DoctorNordo

I'll never forget the first time that I saw Golden Boy because I don't think I had ever laughed so hard at anything in my life at that point. This show is absolutely jam-packed with hilarious gags that work almost every time, many of them visual jokes centered around Kintaro's facial expressions. I really have to give props to the animators for how they were able to depict his various emotions. To this day this show can have me in stitches every time I watch it. My only word of warning is that our fearless hero is a huge pervert and this is reflected in his various adventures. The show is about as close to hentai as you can get without actually being there - there are no sex scenes or anything like that but it's still rife with perversion.

Nearly a perfect comedy. -1 star because, while the show is funny throughout its entire length, I do find that it peaks early.

Oh El-Hazard! I will never forget the first time that I watched this. It was in the spring of 1996. I was a sophomore in high school. My friends started getting into this really bizarre stuff called anime. There was one show in particular that they were always talking about. That show was, you guessed it, El-Hazard.

I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into when I first popped it into my VCR. But from the second the intro started and the lovely narrator first spoke "It is a place that dwells in the memories of those who still dream of its ancient glory" (words that will always dwell within me) I knew that I was in for something special.

To get to the point, El-Hazard has it all. It's got stellar artwork, lively and interesting characters, comedy (oh my, does it ever have comedy!), an epic (if somewhat common) story, magic, great action, demon goddesses, wonderful music, and a fascinating and beautiful world.

The characters in this show are some of my absolute favorites in all of anime. Masamichi Fujisawa - the alcoholic, chain-smoking history teacher - is my personal favorite, but others like Miz, Shayla, Ifurita, and Makoto are all fantastic as well.

I don't want to say too much more because I might be tempted to delve into spoiler territory. Suffice it to say that this show was virtually single-handedly responsible for setting me on a decades long journey of anime fandom. I highly recommend this to anyone who has a love for anime and/or fantasy.

Oh, and one more thing that can't be overlooked is the quality of the dub. As hard as it might be to believe, especially considering that this came out in the mid-90's, the dub is in my humble opinion far superior to the sub.

Easy 9/10

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