CB Anime Review: Spice and Wolf

Every once and a while, I let to take a break from high octane, fighting and awkward boy/girl situational animes and watch something a little simpler.  A couple weeks ago, I finally finished a series that has taken a couple months of interspersed viewing to complete.  This anime does not have a sense of excitement or danger that you find in other animes.  Rather it is the tranquility and dialogue where this anime draws its strength  This anime is Spice and Wolf

Spice and Wolf takes place in a medieval European setting, where cities and towns are divided based on their religious allegiance; they are either pagans or belong to the Church.  In the first episode, we meet Kraft Laurence, a traveling merchant, who after visiting a small village discovers he has a stowaway in his cart.  The stowaway turns out to be a 600 year old wolf goddess named Holo (The Wise Wolf, she calls herself), who appears in the form of a young woman.  She convinces Laurence to help her return to her home in the North, and they set out on one of the most beautiful adventures I've even seen in anime.

Before going fangirl and talking about what made this anime soooooooooooo awesome, here is a quick breakdown of our two main characters.

First, we have Laurence, an easygoing but determined traveling merchant.  Laurence hopes to gain enough wealth so that he can one day open his own shop, and his trading schemes are usually at the center of each story arc.  Despite his friendly and easygoing nature, he's a smart merchant whose trading plans usually pay off for him in the end.  Though initially weary of Holo and her playful nature, he shows a quick wit and a loving heart to the sometimes unreasonable wolf.  Something else that I admired about him was that during their journey, he never took advantage of her, again, despite her teasing.  He's a really straightforward guy, and that's why I think he works so well with our other protagonist.

I'm going to be honest, Holo is one of the main reasons that I kept watching this show.  She's funny, sassy, flirty and can be quite a handful sometimes.  She is also able to have fun, intelligent conversations with Laurence, which is pretty different from most female protagonists I've watched.  Most of the female anime characters find difficulty in having a full conversation with someone of the opposite gender, usually because the scene is meant to be comical or the girl has feelings for the guy.  While feeling begin to develop between the two during the series, Holo can talk to Laurence about pretty much anything and make it sound interesting.  She is the one who asks Laurence questions from the audience, about trading, the world and pretty much anything else that happens in the series we need explained for us. Holo is also extremely clever, helping Laurence to sell his good on several occasions, and saving him from some unfortunate circumstances.  She can also be as fierce as the wolf that she claims to be.  I'm not going to spoil anything for you just yet, but when you see it, prepare your :O face.

Like I said, Spice and Wolf differs from my usual anime tastes, but I was immediately drawn into this story after just one episode.  The best part is that this show is just as good dubbed as it is subbed!  I don't find too many animes that can pull off a good dub, but Spice and Wolf is perfect.  I was really happy about the dub, because it has been a while since I've found an anime I can just watch and listen to, instead of reading subtitles all the time.

Spice and Wolf has many strengths, so I'll start with the core of the show; its dialogue.

I will say that without a doubt, Laurence and Holo have the best chemistry out of any two anime characters I've ever watched.  Yes, I know that  "chemistry" isn't really something attributed to animated series, but that is how I feel.  The majority of the show is Holo and Laurence talking during their journey across the country.  The dialogue can be very diverse at times;  they could be having a serious talk one moment and then poking fun at one another the next.  They also don't follow other anime tropes, such as guys and girls not being able to hug or kiss each other without freaking out.  They truly care able each other, and express those feelings through words and hugs.  I'm not going to lie, it's really sweet to watch. #kawaii

There is also really great dialogue between our two protagonists and the side characters.  Side characters include fellow traders, merchants, guide masters, former lovers and town officials.  Whenever Laurence and Holo are talking to someone, you can expect a interesting conversation every time.  Even Laurence's explanations of rising/falling markets and trading strategies are interesting to the audience.  The creators were good at making these concepts simple and easy to understand, but still technical enough as to not pander to the audience.

One tiny complaint I have about Spice and Wolf is that in the second season, Laurence's terminology became a llllliiiiittttttllllleeee too complicated.  If felt like season one was "Intro to Medieval Markets" and then we just straight into "Advanced Money Exchanging and Stock Markets" in the second season.  This bothered me a bit, because I really wanted to understand what was happening in the story, so I would have to pause or rewind certain scenes so that I could figure out what Laurence was saying.  That only happened once or twice, but just be prepared for a medieval economics lesson when you are watching Spice and Wolf

Another strength of this anime is its artwork.  I was really happy with the simplicity of Spice and Wolf's design.  It fit the feel of this show and stayed consistent through all 26 episodes, which is a big plus in my book. Though the two seasons were done by two different animation studios, each group put a lot of effort into their animation, using a pallet of mellow colors.  There were great combinations of browns, reds, greens, purples and gray.  Sufficed to say, it's very pretty, and helps to draw you into this beautiful story.

There are a couple of side characters who appear in each story arc, and though they are helpful, they promptly disappear after their story is done and we never see them again.  That's ok though, because they serve their purpose and then leave as good side characters are meant to do.  Like I said, you watch this show for its protagonists anyway.

Though I wrote in one of my previous reviews that I would try to only post animes that were appropriate for anyone interested, this anime does have some details you should be aware of.  First, Holo does appear without clothing a few times a few times.  However, the artists don't.....emphasis anything or try to make her explicitly sexual.  Her nakedness is more a representation of her wolfness and how she is a wild animal as well as human.  If this really bothers you, I understand, but if you can get through the first episode (or even the opening theme song honestly) and not feel that your morality is compromised, then please continue with this series, because it is worth it.  If it does bug you, I understand, and you can stop watching.

There is also the presence of the Church in Spice and Wolf, most likely a representation of the Roman Catholic Church.  Though they are not directly involved with the story, the Church is made too look like a shady organization.  I wasn't really bugged by it, but wish the idea wasn't there.  Of course, I had to think about the setting, since this was a medieval period, and unfortunately, there was corruption in the Church during that time.  I'm not condoning it, but I can understand the influence.  Again, if you don't feel comfortable watching this, I understand, but there isn't any sort of outright attack against the Church, more of a looming thing, and I hope that we're all strong enough in our faith to not be swayed by a piece of media.  I wasn't and I still love this anime.

So, despite some compromising materials, I believe that Spice and Wolf is one of the best written and drawn anime series of all time.  Its fun, sweet and a great series to watch on a snowy winter weekend if you feel so inclined (or really any time you want).  I hope you will go check it out as it is streaming on Hulu, and lets all pray that someone will decide to greenlight a third season (You'll see)!

Peace and Love