I don't mean that in a bad way. This movie's actually good. It's not the kind of movie you'd expect it to be, kind of like Disney. Instead, it's...pretty dark. Be warned: here there be spoilers.So Chirin is a little lamb who loves to play, but his mother ends up being killed by an old wolf. He runs away to kill the wolf only to decide to be his apprentice so he won't be a useless sheep any longer. Instead of the usual route of Bambi, Littlefoot, and Simba (who lost a parent and went through tragedy but became characters) Chirin doesn't let go of the negative emotion and becomes a hate-filled demonic ram with misshapen horns. One night, Chirin heads to his old home to kill some sheep only to see a mother protecting her lamb and realize that he can't do it. He fights the wolf and kills him, but the other sheep refuse to take him in because they see him as a monster. Alone and full of despair, Chirin returns to the mountains, where the final scene in the movie has him crying out to the wolf in the harsh winter night.Like I said, it's good. There's not a whole lot of characters, but that suits this movie's mood well. And it's also a cautionary tale of what happens if you take revenge. There's only one problem I have with the movie. How does Chirin easily accept the wolf as his father figure when he had wanted to kill him to avenge his mother? I get that his time with the wolf made him slightly affectionate with him, but why the sudden change? Other than that, I like this movie. So on a scale from one to ten, I'd give it a 6, and I'd recommend it.

Purchased this film many years ago maybe on Beta.It's been misplaced so I haven't seen it for quite awhile.My children had watched it before I ever did.Since they use to sing a song from it I was really expecting some kind of cute movie,no way.It was really surprising how dark and serious this film was.The filming didn't meet up to the animation standards of other films but it gripped the viewers attention.There are no laughs in this film.My children didn't watch it with me as it had already made them cry.As adults they still talk about how sad it was.Anyone that let's their child view this movie takes a chance on upsetting them.

This is a classic cartoon that anyone should avoid 'judging a book by its cover'. It looks exactly like any other cheesy Disney cartoons...but it is TOTALLY the opposite.This 40-minute clip is one huge character development influenced by the choices in life made by a sheer little lamb, and the consequences that followed. There are other anime with equally dark/depressing themes, but this is probably one of the first few that I noticed that made it very obvious & convincing part in the latter. The unfairytale-like ending -- definitely something you won't expect from a cartoon like this -- is one such powerful testimony. Aside from the first 8 minute, the rest of the movie is very dark but true to anything anyone has to face in reality. If i have kids, I will definitely include this cartoon at the top of the 'cartoons for kids' list. Cartoons should not be meant to give kids false impression of life but instead prepare them for the real moral lessons. This anime absolutely nailed it.

*** SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS***I own this wonderful movie, one film of many that I am proud of. Basically, the plot of the film short is based on a baby lamb named Chirin, a playful and curious lamb who goes just beyond the safe boundaries of the paddock fence he lives in one day and is scolded by his mother. He also wears a bell around his neck to keep him out of danger. (Think "Bambi") Well, one night the wolf that Chirin's mother kept warning him about that lives on the mountain outside the fence comes to their farm and invades the barn in which they live. (There are many sheep, not just Chirin and his mother) The wolf comes to the farm occasionally for a feast of lamb, and when he's about to pounce on and devour Chirin, his mother jumps over him to protect him. She dies. Then, Chirin, fueled by rage of his mother's death, leaves the farm in search of the wolf. He pursues the wolf, determined to be stronger in order to strike down the wolf that had killed his mother. (Yes, the very wolf Chirin wants to have train him, he also wants to kill.) Well, years pass, Chirin grows up to be a merciless killer with the wolf at his side. As partners, they ravage the land and kill all that stand in their way. As a last lesson the wolf teaches Chirin, he takes him back to the very place he had left years before to go join the wolf. He begins as if he is fearless of the thought of killing his own kind but, sees a lamb and he remembers his childhood and refuses to do it. The wolf heads in toward the barn to do it for him but, Chirin won't let him kill his past life. He charges the wolf one last time, and runs him through with his dagger-like horns. Then, even after slaying the wolf the sheep are too afraid of him to let him live with them. They lock him out and finally he realizes that without the wolf now, he is completely alone. He leaves, and later the sheep claim to hear the bell Chirin wore as a child to protect him from danger, ringing quietly in a raging blizzard. The End. It's a bit depressing but, most children would probably be too young to understand the deeper concepts the movie displays. All in all, the movie is really very good, enjoy!