Spice and Wolf

Wedding portrait?

The genres for Spice and Wolf are: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Romance and Supernatural. Even though Funimation gave it the genre: Action & Adventure. I agree with what is above.

Oh and before you ask why this isn't nearly as long as the Strike Witches review: The Strike Witches review discusses points of critiquing only needed to be stated once, as that was my first review. And well, Strike Witches was just so awesome, that's the best I could do to not make the critique a book. Alright, it only took me for freaking ever to finish watching this. I'm serious, I think I started watching this around the same time I was finishing Azumanga Daioh back in September. (That kind of tells you something about this anime from the start huh?) If you watched the series on T.V. as it was coming out, that still would have been faster than me.


Episode 1: I was actually, genuinely impressed. With what? Well actually Lawrence's personality. He seemed very realistic; as in not constantly over-reacting and  boucing off walls.

And then there were
Episodes 2-12: ... meh...

Episode 13:Ended well, but didn't exactly make up for everything I had to put up with. Though it partially redeemed itself.

Looks like I might watch season 2... MAYBE... 



Originality

Here we are again, I'm critiquing a drama based anime (opposed to comedy in the grand scheme of genres). Let's cross our fingers that I'm getting better each post ;)


One thing I found to be unique - to anything I've seen/read anime or not, was merchanting (trading for profits). The whole story is basically Lawrence trying to merchant his way up in the economy and eventually get his own shop. So he's constantly traveling and business deals/trades are ubiquitous. 
Also the setting is held in a middle age setting. Castles, knights, churches, carriages and whatever else ye old villages may include. 


When we analyze it though, it's a pretty ordinary anime, full of the supernatural and such. 

1. Man meets a godling/powerful being who's pretty temporamental. 
2. The godling/powerful being doesn't really fight/help when necessary, even though he is very power. 
3. Main character is screwed over a lot (though this definitely isn't limited to animes). 
4. There's an evil organization... 

The hell is this? Marti Gras?

And probably a bunch more that I missed out of ignorance.




Themes

Can't really say I saw much if any. Though there was something that floated around occasionally about Lawrance and his roll as a man to protect Horo.

Feisty

This anime really wasn't theme-based, more story development entertainment.



Motifs

Oh gosh motifs, let's see...
Well Horo shares her wisdom a few times - don't get this confused with a theme though.



Plot Development/Execution

Yes, the plot did development, however it was incredibly slow (one of the reasons I was so uninterested in watching it consistantly).

Spice and Wolf went through a number of events and their own little conclusions. It had three or four went gradually became more intense. And ultimately the season was executed very well. I mean, it jumped from "Why do I bother watching this!" to "I might, watch the second season..." It left off with the ability to continue on with a second season, which it did make, but with closed enough issues to keep you satisfied. Remember, you're taking this from a guy who's more into the Comedy spectrum, and I'm not as knowledge when it comes to the Drama other half.



Recommendation

This is really your call. If you prefer Comedies over Dramas, then I'll tell you, I personally didn't care for it that much. If you prefer Dramas over Comedies, my personal opinion sounded by regarded.

If you're into a serious tone, with no comedic relief characters, BAM score one for Spice and Wolf. Though that's not to say there's a situation where you may chuckle a little.
If you're into something slow paced that uses a whole season without completing the ultimate issues, which gives room to sequels: BAM score another for Spice and Wolf.
And that's vice versa, if you don't like one or both of those, that's 1/2 aganinst Spice and Wolf.

Believe it or not, it's pretty realistic. When I refer to a story being "realistic" it's that the characters are like people in real life, who have a don't care attitude, or are average in there own ways without every character in the story being very unique. Along with values of people. Some with stronge virtues and others with strong vices.
Also that events happen realistically, as if it were real life. You win some, you lose some. Of course some people tend to have very bad luck or just the opposite, very good luck, but implementing that in a serious anime as this just doesn't fit well.
And if people start to complain "Hey! There's a freaking Wolf Goddess! How's that realistic!" Well I suppose ask me which reality we're talking about and we can have a worthless debate. Or I could tell you that being realistic only really applies to actions and events of people. Sci-fi and Fantasy are meant to be unrealistic, so it's a different category of reality and hey, you know it's not going to be like daily life if you see the genre Sci-fi or Fantasy.


Action: 2/10 (Low)  ☆ ☆

Fanservice: ?/10 (@_@) * * * * * * * * * *

Well I'm not sure quite what to call it, but Horo does become undressed, not all the time, but quite a few times actually - though there is no detail; Like a manikin. Don't confuse this style with Ecchi though - it's just... symbolic I suppose. Kind of like Some Magic Girl transformations.

Get used to it

Originality: 5/10 (Average)  ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Ok, so it was quite cliché at points, but it wasn't a collage of the most unoriginal scenes.

Soundtracks: 8/10 (Good+)  ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
I'm not going to throw my 2 cents in about the soundtrack (didn't really like it), so my unbiased critique is that it fit appropriately. Fiddle for the setting, suspenseful as it needed to be, such and such.

Values: N/A

Predictability/Kairos: 7/10 (Good)  ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
There were points where I actually didn't know what was coming, or I expected something different, but this anime wasn't really focused on suspense, so there weren't enough moments to score much higher.

Resolution: 8.5/10 (Great) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ✰
I mean, it didn't conclude all the problems brought up, but that's for continuation purposes. Though what it did end, I can tell you, it did a great job.

Stress: 8/10 (Highish)  ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
The serie wasn't constantly stressful, but there were often parts where there were issues, and the stress was pretty high due to the consequences.

Humor: N/A
Didn't really incorperate comedy.

If you're looking for a serious anime and with a slow paced plot progression, much dialogue and a really feisty wolf goddess: You'll enjoy this anime.


You can contact me at TreuCritique@yahoo.com

EXTRAS:
Art Style: Not Moe - Not Gay. Something more resembling actual people.
OP: Serious; baneful
ED: A bit upbeat - inappropriately for the most part. Engrish
Personal Opinion: It redeemed itself at the end, but didn't really enjoy it.
I liked: The execution.
I disliked: Don't get me started.. This anime really isn't my cup of tea.