Spice and Wolf - Episodes 1 & 2

It's safe to say that when it comes to watching anime, anything with two much of a historical bent tends to pass me by (with one or two exceptions obviously). But, gripped with new anime season fever, and having heard some excited commentary from elsewhere, I decided to check out the opening two episodes of Spice and Wolf without really knowing what to expect.

In essence, Spice and Wolf is the story of Craft Lawrence, a hard-working and savvy merchant who finds his normal routine disrupted by a rather unusual discovery in the back of his cart, in the form of a naked girl... With ears and a tail. This rather shocking discovery is only made all the more intriguing when said girl claims herself to be Horo, a wolf God (although surely that should be goddess?) who has been worshipped for many years by local townsfolk. However, with the town's prosperity no longer resting solely on the worship of a deity and the harvest she provides, times are changing for Horo, who seems keen for a way out of her current situation. The story from here on in writes itself for these opening episodes, with Horro tagging along with Lawrence's journey, thus beginning what is looking very much like a friendship/relationship-based show.

Having said that, judging by these opening episodes, Spice and Wolf could just as easily be a female (well, wolf-girl) nudity based anime, with Horo spending virtually the entire first episode without clothes, and wasting no time in shedding any garbs for a period of episode two. Of course, you could argue that this was all for the sake of continuity and furthering the storyline, but... Well, I get the strangest feeling that the opportunity to make gratuitous use of a naked, sexy wolf-girl was too much for the writers and animation team to pass by.

Apart from the major wardrobe malfunctions which seem to plague Horo, the opening episodes of this series have proved to be rather sedate, and not in a bad way, with the relationship between the two main characters progressing quite nicely, building up tension on one side of the proverbial coin but affection on the other. However, there will definitely be a need to move the show's storylines on much further than simply that to hold any real interest, which leaves this anime thus far capable of going either way, into the depths of dullness or something really quite special.

My first episode review of this 'Blog, and I'm already sitting on the fence... Great! Anyway, I await episode three with interest...