According to an old legend, when the end of the world comes, Paradise will appear; however, only wolves will know how to find it. Although wolves are believed to have been hunted to extinction nearly two hundred years ago, they still exist, surviving by taking human form.[1] Freeze City is a northern human city in a world where the majority of people live in poverty and hardship.
Kiba, an injured lone white wolf, goes to Freeze City following the scent of the Lunar Flower, which is the key to opening Paradise. There he encounters Tsume, Hige, and Toboe, three other wolves who were drawn to Freeze City by the scent of the Lunar Flower and are now living in the city. The wolves encounter Quent Yaiden, a former Sheriff of Kyrios, obsessed with hunting down wolves, and his dog Blue. Cheza, the Flower Maiden who is destined to lead the wolves to Paradise, is being studied at a laboratory under the care of Cher Degré. She is awakened by the smell of wolf's blood. As Kiba and Hige approach the lab to find her, she is stolen away by Lord Darcia the Third, whose people created Cheza.
With the Flower Maiden gone, the wolves have no reason to stay in the city. Despite some initial misgivings and suspicions, they decide to stay together and follow Kiba in his search for the Flower Maiden and Paradise. As they pursue Cheza, the wolves travel through various cities and the remnants of former habitations. Cher joins the city's army to try to recover Cheza, while Cher's ex-husband Hubb Lebowski searches desperately for Cher, and Quent continues his relentless pursuit of the wolves. When Blue eventually encounters Cheza, it awakens her wolf blood from dormancy and causes her to leave Quent and take on her own human illusion. She joins Kiba's pack and travels with them for a while, developing a relationship with Hige. After she becomes separated from the pack, she travels with Cher, while Hubb finds himself traveling with Quent, who is now searching for Blue as well as the wolves.
The wolves and the humans come together in Jaguara's city, where the captured Cheza is being held. In attempting to rescue the abducted Cheza, Kiba, Tsume, and Toboe are captured. Tsume and Toboe are thrown into a dungeon with Hubb while Jaguara attempts to use Kiba's blood to force Paradise to open. Blue and Cher also make their way into the Keep, as does Quent. Darcia interrupts the ceremony as Kiba and the other wolves break free and rush to free the Flower Maiden. Darcia battles Jagara along with Kiba, and finally slays her as the keep begins to collapse. The wolves and the humans barely escape with their lives, and Quent is gravely wounded saving Blue from an oncoming vehicle after escaping from Jaguara's city.
The wolves, now accompanied by Cheza, Cher, Hubb, and Quent, continue trying to make their way to Paradise, pursued by the now insane Darcia. A combination of environmental factors and Darcia's hostility cause most of the characters to die, leaving only Kiba, Cheza, and Darcia alive at the place where Paradise can be opened. Darcia is killed when he attempts to enter Paradise, and Cheza's body disintegrates into seeds. Fatally wounded, Kiba concludes that his quest has failed, but as he lays dying, rain begins to fall and Cheza's seeds grow into thousands of lunar flowers.
At the series' close, Toboe, Tsume, Hige, and Kiba are in a modern city. They appear to be human; Tsume is riding a motorbike and Toboe is holding a small kitten. Hige is eating a hotdog while walking down the street. Kiba, walking down a busy sidewalk, begins running towards a lunar flower lying in a puddle in an alley.
[edit]Changes in manga adaptation
The two-volume manga adaptation includes some of the core events of the anime series with few changes, but as a whole the manga veers greatly from its anime inspiration. Many events from the anime do not occur in the manga, and some of the events from the anime that are presented in the manga are completely different in terms of dialogue, chronological sequence, and final outcomes.[2] In particular, the second volume tells an almost completely different story, with Darcia recruiting Blue to help him open the door to Paradise with her blood. The wolves must go to Darcia's keep, rather than Jaguara's, in order to free Cheza, with Kiba missing but appearing at the end to make the final rescue effort. At the end of the manga, the four wolves and Cheza are sitting on a rock as the clouds break and sunlight streams through for the first time. The world rejoices the end of the Ice Age and rumors that Paradise has been found abound.[3]
In the manga, most of the characters are similar in appearance and personality to their anime counterparts, but some characters seen in the anime do not appear in the manga, including the Nobles Lord Orkham and Lady Jaguara.[2][3]
[edit]Characters
Main article: List of Wolf's Rain characters
Kiba (キバ lit. "Fang"?) is a white wolf dedicated to finding the Lunar Flower and opening the way to Paradise. Kiba primarily acts on his instincts, which sometimes lead him to act rashly. Full of wolf pride, Kiba initially expresses disgust at wolves who use human disguises, but eventually realizes that it is necessary to survive. Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)
Tsume (ツメ lit. "Claw"?) is a gray wolf with a scar across his chest. Rough and self-reliant, Tsume is portrayed as a strong fighter who keeps his true feelings to himself. He joins the others out of boredom and does not initially believe in Paradise. Though he frequently quarrels with Kiba over their journey, he eventually comes to believe as strongly as Kiba. Voiced by: Kenta Miyake (Japanese), Crispin Freeman (English)
Hige (ヒゲ lit. "Whisker"?) is a tan wolf with a carefree attitude, who seems quite comfortable living in human societies. After meeting Kiba, he goes along with the idea of searching for Paradise without much argument, though he doesn't show the same passion as Kiba. Hige wears a collar around his neck that he doesn't remember how he got it. He also has the strongest sense of smell in the group. Voiced by: Akio Suyama (Japanese), Joshua Seth (English)
Toboe (トオボエ Tōboe?, lit. "Howling") is a brown wolf and the youngest of the group. He is considered the pup or the runt by the others in the early part of the series. He was raised by an old woman who found him as a very small pup outside the city, and still wears the bracelets she gave him. Due to his raising, Toboe is friendly and protective towards most humans. Toboe has the strongest sense of hearing in the pack. Voiced by: Hiroki Shimowada (Japanese), Mona Marshall (English)
Cheza (チェザ?) is also called the "Flower Maiden." The wolves need Cheza to find and open the gateway to Paradise. She was created via alchemy from a Lunar Flower. Originally asleep and under study in a lab in Freeze City, Cheza is eventually able to join the wolves, whom she loves. She often refers to herself in the third person, usually adapting to the words 'This One'. The spilling of a wolf's blood makes Cheza scream, and she has the ability to heal and put wolves into a restful sleep through her song and touch. Voiced by: Arisa Ogasawara (Japanese), Sherry Lynn (English)
