In our last installment, I gave processr Lupin III and he in turn gave me Spice and Wolf. We both rolled a 3 – a show we hadn’t seen but think might be enjoyable – and it makes me wonder just how well he knows me and my taste. My rationale was simple; I had watched Mine Fujiko and The Castle of Cagliostro and enjoyed them, so I figured going back to the roots might be fun! But his rationale for Spice and Wolf? I can only make intelligent guesses about it, but if he was picking based on what he knows about my tastes then he has them pegged down pretty well.
Spice and Wolf, if you didn’t know already, is about a travelling merchant, Lawrence, and his wolf-girl companion, Horo. They go around making deals, doing business, and getting fucked over. Along the way they exchange a lot snark and grow rather close to each other. There’s a lot of good in this show – the realised setting, the music, the ambience – but the biggest strength is undoubtedly the writing.
Horo and Lawrence are written wonderfully. Watching them interact with each other is an absolute joy, what with their constant teasing, playful mocking and genuine affection for one another. When they work together that implicit trust is there; when they do their own things they both feel perfectly competent and capable; and when they need the other the other will do everything in their strength for them. It’s a fantastic relationship shown, and thoroughly enjoyable to watch.
The actual stories in the show are very well done too, with a lot going on and a lot of thought put into them. There’s scheming and counter-scheming and tricking and betrayals and all that lovely stuff. But even as good as the stories are, in the end they basically serve as a vehicle to give us different dynamics between Lawrence and Horo. And I have no problem with that!
Spice and Wolf scratches an itch that Dantalian no Shoka and some similar shows left almost a year ago, and scratches it well. Tsundere and cool guy? Spice and Wolf can be described like that VERY loosely, because the characters are definitely more than that. All in all, right up my alley.
8/10
The Pick
The mystical random.org reveals…
2
:D
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