Wolf and Spice
| Wolf and Spice | |
|---|---|
 The two main characters. | |
| Original Manga | Wolf and Spice |
| Director/Artist | Takeo Takahashi |
| Format | Anime (TV) |
| Made By | Imagin |
| Episode Length | 25 minutes |
| # of Eps/Volumes | 12 |
Contents
Genre
Sum it up in a Sentence:
A traveling merchant meets a wolf-goddess and a bunch of stuff happens.
Main Description
Kraft Lawrence, a 25 year old peddler, travels from town to town selling and buying various things to make a living. One night when stopped at the town of Pasroe, he finds a 250 year old pagan wolf deity girl named Holo in his wagon. She takes the form of a 15 year old girl with a wolf tail and wolf ears. Holo introduces herself as the town's goddess of harvest. Despite having the responsibility to watch over the town, she wants to go back to her homeland in the north called Yoitsu. She believes the people of Pasroe have already forsaken her anyway and that she has already kept her promise to maintain the good harvests. She manages to bargain her way out of the village by making a deal with Lawrence to take her with him. As they travel, her wisdom helps increase his profits; but, at the same time, her true nature draws unwanted attention from the church.
If You Liked This, You Might Like...
Crest of the Stars - Medieval Wolf Goddess/Space Elf Princess. Vastly different setting with a very similar lead character dynamic and development.
Personal Opinions
ComradeCosmobot
I loved the setting, and where the series was TRYING to go, but it was paced horribly for a 13 episode series, and there was just an off feel about how the relationship was handled altogether. It could have been written tighter. (7/10)
AnacondaHL
With the Season II OVA recently aired, and a mention somewhere else on ADTRW, I decided to give this series a view. I would have rather made a watched/expected/got picture, but honestly I have no idea what to put in the 3rd frame (2nd frame would have been Wolf's Rain).
First things first: The two main characters are the VAs for Lelouch and Kallen from Code Geass, so some of the comedy is unintentional imagination (WATASHI WA ZERO DESU!).
Second: This series, just from it's initial concept, walks several fine tightropes, from yiff to tsundere romantic comedy. Warning up front that there's a good portion of naked wolf girl shots, some less explicable by plot than others, so avoid if you're not confident of your stance on furries, or if you don't feel like testing the potential to become accused of being one. Added to this is sometimes she takes on more fox-like characteristics (like using her own tail, drawn more like a fox tail, as a pillow), so again watch at your own risk.
The tsundere tightrope is trickier, I feel sorry for the writers of this show because one mistake and it's another Shakugan no Shana clone. But so far I think their interactions have been acceptable, with the aforementioned VAs doing fantastic work portraying their chemistry at trying to out-trick one another. Similar to the Kyon-Haruhi dynamic, something like that.
Action scenes, as few and one-sided as they are, still got me smirking, "oh man those guys are about to get fucked up- oh shiiii-".
Season II may still end up crappy like Wolf's Rain's ending, who knows, but IMHO the best episodes were the ones with the least amount of nude wolf girl so I hope they keep this minimized at the expense of getting money from... that demographic.
Final score: 84/100, meaning it's a fairly niche show, no rewatchability, and I'd really have to know the anime fan in order to recommend it.
Ferretts
This reminded me of why Crest/Banner of the Stars was so endearing. Whatever is happening in the background, be it complex space war strategies or medieval economic gambits, the true focus and appeal of both series is the genuine and witty interaction and gradual development of the two lead characters. I'm watching (and reading) this series for the ride, which has been really fun and refreshing for both seasons. I didn't see anything pandering, forced, or creepy about the naked wolf-girl/fox tail elements. It's hard to criticize when they pull it off naturally, but I understand the aversion. Wolf and Spice is slow, but plenty charming, and one of the more pleasant surprises of recent. You'll know early on whether it's up your alley, so check it out.
