Here's another anime recommendation! Obviously, I've finally started going through my anime list that I've accumulated for years hahaha. So, yeah, I'll probably be talking about old anime more than new ones every month or so. There's always this beauty and spark in older ones that don't seem to always be in newer anime. Which reminds me, I don't think I'll do a Summer 2016 Anime Review. Not just because it's extremely time consuming but because I really wasn't interested in much anime that season anyway hahahah so yes, I only watched like 3 series and they weren't that interesting either sooo....yeah.
Spice and Wolf has been on my list for a loonggg time and I'm so glad I finally watched it hahaha. It's not too different from what I expected since I have read some reviews but I did end up enjoying Lawrence and Holo's relationship much more than I thought I would haha. I mean, Holo and Lawrence are such great partners!
Spice and Wolf (Ookami to Koushinryou)
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Historical, Romance
Episodes: Season 1, 2008 (12 Episodes) + Season 2, 2009 (12 episodes)
Spice and Wolf is an anime I've heard that people have loved for many years. Not as crazy popular and revolutionising as Madoka Magica (I assume) but it has quite a big fanbase for it making me unable to forget it. It follows our travelling merchant Kraft Lawrence and a 600 year old pagan harvest deity called Holo. Holo is a wolf but can move about in human form as above, but she retains her animal ears and tail. They begin travelling together for their own interests but end up forming a bond that is romantic but essentially an unbreakable partnership between two people who can trust each other with their lives. Holo travels to find her hometown again and Lawrence travels to earn the money to open his own shop one day and thus that is the aim of their journey as they travel from town to town gathering information to increase money profits and to find clues of Holo's birthplace.
The story mostly revolves around how people lived and did business in the Middle Ages/Medieval period. It goes on with how the market works, how merchants do business, the major consequences that can occur from sudden crashes in the market and failed business ventures but also adds the fantasy element of Holo, our wolf that helps Lawrence whenever he is in a serious pinch. It would suffice to say that Lawrence is well informed about business and the trade whereas Holo is well informed about the ways of the world and that's how they accompany and help each other with their respective skills. It's certainly an admirable and beautiful relationship. It's also a very peaceful one at that. It's a mostly dialogue anime with a bit of action (less to none in the second season though) and mostly rides on the witty dialogue between our two main characters as well as the interactions of trade between them and others.
Honestly, I hate to be that person but I personally preferred Season 1 over Season 2, whether it's because the second season skipped over a part of the light novel to rush to the kiss scene or something or because it wasn't as fun and exciting, I'm not sure. But I just felt that it didn't flow as nicely as peacefully as it did in the first season. Maybe Amarty and them just didn't please me LOL. I just felt that the first season had more of the right balance of romance, economics and development of character bonds. Whereas the second season seemed to fall over trying to balance them all, but that's my opinion. Second season's ending was rather inconclusive as well. Sucks that there's no third season either, guess I'll buy the light novels~
I really loved the excitement and tension that came along with the first season when Lawrence needed to acquire quite a bit of money to continue his livelihood as a merchant. It really rang deep in how fragile this job could be if you make one wrong decision but it also progressed development in Holo and Lawrence's relationship when he pushed her away but immediately apologised. The great thing about their relationship is that they have fights, go through hardships and fall down at times but they pick each other up and move on. They enjoy the present and embrace the future. They're very much human but they carry resilience (not individually) by being together to support each other. The best thing about this show is most definitely the two's relationship but I love the trade aspect as well.
I love the character designs and really enjoyed the atmosphere of the show. The atmosphere definitely makes this show something great. There's not much variation in the music but it's quite enough because it is only needed when relevant and I think it was inserted very well into the situations our main characters landed in.
It's been a while since I sat down and just concentrated on watching something and not mult-tasking alongside haha. It's a bit hard to get Lelouch out of my mind whenever I hear Lawrence though since they have the same VA hahaha. Anyway, if you're interested in medieval trading + endearing main character relationships + a bit of fantasy adventure in regards to our wise wolf, Holo, then you'd probably enjoy this. But then again, this is good enough just to watch Holo and Lawrence's relationship hahaha. Now let me just go buy the light novels now....
No comments:
Post a Comment