Since we're nearing the end of the Winter 2013 season a bunch of series I've been following are about to get their final episodes, so I'll have like 4 reviews to do over the course of the next two weeks (Haganai Season 2, Tamako Market, Love Live and Maoyuu). In the mean time, though, I'll review a series I first watched like a year and a half ago but didn't review due to Circumstances.
Spice and Wolf is a thoughtful, dialogue-heavy series primarily about economics. While I wouldn't exactly call it action-packed, its fairly small cast (two main characters and only a handful of recurring supporters) receive a remarkable amount of depth due to the continued interactions and the length of time we spend with them (the series runs 2 13-episode seasons).
The series is technically fantasy, but stays very grounded in the simplicity of trading, emotions, and the slightly different perspective of a centuries-old wolf spirit.
It is, however rather slow-paced. This is not to say it is never exciting, but it is certainly not action-packed. The series relies on the audience developing an understanding of the characters, but if they do so the story payoff is actually quite good. It only gets a B and not higher because of the relative dryness of it, and because the lengthy dialogues will put anyone with a shorter attention span asleep.
If you like pensive, intelligently-written stories with a solid grounding in reality (despite being fantasy) and are interested in the idea of making the life of a merchant somewhat thrilling and interesting, Spice and Wolf provides a mature and clever look at the more interesting side of a trade economy. If any of this sounds boring, it probably will be (for you) and you should probably skip it.
No comments:
Post a Comment