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Now that I have your attention... ;) Yes, this is a review of Spice and Wolf.
Recently, I asked for recommendations for non-shonen anime series to watch, and I chose Spice and Wolf. Spice and Wolf is a quite enjoyable series about Lawrence, a traveling merchant, and Holo, an ancient wolf goddess in human form.
Spice and Wolf is set in a Middle Ages sort of universe, filled with rural villages and merchant towns and overshadowed by the Church as a shrouded entity that appears to control most of the commerce from behind the scenes.
Traveling merchant Lawrence meets Holo when she appears naked in the back of his wagon. Looking like a human girl - with the exception of her fur ears and big furry tail - Holo dazzles Lawrence into accepting her as a passenger in his merchant's wagon on her way north to her homeland.
In the thirteen episodes of its first season, Spice and Wolf goes through a few different small story arcs leading up to its climax. The plot gets interesting here and there, but the main appeal of the story is in the characters and their relationship.
When I went onto the Internet to look for Spice and Wolf scans to use in this post, after a few token pictures of Lawrence and Holo together I found picture after picture of Holo: Holo dancing in her dress, Holo sprawled suggestively in a field, Holo in bed naked, Holo dreaming of apples... so now I'm clear on why male fans of Spice and Wolf watch the series (lol). In defense of poor neglected Lawrence, allow me to put in that he's pretty cute too. ;)
As Holo, Ami Koshimizu has just the right light touch: flirtatious and sassy and knowing. And as Lawrence, Jun Fukuyama somehow manages to be pompous, dorky and vulnerable all in one. The two actors are excellent in their roles, which is a good thing, because the appeal of the show hinges on the chemistry between Holo and Lawrence.
Holo is in many ways Lawrence's superior: she's lived for hundreds of years and dealt with every kind of human being out there, not to mention being able to rip him to shreds and eat him for dinner if she wanted to at any moment. (I won't spoil the surprise, but her wolf form is quite impressive when you first see it.) In relating to Holo, Lawrence sustains continual blows of varying degrees to his man-pride, including that Holo turns out to be as canny as or even better than he is in finagling wins out of recalcitrant businessmen. Any attempts by him at self-importance get shot down pretty quickly by the pert little wolf. ;)
Both Lawrence and Holo are adults experienced with the opposite sex: this is not the usual anime case of 16 years old and awkward. The two show the confidence and resilience of adults in relating to one another. Both are aware of the unspoken reason why they are on this journey together. It's the attraction and sexual tension between them that sustains Spice and Wolf and this tension is more than enough to keep the viewer's interest through 13 episodes. It's the most romantic anime series I've seen so far.
Romance, when done properly, actually appeals to both sexes: and Spice and Wolf offers just the right blend of adventure, fun, and good old-fashioned UST for everyone. ;) I'll quite happily place Spice and Wolf II on my plan to watch list.
... And now back to my regularly scheduled shonen bingefest. Think I'll take up Gintama next. ;)
The other night, I took a look at my current watchlist for anime series. This is what I've recently finished, and what I am currently watching:
Bleach
Eureka Seven
Hakuouki
Hetalia World Series
MS Gundam Unicorn
MS Gundam Wing
Naruto Shippuuden
Nurarihyon no Mago
Uraboku
It's a little... heavy on the shonen selections, isn't it? As in... would there even be a way to shoehorn in another one?
Am I possibly... missing out on other good series due to watching only what I know I like?
Is there more to life... than mecha battles, samurai sword fights, ninja wars and bishonen angst?
I've decided to broaden my anime horizons, at least a little. And I could use your help.
If you can think of a non-shonen anime series that you think I might enjoy, leave a comment and let me know. I'll throw it open to anything: series about children, cute animals, moe, shojo, fantasy, paranormal... whatever. I will choose one from among the suggestions and watch the entire series, up to 13 episodes, and will post an entry on this blog on what I think of it when I'm finished.
The floor is open. ;)
Continuing with my tradition of watching new anime series that almost nobody else seems to be watching... ;) I thought I'd write a little about Nurarihyon no Mago.
First, this show has three names: Nurarihyon no Mago, NuraMago for short, and Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, the last courtesy of Viz Anime.
The manga has been running in Shonen Jump since 2008. As being published in Shonen Jump would imply, Nurarihyon no Mago is a shonen story, albeit a rather soft-sided one.
Rikuo Nura is a 13-year-old boy who is three-quarters human and one-quarter yokai. He's the designated heir apparent to his grandfather, the reigning Nurarihyon, or leader of the clan. Rikuo only wants to be a normal human boy, but circumstances begin to draw out his yokai self, a heroic figure who only comes out at night... imaginatively named "Night Rikuo." ;) Both normal Rikuo and Night Rikuo are pictured above.
As for Night Rikuo, you gotta love a man whose hair stands out at an exact 90-degree angle to his head, and which doesn't move in the slightest even during fierce battle scenes. Though the most likely explanation for the hair, unfortunately, is that underneath it is probably a head like ji-chan Nurarihyon's head:
In any event, Rikuo is a surprisingly (for a shonen story) drama-free kid: no tragedies in his background. Also, he and his family live in an enormous temple along with about a hundred cheerful, colorful yokai who come in all shapes, sizes and configurations, all of whom are devoted to Rikuo. Among them is a bishonen yokai whose head floats above his shoulders:
Gotta have at least one of those. ;)
Two of Rikuo's yokai servants disguise themselves as middle-schoolers, and attend school along with Rikuo to safeguard their master. One of them is Yuki Onna, a female. Yuki gets clingy with Rikuo, but she has competition: Kana, Rikuo's childhood friend, and Yura, an onmyoji, whose life mission is to wipe out all yokai. All of them are members of a "Paranormal Patrol" put together by one of Rikuo's friends, who is of course unaware that Rikuo himself is a yokai.
Rikuo, of course, sounds like an average 13-year-old boy, but Night Rikuo's voice is... well, he sounds like a man at least, but maybe not quite the way you would expect. As a hero, you're sort of expecting him to sound like this:
But instead, he sounds like this:
... Which sort of makes sense, as both Rikuo and Night Rikuo are played by Jun Fukuyama, who played Lelouch. Still, it's like expecting Ichigo and getting Yumichika instead, and I'm not the only one in the anime blogosphere who has found the casting choice a bit strange. I've seen comments saying that Night Rikuo sounds a little... gay... not that there's anything wrong with gay, of course, but it just isn't quite what you expect here. ;)
I looked up Nurarihyon no Mago in Wikipedia and discovered that there are about eight million characters in the storyline - mostly members of numerous other yokai clans that will be introduced eventually. The series is currently set for 24 episodes, but I expect there'll be at least another season after this one, since there seems to be more than enough material for it. In short, I'm enjoying Nurarihyon no Mago, and if you're in the mood for a kinder and gentler shonen fantasy story, you might enjoy it as well.
