Spice & Wolf

Information of Anime

Lawrence Craft is a 25 year old peddler that makes a living as a merchant selling & buying things from town to town.  When he makes a trip to Pasroe, he finds a wolf demon named Horo.  Horo is the wolf god that blesses the villagers with her powers in enriching their wheat harvest.  Feeling that she kept her promise with the villagers for many years as they seem forsaken her & moved on to a wealthier lifestyle, she asks Lawrence to take her to the North by making a deal with him.  Her hometown Yoitsu is located there.  During their travels, her wisdom & powers help Lawrence with his business.

Storyline (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Below is a summary of the storyline I've seen.  If you haven't seen the series yet & don't want to be spoiled, skip this section.  If you want to know the story & want to see how I viewed it, read on.

It basically follows the journey of Lawrence & Horo to her hometown.  Her god powers & wisdom help Lawrence gain a lot of business & learn more about his trade.  Also, they start to understand the differences between each other's worlds.  They would get closer to each other as the truth about Horo is slowly spread across town to town from one incident/arc where Chole, a good friend of Lawrence turns to darker methods in becoming a excellent merchant.  Along the way, the two of them get close to each other from the journey.  It's only in the last arc that things gets heated up.

In the final arc, Lawrence's plan gets foiled when he tries to sell a large amount of armour he obtained from from another town.  The prices of armour went down dramatically which causes him to go in deep debt.  He goes into a panic which worries Horo.  As Lawrence seeks help, he gets turned down a lot due to people seeing him walking around with a woman; degrading his merchant status.  Because of this, he starts to blame Horo for it unintentionally.  However, the two managed to work things out with their feelings & come up with a plan in smuggling gold. 

Lawrence & Horo managed to get the company he's in debt with in a plan.  Turns out that the company is having troubles too.  To do this, they re-hired the Sheppard Nora who works for the church & wants to break free.  Because of her background & connection to the church, the plan works well in smuggling gold out of the city.  However, he would get betrayed by the company by trying to kill him, Horo, & Nora & take the earnings for themselves.  Thanks to Horo, the plan is foiled & Lawrence manages to make his debt turn into profit for him in the next ten years.

The show ends with the final arc coming to a close & Lawrence & Horo continue on with their journey.

My Personal Review

Spice & Wolf was something that I picked up at random. I didn't know what it is.  Not bothering to look it up, I just went for it.

Animation

The character designs aren't too bad.  However, they do have some little Asian appearance & it can look funny in a European atmosphere.  For Lawrence, he looks older than his age a bit with his unshaven look.  The characters do give off that European look based on their plain fashion; matching the show's theme.  As for body proportions, the hands seem small for some characters.  Also, the limbs look thin at times.  This happens when we get distanced views. 

The backgrounds are pretty detailed.  Although there isn't really much to add about it since it's mainly open sky & plain fields, it's pretty good.  The details on the wheat is good too.  The studio didn't get lazy on it, which is a good thing for a show with 12 episodes.

The colours are on the dull side & that's pretty good.  It gives off the old age of Europe & a nice surrounding of the fields.

In terms of the animation movement, it's quite flowing & natural.  It's fairly smooth & the speed movement is natural.  It doesn't seem slow nor fast.

Sound

The sound effects have a mixture of realistic & silly.  They are played clearly & on cue.

The seiyuus here aren't too bad.  The cast is pretty good & perform their characters well to match their personalities.

The music is mainly soft ballad with a slow European touch.  The music  surprisingly soft & quiet that I don't seem to notice the BGM playing most of the time.  But the music isn't too great.  It's kind of like a sleeper.  I felt it was a bit weak.

Story

Basically, Lawrence learning & understanding his merchant trade.  With the wisdom of Horo, he learns even more based on her many years on the planet.  The two do have problems with each other due to the differences in their world such as why wolves attack humans.  Aside from this, the show can be slow & dry for some as it has a lot of talking involved.  Basically about how trading & economics work.

As times progresses, the two manage to work well together & create some good chemistry.  Lawrence's greed & mistakes would lead him in becoming a better merchant.

For the ending, it's open.  Because of a lack of a main storyline, the show is mainly short stories.  As a result, the ending feel incomplete as Lawrence & Horo continue heading to the N=north.

Overall Conclusion

Spice & Wolf isn't for everyone.  If you enjoy something slow & somewhat educational about the merchant business, this is a good show to pick up.  If you are looking for some entertainment, stay away from this one.

Spice & Wolf receives a seven out of ten.  With the educational bits about the merchant works & trades, this show is pretty good.  You get to see the good & bad sides about it.  But for the plot, there's none as the show is mainly short stories of the couple's adventures while heading to the north.

Last updated on April 1, 2008