Spice and Wolf - Reviews

What I Liked: Interesting cast of characters. Good character designs. Great world-building and setting. The audience-friendly economics lessons. Strong first half. Beautiful opening theme and cute (and surprisingly un-kitschy) closing theme. Horn and fiddle-heavy soundtrack adds to the medievel fantasy feel of the series. The dynamic between Craft Lawrence and Holo.  

What I Didn't: Second half takes a little while to get interesting. Average animation, with the occasional animation gaff here and there.

Final Verdict: With an excellent (if not unconventional) story strengthened by its romanticised medievel setting and a great soundtrack, Spice and Wolf is a wonderful series that tackles life, religion and economics. Even though it suffers from average-quality animation and a weak second half, it still gives us one of the most interesting dynamics between a male and female lead in modern anime.

I have been looking for an anime with a setting like this.  Luckily for me the anime was pretty good too.  I will definitely be watching the second season, but its hard to be motivated to watch it knowing that it doesnt finish the story.  This is also why it cant be a 10 out of 10

Story:  The story easily has enough depth to be a 10/10 anime.  At times the economics were hard to follow unless you go back and give it some thought.  However it all makes sense after you grasp the situations.  I was sad when I found out that the anime and manga ended before the end of the light novel (especially since I spoiled the end of the novel for myself and its a really good ending . . :) . . . .).

Animation: not only meh, but mmmmeeeeh.  The animation was pretty lame, which. . .for an anime like this is fine, since it revolves around the conversations.  The last couple episodes had better transformations and action sequences for Holo, which is why this didnt get a 5 or 6.

Sound:  also very meh, some of the songs seemed out of place.  They fit the setting well enough, just not the situations well at times.  The op and ending theme were fine, and the voice acting was ordinary, Holo was fun to listen to, but this anime didnt really "expect" much from the voice acting so there was nothing to deliver really.  If you want to see the difference in what I mean then go watch Angel Beats.

Characters:  This is another one of those animes where you have to like so many of the characters, even the bad ones (to an extent).  This was the perfect anime to just enjoy the interations between Holo and Lawrence.  It set me in a good mood, hopefully it will do the same for you.  There was pretty good character building, however there were times where the interactions seems awkward, that is why this is not getting a solid 9.

Overall:  rather enjoyable easily worth watching, very different setting.  I value that highly.  Well put together, it had flaws but all animes do, and you become more critical of better animes. . . .mostly :P.  Anyways, I recommend this anime, go check it out, and I hope you guys enjoy it.

Story:

Storyline is very unique in my perspective. We always view the past , or at least time's like these in the mid of war, or some sort of family conflict ; however, in Spice in Wolf they take a different approach. The very first thing that was noticeable to me was the presence mythology and religion. Soon enough Lawrence meets Horo a deity that brings wealth to crops and because of the given situation she is able to leave the town. From that moment on they travel together throughout their world. During this time Horo makes an agreement with Lawrence that he will take her back to her homeland, however as the story progresses they develop a trusting and romantic relationship and neither one wants their journey to end.

Animation:

Animation is actually quiet good. Nothing overly fancy but very fitting towards the environment. I really just can't think of any time that the animation was a bother so gonna rank this pretty high for a very fluid performance.

Sound:

Music. I'm a big fan of music in generally, not only does the music have to sound good, it also has to "fit". Spice and Wolf did a great job. Opening songs reflected the story's romantically setting's and during the story it was great music during tense situations. Ending song was kinda random....haha.

Characters:

OMG it's lelouch! Is what I first said to myself haha. Horo and Lawrence relationship and personality is just awesome. A lot of funny and playful moments, but they get angry at each other from time to time , but mostly in Horo's cute kind of way. Every challenge that presents itself towards them they seem to get through it together.

The rise of light novels in Japan has proved beneficial to the anime industry, as anime adaptations of them are starting to become as common as adaptations of manga or videogames, and as a lot of them actually end up becoming series of huge quality. When I took on Spice and Wolf, I somehow expected that I'd have disliked it. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by just how much such a simple story managed to hook me up, thanks mostly to the strength of its characters.

STORY: 7.5/10
If this series seems to have a very basic and weak premise to you, it's probably because it does. Still, from this small seed managed to grow a magnificent oak, strong, beautiful and dialogue-heavy, even if somehow flawed by its linearity and this metaphor kind of died on me halfway through so let's just see what this anime does right.

First of all, the setting: we haven't seen many series taking place in medieval Europe, and probably none at all centred around commerce and mercantile economy. And not only is this interesting for its originality, but also for how realistically it's been pulled off: the landscapes, houses, clothes, all-reaching grasp of the Church, the goods being traded, down to the food, the authors (both of the anime and of the novels) clearly show that they did their research. The economy and commerce, too, are very realistically handled; I'm the kind of guy whom you could show a wall of hieroglyphics and a wall of calculus and who would make more sense out of the former than the latter, but even I could tell, because as I do with real economy, 50% of it I don't get and 50% of it gets me furious for what disgusting lengths of dishonesty can mankind go in the name of greed and money.

Second: the interaction between the two main characters and the evolution of their relationship, easily the strongest and most involving aspect of the series.

Third: even though there isn't much of particular depth or complexity going on, everything is told very immersively. For example, the scenes in which complex economic reasoning is explained are as interesting as the similar scenes from Death Note and Code Geass were; hard to follow, at times, but intriguing enough to at least make you TRY to understand.
Still, there IS something it does wrong: the fact that it has no single, coherent plot throughout. Being more like a series of short arcs, each is pretty basic and linear. Also, it misses one important thing: a satisfying finale. Now, when you're adapting only the first part of a series of novels it’s obvious that the finale can't but be in medias res and inconclusive, but there have to be elements that make it at least a bit satisfying, some cornerstone that makes it feel like the end of a leg even if not the end of the journey; here, the last episode ends just like any other, thus bringing the season to an abrupt halt that will leave you yearning for more.


CHARACTERS: 9/10
I always thought that, while some anime hold up thanks to their storylines or themes, others do mostly thanks to characters so strong and memorable that even a plot about them going to buy a heater or playing a LAN party (/obvious reference) can be enjoyable. This is one of the latter type. Both protagonists are exactly this kind of unforgettably strong characters: their personalities, dialogues, emotions, evolving relationship, are written and conveyed so masterfully that you feel like you know them in person. Of the two, Horo is the one who shines the most: she could hold the entire story up by herself. Her charm, her pride, her intelligence, her wit, her strength, her funny side, her sad side, her progressive opening up, her particular Japanese speech pattern (Edo-period Oiran speech), the way she enriches Lawrence's character beyond his merchant one-track mind and is in turn enriched by him, all go well beyond your average cute girl, and make for someone you'll most probably want to marry by the end of the series. But you can't. She's mine...
The dialogues between the two are where Spice and Wolf really shines. But, the cast of secondary characters, while quite diverse, is pretty flat and uninteresting. Only two of them are given some exploration, but a pretty weak and superficial one.


ANIMATION: 8.5/10
The art quality in Spice and Wolf is in line with today's standards: solid and a pleasure to the eye throughout, with no considerable drops in quality. The character design is nothing worth taking particular notice of, except for the movements of Horo's tail and ears. The landscapes and the masterfully shaded lightning, on the other hand, are simply beautiful, creating an almost Miyazaki-esque/Studio Ghibli-ish atmosphere, expecially when combined with the theme of journey so present here. The clothes and expecially the German-style buildings are also very realistically drawn.


SOUNDTRACK: 9/10
Yoshino Yūji's soundtrack is unbelievably fit to the atmosphere of the series, thanks mostly to the choice of instruments: these enchanting melodies are played by flutes, folk percussions, nylon acoustic guitars, violas, violins, even bagpipes and pan pipes. Just by closing your eyes and listening to some of this music, you can already visualise a crowd of happy peasants dancing around a fire, drinking beer and singing in German or Irish. Apart from a few tracks composed specifically for more adrenalinic or shocking or dreamy sequences, though, most of the soundtrack is quite monotonous. It gains a lot of points for the OP song, "Tabi no Tochū", and for the unforgettable, gloriously EngRish ED song "Ringo Hiyori - The wolf whistling song"; maybe also because of the adorably mispronounced (but grammatically perfect!) lyrics, it WILL get stuck in your head from the first listen. And it will NEVER get out.


CAST: 9/10
If, while watching the first episode, you get the feeling you somehow got yourself in a Code Geass episode, don't worry, it's normal. We have Fukuyana Jun (Lelouch) as Lawrence, Koshimizu Ami (Kallen) as Horo, and Nazuka Kaori (Nunnaly) as Chloe, one of the secondary characters. Fukuyama does a nice job as usual, but I found his performance to be a bit less deep and interesting when compared to Code Geass or Onmyou Taisenki. Koshimizu, on the other hand, seriously surprised me: I didn't expect her to be THIS good; she manages to convey gracefully a very wide range of emotions, to actually BECOME Horo down to the speech manner. Most of the minor cast doesn't get enough room for their seiyū to do anything of particular notice, but the fact that they don't flaw their characters is I think enough to describe their job as "solid". I must say though that Nakahara Mai (Rena from "Higurashi..." and Nagisa from "Strawberry panic") as Nora, the only secondary character besides Chloe who gets some space, pulls off a very conving performance of an insecure, tired, but still strong and generous young girl.

OVERALL: 8.5/10
In the end, even without a particularly gripping or intense storyline "Spice and wolf" manages to carve itself a place among today's anime, thanks to its interesting premise, unforgettable main characters and their masterfully crafted relationship, fun mercantile setting, and nice visuals. While not to be considered an absolute masterpiece, it is by all means a great series that I think will be considered one of the classics of this generation alongside "Haruhi Suzumiya" or "Death note".

story

Spice and Wolf does a good job at making the life of a travelling merchant seem interesting. Most of the story felt new and intriguing to me. However, they did occasionally introduce more 'cliché' dangers/conflicts, which actually dissapointed (and, first time around, even slightly annoyed) me as, in my opinion, it wasn't needed.

characters
this is where Spice and Wolf really shines. Nearly all the characters felt well-rounded and well-motivated. This is especially true for the two leads, who were always interesting, and often entertaining, to watch.

art/animation
The art for the background/surroundings is really good and detailed. The character designs are simple, but nice. The animation had a decent flow for most of the time, but sometimes I couldn't help feeling that the characters were a bit... static.

sound
The OP and BGM where right up my alley, the ED slightly less so. All in all, the music was great and complemented the story and setting well. It took me a while to get used to the voices for Lawrence and Holo, as they were rather different from what I had imagined, based on seeing pictures (and the OP) before I actually watched the anime. Once I got over that, the voice acting was good, though nothing really stood out to me.

Overall
Aside from the odd niggle (see story section) I really enjoyed this and look forward to move onto season2. Then, I'm a character freak and the characters in this were excellent, so this is to be expected ^^. If you too are looking for some good character writing and a plot that still is mostly original (even if not entirely so) then I highly reccomend Spice and Wolf.