Spice and Wolf

Spice and Wolf.

Now this is how romance in animes should be dealt with. I was kinda hesitant at first to watch it as I don't like romance focused stuff but boy does this anime deliver on that front in a fresh way.

The story is good and its progression is great. It focuses on the characters. The old times setting and merchant stuff gave it an adventurous touch.

The protagonist is a likable kind hearted merchant who is really good in what he does and has a mind for profit. His thinking is analytical, always weighing Then there is Holo, the female main character of the anime, who I think is one of the best female anime characters I have seen. She is wise, intelligent, funny and witty, not to mention REALLY GOOD looking. And she is in no way ANNOYING, which was the biggest surprise for me as female characters in animes, especially romantic ones, tend to be annoying. The love story between the two main characters is handled masterfully. Both of them undergo a lot of character development and have diverse personalities that you can't help but enjoy it. The anime focuses a LOT on merchant stuff too. Trading, currencies, techniques, stock prices etc etc. I was baffled at how much detailed it was. Hell, one could learn a thing or two from this anime about that stuff. :p

Soundtrack was pretty good. Some of the emotional scores and the comedy ones were GREAT.

Animation/art wasn't outstanding or anything but it looked good.

If only it was a little longer. I felt that season 2 ended a bit abruptly, I was hoping for a little more of the journey.

8.7/10

Lawrence 25 year old traveling peddler,( a good one) meet holo 250 year old pagan wolf,she claimed her name as holo the wise wolf, holo is godness of rich harvers.holo was a giant wolf but change to lovely nice looking 15 year old girl.still have an exposed beautiful ear and tail. Holo want go back to her home at north, called yoitz where the world is silver and everything sparkle. Holo join Lawrence travel to north, in they travel, they facecing many trouble, but they hang on to it they share all the joy and sadness. Time past out and they got feeling love each other but they secret it. In season 2 at near to end Lawrence say to holo that he love her, and also holo say she fall in love with him to.for the truth some time i cry watch this anime. The anime was AMAZING, the song play at precise moment,voice dub and dialogue are awesome, watch this anime is fun and heart breaking couse at some moment, I hope there was spice and wolf season 3 in making, this anime shall not to be miss, the story line is perfect and the character was good, it should be continue in new season.

Spice and Wolf seemed like a great idea. A merchant meets a wolf wheat goddess who wants to go home, and he decides to help her achieve her goal. Sounds cute and magical, right?

Well, instead, we got an MC and a love interest who are constantly fighting. And not the little "let's bicker for a bit" type of fighting. No. We get full-on arguments, almost all the time, and it's honestly exhausting to keep watching. The girl is constantly insulting the guy, the guy is constantly ignoring her feelings.

It gets so bad that whenever a new person who could be a potential new love interest for either of them is introduced, I wish for the wolf or the merchant to go with them.

Also, the merchant is pretty bad at what he does for a living, taking risky deals and learning nothing from his mistakes.

I managed to watch this until the middle of the 2nd season, but I just can't stand it anymore. I wanted a fantasy romance. Instead, I got a toxic non-couple relationship.

So I wasn't sure how much I'd like this one at first. I saw it classified on Wikipedia as a romance and this is typically not my favorite genre. Thankfully, the romantic story is secondary to the main plot. I was grateful for this, for had it been the other way around I think it may have become tedious. The main stories revolve around the business ventures of Lawrence and Holo as they journey to Holo's ancient homeland hidden somewhere in the distant north.

Now one might think that a story centering on the business dealings of a traveling peddler might be mundane, but they actually succeeded in making it rather exciting. And while so many other non-comedy animes have mortal peril as the main consequence of failure, and while Lawrence and Holo both certainly have brushes with death, it is just as often that the potential cost of failure is Lawrence's financial ruin and bankruptcy. I found this to be refreshing.

One of the coolest things about this anime is that it is actually educational. It provides a (very basic) crash course in basic economics and touches on such subjects as supply and demand, market trends, currency trading and speculation, and others. The downside is that if you're like me and already have a relatively good understanding of these things the explanations in the show can come off as long- winded and a little tiring. However I absolutely appreciate the show's effort at being educational.

As for the romance angle, I felt that it was handled well. It is by far the secondary plot of the show and it rarely overstays its welcome. The only problem that I have in this regard is that Holo is an extremely violent person and often ridicules Lawrence and even goes so far as to shove, slap, and punch him. Sorry, but if domestic violence against women isn't okay then it shouldn't be okay when it's a woman striking a man. This is a common anime trope that has always bothered me and Spice and Wolf is simply the latest specimen.

Oh, and I also have to say that the English dub is incredible, especially the voice of Holo (Brina Palencia). Truly one of the best dubs I've seen recently.

And finally I will leave off with one more complaint. The ending is, in my opinion, not satisfactory at all. If I understand correctly, the anime only covers about 1/4 of the manga so there really isn't any true resolution in this show. But all in all I liked it very much.

7.5/10

This is one of the nicest anime I have ever watched. The chemistry between Lawrence and Holo is wonderful to behold. This is not an action series, it's a series about the relationship between Lawrence and Holo and their adventures together. This is a good one for the whole family.