Category: Throwback Thursday

Welcome back to another episode of Spice and Wolf Season 2, this week released on time! In this episode Lawrence and Fermi clash, Holo makes a choice and the arc finally concludes. Who wins? Read on to find out!

Now the question becomes: Where do I start? You see, my feelings on this arc are conflicted. It was a long and overall good ride to get here don’t get me wrong! I like the progress Lawrence made and the new stage his relationship with Holo has entered. But at the same time it feels like everything was resolved to… cleanly. There was no real confrontation with Fermi, no parting words. In fact it was largely skipped over via narration as if he never mattered at all. And in a way I suppose he didn’t. The primary conflict of the arc wasn’t with Fermi but within Lawrence himself and overall I think that’s fine. It does the job it needs to. Personally though I don’t feel wholly satisfied. Allow me to explain after the break.

Continue reading “Spice and Wolf S2 – 6 [Wolf and the Trustworthy God] – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome to the penultimate episode of this first arc of Spice and Wolf Season 2! Or at least I think it’s the penultimate episode. I actually expected it to resolve this week but Spice and Wolf surprised me with another Lawrence focused episode. Was it any good? Well let’s dive in and find out!

This week I want to start with a character close to my heart and who has quickly become a favorite: Mark. I love Mark, I love everything about him. The way he acts as a connection to Lawrence’s life before Holo. Contrasting Lawrence with his old self and showing us how far Lawrence has come. How he pushes and supports Lawrence towards the answers he wants without trying to force him into anything. And especially how he draws boundaries while still maintaining the friendship. Mark is neither a doormat for Lawrence to walk over nor a “power of friendship” plot device. Instead he is what Lawrence is turning into. More than just a merchant, he is a family man. A member of the community and a romantic at heart. And I love everything that he has brought to this arc and what he has contributed to Lawrence as a character.

Continue reading “Spice and Wolf S2 – 5 [Wolf, Hope and Despair] – Throwback Thursday” →

Alright everyone I have no excuse for how late this post was, I just forgot. Not to watch the show of course, Spice and Wolf is good shit! But it completely slipped my mind to do the writeup. Personally I blame the Government. Why? Because I can. Anyways without further ado, lets dive in to this weeks episode!

And what better place to start than with the pacing! Seriously its ridiculous. When I went to start the episode I saw “#4” and couldn’t believe we were only a 3rd of the way through. This season of Spice and Wolf feels so much denser than the last and this episode is a perfect example of that. The whole thing takes place in the span of just a few hours in the night as Lawrence mulls over the recent argument. Yet in it he confronts and accepts his feelings, strikes a deal, plots Fermi’s downfall, has a heart to heart with a friend and prepares to crash the economy of an entire town. Does that sounds like a lot? Good, because it was. Yet Spice and Wolf made it all feel natural and snappy. I was really impressed with how it handled the pacing this week.

Continue reading “Spice and Wolf S2 – 4 [Wolf and the Consequences of Shallow Cleverness]” →

Welcome all to another episode of Spice and Wolf! Apologies for the wait on this one, I’ve recently discovered Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire and it’s taken a fair chunk of my time.  Not because I don’t enjoy writing these or because Spice and Wolf isn’t good, it is. But it scratches just the right itch for me. Enough about RPGs though, lets dive into this weeks episode!

And what better place to start than with me gushing about production again! I know I’ve done this before in the far flung past of episode 1 but seriously, I’m impressed. We are 3 episodes in to this season of Spice and Wolf and I’m pretty sure its already had more animation than the entire first season. From the large festival crowds dancing and cavorting in the streets, throwing wine on each other, to the more intimate moments between Holo and Lawrence in the inn. Even the small stuff like background characters cheering and laughing it up during Fermi’s challenge were nice touches. This isn’t to say Spice and Wolf doesn’t have stills or panning shots, it does. But they are integrated much more cleanly and have these fun animated scenes between them to break them up. It’s a small but very important thing to recognize I feel.

Continue reading “Spice and Wolf S2 – 3 [Wolf and Irreconcilable Differences] – Throwback Thursday” →

Another week, another episode of Spice and Wolf. This episode we see Lawrence hunt for answers, Holo for some quality time and Fermi for a relationship. Will any of them succeed? Lets jump in and find out!

To start off let’s talk about my only issue with the episode: Flashbacks. There were a lot of them. Credit where it’s due, these flashbacks did serve a purpose. They not only reminded us of certain events but the events they referenced prepped us emotionally for the episode. They put us in a specific frame of mind to view the episode through. From the flashbacks to the sewers arc in Season 1 to their first meeting, etc, these all prime us to see how their relationship is currently being strained. Lawrence going out alone to hunt for answers, Holo’s concerns about traveling with a mortal, it all connects. But we also already know all of this. Maybe this is only a complaint because we literally just finished watching Season 1. However I couldn’t get over how annoying the flashbacks cutting into the story sometimes was.

Luckily, that’s the only negative I got.

Continue reading “Spice and Wolf S2 – 2 [Wolf and the Calm Before the Storm]” →

I hope everyone enjoyed Spice and Wolf because it’s back for round 2. That’s right, this season of Throwback Thursday is staying on the foxy waifu train, its Spice and Wolf Season 2. And as a bit of a bonus I even through in the OVA. So without further ado lets jump right into it!

And right off the bat I want to say that this season of Spice and Wolf looks leagues better. Everyone is just so much more… emotive. Characters are moving, physically interacting and in general being more than the cardboard cutouts they were in Season 1. From Holo stroking her tail, bouncing off Lawrence and her face after getting drunk to Fermi, Lawrence and Mark gesturing and walking. The fact that it managed this without dropping the background quality or heavily modifying the designs is just the cherry on top. I have no idea why Spice and Wolf shifted to Studio Brain’s Base, response for this season’s To Your Eternity, or how they managed to keep the same staff. But between the OVA and this first episode I’m glad they did. The production was one of my few issues with the first season and this addresses that in every way.

Continue reading “Spice and Wolf S2 – OVA + 1 [Wolf and a Sudden Rift] – Throwback Thursday” →

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” →