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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Rent | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | Silence | # |
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(All episodes watched) Hmm... this is not like most of the anime i have watched before. As Horo is a deity in a region controlled by the church, and there are constant threats to hand her over to the church, i found myself anticipating at every turn something really dramatic is going to happen (like the church finding out about her). But that dramatic turn never really showed up. It kinda left me relieved and frustrated at the same time: relieved that nothing really terrible happened, yet frustrated that the story could turn out better. That really kept me hooked and before i knew it, the series has ended... oh well, by that time i knew that this is not the complete story. Damn. (not that it did not end well) Music is nice... the ending theme is so cute... Opening is nice too. Could find no fault with animation though there aren't a lot of action... much of what i wanted to say has been said by stretch. so i shall just give an advice, watch this anime with a light heart. try to relax and enjoy the cute romance between horo and craft. Do not expect too much action and drama, and this will be an enjoyable light series. (edited 31 july 08) Last updated Wednesday, July 30 2008. Created Wednesday, July 23 2008. | ||||||||
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| Rent | Stretch | # | ||||||
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(All episodes watched): Lawrence is a respectable travelling merchant in a medieval-like setting, except judging from the names of regions this seems to be a fantasy world. He has an apprentice/wannabe girlfriend, Chloe. he is familiar with the legend of Horo, a wolf demigod who is supposed to bring good harvests. And, one day he finds the personification of Horo--as a wolf-eared and wolf-tailed naked girl, asleep in his wagon! This show soon caught my interest, and retained it throughout the episode. It was hard to say where things would go from this first episode, since about all that had happened were introductions of these three principal characters (love triangle?), and Horo expressing her wish to return to the far north, presumably by tagging along with Lawrence. Still, the unusual premise was refreshing, and left me curious about Spice and Wolf. In episode two I was sure Horo would be exposed and persecuted when she and Lawrence stopped at a church, but nothing like that happened, no action at all, which is OK with me. You might say that instead of conventional, physical action we got verbal action, as Horo gives a frightening reminder that she is a wolf, after all, and wolves and people don't always get along so well. Episode three was surprisingly fun, even though there was no action at all. Lawrence and Horo have gotten involved in a scheme to make some money from a devaluation of silver coins--it got fairly complicated (I don't completely understand the plan), but remained intriguing and educational as well. In episode four I became even more confused when Horo had been abducted and a way had to be reasoned out to get her back--I was expecting some action (a rescue attempt), but that wasn't what happened. More than once, you expect violence and action, but lo and behold, the characters behave like real people probably would. Anyway, the word that comes to mind to describe S&W is different. I didn't know where this was going (in a good way), but I definitely wanted to tag along myself. For a long time no fansub of episode seven had been released, even though episodes 8-13 had been. I assumed this was because a new fansub outfit had taken over the task, and they didn't want to risk duplicating somebody else's work (but the original team had never gotten around to it). I shelved the remainder of the series until the missing episode seven turned up. In fact, having gotten frustrated and gone searching the internet for an answer, it turns out that episode seven is an OVA--these generally take place at the end of a series! This one, it turns out, is a sort of filler episode which takes place between the first and second plot arcs. It was fun, and for one thing we learn how Horo acquired the fancy clothes she wears towards the end. At the end of the series, it's clear that this consisted of two plot arcs of an ongoing and incomplete manga. But a good place was chosen to end the story in a more-or-less complete manner. Lawrence's complicated wheelings and dealings were confusing, but made enough sense for the viewer to keep track of what was going on. Something was definitely done right, because at the end I felt a warm, squishy feeling for Horo and Lawrence. Last updated Sunday, July 20 2008. Created Thursday, January 10 2008. | ||||||||
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| Unevaluated | Jan-Chan | # | ||||||
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The first episode is out. With a focus on the characters and scenery, this series should prove itself to be a slower moving and beautiful story, similar in tone & style to Mushishi or perhaps Kino no Tabi. Let’s see how this story develops. Last updated Thursday, January 10 2008. Created Thursday, January 10 2008. | ||||||||
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Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Official (Japanese) Series Web Site | http://www.spicy-wolf.com/ |
| Wikipedia - Spice & Wolf (manga & anime) | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice_and_Wolf |
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