Spice and Wolf Season 1 Anime Review – 81/100 – Throwback Thursday

Ah the late 2000’s, I remember you well. For those that remember what anime conventions are like, at least before the world shut down, there’s always a yearly fad. 2019 had Demon Slayer haoris, 2016 had My Hero Academia classroom outfits and 2013 was the year of Attack on Titan jackets. Of course the 2000’s were no different. From Naruto to The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya there was no escape. Today I want to talk about one of those fads. Originally written by Hasekura Isuna, directed by Takeo Takahashi and produced by the since silent studio Imagin, I bring to you one of the titular works of 2008: Spice and Wolf. So without further ado, lets jump into it!

Visuals

As always first up are the visuals and what better place to start than the backgrounds? Art Director Toshihiro Kohama did a great job on Spice and Wolf. Not only are the backgrounds beautiful but they are varied to! We are often shown the same location multiple times but from different angles, times of day or in different weather. This helps sell the setting as a living, breathing world instead of just a series of movie sets. What I like most about his work here though has to be his color blocking. The way he splits the screen, the foreground and background, the sky and the land etc, works phenomenally. Even scenes such as the one above with a single primary color manage to achieve this effect through different tones. This makes every wide shot captivating to behold even if the actual animation is… lets say less than perfect.

In reality I wouldn’t say that Spice and Wolf’s animation is abjectly terrible. It has good cuts and most of them come from Holo. Whether it be her transformations or her… posing, Holo is the best animated part of this show. But that is a very small minority of scenes. Instead what you usually get is something like this. Now I don’t know much about horses but they probably shouldn’t look like they are having a seizure. This is of course the lowest point in Spice and Wolf’s production, most scenes don’t look this bad. Instead they just sort of… don’t move at all. Most scenes have, at most, lip flips and slight movements such as turning or walking with their feet out of view. This isn’t the worst thing in the world. Spice and Wolf isn’t a show that needs that much animation. Just don’t expect a sakuga powerhouse.

That said the overall direction and shot composition does a decent job of mitigating this. Takeo Takahashi may not be my favorite Director, his penchant for ecchi crap being rather annoying. But a more subdued work like Spice and Wolf seems to bring out his best tendencies. The myriad of wide shots help our leads feel like a small part of a much larger world. Meanwhile the rest of the shots did work making them feel like a part of it. Somehow getting the best of both worlds with only minor hiccups. His best work though always came when our leads were alone. His history seems to have, somehow, equipped him well for depicting their relationship. The way he frames Holo, simultaneously blasé and unconcerned yet sexual, was intriguing when paired with Lawrence’s stubborn naivete and pride.

All in all Spice and Wolf may not look good in motion but it is visually stimulating enough to hold your attention through the narrative.

Narrative

Speaking of narrative, this is where we get to the good stuff. Spice and Wolf may not be a visual powerhouse but it is a solid Romance/Adventure. As far as basics go, here’s the lowdown: Season 1 of Spice and Wolf is split into 3 main arcs which I won’t spoil here. But each arc manages to naturally and cleanly lead into the next with few clear “New Arc Here” signs. With how well they support and flow together they really don’t feel like set arcs at all. More like natural continuations of a larger ongoing story, which is what you want. The only reason I draw the distinction is because each “arc” has its own messages, parables and goals for the characters in them. Whether they be about greed, personal sacrifice or love, these lessons carry over into future arcs and that’s the real measure of progress.

As for the arcs themselves I quite liked how they were structured. Spice and Wolf did, generally, a good job of keeping things interesting. The twists were good and never invalidated anything that came before. For an example that vaguely spoils the first major arc, episodes 3-5, click here.

Take the coin arc for instance. The basic setup is that someone is spreading rumors that a local coin is about to be reprinted. So to make some money Lawrence teams up with another trading company to collect the coins to trade them in for a profit later. This is probably something the IRS would get pissy over but hey, it’s the medieval ages, they don’t exist yet. However as soon as you understand what is going on and things start to progress smoothly Spice and Wolf throws in a twist: A character from earlier in the series arrives hunting Holo and has teamed up with the original trading company who spread the rumors. This was not only lightly hinted at earlier but it slots in nicely with the already ongoing plot. Adding layers without invaliding the layers the came before.

 

Well done as all of that is however, it doesn’t make Spice and Wolf perfect. In fact my biggest bugbear with the series comes in its finale. For the short version, a very interesting plot twist like the one above was introduced, only to be completely forgotten and ignored for the sake of time. If you are OK with spoilers for episodes 12 and 13 however then click here.

The final arc of Spice and Wolf is one of smuggling. All of that is done very well. The goals, the methods, the characters, all great. However late in episode 12 Spice and Wolf attempts to spice (Ha) things up with another twist: There is another capital W Wolf, like Holo, in these woods and it is hunting them. This is a great twist! It reintroduces the conflict between the Old Ways and a progressing society, of the forest retaking the road and industry. It forces Holo to confront them as she is the only one capable of doing and teases you with the possibility of learning about her past… Only to completely ignore it at the start of episode 13 and drop the entire thread in a single line of dialogue. It was disappointing to say the least.

 

Luckily that was basically the only narrative misstep Spice and Wolf made. I could nitpick how the ending feels like “Go read the manga” but it’s 13 episodes covering a 17+ novel long series and a Season 2 already exists so that feels a bit pedantic. I would much rather celebrate it for what it does right. Whether that be that narrative twists and flow or the way it presents economics in a, mostly, understandable way. Teaching Holo, and by extension the viewer, how this world works naturally. Framing these lessons as wholesome games and teasing between the two. The lessons themselves not enough to overwhelm but just enough so we can understand a bit of what’s going on in the plot at hand.

Basically what I’m saying is that Spice and Wolf is pretty well written. It has to be to keep your interest with the visuals how they are. Does it start and end a bit slow for my taste? Sure. But I was so engrossed in the dynamic between Holo and Lawrence that I never cared and I don’t think you will either. So with that how about we talk about those characters?

Characters

This is where the real meat of Spice and Wolf is hidden. It’s not the narrative that keeps you around and it certainly isn’t the visuals, it’s the characters. To be more precise it’s our titular leads, Holo and Lawrence. These two are compelling enough individually. Lawrence’s stubborn and “logical” world view, the way he treats every interaction as a transaction, is fascinatingly impersonal. It gets him into more than his fair share of trouble to. Meanwhile Holo’s “fish out of water” experience with the “modern” world is fun to behold. Her joy at every new discovery, her smug attitude when men show they haven’t changed from her era long ago, etc. They make for a nice juxtaposition of traditional vs modern, wisdom and book smarts, stubborn and… well they’re both stubborn. But that’s just their strengths as individuals. As a pair? They carry Spice and Wolf on their back.

The way Holo and Lawrence play off of each other is nothing short of phenomenal. Their personalities, their stubborn streaks, their dialogue. Oh god their dialogue. Spice and Wolf probably has the best written romantic dialogue I have ever had the joy to listen to. The way Lawrence get flustered but still fires into the conversation. Or the smug and snarky remarks Holo always has ready behind her knowing grin. And the reactions! Both of these characters react like people instead of anime characters. In most anime romance when the leads flirt with each other they always have these exaggerated reactions. Steam comes out of their ears, they get all red, the whole scene becomes a joke. But in Spice and Wolf there’s none of that. One person flirts, the other flirts right back in a perpetual game of cat and mouse, or in this case wolf and rabbit.

Of course I can’t praise their dialogue without also mentioning their voice work. Jun Fukuyama and Ami Koshimizu do wonders as Lawrence and Holo respectively. I don’t want to disparage Brina Palencia and Michael Tatum, they do good work. But I can’t imagine watching Spice and Wolf without the original Japanese dub. The line delivery is crisp, clean and memorable every single time. You can practically hear the smug dripping from Holo’s mouth as she talks. Or the “know it all” that coats Lawrence’s every word when talking about economics only to be replaced by admiration when Holo one-ups him. The other VA’s such as Kaori Nazkua and Daisuke Namikawa do good work as well I assure you. But Holo and Lawrence steal the show and liven up every scene they are in. And considering how integral they are to the show I can only call that a rousing success.

As for the rest of the cast? They’re fine, they do their jobs. None of them are remotely as interesting or engaging as Holo and Lawrence however. In any other anime this wouldn’t really be a problem. They exist, they don’t detract from the story and they occasionally have actual personalities! But when put up against the leads they generally come across as… not lifeless but certainly 2-dimensional. There is one exception to this in the latter half however and her name is Norah. She is easily the most important side character and she gets the treatment to justify it, so look forward to her. It’s odd really. Here I am complaining about the worst character in Spice and Wolf being “average” in most other anime, as if that’s an insult. Just goes to show how strong the leads are and how high the bar it set is.

Because to be frank? The characters are the best part of this show.

Audio

Finally we come to the audio portion of this review, where I get to talk about the SFX and OST. And starting with the easy one… The sound effects are alright. Nothing stellar here, it was never the sounds of Spice and Wolf that sold me on it’s locations. The only bits that I would say stood out would, of course, be Holo’s. Her howls were good and I liked the care that went into representing her tail and Wolf form. Beyond that though I would say Spice and Wolf was decidedly average. Of course average also means that nothing ever took me out of a scene either. Not the same way the horse clip from the Visuals section did at any rate. No the real meat and potatoes of this section should be obvious: The OST. And boy was this a pretty good OST.

To me Spice and Wolf’s OST can be comfortably split into 3 main sets of music: Travel, Tradition and Action. The Traveling section is exactly what you would expect, think D&D music. Just executed to a very high degree. Take “Shounin to Ookami to, Tabi no Nibasha” for example. This is quintessential D&D village music. But considering the imagery that it’s trying to evoke I would say that counts as a success, wouldn’t you? It’s not as if this Travel music is without variation either. You have the energetic festival atmosphere of “Shippo Dance” or the colder, slower and methodical “Hitoribocchi no Yume” as they head north. As we move out to the country Spice and Wolf gives us “Ikoku no Shirabe” and “Tadashiki Tenbin” as well. And to top it off we have an eternal favorite of mine: The bagpipes of “Yoake Mae“! God I love bagpipes.

With this we come to what I call the “Tradition” section of Spice and Wolfs music. Where Travel brought us to the medieval world, Tradition connects us to the old ways to which Holo belongs. Starting off light we have tracks like “Kurai Mori“, curious and exploratory. Cautiously feeling out the “modern” world and figuring out what it wants to be. Then we come to the likes of “Wasurenaide“, the deep drums evoking tall, dark forests and the ancient things that inhabit them. Only for those creatures and wonders to emerge, to walk in the moonlight and be seen, as heard through “Tsuyoi Kaze ga Fuite mo“. Their grandeur clear for the world to see. And of course it would be remiss of me not to mention the haunting vocal work of, I believe, Natsumi Kiyoura in “Kagen no Tsuki“. Suffice to say I really liked this section of music.

This brings me to the smallest, but certainly not quietist, section of music: Action. Now this name might make you think of large scale battles, the kind you would see in Shounen. But I really mean it as simply evoking heavy movement, such as the desire to run and to flee felt throughout “Hashiru“. Or the hair raising strings of “Satoki Hito Tachi“, heightening your alertness as it makes you feel the danger around you, ready to pounce at any time. This isn’t restricted to just high energy track however. There are also works like “Michi Naru Mono“, the slight variations and off tones making it clear something is wrong. A sort of intermediary danger before the confrontation. These tracks aren’t restricted to pure danger however as heard by “Tsukiyo no Tategami“. It demands that you get up, move, dance, filling you with frantic energy that you can’t ignore.

So in case it wasn’t obvious, I really like this OST. Spice and Wolf has an incredible variety to it’s sound. Yet unlike similar OST’s such as Dr. STONE, which has a myriad of instruments and genre’s of music from rap to electric to classical, Spice and Wolf’s feels… whole. Like it was all cut from the same cloth and simply dyed to match the scene. It’s a very controlled and deliberate sound that I found myself enjoying across my entire experience with the series. So while the SFX may not impress I can’t help but give Spice and Wolf a “Job well done” here. And of course credit to Yuuji Yoshino, the composer, for his fantastic work on this series.

A Compelling Romance

This brings me to the personal section of this review. This has absolutely no bearing on the score and is just me trying to connect with you. To tell you about what really resonated about Spice and Wolf for me, spoilers and all, without any burden to “review”. If you don’t care about that or don’t want to read spoilers then move on! But if you’re interested? Then lets talk. (Click to reveal).

So to start, I’m not a big fan of the Romance genre. At least not in anime. In fact my favorite “romance” is the Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal OVA which as most of you will know isn’t a dedicated romance. The reason for this is simple: Most anime romance’s are vapid, pandering messes. Works like Clannad which are so blatantly manufactured to manipulate your emotions, with clear sign posts screaming “CRY NOW”, that they miss the most important point for me: The connection. The relationships in these works are usually so lacking and ill conceived that I couldn’t even tell you what the leads like about each other. As if the endpoint of “They are in love” was created without ever asking why. Of course there are exceptions to this. Anime I enjoy, such as Chihayafuru, Cross Game and, now, Spice and Wolf.

What makes the romance in Spice and Wolf work is that it’s a natural consequence their interactions. Of course it’s planned out. You don’t write this kind of story without knowing the end goal. But rather than the romance being a means to an end, IE they are a couple, the romance is the end. To put it in bullshit philosophy you’ve already heard, the journey is more important than the destination. And we see this in how slowly and steadily their relationship is built up. There’s no immediate jump from strangers to lovers, or even to pinning crushes. No one puts on exaggerated reactions or flustered faces at every innocuous comment or flirty gesture. They fire right back with wit and teasing of their own! There’s legitimate back and forth between the leads! And before you know it? They’ve fallen for each other. Even if they won’t admit it.

And I think that’s what has stuck with me the most after this watch. Lawrence’s stubborn pride and his refusal to let Holo have the last word. Holo’s wit and forthright use of her sexuality. She knows what she is, she’s confident in it and not afraid to use it. It’s only the mushy emotional stuff where she lacks experience, being stuck in a forest and all. As far as anime characters go these two have one of the most realistic and well written relationships I’ve seen in a long time. I know what they like about each other, what they don’t like, what their dreams are, why they stick together, etc. All that in a 13 episode series and there’s even a season 2 I’m watching next! So yeah. I like Spice and Wolf because Lawrence and Holo are great. I understand why Holo dominated the late 2000’s now.

Conclusion

So with everything said and done, when simply asked “Did I enjoy Spice and Wolf“, what’s the answer? Unequivocally yes. I normally hate romance anime. They tend to be trite, ecchi and pandering. Filled with faceless self-insert MC’s and stereotypical dere girl casts. But the relationship between Lawrence and Holo was genuinely captivating. I loved all their little moments, their back and forth. I enjoyed how their relationship progressed and even if we didn’t get to see it’s climax the knowledge that there is more to watch makes me happy. Could the overall narrative, going from Point A to Point B, use some work? Yes. Could it use a tad more animation and consistency in it’s art? Also yes. However neither of those ruined my enjoyment of the series I doubt they will for you either. Unless you’re just in it for Sakuga I suppose, ya weirdos.

And with that we have wrapped on another season of Throwback Thursday. Thanks once again for sticking with me through another season. I hope you enjoyed our time with Spice and Wolf because we aren’t done yet! That’s right, the winner of the poll by 1 vote, and our next Throwback Thursday is… Spice and Wolf Season 2! Since it’s a single cour we will be watching 1 episode a week. And while there is a 1 episode OVA that takes place between seasons I will be watching that separately. I might add it in to the first episode post next week, unsure as of yet, will see when I get there. Until then have a good weekend and I look forward to seeing you all for another season!

And if you want to leave a comment you can do so here or find me over on twitter! See you next week.