At the end of the 1990s, during a period of recession when Japan's economic bubble burst and national pride plummeted, an animator resigned from a large company and embarked on an uncertain entrepreneurial path.
(Masahiko Minami)
The warrior who stepped out of his comfort zone was named Masahiko Minami, and he named the newly formed animation company BONES, and for more than two decades, our generation gave it a affectionate nickname.
Bone Society
Nan Yahiko, who is well aware of the hardships of animation production, released the bold statement "to do animation with backbone" at the beginning of the founding of the company, which is not only an annotation of the name of the company, but also an oath to the spirit of enterprise.
What is recommended today is an original animation from the early days of the Bones Society, which can be regarded as the best proof of the oath of President Minami, both in terms of plot and quality, which is-
"Wolf Rain"
The story takes place in an alternate future world, where the world is plunged into a long, endless winter, and the natural environment deteriorates dramatically.
You don't have to dwell on the causes of the cold, first take a preventive shot: "Wolf Rain" is definitely not a complete and rigorous work with a complete and strict world view, and there are many abrupt settings that make people confused, and even if you watch the complete set, there is still no answer... But this does not affect the excellence of this work, and let me elaborate.
Under the leadership of the "aristocratic" class (actually the oligarchy who monopolized high technology), the surviving human beings gathered in a few settlements, and the centralized use of resources and technology temporarily alleviated the crisis.
However, the temporary lifting of the existential crisis has brought about worse results:
The nobles abandoned their responsibilities as leaders and drunkenly dreamed of death at countless masquerade parties.
Civilians have also lost the courage to rebel against fate, and the life topic of "living" has become too heavy to spend energy thinking about "why to live".
On the surface, the predicament stems from a climate that has not improved for a long time, but in fact, the real core of the crisis is the despair and sinking of all mankind before the disaster.
Senfuno, it is better to be a gentleman! In the sinking of all sentient beings, there is a warrior who refuses to go and embarks on a long journey to find hope, he is the male protagonist, a proud white wolf - wolf teeth
The picture is not wrong, the wolf's tooth is a real wolf, but in the worldview of this work, the wolf can transform into a human form at will.
At the beginning of the story, Wolf's Tooth breaks into the decaying urban "Dome" that is obscured by the dome, and what attracts him is the faint breath of the "Flower of the Moon".
In Indian mythology, the wolf, as the messenger of light, was sent by the gods from Paradise to the human world to dispel the darkness, until the world was destroyed, and then returned to Paradise under the guidance of the Moon Flower to relive the gods.
From the moment the Indian elder who raised wolf teeth told this tragic legend, the mission of wolf teeth was established, and he would do his best to find the mythical "paradise" for the rest of his life, just to prove the last pride of the wolf tribe.
In his eyes, the human beings hiding in the colony and stealing their lives had been destroyed, and if it were not for the search for the Moon Flower, he would never have stepped into the human territory for half a step.
From a pragmatic point of view, the ability to transform into adults allows wolves to mix in the city to make food and clothing, and also makes the animation production team's narrative difficulty greatly reduced, which is quite flattering.
But thinking about the tragic experiences of the wolf clan in the animation and the mission of characters such as wolf teeth, I think the setting is more like a metaphor throughout the text- the wolf, which refers to the struggle of human beings against a cruel fate.
Growing up in the wilderness, Wolf's Tooth was born willing to live as a wolf, but his compatriots did not necessarily.
Wolf Claw, the leader of the who are cold on the outside and hot on the inside, leads a group of unemployed homeless people to the dome, relying on the materials escorted by the noble eagle dogs to survive, and the long-term knife licking blood has exhausted him physically and mentally, and to make matters worse, the official search and battle attrition have brought the gang to the brink of collapse.
The idle thief wolf whiskers, thanks to their flexible skills, can eat and be lazy without starving to death.
The timid and cowardly orphan wolf, after the unexpected death of the old man who adopted him, can only barely wrap his stomach by rummaging through the garbage can.
The above three "people" are camouflaged by wolves, and after the planet fell into winter, wolves became unwelcome creatures, and the nobles even set up a full-time wolf hunting team, in this atmosphere, the humanoid camouflage undoubtedly made it easier for wolves to survive.
Why not return to the wilderness? Not to mention whether it can escape the heavily armed hunting squads, the deteriorating natural conditions also make this option extremely heavy.
Until the wolf's teeth suddenly appeared, and the firm gaze woke the three compatriots from the muddled nightmare like thunder, and his ambition to return to paradise under the guidance of the moon flower ignited the fighting spirit of the wolves.
The wolf whiskers and the wolf do not hesitate to embark on a journey with the wolf's teeth, and the proud wolf claws also join the team after the spit of the mouth.
After learning that the embodiment of the Moon Flower, the blind maiden Xueshan, had been robbed in a noble infighting, the four wolves resolutely jumped over the city wall and ran to the boundless wilderness without turning their heads.
If the mythical paradise is too ethereal, then if you want to touch this unattainable dream, the wolf teeth must overcome one cruel test after another.
The test has a physical level.
On the first day of their departure, they fell into the predicament of food in the wilderness, and when they could not find the antelope to eat a full meal, they triggered the automatic killing weapon by straying into the ruins, and consumed valuable physical strength in the battle where their lives were hanging on the line.
The tougher test is spiritual.
In the dilapidated seaside town, the wolf's teeth's bold words of "looking for paradise" did not impress the old predecessors who had been stranded here for many years, but instead attracted vicious ridicule.
It turned out that this group of old wolves had also been extremely optimistic in their pursuit of paradise when they were young, until they were poisoned by gas in the tunnels that must pass, and after the survivors escaped with their heads in disgrace, they could only do carts and livestock like waste in exchange for a little poor minced meat.
The tragic "lessons from the past" ruthlessly whipped the self-confidence of the wolf's teeth: the predecessors at the cost of health, but in exchange for a more undignified life, will we repeat the mistakes of the past?
On the long journey, they did not find nothing.
The Duke of Dassia, who had kidnapped the Flower Maiden, lost her in a battle with the pursuing soldiers, and the four wolves took the opportunity to rescue Xueshan, and gained her full trust in the ensuing escape.
Under the full moon, Xue Shan transformed into a flower road to the sky for the wolves, and the dream town at the end of the long road seemed to be close at hand.
However, how strong the happiness of this moment was, the humiliation of the wolves was so severe when Dacia, who caught up with him shortly afterwards, took away Xueshan by force.
The loss of Xueshan was undoubtedly painful for the wolves, but the reaction of the wolf's teeth was extreme: he refused the steady offer of the wolf claw to "heal the wounds a little and then act", and braved the blizzard on his own.
As the initiator and spiritual pillar of the team, the role of wolf's tooth is worth exploring, unlike the knife-mouthed tofu heart of the wolf's claw, and unlike the big grin of the wolf's whiskers and the wolf's no city, the wolf's tooth has never shown its heart.
As one of the most convinced members of the team of the existence of paradise, all of Wolf's Teeth' actions revolve around this goal, and at least a few fights have been made because others have belittled their dreams.
But the starting point of this dream, in the final analysis, is from the perspective of collectivism to realize the long-cherished wish of the entire wolf clan, and the wolf tooth is an individual with flesh and blood, then there must be seven emotions and six desires.
Therefore, when I watched the first half, I regarded the stereotypical method of wolf's tooth facial as a flaw until I found the magic stroke of the production team:
Wolf's teeth, acting alone, mistakenly entered the desert oasis, under the hallucinogenic confusion of the desert grass, the consciousness broke away from the body and entered the illusory world: warm climate, pleasant environment, cattle and sheep everywhere, and he also met the beautiful girl "Meiyu" who was transformed into a bobcat.
Wolf's Tooth is blind to the perversion of the illusion, and even forgets his companions and mission in the giggle with Miyu.
Seeing this, he was shocked to realize that the most iron-hearted wolf teeth also had weak ribs, and he could not be hindered by the sword mountain and the fire sea, and he met the biggest test in his life - gentle township!
How does the wolf's tooth of the illusion return to reality? How do the wolves take back the Flower Maiden? Can the paradise you've been looking for arrive? These suspense will be left to the reader to unravel on his own, and I hope to devote the rest of the space to something else.
In the more than 20 years since its establishment, the Bone Society has achieved great commercial success, such as "Fullmetal Alchemist" and "Symphonic Poems", which have already rushed out of the Asian world; they have also experienced the commercial trough of applause, and the "Memories of Kula u Fantasy" and "Tokyo Earthquake 8.0" that were awarded the high score of Douban have not even recovered the cost.
However, regardless of success or failure, the Bone Society has never lost its pride, does not sell cuteness and corruption for commercial interests, and integrates the spirit of "doing backbone animation" into every work since its establishment.
That's why I think Wolf Rain fits best for this great company, because like Wolf's Teeth, the Bone Society has chosen a path that represents dignity, even if it knows that it will face countless challenges and setbacks.
This may be the so-called right path in the world is vicissitudes!