slakroid

When we think of anime fighting giant robots, supernatural battles and a lot of BOOBS just comes into our minds. But there are a few unique types anime that are much as charming as the others.  . I am your host Bilguun alix and today I will review an anime called Spice and wolf an adventure/romance anime aired in 2008.

Plot

 In the mediaeval century Is a man called Kraft Lawrence, a 25-year-old traveling merchant who peddles various goods from town to town to make a living. One night when stopped at the town of Pasloe, he finds in his wagon a pagan wolf-deity named Holo who is over 600 years old. She appears to be a 15-year-old girl, except for a wolf's tail and ears. She introduces herself as the town's goddess of harvest, who has kept it blessed with good harvests of wheat for many years. Despite her responsibility to watch over the town, she wants to go back to her homeland in the north called Yoitsu; she believes the people have already forsaken her and that she has kept her promise to maintain the good harvests. And that is when our protagonist Lawrence decides to go on an adventure with her.

 The story of spice and wolf involves economical  problems which I like to call “FINANCIAL ADVENTURE”. Holo and Lawrence travel through towns hoping to gain money and information about Yoitsu while getting into trouble in each town. The show’s most unique but bad side is that the anime takes too much time explaining financial problems like trading and marketing. At some point I have to go back and listen to what Lawrence had to say a few more times just to get the picture of it. Also the plot could be sometimes  slow due to building up relationship between our two main leads. But regardless there are hardly seems to be any plot hole, it might be pain in the ass in the beginning but things do go smoothly and some of you might be interested in the financial deals.

Characters

When you watch the first episode you see Holo sleeping in Lawrence’s wagon totally NAKED, you might think of her as a crappy fan service wolf girl. Now I won’t lie, I too thought that it was rubbish and dropped the show for three months and finally came back to know that she was in fact… the greatest female character in the history of anime. You see Holo’s personality is like a wolf. She is prideful, cunning, clever but she also has soft sides too which makes her both charming and a very interesting character. Lawrence himself is a calculating man but he is also kind. And what makes this show worth to watch is that these  characters TALK with each other.

That wasn’t a joke. They tease each other, they talk about economics, about life, about their past and that actually makes this show golden. We click on the next episode button just to know what they are going to talk about.

As for the side characters there were a few characters that had potential like Chloe, Diana, Norah etc. But the main problem about the side characters is that the show just leaves them behind and progresses the story. Well this makes sense since they are travelling but It would be better to know what happened to them.

Animation

The animation of spice and wolf is SPLENDID. The graphics of the nature is really good, the animators never slacked off during each scene and the action scenes are cool but they are very very rare and even if you find one it won’t last for 10 seconds.

Sound

I have to give gratitude for the first opening theme song. Because that song was really good. Spice and wolf could have gotten a childish theme song but “tabi no tochuu” fits the atmosphere perfectly. Like the show itself, the opening had a calming but swaying melody and at the over word the song really gets you. I MEAN LOOK AT THE LYRICS:

If the world we dreamed of  
exists anywhere, 
let's go look for it,  
beyond the wind. 
The freezing dawn,  
the parched midday, 
the trembling night;  
let's go see what's at their end.

As for the ending song it was refreshing and kinda childish unlike the opening. The OST had songs that can make you sad or happy and it truly fits the mediaeval theme.

I really loved spice and wolf. It was an anime beyond my expectation and I hope more and more people would like it. However the only problem I have with this show is that it stopped on season 2. They didn’t finish the stuff they were doing, the show just got stuck on a cliffhanger and it hasn’t continued ever since. I too was hoping for a season 3 but when I couldn’t find one I raged and almost thrown away my laptop. The reason I’m telling you is that if you are going to watch this show be warned that it doesn’t have a conclusive ending.

Recommedations  

Watch it if you like: deep characters, great relationship, economic riddles

Don’t watch it if you: hate a lot of conversation, want more action, hate economical talks.