Review of 'Spice and Wolf'

NaNo update: Well to say it simply...I'm soooo behind! It's difficult to get focused enough to write like this! It's good for me though and I'm planning on sprinting ahead to catch up...but I'm actually confident as to where my story will be going. The tough part in my plot is yet to come, but I'll deal with that when it comes around.

Onto the blog proper.

A few weeks ago I stumbled on a rather interesting anime while on Hulu. At first I didn't know exactly what to think. Reading the description I didn't feel like this was a show that I'd get into. And even after the first few minutes of the first episode I was a bit unsure. The animation might not be the best or the most iconic and it actually is a little sparse. What I mean is, in a lot of anime there is action (people moving and such) going on constantly, and in heavily populated scenes there is a sense of a great many people. In 'Spice and Wolf' it's mostly just Kraft and Holo sitting or standing and talking, but do not let this put you off! I was drawn in by the delightful dialogue and very intriguing yet relaxed plot. Essentially Kraft is a traveling merchant and Holo is a wolf goddess. Their adventures seem to come right out of a book of myths. Instead of having action and fight scenes like in many other anime, or having an intense and highly dramatic love plot 'Spice and Wolf' mostly has to do with their partnership and with trade. The key aspect to most all the episodes is Kraft's job as a merchant and Holo's interest in it. Of course Holo and Kraft have an interesting relationship that you might say includes love, I won't say that it's typical of other anime. This to me is a drawing point as well as I keep on having to reevaluate how the two interact just as they have to reevaluate their relationship as well.

Now on Hulu the first of the two seasons is dubbed. But, to all those hardcore anime fans out there I will say that I think I like the dubbed version better than the subbed version. The voice actors for both Holo and Kraft are excellent and I grew fond of them. In particular Holo's actor got across Holo's dry wit and imperious attitude quite well and made me smile quite often when she did something ridiculous. Kraft's actor also seemed to convey a rather relaxed and sharp minded merchant. One thing I like about the dub is that none of the characters are voiced by idiot ditzy sounding people with high pitched voices, or with gruff over exaggerated male ones. This to me is a happy medium that gets across what the story is actually trying to do. So in short, if you are wanting a nice relaxing anime to watch that is not one of those typical love drama's that is set in the present day then 'Spice and Wolf' is the way to go. It's free in it's entirety on Hulu (Although for season 2 you have to sign up because it's apparently adult content, although I can't figure out why).

I apologize for this being a shorter post, but I do not want to give anything away about 'Spice and Wolf.' Also I was caught a bit shorthanded this weekend. Next sunday you can expect a full length post to be sure!