Beautifully drawn, wonderfully animated and captivating. Wolf's Rain makes two hours seem like five minutes and has some great characters. Haunting and sometimes even mystifying in places, with a plot that takes a while to develop and grow on you. The addition of wolves was, of course, a definite thumbs up!
The DVD itself is packed with handy features - it comes with Japanese and English audio (plus it has the catchy opening music in English regardless of what language you choose) and comes with a good array of subtitles including English. It also has previews for each episode and each one can be viewed individually or can all be played together, with a "NEXT TIME" preview of the next disc on the end of each. There are 6 discs, with 5 episodes on each disc, making 30 episodes in all. Wolf's Rain is heralded as a classic Anime and is quite hard to get hold of in such a "European/English/American-friendly" form, so if you really want it, why not get this version?
The 15 certificate on the DVD refers to some graphic and bloody violence, as well as some upsetting scenes. There is also some mild nudity, but nothing that you won't be used to if you know anime culture well - the nudity is not sexual. I would happily let 12 year olds watch this, but by no means young children as the themes are strong and the violence is very graphic.
All in all, a great value buy, and a must have if you love anime and wolves. The music is superb and catchy (although it looks somewhat out of place at times) and I can't fault the storyline. Be prepared to be alienated, though, as the plot is slow to develop. Stick with it and soon you'll be howling for more!
P.S The character Toboe (Japanese for "Whiskers") is adorable!