ID:117121
 
Well, I just finished Season 2 literally like 10 minutes ago, and I have to write a review, like right away.

So lets start with the basis of the anime for those not familiar. Spice and Wolf is about a traveling merchant named Lawrence who stops in a small town in the south. When he attempts to leave, he finds a pagan wolf goddess hidden in his cart, who wants to return to her hometown in the north. He makes a contract with her guaranteeing he will take her their, and they set off to get into all kinds of mischief.



The art style is fair, and the animation is well done. Granted their isn't a whole lot of action to animate, so they probably had an easier time then say, a shonen jump anime.

My first impression of horo(the wolf goddess)is that she was a character there to attract "furries" because she has a wolf tail and ears. Even though she is a wolf goddess the cat ears and tail theme is a well known otaku perversion.
I honestly wish that wouldn't have been their, but I suppose that's a personal preference.

My initial revulsion retreaded a bit when I started to see the character depth, and the chemistry between Lawrence and horo. The anime is dialogue heavy, and I mean HEAVY. I personally thoroughly enjoyed the witty writing and long conversations, but others may not. The dialogue really gets you caring about the characters, and their journeys. I was surprised how much I cared about how Lawrence's business deals turned out and his well being in general.

The episodes have a psychological twist to them. It reminded me of death note a lot, how the characters all had a one up scheme and how their were multiple levels to all the business deals. The writing in general here was just brilliant at all angles.

I really have to emphasize how amazing the dialogue is between horo and Lawrence. The banter is hilarious, and when it gets serious, you will be on the edge of your seat wondering how their conversations will turn out.

The action is far between, but because you are so entranced with the characters, the scenes are amplified. Besides, its bad ass anyway to see horo messing people up in wolf form.

This anime is probably a hit or miss for most. I think most people will enjoy the witty dialogue and amazing storyline twist. I also have to mention, the love part of the story is also really well done. You can tell the characters are progressing in their relationship without going to sex. Their dialogue gets more flirty, and you can see them getting more comfortable with each other throughout the story.


The second season left me with a, " oh man if there isn't a third season someone is going to die" feeling. I really want to see another business deal. I want to see how their relationship survives knowing horo will live forever and Lawrence will grow old and die.I even thought it would be cool to skip forward in the future to when Lawrence was already dead and maybe horo finds a new companion.


If you're a person who groans at movies with lots of dialogue, or not enough explosions, this probably isn't for you. Go watch Soul Eater or something. If you like psychological animes and love stories, this will be euphoria for you.

Animation-9/10
Storyline-10/10
Charm-9/10
Characters-10/10

Overall, this scores a 9.5 out of 10 for me. I might have added another .5 if I knew their would be another season, but since it ends to soon in my opinion, I have to unfairly detract points. MUHAHAHAHA. Seriously though, go watch this.

Leave suggestions for the next anime for me to watch and review in the comments and ill try to get to it. Like I said as long as its not super long, or a really well known series like DBZ or Bleach, ill review it. And apparently I even have to say I wont review it if it isn't anime, because I got game suggestions last time lol.



Her name is Holo, not Horo or Korbo.

From what I understand there probably wont be a third season because the sales weren't too great. Some of the light novels have been translated by Yen Press but in the first print they replaced the original cover with a real life model, pissing off most of the fans who would have bought it.

The show wasn't overly moe and they didn't really have any fan service. Any time Holo was nude it was for artistic purposes, they didn't detail any of her girly bits. I think because they took the high road with the fan pandering in addition to already being very dialog-heavy with a lot of focus on economics it just didn't catch on very well. It does have a rather strong cult following, though.
Ah, in the subs I read it was always horo. Probably poor translation.

But I really like animes without fan service. I like the ones that make you think. I realize though that a lot of anime fans dont like the intellectual type animes and just look for that damn bath house scene. Its kind of sad.

The economics and heavy dialogue were amazing. The writer has great talent in developing characters and storylines. Ah well. I know there are novels though so I might go and read those.
The official translation is Holo.

If you're looking for a show with similar relationships between protagonists you should probably check out the Crest of the Stars series. It's kinda like Spice and Wolf mixed with Legend of the Galactic Heroes. It has a lot more action than S&W.
I haven't picked up any of the novels yet, but they're definitely on my list of things to get when I'm not completely broke. As for the third season, I unfortunately agree with Antx, it's pretty unlikely that we'll see one. I'm not even sure they're going to dub season 2.

As for Holo's appearance, the ears are fairly accurate to a fox(foxes and cats have a lot of similar features, ears just happen to be one), and the tail is part of her character, if a minor part. It's what she sees as her best and most defining characteristic, so it only makes sense that she would keep it when transformed. Throughout the series you see her brushing it constantly when they are in private.
Yeah, I know it ended up being a character trait. I think the major reason I didn't like it because the rest of the show was so believable.

Like, If she wasn't a goddess, just a random girl he picks up who wanted to go north and falls in love with, I think I would've preferred that. It just seemed odd compared with the accuracy of the rest of the show.
Boxcar wrote:
Like, If she wasn't a goddess, just a random girl he picks up who wanted to go north and falls in love with, I think I would've preferred that. It just seemed odd compared with the accuracy of the rest of the show.

That would completely strip the show of a lot of what's going on. It would negate pretty much all of the second season. Years pass in the blink of an eye for Holo, she can't really get attached to a human because before she knows it he will grow old and die.

That's what the bidding war arc was about, the thought of finally attaching to Lawrence then him suggesting she carry on without him. In the second half of the season she wanted to part ways on a high note, but he said fuck that noise and wanted to complete their journey.
When I look at these fantasy worlds, I look more for consistency than accuracy. You can't expect everything to be perfectly realistic or accurate to the real world, they're fantasy.

Now, if it were set in modern japan with no significant differences to the world and explained "It's just your everyday city", then I would say it should try to stick to some realism.

To me, her being a wolf sort of adds to the romantic aspect of the series and enables both Holo and Lawrence to change and grow as characters more than if she were just some chick who hitched a ride. It also allows for her to more reasonably be able to come up with all of her insidious plots, being an age old wizened wolf goddess.

If it were just some girl, I would have to call that inconsistent with the setting, in a world where women generally aren't all that knowledgeable about these things, and in the few cases that they have some experience in the world of men, are still shown as being of lesser skill. It would be a pretty big leap for some random girl to somehow be an inhumanly intelligent economical mastermind in a world where trade is a man's work.
Of course it would change the way the story went a huuuuge amount.It wouldn't even be the same show, but i'd watch one like that too.

Like I said in the review I was initially weary of holo's character, but in the end it turned out for the best.

I think the fact that she is immortal did add a deep rooted problem in their relationship.

I was thinking that they would pursue a means for Lawrence to become a pagan god or something like that. But that would remove the Shakespearean tragic love feel they have.



So I guess the next review will be Crest of the Stars.
You, my good Boxcar, are epic. I loves this anime. Loves.


You should try Code Geass and Fairy Tale.
http://myanimelist.net/animelist/FeralWolf&show=0&order=1

Thats my anime list. Im missing a couple shows that I cant remember, but its got most of what i've seen.
You guys watch the weirdest stuff.
EmpirezTeam wrote:
You guys watch the weirdest stuff.

If by weird you mean awesome, then yes.

Leave this place and go back to watching Naruto.

Also, mine's bigger.
O.O I actually saw some on your list that I forgot to add to mine. But yours is indeed bigger. The hardest thing is remembering them all lol.
I'd just start from the top and go down. I'm very conservative with my ratings so the top entries on my list are actually pretty damn good.
I don't have many bad ratings because I watch most of my shows on recommendation. But Arggh, there is just so much I want to watch and so little time. >:O
SuperAntx wrote:
Leave this place and go back to watching Naruto.

I don't watch Naruto except for the fight scenes. I can't watch an anime with no fighting. Stuff like this where there is a huge focus on relationships and drama bores me unless it's with real people, like Breaking Bad or Hawthorne.
Hmmm... I could make a few suggestions;

Higashi no Eden - This was recommended to me, it's only 11 episodes long! Has it's moments, but feels rushed.

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Another one that was recommended to me... by quite a few people. It's popular on MAL, only 26 episodes. I didn't like it though xD.

Skip Beat - Loved this series... made me laugh a lot. 26 episodes.

Monster - I know you said only short anime... but this anime is amazing! 74 episodes long.

Also, woot MAL.
Perhaps after Crest of the Stars ill watch Higashi no Eden. Your list also crushes mine haha. Ive got a lot of work to do >.>
Very good review, i've been suggested this anime before, but the ears put me off a little straight away, at first glance it appeared to be one of those girly probably perversion type of anime which i normally avoid, I really enjoy character development but i normally tend to look for action as well, But i think i'll give this anime a try :)!



My anime list is rather large too :)

http://myanimelist.net/animelist/Teka123&status=7&order=0
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