Thursday 13 August 2009

Spice and Wolf II - Episode 6

So, hands up if you've spent the last week impatiently waiting for this latest episode of Spice and Wolf II out of sheer desperation to see how this awkward love triangle between Lawrence, Horo and Amati pans out? Yep, I thought so... Me too.

Of course, the first half of the episode gives us plenty of tension as Lawrence tries to execute his plan to crash the pyrite market right under Amati's nose, but despite his best-laid plans things simply don't seem to be working out for the poor guy - The price of pyrite just keeps on rising, and in his panic Lawrence sells what pyrite he owns too soon to have any real effect, before finding out that Deanna has failed to come good on her attempt to assist him. With his plan in tatters and Horo seemingly still ignoring him, surely it's all over between Lawrence and his travelling companion?


Of course not, this is only episode six! At the very last, Lawrence remembers one important facet of life which is nothing to do with the price of goods - Trust. With his head clearing, he realises what's going on and, lo and behold, the mysterious pyrite buyer of the last episode comes forth to save the day. With Horo and Lawrence reunited and Amati's plans (and no doubt his heart) in tatters, all that is left is for our favourite duo to argue things out and set the record straight between them.

Indeed, it's these final scenes that return Spice and Wolf II to its sparkling best that I couldn't help but miss a little in recent weeks - This series always does its finest work when Lawrence and Horo are in the same room, and so it is once again here. The reunion between these two was a near-perfect construction of that typical post-row awkwardness that lies somewhere between love and anger, apology and fiery admonishment. The whole thing was just wonderful to watch, brining the pair closer together yet at the same time still not cementing their relationship completely to leave a perfect little finale to this story arc. Oh, and yes, I did punch the air involuntarily when things finally came good for Lawrence, which pretty much says it all about the successful characterisation employed by this franchise.

7 comments:

Haruka123 said...

Yup, them being together again brought me to tears of relief.

Markimark said...

I love Horo too! ^^

The moment the conclusion came up i was somewhat overwhelmed.
Its amazing how some animated charakters can have such an impact on my feelings - i guess that showas how much emotion, energy and care the creators have invested in this series.

Have i mentioned, that i love Horo too? Why arent there girls like her out there...and i am not (only) talking of the ears and the tail ^^

kadian1364 said...

I'm kind of awed at the festival going-ons during this arc. So the town constructs these parade float things out of straw, and they look like animals and stuff, cool. Then they smash them into each other while all drunk off their asses, and on the final evening they set fire to them so they become these towering infernos and then tear them down onto streets packed with spectators and lined with wall-to-wall wooden structures and other highly flammable materials.

Perhaps sensible economics is the least of their worries?

Hanners said...

Haha, my first thought about the burning effigies at the festival was "Man, these guys really need to start thinking about Health and Safety regulations"... :p

Putang said...

Ahhh this season is really turning out to be awesome, maybe even more so then the 1st season... at least the economic jumbo mumbo is starting to make more sense... and how they relate it to the romance parts of the story... I was grinning like a fool when they finally made up...

also thank god the next episode looks to be a light, cute 1... the past 4 episodes have really made me all nervous until the very end... now my only concern is how that beautiful mysterious blonde lady on the boat is going to play into this

Unknown said...

Whoo, good stuff... I was upset when my download was only 1/3rd successful stopping my ep at 7 minutes in... NOT COOL!!!!

I want to know what the guy said to piss off Horo that much to tear him up at stocks..

But once again, great episode, and i don't know how but with out Flash this series makes you sit on the edge of your seat..

Lukas said...

just as planned, by the way, the 7th episode is generally a light hear ted one, possible a stand alone plot if it is anything like last seasons 7th episode