Anime Spice and Wolf / Ookami to Koushinryou

[JazzLady22]

I noticed there wasn't a thread for this anime yet... actually, I seem to be one of the few people watching this series! Anyone else out there watching Spice and Wolf?

I looked into it because the light novel series has gotten great reviews. The series, which takes place in a medieval sort of setting, is about an itinerant merchant, Lawrence, who meets a pagan wolf deity named Horo. Horo has been living in a village for hundreds of years, providing them with a healthy crop of wheat each year, but as fewer of them pray to her, she starts to get nostalgic for her homeland in the north. She asks Lawrence to take her back there.

The first two episodes were extremely intriguing to me. The only two significant characters so far are Lawrence and Horo, and I'm excited to learn more about them. They're both intelligent, occasionally sarcastic, and definitely have interesting backstory waiting to be explored.

While it is listed as a fantasy series, there are no magic or swordfights to be found. Actually, so far, the plot centers around economics and trade, though there's a definite conflict on the horizon considering the constant presence of the church. There are some funny moments, but a distinct lack of SD and sweatdrops, which I found refreshing, personally. The pace isn't slow, per se, but those of you who like your anime action-packed will probably be fidgeting. S&W is heavy on dialogue and discussions.

Also, those of you who are uncomfortable with animated nudity might want to note that Horo prances around naked for most of the first episode. It's nothing worse than you'd see in a magical girl transformation sequence. XD

I'll be keeping an eye on this one. I've been lacking an intelligent traveling series since Mushishi ended.

[2010DigitalBoy]

[COLOR="DarkOrange"]oioi, we talked about it a little in the Watching/reading thread, but I'm glad to see somone was interested enough to make a thread! I only watched the first ep of this, and I will note that it was my most highly anticipated release this season. Here's the post I did in the other thread, which was copied out of a thread elsewhere XD

~~~~~~~

Since you both like it, I feel the need to unleash this bit of copypasta ~

ugh.... well, they did some things right but... the changes from the manga are all negative. They didn't express horo's emotions nearly as well, and Lawrence is WAY weaker of a character. They got the character designs alright, but the art is simply not as good (not that that's a surprise since the manga art is in-****ing-credible). It wasn't all failure, but I definitely think it will be one where reading the manga is a more worthwhile experience, especially since the animation is pretty static.

I absolutely dislike Lawrence's voice actor (he should have had a Ginko style voice...) however, I will say that this show's soundtrack has already proven to be out of this world. I will definietly get the soundtrack, hell I might even import the damn thing - the opening theme is beautiful and all the insert songs and the ending all had a beautiful and very tonally fitting sound. I wouldn't mind putting this on while I read the manga, heh.[/COLOR]

[JazzLady22]

Since I've read the first volume (is there any more lying around? I've been searching the raw manga communities, but no dice), I'll address some of your criticisms:

- You're so right about the music. Looks like the full version of the OP is being released in early February, and I'll be all over that.

- I usually expect some loss of character development in the translation from manga to anime; manga in general is a lot more character-driven, and anime has to aim to crowd please. That said, I thought Horo and Lawrence carried over pretty well, though you're right about some of Horo's emotions being better expressed in the manga. I'll have to see more of Lawrence in both mediums before I decide anything, though.

- Though it would be awesome if Lawrence had that low, casual drawl that Ginko perfected, I might never stop comparing the two. XD They just had to give Lawrence white hair!

- One change I wasn't too crazy about: the anime sort of sexed things up a bit. I didn't really like the addition of the girl who hits on Lawrence in the first episode, since her entire purpose was to go "Lawreeeence I'm a big girl now *flashes legs*" With the other intriguing characters that have been introduced, she feels a bit weak to me, and I hope too much time won't be spent on her.

I agree with you about some of the changes in the first episode, but the second episode is a good deal closer to the manga. So you may enjoy that more!

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]I've seen the first two episodes and just from those two it jumped up to my third favorite series this season. (Only Aria and Zetsubou Sensei top it and those are both sequels.) It's been too long since I saw a really good fantasy anime but Spice and Wolf looks like it will fix that. I love the setting and the story that's been laid out so far and, of course, Horo is just a completely awesome character. I can't wait to see more.

Agreed about the music, but the art is also beautiful. I'm not sure whether it's true HD or just an upscale but it's absolutely gorgeous in 720p. Even if there are a few negative tweaks from the manga I'd probably still prefer the anime because of the wonderful art and music.[/color]

[Dagger]

Who knew that a show about economics could be so fascinating? Episode 3 even ends on a cliffhanger. :animesmil

Anyway, I don't think it's really worth comparing the anime to the manga, since it's not the source material to begin with.

~Dagger~

[JazzLady22]

Just watched episode 3, and I love how the pace is picking up! The negotiation scene was so fun to watch - poor Lawrence and his bruised ego! Horo continues to be such a fascinating character. You never know what she's going to say next.

I'm so curious about the [spoiler]money scheme Lawrence figured out at the end of the episode.[/spoiler] That's another really great thing about this series, that it's a lot harder to guess the next step because of the subject matter. Really keeps you thinking!

This is becoming one of my favorites of the season so far.

[Dagger]

Ep. 4: Another cliffhanger! >_<

I really didn't expect [spoiler]Horo's identity to get revealed to anyone else[/spoiler] so early in the series. My favorite parts were the bedtime conversations. There was some awkward animation this time around, but they made up for it with the 100% perfect timing in the scene where [spoiler]Lawrence trips his way into bed, finds Horo there teasing him, gets irritated and grabs her, pulls away and more seriously moves to kiss her--and then she stops him and her eyes glow all red and, and, and...[/spoiler] Totally [I]rawr[/I].

The next episode's title is so suggestive...

~Dagger~

[Guest odangoatama]

I am so excited to find other people watching this series! I love it. I was a little weary about all the economics stuff (simply because I am in fact taking that course this year... and I hate it. Haha. Actually, It just ended so~ yay! Haha.) I'm also dying for the soundtrack, as are others I can see, so please let me know once you get a hold of it. :) So many cliffhangers... Hahaha. I love Horo. She's so kickass. I can't wait for episode 5!

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]The OP and ED singles are out. The full length OP is absolutely beautiful and I actually like the instrumental version more. Without the lyrics I think the song sounds even more sad and stirring.

Ringo Hiyori, the ED, is still just plain weird. The full version makes even less sense.

I've only seen through ep3 so far because I've been waiting for Ayako's 720p releases. I hope they get ep4 out soon because I'm loving the series more with each new episode. I actually happen to find economics interesting, and watching Horo casually outclass Lawrence is great fun. But I'm really curious what sort of role the church is going to play in the series.[/color]

[JazzLady22]

Episode 5 just further solidifies Spice and Wolf as my favorite this season! The machinations of the [spoiler]Milone Company[/spoiler] are just too exciting to watch. [spoiler]The entire escape plan had me watching very closely to catch every detail. What a nice change, to see anime characters acting smart and making good plans for once![/spoiler]

Also nice to see the dynamic between Lawrence and Horo develop further. [spoiler]The argument was very well-done. Poor Horo will probably feel the need to reassert her dominance for a while. Which will hopefully lead to more bailing-out-Lawrence antics.[/spoiler]

And in a move I rather liked, [spoiler]Chloe has become an antagonist! I am rarely so happy to be wrong, but I thought she was doomed to the predictable character arc of 'the girl at home.' But I think this is a good use of her character. I do wonder how Lawrence will deal with her when they inevitably meet.[/spoiler]

I grabbed the opening single, which I've been listening to on repeat. So beautiful! You're so right about the instrumental version too, Desbreko. Utterly gorgeous. I didn't go for the ending single - too weird for me, too.

[Dagger]

I knew there was a reason [spoiler]I didn't care for Chloe...[/spoiler]

Still an interesting episode, although they had Horo go too heavy on the tsuntsun for my liking. There were times when she went too far in the other direction, too, but at least that always gets tempered by a quick recovery & some teasing (loved the part where she threw Lawrence off by calling him cute). Nevertheless... animators, use the blushing in moderation, please.

Given that this is a journey story, I'm curious to see how they bring back the recurring characters (which I'm assuming are the ones shown in the OP).

~Dagger~

[JazzLady22]

Does anyone know what's going on with the episode numbers? Subs for episode 8 were just released, even though episode 7 was not. Even when I was looking for raws earlier this week, I could only find "episode 8." Is this just a mistake?

EDIT: It looks like episode 7 is only going to be on the DVD, if Anime News Network is to be trusted. Seeing as there are only 13 episodes in the first place, that's a bit irksome.

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]I've also been hearing that ep7 is DVD only. Which is really annoying because it'll probably be a while before the DVDs are out. They should add [i]extra[/i] episodes for the DVDs, not rip one out of the middle of a series that's already only thirteen episodes long. :animesigh[/color]

[Zed]

I watched episode 11 yesterday and I'm extremely confused as to whether Lawrence and Horo are meant to lie each other or not. I haven't read anything regarding this anime i.e. the manga. So I really have no idea what's happening except that Lawrence is in debt and is having trouble paying back.

But other than that, how do you think the anime will end?

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]I'm having a hard time believing that Horo and Lawrence will complete their journey north with only three episodes left. (I've only seen through ep10 so far.) So hopefully there will be a second season rather than rushing things at the end or leaving it hanging with no real conclusion.

Or I guess they could take the cop-out method of having Horo up and decide she wants to stay with Lawrence. But that would work so much better if they actually completed the journey and then found she didn't want to leave him.

I get the feeling I'd have less speculation if I knew the light novel's story.[/color]

[Zed]

I watched the last episode yesterday. I must say, the ending, the last episode itself as a whole is very unsatisfying. I didn't really get the plot, but if there was any sub-plot regarding the relationship between Horo and Lawrence, it was left unsolved.

I'd like to see a second season of this series though.