anime: Wolf's Rain eps 8-11

[meganbmoore]

Here's when the focus starts to shift from just the wolves to the bigger picture.  Not that the pack gets shoved off to the side(far from it) but we start seeing more of what's been mentioned, as opposed to just hearing about it.  But before I move on, I continue to love(again) how wolfie they are, even when looking human, such as when Cheza is petting Toboe and Hige's heads.  They look like a pair of geeks getting goosebumps from being touched by a girl for the first time(which, of course, isn't the case...) but you can also see a pair of mutts with their tongues lolling out, begging for more.  And I like how they don't forget that this "looking human" thing is new to Kiba...when he gets pissed, we can see him start to lose his looks a bit and turn more canine, whereas the others just go straight from human to wolf, we see Kiba starting to lose it before we see him as a wolf.

And I love that(and how) the subject of a pack leader came up...both Hige and Toboe are followers, and both Tsume and Kiba are extremely dominant.  Kiba is the leader by default because reaching paradise is his vision, and the others are kind of just riding along on his faith, but he doesn't see himself as a leader and doesn't think their pack needs one, but, as Tsume points out, they're wolves, they HAVE to have a leader, even if they are just a bunch of strays who ended up together largely by accident, and just because Kiba doesn't necessarily WANT to be the leader doesn't mean he gets to get out of the job.  Tsume may be the gruffest and most antisocial of the group, but he's also the smartest and most logical.  He's also actually a better leader than Kiba, he's just not meant to be the leader here and knows it(and, I think, he's tired of being the leader and would rather have people rely on someone else for once)

We also finally get to see Hubb start to come into his own.  Until now, he's just been Cher's ex who's allergic to animals and is a cop.  But here, we get to see him start being proactive.  I like Hubb...he's very much a beta-male, but when it comes to Cher, he develops alpha tendencies.  I love that he simply drops everything and walks away to find her, because for him, it's very simple:  he loves Cher, he knows she's in trouble, he's going to find her and do whatever he can to fix it.  It doesn't really matter whether or not she still loves him(she does but doesn't realize it yet) but he still loves her, and that won't change.

I've also always liked Cher's relationship with Darcia...in some ways, it's like a seduction, and yet it completely isn't.  For Cher, it's likely the first time she's actually gotten to know anything about a Noble beyond the ships and houses and the name on the paycheck, and he's a link to Cheza, her life's work, and for Darcia, it's just a chance to interact with an intelligent, attractive woman.  His search for a cure for Hamona has left him an extremely lonely, isolated man, and Cher makes him almost feel normal again...it's not romantic or attraction, just a distraction from the loneliness, and he knows it won't last, because really, it'd be smart of him to just kill her so she can't interfere anymore, but he's still a decent guy underneath, so he takes care of her instead(even if kidnapping so she can't cause trouble is involved.)  Plus, I figure he feels a teensy bit guilty about stealing her life's work and pretty much wreaking her life if the process.

Next episode, I believe, is Darcia coming home to his nasty surprise, which is hard to watch, but I think we also get to properly "meet" Blue, and Blue rocks.

Also: The Otogi Zoshi galleries I found have pretty good quality caps.  WOOT! for more icons to waste space on your flists with.

Comments

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I have watched two more episodes, i am enamored with the whole wolf/person concept and how well it is done. I still like Tsume the most, Kiba seems a tad too "righteous"..

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Actually, as we learn later, Kiba is really something of a hypocrite. A lot of his attitude has to do with his having used to have been something he likes to get on to others about. His intensity and absolute faith(which he has a reason for...more than he realizes) is his chief appeal to me, though.

What do you think of Darcia so far?

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Is Darcia the guy who stolen Cheza?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yup, that's him(and so's this) I always forget he wears the headgear a lot at first.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

He is hot! One of the characters that seem too hot to be evil. :D But, yes, HEADGEAR!! He looked like medusa!!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

He is that. But see, even though he's the villain, I've never thought of him as "evil." You can see in his interactions with Cher(like when he asks if Cheza is "vital" to her that there is a good guy underneath, he's just centered his entire life around curing Hamona(and how can you not love a guy whose ntire existence is centered around saving the life of the woman he loves?) and it doesn't leave room for him to be "nice."

When he DOES cross into true villainy, I don't think it's even really him anymore, but rather, the creature Jagara creates.