Anime Review: Loups=Garous

Genre: Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller

Episodes: 1 (it’s a movie…)

Overall thoughts: Considerably better than I’ve seen it rated elsewhere
Distributor: Madman

Image via Mangauk

There’s only ever been a few anime movies that I’ve checked out prior to this one (not including movie tie ins for assorted series) and I’ve noticed they have a tendency to be hit or miss in most regards. Loups=Garous took my interest predominantly with its art style, to be frank, it was odd, and I really dug it. Every single character had an interesting look to them which was difficult not to focus on throughout my times watching this through, for sheer fascination with the style. This did not detract from the story or general viewing of the movie, in fact the animation overall was very easy on the eyes.

The other thing that drew me in to watching this anime, was the setting. I am always intrigued by the ideas people come up with for the future of humanity, and especially the fact that so many of these ideas centralize around the grim (you know, all that zombie obsession etc.) and Loups=Garous definitely took a direction that clicked with me. A virus threatened the entire human race (pretty standard, I know) but the humans lived on, though they dwindled in population, and were thrust further and further into a technological age where almost all food is synthetic and interactions between people were online for fear of contact. Now, I refuse to spoil the story of a thriller, that would just be cruel, so instead, I’ll emphasize elsewhere for the story. Now Loups=Garous definitely took a deep look at the kinds of personalities that could be created by a world such as this in its main group of characters. The lead being a girl, Hazuki Makino, with a very clear communication disorder (as she calls it), who is absolutely terrified by being in close proximity of others.

Image via This Euphoria

Loups=Garous, as far as I can tell, used the J-Rock band SCANDAL for almost the entirety of its soundtrack. Prior to the movie, I had never heard of them before, but now I am very much addicted to their music. I am finding of recent, that sticking to a particular band or artist gives a good sense of focus to the soundtrack when needed.

Image via Japan Shrine

I was a little disappointed to see that Loups=Garous is so frequently reviewed as exceptionally average, but after watching it thrice within the last week, I would definitely be willing to give it high marks (probably an 8/10 if I ever bothered to put a number value to it). And I mean, me watching it thrice should probably be enough to get it on your radar if you haven’t already seen it.

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