Spice and Wolf: LN or Manga?

[Guest]

Henlo, frens.

Spicy Wolf has long been one of my favorite series (if not favorite), but I have only ever watched it (Legally obtaining full sets of manga or LNs is a damn nightmare when you're broke!) but I have been saving up for juuuuuuuuuust this occasion.

For fans of the show/franchise in general, what do you recommend I start with?

Do I read the LN, and see how it was then adapted to manga, or is the LN series not worth reading? Is the manga not worth reading? Are they both not worth reading (you and I are probably not compatible as lovers if so, thanks for the whirlwind year of passion, but it's over between us. We'll always have A-P, kid.)

What are your ratings for both mediums?

 

[ZetsubouKaiji]

I haven't read either, but for something like Spice and Wolf I'd go with the LN because it's going to be more detailed and will have more of the whip crack smart dialogue that makes the series so good. Looking at the site ratings the manga and LNs have almost the same rating, but you'll also have more material with the LNs especially if you read the two spinoffs.

Plus, the LNs are the original source for the story so if you want the Spice and Wolf experience straight from the horse's mouth, then I think LN are the way to go.

 

[BrainBlow]

I heartily recommend the manga. It's like the anime, but better. The art is fantastic, too.

 

[AndriasSch]

I would recommend going for the manga, as BrainBlow said, the art is a delight, it also has great pace and it feels like it properly portraits what is told in the novel.

 

[femcore]

Depends. Do you like novels or comics? Go on that premise.

But, the LN is one of my all time favorite novel series. Like, not just favorite LN series, but in general of all novels in general. And the series has some incredibly well written novels (to date, the fourth volume remains one of my all time favorite books). The manga never spoke to me so much because it feels like a lot of the brilliant narrative is sacrificed for imagery.

It's a lot of reading, but if you got the time and like books, it doesn't get better than this.

 

[Guest]

As I see a split house, I guess I'll just have to read both LN and manga, and fall deeply back into loving the world and characters of that story all over again, aww shucks.

I haven't read either, but for something like Spice and Wolf I'd go with the LN because it's going to be more detailed and will have more of the whip crack smart dialogue that makes the series so good. Looking at the site ratings the manga and LNs have almost the same rating, but you'll also have more material with the LNs especially if you read the two spinoffs.

Plus, the LNs are the original source for the story so if you want the Spice and Wolf experience straight from the horse's mouth, then I think LN are the way to go.

Being the original was what made me want to go the LN route, but eeeeevery now and then, something brilliant is crafted from a weaker source, so I wanted to make sure the LN was actually as well received, thank you!

I heartily recommend the manga. It's like the anime, but better. The art is fantastic, too.

I would recommend going for the manga, as BrainBlow said, the art is a delight, it also has great pace and it feels like it properly portraits what is told in the novel.

I think I've read the first 2 volumes a few years back (school always halted any reading progress) and remember loving the artwork!

Depends. Do you like novels or comics? Go on that premise.

But, the LN is one of my all time favorite novel series. Like, not just favorite LN series, but in general of all novels in general. And the series has some incredibly well written novels (to date, the fourth volume remains one of my all time favorite books). The manga never spoke to me so much because it feels like a lot of the brilliant narrative is sacrificed for imagery.

It's a lot of reading, but if you got the time and like books, it doesn't get better than this.

This makes me so happy to read! I love the anime so fucking much and would love to read it in a more in-depth way, but I've never read a LN before, and have come to see that many in the anime/manga community have a habit of shitting on LNs. Thank you for this glowing praise, I'll be reading it for sure!

 

[femcore]

This makes me so happy to read! I love the anime so fucking much and would love to read it in a more in-depth way, but I've never read a LN before, and have come to see that many in the anime/manga community have a habit of shitting on LNs. Thank you for this glowing praise, I'll be reading it for sure!

I'd imagine that's cuz you're hanging out in communities based on anime and manga, but not novels. Even here on AP, LNs are just swept into the manga category, and I feel like such communities attract visual lovers. That's not saying anything's wrong with either, but communities I used to hang out in when I was younger that are like, anime culture and not just anime/manga specifically, went on and onnnn about LNs being amazing and manga and anime never being able to capture how good they are. I'd argue there's some anime that improve on it's source material (i.e. some Re:Zero novels drag onnnnn and Index novels can really drag on), but often times LNs just have a lot more depth of emotion and ideas.

I can not imagine anyone ever saying the Spice and Wolf novels aren't superior. Infact, S&W was my first LN and I picked it up because I talked about how I loved the anime and someone told me once I read the books, the anime would never seem as good as it did. And, they're right. Still love the show, got the blu ray on my shelf and I return to it on occasion. But, by the time you're on the fourth book, you'll at the very least realize the anime missed so much opportunity. Like, the fourth novel alone would be an awesome, emotional movie. Not to mention the inclusion of characters like Col, or the hunting for Holo's friends, or them literally almost getting caught up in wars. I spent years collecting them, 17 novels, and there's a spin off series called Wolf & Parchment - and even though it's not as good as S&W it made me honestly cry to realize they had such a happy and perfect ending.

But, yeah, read some light novels! They're absolutely amazing! Some recommendations are the [Bake] Monogatari series, specifically Kizumonogatari (the anime fails to actually capture the satire and humor the series and just comes off gross at times), Another (much, much, much better than the anime), Loups-Garous (one of my favorite novels, it has an anime movie adaptation but it doesn't quite capture the mood of the novel), Zaregoto (same author as Monogatari, ridiculously goodseries), Overlord (it's so much better than the anime), My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected (has so much more satire than the anime) and Hakomari (as far as I'm aware it doesn't have any adaptations yet).

Also, I'm going to shout out one of my all time favorite horror/thriller/mystery novels and say read Goth by Ostuichi. I don't know if it counts as a light novel but it's a book by a Japanese author that's been translated to English speaking audiences and it's epic. I actually have a big story about hunting this book down, maybe I'll share that some day if anyone's interested :p

 

[Guest]

I'd imagine that's cuz you're hanging out in communities based on anime and manga, but not novels. Even here on AP, LNs are just swept into the manga category, and I feel like such communities attract visual lovers. That's not saying anything's wrong with either, but communities I used to hang out in when I was younger that are like, anime culture and not just anime/manga specifically, went on and onnnn about LNs being amazing and manga and anime never being able to capture how good they are. I'd argue there's some anime that improve on it's source material (i.e. some Re:Zero novels drag onnnnn and Index novels can really drag on), but often times LNs just have a lot more depth of emotion and ideas.

I can not imagine anyone ever saying the Spice and Wolf novels aren't superior. Infact, S&W was my first LN and I picked it up because I talked about how I loved the anime and someone told me once I read the books, the anime would never seem as good as it did. And, they're right. Still love the show, got the blu ray on my shelf and I return to it on occasion. But, by the time you're on the fourth book, you'll at the very least realize the anime missed so much opportunity. Like, the fourth novel alone would be an awesome, emotional movie. Not to mention the inclusion of characters like Col, or the hunting for Holo's friends, or them literally almost getting caught up in wars. I spent years collecting them, 17 novels, and there's a spin off series called Wolf & Parchment - and even though it's not as good as S&W it made me honestly cry to realize they had such a happy and perfect ending.

But, yeah, read some light novels! They're absolutely amazing! Some recommendations are the [Bake] Monogatari series, specifically Kizumonogatari (the anime fails to actually capture the satire and humor the series and just comes off gross at times), Another (much, much, much better than the anime), Loups-Garous (one of my favorite novels, it has an anime movie adaptation but it doesn't quite capture the mood of the novel), Zaregoto (same author as Monogatari, ridiculously goodseries), Overlord (it's so much better than the anime), My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected
(has so much more satire than the anime) and Hakomari (as far as I'm aware it doesn't have any adaptations yet).

Also, I'm going to shout out one of my all time favorite horror/thriller/mystery novels and say read Goth by Ostuichi. I don't know if it counts as a light novel but it's a book by a Japanese author that's be translated to English speaking audiences and it's epic. I actually have a big story about hunting this book down, maybe I'll share that some day if anyone's interested :p

If you're ever bored, I would love an entire post (or thread) on LN discussion. I'm an English major and have worked in a bookstore for 8 years, if I'm not watching anime, I'm reading, but I've always been hesitant to jump into LNs, as I just have never stumbled across much discussion about them, and worried that as I cannot read Japanese, I'd lose too much in poor English translations. Thank you for writing all this, and I am now dead set on reading all the S&W LNs and will order them to my store tomorrow. I will be sure to bother you constantly along the way with my emotional outbursts, no negotiations. Thank you, Spicy Senpai.

 

[femcore]

If you're ever bored, I would love an entire post (or thread) on LN discussion. I'm an English major and have worked in a bookstore for 8 years, if I'm not watching anime, I'm reading, but I've always been hesitant to jump into LNs, as I just have never stumbled across much discussion about them, and worried that as I cannot read Japanese, I'd lose too much in poor English translations. Thank you for writing all this, and I am now dead set on reading all the S&W LNs and will order them to my store tomorrow. I will be sure to bother you constantly along the way with my emotional outbursts, no negotiations. Thank you, Spicy Senpai.

I'm not against authoring a thread specifically for Light Novels. I guess they'd technically go here in manga discussion? Also I wonder if someone made one in the past....I'd love to be the original mind that makes it and not have to work with someone else's shoddy material....lol (i kid I'm not actually that self centered).

Can't say I've read A LOT or anything. Like I've read A LOT of novels but they mostly belong to the same series (again, S&W is 17 novels!).