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When Japan lost in the World War II, it was a shock to all Japanese citizens, not only in their native country, but also worldwide and the same was for people living in the Japantowns that were made in Manchuria.


Citizens worrying for their lives as the Soviets and Chinese get closer, flee their homes to Korea. But the journey is long and harsh and soon a lot of them have to sacrifice those who have been shot in the air raids, have fallen from exhaustion or are sick.

One of those who were left behind is a little girl named Kiku who on her ... way got measles. Her fate would be pretty much death if it wasn't... for a wolf.

This story is about two seemingly completely opposite heroines. First is Kiku, a little human girl that catches measles during the escape and was left behind by her mother, who at first didn't wanted to do such a thing, and the other character is an old female wolf who tires to catch any pray to survive.

When the old wolf waits to ambush the humans, she falls asleep and wakes up when everyone is gone. Looking through the place she finds the sick Kiku who at first mistakes the wolf for her dog. When the wolf checks the girl and finds out that she's feverish, she immediately finds some herbs and feeds them to Kiku, saving her life. The old wolf, who probably awoke to her motherly instincts, knows that a human child can't survive on its own decides to take Kiku to a human settlement instead of eating her.


The story is based on the "Toshi-Oi Mesu-Ookami to Onna no Ko no Hanashi" (The Story of the Old Mother Wolf and the Girl) that was written by Akiyuki Nosaka, the author of "The Grave of the Fireflies", and despite that Nosaka also created the stories for other Sensou Douwa, this one is one of the most touching and shows off Nosaka's writing style the most.

The artwork and the animation are simplified in the movie, but in a lesser degree than in other Sensou Douwa stories.

The music is great and fits the scenes very well, the ending song is very touching and completes the overall story.

If you watched the other Sensou Douwa stories then this one is also a must!