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Alternate Titles: Ookami kodomo no Ame to Yuki

Run Time: 117 minutes

Release Date: 5 June 2012

Tech:

Studio Chizu/Madhouse

Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki

Dir. Mamoru Hosoda

Wri. Mamoru Hosoda, Satoko Okudera

Music by Takagi Masakatsu

Pros:

– Animation is stunning. An impressive first outing for Studio Chizu.

– The drama is genuine and touching. A really great story about raising children as a single mother.

– Never allows its premise to hijack the narrative. While the threat of the children being discovered is always present, it never reduces the movie to that central conflict.

– Music is gorgeous and subtle. It creates an effective emotional canvas for the story events to be painted upon.

Cons:

– A little bit of furry fan service early on is really distracting

– The voice actors for 10 and 13 year old Ame and Yuki are cast WAY too old

– Yuki’s voice over narration is wholly unnecessary and needlessly expository

[starrater]