Spice and Wolf (Capitalist anime at its best)

Synopsis: As autumn rolls around in this medieval-ish setting, many areas are getting ready for the harvest and Lawrence Craft, a traveling merchant begins making his rounds buying, selling, and bartering as he goes. Upon reaching the village of Pasroe, he finds them getting ready to celebrate the wheat harvest and after meeting up with an old apprentice of his named Chloe, he goes back to the wagon only to find a woman with the ears and tails of a wolf sleeping tucked under a pile of marten furs. When Lawrence woke her up, the wolf-woman introduced herself to him as Horo, the wolf-goddess of the harvest. She explains to him that her time is about long past as people turn to Christianity and forsake the pagan ways. Although she has served the people of Pasroe for a long time, she now yearns to return home to the cold lands of the north. With that, she strikes a deal with a reluctant Lawrence so that she may accompany him on his travels.

Thoughts: For people who like quick thrills and immediate gratification, prepare to be disappointed by Spice and Wolf's pacing as it's anything but exciting. For the rest of us, get ready to immerse yourself into a show that starts off really well in the way they handle the two principal characters as well as the setting which seems to be a mix of medieval society with a few possible anachronisms and economic concepts thrown in.

The strongest point about this series so far is how the characters are treated. Once Horo's character has been introduced, it's almost seamless how well she interacts with Lawrence. Their dialog in the first two episodes were pretty natural and they both exhibit a rather good on-screen chemistry. I suppose I should thank the voice actors for doing a great job, with special props for Horo's voice actress. If a wolf-goddess with a somewhat clever disposition were to talk, I'd have to say that Ami Koshimizu's performance is as close as it could come.

Of course, that's not to say all of the characters are presented well. There is an issue with Chloe in that it's hard to figure out what her role is going to be. Regardless, it's certainly odd that she's apprenticed to Lawrence as it does raise the question as to whether medieval Europe far more progressive than we had originally thought. Regardless, it's a detail I'm not going to worry about too much.

Either way, the main element that makes this show so fun to watch is the economics. Despite the fact that economics can get pretty boring (as a former dismal scientist aka me can attest to), the manner in which they present it is most excellent. And really...

Spoiler:

more anime series need to incorporate currency devaluation as a main plot point!

An excellent series that's held my attention so far. Looking forwards to see what other crazy schemes they manage to come up with next as well as watching Horo and Lawrence's relationship grow.

Links Courtesy of BSS (MKV listing only):
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Episode 6:

Spoiler:

Aside from that 3-shot sequence where she transforms into giant wolf form (I thought it was really cheesy), this episode was a pretty good continuation of the story. I think we can safely say that the whole affair regarding the devalued currency is over with, which makes me look forwards to what economics concept will come up next.

But yeah, I've been agreeing with all the comments so far. The atmosphere has been fantastic and it offers a lot of guild rivalries as well as great character development moments to balance things out. I also heartily agree with the comments regarding the OP, though the ED leaves me wanting. It's amusing the first few times I've heard it, but now, it's just where bad Engrish goes to die.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

:slowpoke:

Finally got around to watching the last episode and that was an end if nothing else, but certainly not the end given the episode constraints. The last episode moved a bit too quickly and there were times I'd have to pause and rewatch certain scenes to get the gist of what happened.

As of now, I've not heard of any new news regarding a second season, but I do hope to see how far they can take the concept and the amazing character interactions. The VAs are just too good and their on-screen chemistry is a large part of what made this series so enjoyable. I suppose the only way I'll get my dose of Horo is through the manga since people here seem to find the read enjoyable.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Tails

Second season will be Lawrence ditching Horo in favor of Nora. The jealousy Horo was emitting at the end of the episode when she showed up was way too funny.

Spice and TRUE MOE. They will call it. Nora is <333.

I like how you say that when her VA plays Nagisa in Clannad

No, seriously though, when I heard Nora speak, she could have said "Okazaki-san" and I definitely would not have batted an eye in the least, mostly because when she did speak, my mind kept superimposing Nagisa's face over Nora's.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?