Spice and Wolf: a very spicy anime
Spice and Wolf started out as a series of light novels (there are 17 in all) written by Isuna Hasekura and illustrated by Ju Ayakura from 2006-2011. In 2007 the books were adapted into a manga illustrated by Keito Koume and in 2008 it was finally turned into an anime that ran for 2 series (26 episodes long) and was directed by Takeo Takahashi. It is not your typical anime and all things considered, because economics and commerce heavily run through this series, you would think it would be one big yawn fest. But you would be mistaken because this anime is truly a gem.
AMV Creator - Frezio
Spice and Wolf centers around Kraft Lawrence: who is a traveling merchant in his 20's and Holo: who is a 600 year old wolf deity that takes on the appearance of a 15 year old girl with wolf ears and a tail. It is set in a fictional world that is reminiscent of Europe in the middle ages, at the time when the church is the dominating force stamping out the old pagan ways and religions.
After Holo
decided to travel from her homeland in Yoitsu (way up in the north) down to the
south, she made a promise with a young boy that she would become the goddess of
the harvest for the town of Pasloe. So that
the town would always have a good harvest and in return the towns people would
worship Holo. Centuries later the towns people have all but forgotten about Holo and she
feels that she has fulfilled her duty to Pasloe and it is time to
return home. The only problem is she has no idea how to get home. Luckily
for Holo, Lawrence passes through Pasloe and she stows away in his cart. After
Lawrence gets over his annoyance and shock he agrees to take Holo
back to her homeland, and so the story begins.
AMV Creator - snegov1k
I fell in love with the anime from the start and I can say that the majority of the people that have seen the anime and/or read the books and/or the manga love it as well. The story lines are good and the dynamic between Holo and Lawrence is great. You can tell that they have feelings for each other but they are both stubborn fools so can't admit their feelings. The first season of the anime covers books 1 & 2 and the second season covers 3 & 5. Spice and Wolf is such a great anime but the one major downfall is: I doubt there will be a third season which I desperately want; but what I have found with anime if they don't make another season with a year or two of the last one, then more often then not there wont be any more. I would also like to recommend reading the books and you can get the English versions (as well as the manga) through Yen press , the only annoying part is they have only translated up to 7(and are slowly working on the rest) so you will have a bit of a wait until you can read all 17.
On a different note: In my search for good AMV's I have come across some really good ones and therefor have put a link to them because they are some of the best I have seen (and believe me I have seen a lot). In fact I have stumbled onto a bunch of gems via BestAMVs0 and I may even post something on them, but until then please check these out.
photos via Photobucket info via Wikipedia
