Wolf's Rain Archives | 100 Word Anime

Blood Lad Overview:

In Blood Lad Staz (a vampire) rules a district in the demon world but is completely obsessed with Japanese culture from the human world. Fuyumi (a Japanese girl) somehow ends up in the demon world Staz is thrilled until she’s eaten and becomes a ghost. Staz then begins searching for a way to resurrect her.

Blood Lad Review:

Blood Lad is one of those anime that you can’t take very seriously but it’s a good ride full of zany characters and visual humour (as well as some excessive violence and a more messed up family than you expect from even anime). The biggest complaint I would raise with this series is they just kind of leave you hanging in limbo mid-way along Staz’s quest to resurrect Fuyumi.

From a plot point of view there isn’t all that much more than the overview. Staz and Fuyumi travel around the demon world encountering various other demons as they look for a solution. That said, there’s plenty of sub-plots and a lot of character back story floating around the fairly short run time. This makes what is a basic fetch quest feel like a much richer story while at the same time makes the lack of resolution even worse.

The setting is also pretty ordinary (considering we’re meant to be in a demon world). While there are definitely fantasy like parts to the setting and they change scenes often, very few of the locations are all that memorable beyond their initial impression. Maybe that’s harsh but it really just felt like we were in a run down city with a few old manors and the like scattered around.

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The characters are the shining stars of the anime. Staz is incredibly powerful in his district and even compared to other district bosses, but as we learn more about Staz’s family situation and background we realise that he is not the overpowered and always undefeated protagonist that he might appear to be early in the series.

Also, his overall lack of work ethic being in direct contradiction with his vow to Fuyumi makes for some interesting character reflection (I’d hesitate to call it development at this point in the story).

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Fuyumi as our fish out of water, typical Japanese girl/ghost, is probably the weakest of the characters (though she does do ordinary girl well it kind of makes her the flattest of all the characters). And despite the fact that she’s supposed to be Joe Ordinary even she ends up with a far more complex story than at first anticipated.

As to other characters, my favourites are Wolf and Bell. Bell because of her very cool magic (I’d love to be able to do that trick with the frames) and Wolf because he just brings so much energy to his scenes.

There’s some great action sequences and amusing dialogue but that’s about all I can say about the series. Given it’s short run time (10 episodes) you can knock it over in an afternoon and it is an enjoyable way to pass the time.

For those who can’t stand incomplete stories I’d recommend saving yourself some pain and skipping this one. Otherwise, it is difficult to fault except that the humour doesn’t always land (but isn’t that always the case in shows that try to play for laughs).

What were your thoughts on Blood Lad?

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Karandi James

Wolf’s Rain Overview:

In Wolf’s Rain there’s a legend that says when the end of the world comes paradise will appear but only wolves will know how to find it. Wolves are believed to have been hunted to extinction but they are still living by hiding amongst the human population (using illusions to conceal themselves). Drawn by a strange scent, four wolves have gathered in a city and will now begin their quest to find paradise.

Wolf’s Rain Review:

Wolf’s Rain is one of those anime that will either draw you straight in and keep you enthralled from start to finish or have you raising your eyebrow and wondering what you are watching. For me, I was enthralled. The opening theme, the animation, the characters, everything was just perfect. Okay, the plot get’s a little convoluted at times but right from the start there is a clear destination and while we divert occasionally we are always heading toward that finishing point. This is an anime I strongly recommend watching if you haven’t seen it.

The group of wolves that we meet are fantastic. They don’t just naturally get together into a group. They each have all of the baggage you would expect from ostracised individuals who have been living in hiding and faced isolation and betrayal before and yet they each deal with it in unique ways. They regularly clash in their views and yet still inherently understand that they need each other.

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The other thing I love about the characters is that the writers weren’t so attached to any of them that you could rest assured that all the characters were going to make it through every situation just because they were the main characters. That added an extra level of tension and realism to the story. But they also don’t go around callously knocking off every character just after you get to know them.

I genuinely loved the mythology constructed by this story. It tells it’s story or legend at the start and the events fit into it so smoothly and yet it doesn’t feel like we already know the outcome. The wolves who could give the illusion of humanity and Cheza as the one leading them to paradise just work so well both as characters and as clear plot elements. It all just fit together really nicely and there didn’t seem a lot of reason to clutter the story any further.

That said, it would have been nice if just occasionally the human characters hadn’t been totally driven by self-interest, greed or prejudice. The audience get it fairly early on that humans are foolish creatures, we don’t need to have our noses rubbed in it literally every time a human character takes the screen.

Alright, there’s a lot more I could say about this show, but to be honest I don’t want to spoil it. Any further details about the characters will take away the fun of getting to know them and the plot is kind of obvious from the start but there are some interesting moments that are kind of better if you go in blind.

Not much of a review but this is a great anime. The story is a little slow at times but it builds well and tells a cohesive story. There are some really emotional moments and if you are caught up in the story they’ll really stick with you after you finish watching.

If you’ve seen Wolf’s Rain let me know your thoughts below. If you haven’t seen it, give it a go.

Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James