elementary school with Yuki and knows her secret, but keeps it so that no one else finds out.
Hosokawa ( 細 川 )
Mr. Hosokawa is one of the farmers who live in the new neighborhood of Hana, Yuki and Ame.
Yamaoka ( 山岡 )
Mr. Yamaoka is another farmer in the new neighborhood. He has a different opinion about growing vegetables than Mr. Hosokawa, but still gets along with him.
Aunt Nirasaki (Nirasaki's daughter) ( 韮 崎 の お ば さ ん , Nirasaki no Obasan )
She is a middle-aged lady and the daughter of Nirasaki. Unlike him, she is warm and friendly.
Tanabe-sensei ( 田 辺 先生 )
Mr. Tanabe is Yuki's primary school teacher.
Doi's wife ( 土肥 の 奥 さ ん , Doi no Okusan )
She is Doi's wife and also lives in the neighborhood of Hana. She works as a nanny and suggests childcare to Hana.
Horita's wife ( 堀 田 の 奥 さ ん , Horita no Okusan )
She also lives in the neighborhood of Hana. She thinks badly of her at first, but this is only due to a misunderstanding.
Nirasaki ( 韮 崎 , Nirasaki )
Mr. Nirasaki is an elderly farmer from the Hana neighborhood who looks grim but has good heart and teaches her a lot about growing vegetables.

production

Studio Chizu produced the film with support from Madhouse . As with the previous film, Summer Wars , the script was written by Satoko Okudera and the character design was created by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto . He has also worked on Summer Wars , The Girl Who Leaped Through Time and Neon Genesis Evangelion .

Ame & Yuki - Die Wolfskinder celebrated its world premiere on June 25, 2012 at the UGC Ciné Cité Les Halles in Paris and was released in Japanese cinemas on July 21 of the same year. In Germany the Viz Media Europe subsidiary Kazé Anime secured the rights to the film. The German premiere took place on April 24, 2013 as part of the 20th International Animated Film Festival in Stuttgart . The film grossed 4 billion yen (€ 39 million) within months of its Japanese premiere and was licensed in 43 countries, 34 of which were before its premiere. A manga was also released for the film , which was also released in German on Tokyopop in October .

Conception

Hitotsubashi University served as a template.
The university clock tower seen in the film.

In some of the scenes shown, the film takes up real motifs. For example, Hitotsubashi University served as a model for the university shown at the beginning of the film. The city scenes were also created based on the birthplace of director Mamoru Hosoda , which is located in Toyama prefecture .

synchronization

The German version was produced by TV + Synchron Berlin based on a dialogue book and directed by Karin Lehmann. The following is a list of the synchronization of the main characters:

role Japanese speaker ( seiyū ) German speakers
Hana Aoi Miyazaki Gundi Eberhard
Wolf father Takao Ōsawa Peter Lontzek
Yuki Momoka Ōno (child), Haru Kuroki (youth) Sarah Kunze (child), Julia Meynen (youth)
Ame Amon Kabe (Child), Yukito Nishii (Youth) Jaron Müller (child), Christian Zeiger (youth)
Sōhei Takuma Hiraoka Jan Makino
Mr. Hosokawa Tadashi Nakamura Rainer Doering
Mr. Yamaoka Tamio Ōki Frank Ciazynski
Aunt Nirasaki Tomio Kataoka Iris Artajo
Tanabe-sensei Shota Sometani Daniel Montoya
Doi's wife Mitsuki Tanemura Franca Orlia
Horita's wife Kumiko Aso Nadine Zaddam
Grandfather Nirasaki Bunta Sugawara Reinhard Scheunemann

music

The theme song Okaa-san no Uta ( お か あ さ ん の 唄 , Eng. "The Mother's Song") was sung by Ann Sally , a Japanese singer-songwriter . It was composed by Takagi Masakatsu . The text is by director Mamoru Hosoda.

reception

criticism

“[The film is] a modern fairy tale about love within a family, place in society, human nature and the fears of a mother who cares for her children. Hosoda knows how to use atmospheric images to touch and arouse compassion for his three protagonists in his calmly and deliberately told anime. The perspective changes fluently from Hana to Yuki and Ame and offers many points of contact for younger and older viewers. An unusual love story will soon turn into a coming-of-age film that finds new images for dealing with one's own identity and, despite the fantastic plot elements, never becomes ridiculous. "

- Top video news

"Every film is a small masterpiece: With Wolf Children, director Mamoru Hosoda has once again achieved a rousing animation pearl after 'The girl who jumped through time' and 'Summer Wars'!"

- Stuttgart International Animated Film Festival

Awards

At the 45th Sitges Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya on October 12, 2012, the film was awarded as Best Animated Film. After The Girl Who Leaped Through Time in 2006 and Summer Wars in 2009, it is the third Mamoru Hosoda film to win this award.

In 2013 it was awarded Best Animated Film at the Mainichi Eiga Concours and the Japanese Academy Awards .

At the Tokyo Anime Awards , the film received the main prize and the prize for the best animated film, while Mamoru Hosoda for the best director and together with Satoko Okudera for the best screenplay, Hiroshi hino for the best artistic direction and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto for the best character Design was awarded.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mamoru Hosoda's Ame & Yuki Film Inspires Manga . In: Anime News Network . February 3, 2012. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
  2. ↑ a b General facts about the film . In: Anime News Network . Retrieved July 26, 2012.
  3. ^ History of the Wolf Children . In: My Anime List . Retrieved July 26, 2012.
  4. ↑ a b Casting for the synchronization . In: Official website for the film . Retrieved July 26, 2012.
  5. ↑ a b Kazé licenses "Wolf Children" . In: Otaku Times . July 16, 2012. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
  6. ↑ Wolf Children Earns 4 Billion Yen, Licensed in 43 Territories. In: Anime News Network . September 18, 2012, accessed September 19, 2012 .
  7. ↑ German synchronous index: German synchronous index | Movies | Ame & Yuki - The Wolf Children. Retrieved July 20, 2018 .
  8. ↑ AME & YUKI - THE WOLF CHILDREN . Top video news. Publisher: Children's and Youth Film Center on behalf of the BMFSFJ .
  9. ↑ WOLF CHILDREN ( Memento from September 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). ITFS website.
  10. ↑ Wolf Children Wins Best Animated Film Award at Sitges. In: Anime News Network . October 22, 2012, accessed October 23, 2012 .
  11. ↑ Sitges 2012 ya tiene sus primeros ganadores. Sitges Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya , October 12, 2012, accessed October 23, 2012 (Spanish).
  12. ^ Wolf Children Wins Japan Academy Prize. In: Anime News Network. March 8, 2013, accessed March 13, 2013 .
  13. ↑ Wolf Children, SAO, Kuroko's Basketball Win Tokyo Anime Awards. In: Anime News Network. March 24, 2013, accessed March 28, 2013 .

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