Mine-ruins Town

Mine-ruins Town
Info
Japanese:	鉱山跡の街
Romaji:	Kōzan Ato no Machi
First appearance:	Episode 5
Residence:	• Moss • Cole • "Gramps"✝ • Zali
Visited by:	• Kiba • Tsume • Toboe • Hige

Mine-ruins Town (鉱山跡の街 , Kōzan Ato no Machi) also referred to by some as, the "Ruined Island City", is the second location visited by the wolves in the anime.

Design & Infrastructure

The town is connected by a long railroad that spans from the mainland to the island. From the railway, the town sits on a small round island of rock. It's buildings and walls jut out into the sky in an array of heights. Pipes are mostly seen, being the tallest things in the town.

The inner parts of the town is filled with crumbling cement and stone buildings. Pipes and tin-roofing line the walls in a discombobulated fashion.

Snow is seen in patches throughout the town as it does not have a glass-like dome as Freeze City did.

The town still resemblance the building designs seen in Freeze City. Walkways suspended by arches and flat, white/yellow stone-buildings are tightly compacted; utilizing the little space the island has to offer. Many windows and doors are boarded up with wood.

Residence & Visitors

The most notable residence of the island town is Zali's pack. The town is largely populated by workers.

Zali, Cole, Moss and the rest of the pack are seen congregating around an oil-drum fire; seemingly homeless.

Gramps is met in the graveyard in the out-skirts of the town, near the poisons exhaust-shaft, digging his own grave.

Plot

The wolves visit Mine Ruins Town in Episode 5 where they meet Zali's pack. After their encounter, they walk by a waterfront. Toboe notices how cold the city is, and the citizens hide at first sight; the wolves weren’t hospitable either.

They stumble upon a cemetery where they meet an old wolf who is digging a grave for himself. They ask him about the lunar flower and Paradise. The elderly wolf leads them to a barricaded tunnel door, claiming that is the "entrance to Paradise". Zali then appears, stating there is no such place as Paradise, and orders the four to leave the city before morning. He and Gramps walk away, leaving the four behind.

They find an abandoned building where they decide to rest. While Tsume and Kiba talk about why he is so driven to find Paradise, Cole appears with some food for them. Kiba and Tsume leaves while Hige gladly accepts the food. Hige and Cole chat for a while, when Toboe rushes after Tsume. Before she leaves, she tells him to head to the station the next morning to see something fascinating.

Toboe and Tsume end up at a train station, Tsume lays down on a bench to rest. Kiba finds himself at the place where they first met the wolf pack. As Zali is absent, he gets into a quarrel, and starts fighting with them. After Kiba gets beaten up, he collapses in a back alley and falls asleep.

The next day, Hige meets up with Toboe and Tsume at the train station. They spot a pack of wolves pulling some cargo up a ramp. When Tsume notices Zali watching, he demands an explanation. Zali answer "That is the way the wolves make a living." Gramps, whom is also pulling the cargo, collapses on the ground. Kiba appears, and upon seeing the condition the other wolves and Gramps are in, becomes enraged and runs up the ramp in his wolf form. Zali quickly rushes down and knocks Kiba to the ground.

The next day, Gramps is buried. Zali warns Kiba not to interfere with their way of living. Kiba tells Zali he and his pack are acting like dogs, being used by humans. Zali, answers that they are simply too young to understand.

Back at the abandoned building, Toboe treats Kiba's wounds, while Hige looks for food. Zali is reminded of the time he failed to lead a pack of wolves to Paradise, as they all died from the gas in the tunnel. Although, Cole tries to convince him to try again, he refuses.

Hige is captured by a trap the humans set out for stray dogs. When he asks for Moss’ help, he is knocked unconscious in return. Toboe sees this and runs back to Kiba and Tsume. The three seek out Zali for an explanation. Moss and some others turn against Zali and start beating him, saying that he is not worthy to be a leader. After getting beaten, Zali helps the wolves rescue Hige. After Hige is rescued, he shows them the way into the tunnel and watches as they head towards exit.

Gallery

• Anime
• Manga
• Settei

Mine-ruins Town reference material

Depot reference material

Trivia

• The name of the island town varies slightly between the first Japanese DVD release and the official settei:
  • The DVD booklet refers to the island town as "鉱山跡の街" (Kōzan Ato no Machi, lit."Mine-ruins Town")
  • The official settei (reference materials) has it labelled as "油田跡の島" (Yuden Ato no Shima lit."Oil field Ruins Island"); specifying what is/was being mined.