I think this is the first time I'm writing a review on an anime that I had gotten from here.
It was early this year when @adamada talked about the remake of Spice and the Wolf in a rather rare enthusiastic way. The post intrigued me and I swore I'd watch, follow and finish the anime.
The anime ended almost a month ago, I finished it but due to lots of other posts, I'm just talking about it now.
Spice and The Wolf 🌾🐺
Plot
Lawrence is a travelling merchant who moves around and makes a living on his horse drawn cart. One day, after a trade expedition to a village to get wheat, he notices a naked girl with wolf ears and a Wolf's tale sleeping in the wheat.
Holo, the Wise Wolf persuades Lawrence to help carry her back to her home land and in turn would grant him her wisdom. Thus, the once lonely merchant, and the once lonely wolf goddess, start their journey to the North.
Now apparently this particular show "Spice and The Wolf: Merchant Meets Wise Wolf" is a remake of the 2009 anime series Spice and The Wolf.
I haven't watched the original, but it is said that this remake follows the original materials and light novels stricter than the first one so I watched it without any remorse.
It seems that more and more remakes of old anime shows are being made, I believe that remakes are sometimes a glorified way of saying (we have no new material so we refurbished this old show for you to watch) at least this is what I've noticed from plenty regular American cartoons and animations.
Sometimes it's still the same thing with anime but times like this when the remake is to actually correct something the former show didn't do - and it's done quite well, it's a joy to watch for both the old and new fans.
This show isn't my regular cup of tea, I've found myself watching more and more shows that are outside my preferred genre lately.
Spice and The Wolf is a somewhat medieval fashioned show that center's on economics, lore and religion.
As I'm writing it now, I'm still wondering as to what made me even start the show, but I can tell you what made me continue to watch it.
What I Liked
This show wasn't particularly outstanding in its delivery, no wonderful animation or mind boggling twists in the plot. In fact, it was just an average easy pace anime, yet there were some themes about it that I did find myself hooked on.
- The Lore
I'm a huge mythology fan, anything that has to do with gods and myths of all kinds, I find my curiosity piqued and my interest at a high.
Even though the Wise Wolf of Yoitsu was a fictional lore, it still somehow interested me. I wondered at what other stories I may get to see, if there would be some myths that hold some similarities to real life myths or gods, I was curious and eager to find out.
- The Economical Theme
With one of the main characters being a travelling merchant, we get to see and or hear a lot of market and economical oriented content.
It was intriguing for me, a person with average understanding of how a market works.
Its absolutely bizarre how much one can learn from anime, something that it's prime focus is about entertaining the viewer, the viewer could find himself in a free economics class along the way.
- Views of the Church
This show had quite a mixed and yet interesting view on religion. The church was set as an authoritarian dictator kind of body that most people just tolerated.
Still it's power was shown a bit and muddled a little.
I won't speak much on this though, I just found it interesting.
- Lawrence and Holo's Relationship
The shipping of the two main characters is something that could be seen a mile away.
Why with Holo being so incredibly jealous and in constant need of affection, it was already going down a certain trope that I wasn't too fond of.
Yet it managed to change again, when Lawrence realized he just might lose Holo his countenance and despair is something I appreciated.
I hate when the make lead character has unfounded confidence that the female would eventually end up back with him.
We the fans know that but the character in the show shouldn't.
I feel that despair and change in attitude when you realize you just might lose her makes the character more human.
Overall Review
This is an average show that skillful threads the line of not being crazily good or awfully bad.
It had its moments and I did like the experience of watching it.
The original show had two seasons and since this is a remake, maybe there'll be another season of it in the future.
I don't know yet (or maybe I missed the announcement) but if another season does come out, I'll still give it a watch.
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