Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Spice & Wolf: merchant meets the wise wolf
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L'Imperatore
 Posts: 941 |
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As an uninitiated who went into this show blind, I'm just hoping Crunchy will release it on physical media. The original has been OOP. Shame, the complete series set wasn't even *that* old.
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Tanteikingdomkey
 Posts: 2351 |
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To be fair to the original show, chloe was in the original show, they just changed the gender of the guy we now see in episode 1 and implied that she had been romantically interested in Lawrence (in the non existent time, when she was supposed to be his apprentice).
I was expecting a lot more talk about that and the flash forward scene since we did have those be new elements to the story. or heck I was expecting some talk of the plot or what happened in the episodes. I am not saying this is a bad review at all just that it is different then I had expected it to be. |
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b-dragon
Posts: 500 |
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The original was one of the shows that got me into anime in the first place (stuck in a restricted hospital wing with a laptop and Netflix for a few weeks. I watched some good stuff, some weird stuff and some stuff that only was watchable due to my sheer boredom. This was probably the standout,) so I'm having to fend off the nostalgia goggles really hard to embrace the show on its own merits.
And ultimately, I don't know that I can. I like it quite a lot- the core relationship and VAs sell the show really well- but I'm still struggling to see the need to remake it. This will almost certainly change though- if the show goes far beyond where the prior ended, I think that will be justification enough for me. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18495 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Glad to see I'm not the only one with this opinion. There's nothing wrong with Penkin's score, but the bar for comparison doesn't get much higher than the score for the original S&W. I'd also say the same about the OP and ED, especially the ED (which is gradually growing on me). |
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Minos_Kurumada
Posts: 1192 |
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I like the series since I am an history and economics nerd, but sometimes I feel the series does some weird sudden cuts.
Like the end of the scene with the coin appraiser, the scene just sharp cuts to Holo and Lawrence walking on the street, felt weird. |
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MFrontier
Posts: 14204 |
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I never would have pegged Passione for a Spice & Wolf remake but they're doing a pretty good job so far. It probably helps that the director of the original anime is now Chief Director.
Ami Koshimizu and Jun Fukuyama haven't missed a step and still play these characters amazingly. The opening of episode 1 really makes it seem like the plan is to adapt everything. |
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Piglet the Grate
 Posts: 797 Location: North America |
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I like the new ED song (Andante by ClariS) better, so much that I looked up the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_44hrm_sk4 Cute, but definitely low budget.
Are we going to get as much ecchi as Passione Co., Ltd. put into Hinako Note? |
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Eilavel
Posts: 136 |
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The suggestion that the flashback presentation means they are going to adapt the "whole" seems fairly unlikely. They adapted 4 volumes over 24 episodes; the core Holo story is I think 11?
Even if they skip some volumes (the last adaptation skipped one), reaching the end of their journey seems implausible in the 24 episodes here. given the near identical pacing. It seems likely this story will finish in a roughly similar spot, and any completion has to depend on getting more episodes down the line. That would be welcome, but I don't think we can call it a sure thing. |
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rfletcher
 Posts: 31 |
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I'm going to guess not? The nudity was front-loaded in this story, so I don't imagine we're going to get anything more detailed than we got in the first two episodes. (Though speaking of the nudity, can't help noticing Passione took the amount they removed from Holo's ears and added it... elsewhere. Holo is a lot less waif-ish this go-round, let's just say.) So happy to hear discussion of the original soundtrack. I imported both volumes from Japan before they went out of print, and they still enthrall me all these years later. I like what the new one is doing so far, playing up a mystical, almost new-agey feel more than the period instruments so effectively used previously. I sense another import in my future - different soundtracks for different moods, I guess. I'm far too biased to compare the OP/EDs. The OP of the first season of S&W was one of those rare, magical moments when I knew, just from that music, that I was in for a wonderful journey. (Of course, I thought the same thing when I first heard the OP for Fractale, and... yeah...) My biggest fear with this being a remake and not a continuation is that we will get two cours and then done, with minimal new ground covered. If memory serves, there was never a third season because of poor disc sales in Japan - will this time be any different? Has the model changed enough in those 15 years that disc sales are not the prime determination for a continuation? I guess I'll stay tuned. |
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AnimeFlyz
Posts: 376 |
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This remake is extremely necessary considering the OG anime butchered parts of the early novels and its age really shows on rewatch. So far the first 3 episodes have been stellar at faithfully adapting the material, while also having good direction and a great OST.
Also for the people claiming there is little chance of a full adaptation, are we just gonna ignore the other recent remakes that have come out over the handful of years? Nobody imagined we would get an anime adapting all of Fruits Basket, yet we did. Last year we got a more faithful Rurouni Kenshin anime, and we are getting even more of it in a few months. I dont see what the point of this remake would be if they just stopped. |
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Fluwm
 Posts: 1056 |
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I don't think anyone's suggesting they plan on adapting so much all in one go. Rather, there's an expectation (based on the obvious assumption) that they plan on making a "Spice and Wolf II," and "Spice and Wolf III" and so on in the following years, to fully adapt -- as much as possible -- the remaining novels. And god knows there's plenty of material to animate. The only problem is the obvious one: all this assumes the first series is successful enough to warrant another. And, I mean, I hope so? But we also have a fairly-recent example of a similar situation that turned out pretty poorly: Full Metal Panic! Invisible Victory was a (very) long-anticipated sequel to a beloved anime series meant be the first part of an effort to finish animating the entire story from the LNs (only 12 in that case, IIRC). But then it wound up being pretty rushed, and not too well-received, and those plans for a final season to conclude everything evaporated. |
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 18495 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I won't dispute your latter point, but aside from Chloe assuming Yarei's role, where did this supposed "butchering" take place? Both seasons and the OVA were otherwise very faithful to the source novels they adapted. |
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JustMonika
Posts: 1165 |
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You know the creators of the original Spice and Wolf went on to form Passione afterwards right? |
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Eilavel
Posts: 136 |
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Oh sure, I agree its an ambition. But thats not quite the same as a plan to me. The original spice & wolf anime came out only a couple of years before the light novels essentially finished Holos story; I suspect they would have liked to do Spice & Wolf II back then as well, but the response wasn't what was required. Obviously I hope for better this time, but hope is probably the word I'd use rather than plan. On adaptations, its been a while, but other than a volume skip I don't recall the original being described as a disservice to the LNs. It seems this one is even more by the book, but the first was still a relatively loyal adaptation, this isn't LOGH vs Neue These where the original introduced lots of new elements. I'm happy to watch it again because I'm a fan, but I'm really not seeing an enormous benefit from reanimating these arcs. Perhaps I'll see it later but this isn't in a transformative new league for animation or sound compared to the original. Personally, I'd rather they had just made Spice & Wolf II now, but I presume this was much less commercially viable after 15 years. |
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Daerian
 Posts: 242 |
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They are probably talking aboutspoiler[ skipping Snake Village part], But I disagree, it wasn't really that important in the long run. One thing I want to add here (as I have written in season preview) I can say with certainty that Horo's ears are much more expressive now 
As for commercial viability of another season - we will see, there seem to be a lot more hype and discussion about Spice & Wolf this time around, anime is also much bigger thing than it was.
Outside of what JustMonika mentioned, why is everyone so surprised? Passione is very versatile studio, doing epic fantasy (Rokka no Yuusha, Ishura), horror (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Gou and Sotsu) and slice of life/romance yuri (Watashi no Yuri wa Oshigoto desu!). |
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