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EP. REVIEW: Spice & Wolf: merchant meets the wise wolf

To be fair to the original show, chloe was in the original show, they just changed the gender of the guy we now see in episode 1 and implied that she had been romantically interested in Lawrence (in the non existent time, when she was supposed to be his apprentice).

I was expecting a lot more talk about that and the flash forward scene since we did have those be new elements to the story. or heck I was expecting some talk of the plot or what happened in the episodes. I am not saying this is a bad review at all just that it is different then I had expected it to be.

I was definitely taken off-guard with the very first thing being something from the end, even if they barely hid who it is. It's a bit spoilery if somebody doesn't know, but almost comes off as an acknowledgment that people do know where things are headed. It sort of made me wonder who the the intended audience is. They went back to the beginning instead of a third season so anyone new can get into it, but lead off with that?

I don't think anyone's suggesting they plan on adapting so much all in one go. Rather, there's an expectation (based on the obvious assumption) that they plan on making a "Spice and Wolf II," and "Spice and Wolf III" and so on in the following years, to fully adapt -- as much as possible -- the remaining novels. And god knows there's plenty of material to animate.

Piglet the Grate wrote:

Are we going to get as much ecchi as Passione Co., Ltd. put into Hinako Note?

I'm going to guess not? The nudity was front-loaded in this story, so I don't imagine we're going to get anything more detailed than we got in the first two episodes.

(Though speaking of the nudity, can't help noticing Passione took the amount they removed from Holo's ears and added it... elsewhere. Holo is a lot less waif-ish this go-round, let's just say.)

So happy to hear discussion of the original soundtrack. I imported both volumes from Japan before they went out of print, and they still enthrall me all these years later. I like what the new one is doing so far, playing up a mystical, almost new-agey feel more than the period instruments so effectively used previously. I sense another import in my future - different soundtracks for different moods, I guess.

I'm far too biased to compare the OP/EDs. The OP of the first season of S&W was one of those rare, magical moments when I knew, just from that music, that I was in for a wonderful journey. (Of course, I thought the same thing when I first heard the OP for Fractale, and... yeah...)

My biggest fear with this being a remake and not a continuation is that we will get two cours and then done, with minimal new ground covered. If memory serves, there was never a third season because of poor disc sales in Japan - will this time be any different? Has the model changed enough in those 15 years that disc sales are not the prime determination for a continuation?

I guess I'll stay tuned.

AnimeFlyz wrote:

This remake is extremely necessary considering the OG anime butchered parts of the early novels and its age really shows on rewatch.

I won't dispute your latter point, but aside from Chloe assuming Yarei's role, where did this supposed "butchering" take place? Both seasons and the OVA were otherwise very faithful to the source novels they adapted.

A lot of spoilery stuff

unless the source materials had that amount of fully uncensored nudity in abundance, (considering that both the light novels and the manga had gotten the MA FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY rating ) i highly doubt it.

also passione wont take any chances and go full ecchi let alone "softcore hentai fanservice mode" like on their other anime projects on a series as legendary as this and risk facing massive backlash by the die hard light novel community let alone the anime community as a whole!

(considering that both the light novels and the manga had gotten the MA FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY rating )

I also suppose she kissed her rescuer thinking it was him?

Or that was the implication, dunno.

Uuuh... now I think I am going crazy because I am quite sure Holo do mentions this in episode 1 (never read the novel, manga nor watched the OG anime but remember the scene quite clear).

And yeah, my first thought on seeing Holo's little ear dance is that it would be one of the most viral scenes of the whole Spring season. People will be playing clips of that for years to come.

I like that Lawrence has to use his wits to desperately bargain with his ostensible allies; the Milone Company's calculations are cold and impersonal, but they're befitting of a trade guild. In other words, Lawrence has to think and act like a business to get what he wants as a person.

We learn quite a few details about royal instability, mercantile gambits, the information economy, and the importance of the Church in society, politics, and business

Big things go down in this week's Spice and Wolf, and by that, I mean that Holo does an adorable little dance by wiggling her ears.