Author: Lenlo

Welcome everyone to the finale of the first season of Spice and Wolf! It’s been a surprising season of Throwback Thursday for me, I wasn’t expecting to like this as much as I have. If you want the full explanation about that though you’ll have to wait for the final review in a week or so. Until then lets talk episode 13! And remember, there’s a poll for what we watch next at the end of the post so read on to find it!

Starting off, lets talk about that finale because its a rather weird one. Not in it’s content, though I have some small bugbears there. Rather that it doesn’t… feel like an ending, if you catch my drift. On one hand it does complete all the arcs of the season. Norah, Lawrence and Holo getting to know each other, etc. The only outstanding plot threads are well… the large over arching meta plot of getting to the north. On the other hand though, as is obvious by the 2nd season, the story doesn’t actually feel finished. It’s like the end of a book and the last page reads: “Volume 2, Spring 2022!”. Knowing that there’s a second season alleviates this somewhat but I do sort of wish the ending was most substantial. That it was less of a cliffhanger than the courtyard scene. Still, what we did get wasn’t bad.

Continue reading “Spice and Wolf S1 – 13 [Wolf and a New Journey] – Throwback Thursday” →

I’m back with the penultimate episode of Spice and Wolf! Season 1 at least. This is a big episode with lots of things happening. Some I expected, others I didn’t, all of them were pretty good. So without further ado lets dive in!

Before we get to the narrative, and some big things happened let me tell you what, let’s talk backgrounds. Toshihiro Kohama and his team did a great job with these backgrounds. I haven’t talked about them much until now because most episodes take place in a singular location. Even when traveling there’s not that much variety. This week however we not only got to see multiple locations but also those same locations in multiple ways. Whether it be the sunlit fields outside Lamtra, a dark and shadowed forest or wet and drooping pines in a storm, Spice and Wolf looked good. If only it had the animation chops to back these up. I wouldn’t have to use as many wide shots for pictures as I do if they looked good up close. You know one thing that does look good when examined up close though? The narrative.

Yes its a terrible transition but roll with me here damnit.

Continue reading “Spice and Wolf S1 – 12 [Wolf and a Pack of Pups] – Throwback Thursday” →

I’m back with another episode of Spice and Wolf! This week Lawrence and Holo reconcile, Holo comes up with a money making scheme and Norah decides sticking it to the church is a good idea. None of these can possibly end in disaster, right? So without further ado lets jump in!

Before we get to the good stuff though I have to get something off my chest: I wasn’t a big fan of the tavern scene. I know that might not seem like much but this might be the worst scene in the season for me. Everything about their reconciliation felt… forced. It’s supposed to be forced in a way sure, Holo and Lawrence say as much in their banter. But it felt that way in a “meta” sense to. As if the plot needed it to happen and so it did, without much care for how it happened. As if the scene and dialogue was created before the context for it was. This made it feel off and a bit rushed reconciliation wise for me. I still enjoyed the romance in it of course! It’s mostly the “try again” bit that bugs me. That aside, onwards to the good stuff!

Continue reading “Spice and Wolf S1 – 11 [Wolf and the Grand Scheme] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome back to another episode of Spice and Wolf. This week see’s my prediction come true as Lawrence’s greed bites him in the ass! But there are consequences I couldn’t have foreseen. Will Lawrence pay off his debt? Is Norah important? Will Holo get her preserved peaches?! Read on and find out.

Starting off, I was right Lawrence does get screwed! This is all a continued parable for the dangers of greed! What better way to take on the capitalist machine than snarky waifu’s with cute ears?! Jokes aside though, the writing was on the wall and anyone could have predicted this. The only question was how and in this case it appears to be natural market forces. No malevolent scheme or Church doctrine, just simple supply and demand as Lawrence doesn’t bother to check the market. It’s kind of weird to see him screw up so badly to be frank. Lawrence has always been this world wise experienced merchant. Making such a simple mistake as borrowing twice his net worth seems out of character. I suppose that’s the point though isn’t it? How greed can blind even the best of us?

Continue reading “Spice and Wolf S1 – 10 [Wolf and Conspiracies] – Throwback Thursday” →