Created by Keiko Nobumoto (
Cowboy Bebop), the half-hour
Wolf's Rain was, like many another Japanese anime series, set in a post-apocalyptic future. This time around, the human characters lived in domed cities, surrounded by a devastated world. Meanwhile, the Earth's surviving wolves, presumed extinct for two centuries, had managed to disguise themselves as humans to survive. The plotline focused on four young humanized wolves, each named for a part of the wolf "makeup": Kiba (Fang), Tsume (Claw), Hige (Whisker) and Toboe (Howl). Inspired by the vision of Flower Maiden Cheza and spurred on by the scent of the Lunar Flowers, the quartet set out to find the legendary "wolf paradise" of Rakunan. There was only one hitch -- if and when the wolves finally located Rakunan, the world would come to an end! First telecast in Japan on January 6, 2003,
Wolf's Rain consisted of 26 episodes, plus four OAV episodes -- produced exclusively for home video -- which wrapped up the story. The entire series made its American debut courtesy of Cartoon Network on April 24, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide