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.
Before we get into the good stuff though lets talk about some of the stuff that bugged me. For instance: Where the hell did the other Wolf go? It’s as if this entire plot point was just dropped. Did Holo fight them off? Convince them to leave? Did I just completely miss some line of dialogue that explains what happened? I know Holo briefly mentions them when she finds Lawrence again. But it feels like this entire side-conflict just disappeared. I wanted to to hear them talk! To learn more about Wolf culture, about why he was there, why he went after Holo. Let us see more of the traditional/natural side of this world please Spice and Wolf! In the grand scheme of things this is a minor complaint but I had to do a double take when the episode just skipped over them completely.
The other major complaint I have is the patrol: Are you telling me no one died? I’m not asking for a bloodbath, that doesn’t fit the kind of show Spice and Wolf is. But after showing Lawrence get shanked halfway into the season I was hoping for something more… mature? It’s as if Spice and Wolf was afraid of death, that it would taint the characters. Maybe killing is a line/moral quandary/character arc it wants to tackle later in the story, I don’t know. The fact that everyone came out of that OK though, that news isn’t spreading of this giant Wolf with Lawrence, seems very idyllic. This kind of naivete just doesn’t belong in a show that has otherwise been very reasonable with its world building and cause and effect. Once again a minor complaint, but with the ending not landing perfectly with me it stands out.
Speaking of the ending, I’m pretty mixed on this. On one hand, all the plot threads except the overarching meta plot of going north got wrapped up! The coins, the gold, going bankrupt, etc. On top of that the ending scene in the square with the bells, whose name yada yada, that was cute. As far as relationship progress goes that was good enough for me. But on the other hand, this is very much a “Go read the manga” sort of ending. It’s very clear that nothing is over, the whole thing ended on a “Whats next” sort of setup, it was sloppy. This is alleviated somewhat with the knowledge that a season 2 exists! I want more, there is more, so how this is a problem? Its just that as a standalone ending I do not feel like I was given a proper exit from the show.
Those complaints out of the way though I have to say, I did still enjoy this ending. It’s not perfect but there are a lot of little things I like. Things like Holo and Lawrence meeting back up and her righteous fury over the whole situation. How she was touched, flustered and then enraged by Lawrence protecting her cloak of all things. How Lawrence turned the whole situation into an extended debt sold to his own trading company. That last one in particular was a tad confusing for me as it happened so quickly. But as I rewatched and listened to the scenes it started to make more sense. Basically for every issue I had with the ending there was at least one thing I did like. Is it as strong as I was hoping? No. But it’s good enough.
And with that so concludes another season of Throwback Thursday! Thank you all for sticking around. As per usual I will endeavor to get the review up sometime next week. I don’t want to spoil to much but suffice to say I enjoyed Spice and Wolf more than I expected to. It’s not perfect but its also a pretty darn good romance. Down below you can find the poll for what series we will be watching next! I will announce the winner of this poll and our next series when the final review goes up. Hope you have a good weekend and I will see you then!
Glad you liked it! The first season of Spice and Wolf was very good. The second season focuses more on romance and it never got as good as the first season, in my view.
Angel’s Egg is very artsy. There is pretty much no dialogue from what I remember. It wasn’t my kind of show, but maybe you’ll like it better than I did.
Erin is very episodic in a slice of life kind of way at first. I liked it, but it’s not the fastest paced show, and there may not be much to write about if you stick to one episode per post.
Full Metal Panic I don’t remember much of, but Full Metal Panic Fumoffu (the comedy spin-off series) is hilarious, so if you end up watching it I definitely suggest watching Fumoffu afterwards!
Hmm, I could offer suggestions, though I’m not sure what you’ve seen.
I’ll try anyway.
Shiki (22 eps):
https://myanimelist.net/anime/7724/shiki
A vampire story in a rural Japanese village. It starts slow, but the erie atmosphere builds…
Now and Then, Here and There/Ima, Soko ni Iru Boku (13 eps):
https://myanimelist.net/anime/160/Ima_Soko_ni_Iru_Boku
It starts off as a super generic 90s-style isekai series, but then the main character realizes he’s now in a dystopia. It kind of reminded me of the darker parts of Kino’s Journey.
Colorful (Movie) :
https://myanimelist.net/anime/8142/Colorful_Movie
A soul gets a second chance at life. I found it pretty moving.
Planetes (26eps):
https://myanimelist.net/anime/329/Planetes
A quirky, very well-researched story about space people who get rid of space junk, so it doesn’t hit satellites, etc. By the same mangaka as Vinland Saga. Unfortunately the ending goes downhill, but the rest of it was great as describing the everyday problems of living life in space.
Also, I don’t know if one-off OVAs/shorts are allowed, but I’ll list them anyway:
Kakurenbo (25min):
https://myanimelist.net/anime/1192/Kakurenbo
A very atmospheric, erie anime about kids who play a game of hide-and-seek with demons.
Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko/She and her Cat (5min):
https://myanimelist.net/anime/1004/Kanojo_to_Kanojo_no_Neko
I don’t normally like Makoto Shinkai’s works, but I liked this short.
I haven’t seen the longer anime version they made later on.
Thanks for the detailed response!
For Angel’s Egg I’m really just looking for an excuse to watch it so I can say I can haha. I have much the same opinion as you, it doesn’t look appealing, but its also kinda anime history?
For Erin we would probably cover it like Twelve Kingdoms, 2-3 episodes per week. I try to get every season of Throwback Thursday done within a single cour/3 months. As for the show itself I remember loving Seirei no Moribito and heard this was by the same author, so I’m very curious about it.
On your suggestions Ill add them to the list and check them out later. You will be pleased to know though that I already covered Planetes! Find it here:
https://starcrossedanime.com/category/finished-series-adventure/planetes/
It was actually the first Throwback Thursday I ever did I think, around 2 years ago now. I enjoyed it quite a lot!
I hope you have better luck with Angel’s Egg than I did, if you end up watching it that is. I tried a few times and ended up falling asleep each time. I finally gave up and figured it wasn’t my kind of movie, but you may have better luck with it.
If you loved Moribito, have you seen the live action version? It covers more of the story than the anime did.
Here’s the first season:
https://mydramalist.com/10853-seirei-no-moribito
It’s 4 episodes, and fairly fast-paced.
It’s been a while since I saw it, but I think it covered roughly the same things the anime did.
The new stuff starts in season 2: https://mydramalist.com/21062-seirei-no-moribito-ii-kanashiki-hakaishin
Season 2 and season 3 both have 9 episodes.
Also, wow, that’s great that you covered Planetes! That show definitely left me thinking.
(Reposting this because my comment never showed up for me for some reason. If it shows up please delete this duplicate version.)
I hope you have better luck with Angel’s Egg than I did, if you end up watching it that is. I tried a few times and ended up falling asleep each time. I finally gave up and figured it wasn’t my kind of movie, but you may have better luck with it.
If you loved Moribito, have you seen the live action version? It covers more of the story than the anime did.
Here’s the first season:
https://mydramalist.com/10853-seirei-no-moribito
It’s 4 episodes, and fairly fast-paced.
It’s been a while since I saw it, but I think it covers roughly the same things the anime did.
The new stuff starts in season 2: https://mydramalist.com/21062-seirei-no-moribito-ii-kanashiki-hakaishin
Season 2 and season 3 both have 9 episodes.
Also, wow, that’s great that you covered Planetes! That show definitely left me thinking.
Ha, don’t worry. Sometimes our spam bot gets a bit over active when someone posts links. I went ahead and approved it both times but yeah if it doesn’t show up immediately assume it got flagged for links to outside websites or something. Its just so that people don’t post porn and crap down here, sorry for the trouble.
Ill check out the live action version! I didn’t know it existed.
I remember the first time I tried watching Moribito I mistook it for mainly an action heavy show or that too many of the fantasy elements would get in the way.
On a second viewing I appreciated it more on a dramatic level and realized Balsa was a very believable strong female character.
Shiki was a show that I nearly gave up on in the middle but it started becoming one of my alltime favourites, the artstyle feels weird at first and some characters goofy and unlikeable, there’s a sense of wondering just when its going to actually really kick off, then the second half delivers on all that careful buildup and rewards you by taking proper shape.
The author is diverse, having also done ghost hunt and twelve kingdoms.
I love all of Mamoru Oshii’s work, especially Angel’s egg and have watched it 3 times, I don’t need to analyze it to like it, its just an evocative mood piece to me I really got immersed in and I loved the Russian style arthouse feel it mimics.
I always wished that Full metal panic would have just gone with one side.
Bokusen, I’m glad to find someone else who had trouble connecting with Makoto’s works
and someone who actually felt the same way about Kakurenbou as I did.
I thought the lead kid in now then was a brat, but admired the aesthetic in realizing the world in which it was set, the villain’s insanity is actually quite un-nerving.
Just dropping in to say that I really enjoyed your throwback of S&W.
I would recommend watching the second season — the only problem is that there’s no season 3 and I can only say that you will need to read the novels to experience the whole story (It’s like… 19 volumes, I forgot?)
Short review of novels if you’re interested: I really applaud the skill to write 19 novels where the plot almost entirely involves around medieval economics, and made most of them interesting. The main pairing is still (and always) the main pillar of the series, though — so I found the series to be much weaker during few short side stories parts, and it’s a long ass journey to get you into final conclusion.
That aside, Michiko & Hatchin is the only one out of the rest of the list which I know nothing of, so that would be neat.
Yeah I have a friend who is huge into S&W and he told me all about the novels and just how long the series is. Makes me a bit sad I won’t get to see the conclusion but if I like S2 enough then I’ll probably just borrow his copies of the books.
Glad you enjoyed reading!
If you are interested in Michiko & Hatchin then psgels covered the series back in 2008-2009 when it was originally airing, his review should still be available from the categories drop down menu.
That said I would be interested in Lenlo’s take on it as well.
I’ll leave a vote for watching the second season too unless you want some variety then feel free to change one vote from that to Welcome to the NHK instead. I wasn’t really satisfied with the ending of the first season, the second season wraps things up more nicely.
Yeah the ending wasn’t perfect. If the 2nd season doesn’t win the poll I might just watch it anyways and do a review on it as a little bonus without the weekly writeups. Will see.
Whatever happens though its certainly on my list after this.