Forum - View topicREVIEW: Spice & Wolf Novel 4
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Kohii
 Posts: 428 |
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This was a great volume. And the review was pretty accurate.
I especially liked the bar's owner and her little backstory. |
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Loki4life
Posts: 1 |
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I'm sorry, the original cover art isn't flattering to Holo?
Well I guess that's how it is with light novel art, you either like it as part of the story or you don't 
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Animerican14
 Posts: 963 Location: Saint Louis, MO |
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^ It just might be a semantics thing... by "original cover art," he might be referring to the original, slipcase cover with Yen Press's edition of the book. And that "art" is original to Yen Press's release, so... yeah.
Though Theron uses the term "original art" to describe the original Japanese-illustrated cover art, so it might not be a semantics issue after all. Which, if that's the case, seems to be pretty unconventional thinking, to say that the Japanese art isn't flattering to Holo... |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14901 |
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Who cares about the cover arts! It's a novel!
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lhernan02
Posts: 196 |
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I don't get the cover art comment. I did not have any problems with the Japanese cover (she looks pretty much like the anime). If anything, the "live action" cover seems less atractive: the model appears older than "human" Holo (based on her hands), her proportions appear stretched out (taller and thinner [proportionately] than Holo), and the fact that she covers her face [I understand why from a technical standpoint] puts a greater distance between viewer and subject.
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Thunder-Break
 Posts: 28 |
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Wow, I didn't realize that the 4th novel was published. Looks like I have a new Amazon purchase.
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Pippin4242
Posts: 111 |
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If that's the case, I'm with Theron on this. The Japanese art has always had a slightly distressing tendancy to draw her with proportions that are too childlike. Her head-to-shoulders ratio is that of a very young child, and it's completely distracting. - Pips |
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Echo_City
Posts: 1236 |
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I'll cast my vote against the original artwork. I don't find Holo's face in that depiction to be aesthetically pleasing (it looks like her jaw is jutting out, in an almost simian manner), and I also find the childlike body build with which she is generally depicted to be displeasing.
During the course of S&W I've wondered why the people Lawrence & Holo interact with don't castigate Lawrence for traveling unescorted with a girl so young, instead of jealously ogling her. I suppose that these faux-medieval Europe towns could be more, ah, "progressive" than what we have today, but it still doesn't float my boat. I'm glad that the anime, particularly the English dub, has (so far) kept the Lawrence/Holo romantic relationship on the back-burner. In printed media I can imagine Holo in a form that doesn't appeal to some sort of quasi-loli fanbase. Back on topic, I greatly prefer the dust cover to the illustrated cover for this volume, and I'm still pleased that this can be offered for a civilized price @ Amazon (under 8 bucks). |
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Twilightmaster
 Posts: 129 |
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It's amusing that with so many loli titles in anime, people easily forget that in medieval europe, it was quite common for girls around the age of twelve to get married. The tag of pedophile wasn't as strong until more recent times, and this was mainly due to the shorter life spans of that era, and the need to have children as soon as possible.
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tuxedocat
 Posts: 2183 |
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yeah, yeah. Rub it in .... 
While I like Spice and Wolf, I can't say the the world-building compares to the Twelve Kingdoms. And .... are people here seriously comparing Holo to a loli? The thing I have always liked about S&W is the portrayed relationship between two adults... oh well. 
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doctordoom85
 Posts: 2094 |
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Holo is definitely NOT loli in any sense of the word. Why anyone would think that is beyond me. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18567 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Holo has been consistently described as a "young woman," and I've seen some comments which specifically place her as looking like she's 15. (I would peg her as more like 18 based on the anime version, though.) In medieval times, no one would have batted an eye at that.
As for the cover art: I've made it no secret that I prefer the anime renditions of Holo to the ones in the novels and their original Japanese cover art. Even though Holo is a thin and lanky girl in the anime, she still looks better-rounded than in the book illustrations. Last edited by Key on Fri Oct 21, 2011 11:03 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Veers
 Posts: 1197 Location: Texas |
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It is amusing and heartening to see the only bad thing you have to say in the summary is in regards to something as minor as the cover art
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Scormio
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 Personally, I think the light novel art is beautiful, which was why I was pleasently surprised when FUNimation used that style for the season 2 LE box. I know it's different from the anime, but I think they both have different qualities that still make Holo her pretty-self.
Overall, though, another good review from Theron. |
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nargun
Posts: 931 |
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There's actually a lot more to the worldbuilding of Spice & Wolf than you might think: behind the scenes we've got some decent actual current-events politics and a broad outline of history. It doesn't compare with 12kk, perhaps, but... remember, the 12kk novels are massively longer than S&W, maybe twice the length each. |
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