Spice and Wolf [Archive] - Gotwoot Forums

Buffalobiian

Wed, 01-09-2008, 07:26 AM

http://forums.gotwoot.net/gallery/files/1/1/8/4/4/SpiceandWolf-01-Large26.jpg

Craft Lawrence, a 25 year old peddler travelling from town to town selling and buying various things to make a living during a period much like Europe in the Middle Ages. One night when stopped at the town of Pasroe, he finds in his wagon a 250 year old pagan wolf deity girl named Holo. She appears to be that of a 15 year old girl, except for a wolf tail and ears. She introduces herself as the town's goddess of harvest who has kept it blessed with good harvests of wheat for many years. Despite having the responsibility to watch over the town, she wants to go back to her homeland in the north called Yoitsu, she believes the people have already forsaken her anyway and that she has kept her promise to maintain the good harvests. She manages to bargain her way out of the village by making a deal with Lawrence to take her with him. As they travel, her wisdom helps increase his profits, but at the same time, her true nature draws unwanted attention from the church. -ANN-

First episode (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=3776) by BSS

Kraco

Wed, 01-09-2008, 10:16 AM

Death13a

Wed, 01-09-2008, 11:20 AM

David75

Wed, 01-09-2008, 11:49 AM

+1

I really like manga. Setting is in Europe. Main character is mature person. The world feels alive. The art is very good but doesn't quiet compare to Moribito. This series sure will be one of the best to come this season.

I do hope Seirei no Moribito will be taken as an example for a lot of shows, quality wise.

Downloading now, will add comment later

animus

Wed, 01-09-2008, 12:52 PM

Seems like the anime'll catch up quick, since the manga scanlations are either slow or they run once a month.

Chloe's also an anime original character, so let's see how much'll change.

KrayZ33

Wed, 01-09-2008, 12:56 PM

woah what the hell the OP gave me the chills.... nice song especially when the wolves ran through that forrest with the big one (horro) in the background... reminded me of princess mononoke.

btw its funny both, lelouch and this merchant, are hiding one eye when they are overthinking somethimg... maybe he has a geass too xD?

Kraco

Wed, 01-09-2008, 01:06 PM

The ED was pretty unique and original, but I really wish the singer had known her English a little better.

Edit: It's a bit like some childrens' song.

animus

Wed, 01-09-2008, 01:14 PM

The anime played out a little differently in terms of dialogue, actions and timing etc. than the manga. I'd have to say I preferred the way the manga portrayed these scenes.

Board of Command

Wed, 01-09-2008, 02:16 PM

Here's the H264 version for those who detest good ol' Xvid.

Ep 1 (h264) - BSS (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=3777)

Lucifus

Wed, 01-09-2008, 03:07 PM

That was pretty amazing. Loving the pacing we've already got going in this one.
The main character sort of reminds me of Ginko from Mushishi, and its not just the gray/white hair.

Horo and Chloe for the win! Love their personalities. Sticking with this one.:cool:

David75

Wed, 01-09-2008, 04:41 PM

Well, the art is not that good.
Pace is strange for now.
I guess Lawrence didn't know Horro is a giant Wolf and not a regular one.

I liked the ED a lot, even (or maybe because) of the many mistakes...

Ryllharu

Wed, 01-09-2008, 06:31 PM

Chole's inclusion changes the entire feel of the series, so readers of the manga can enjoy the experience the same as anyone else. She also fits in so naturally, I'm impressed. I'm sure Lawrence knew what exactly she was proposing, and since they are at least temporarily separated, I wonder how things will turn out. Will she become a rival, or continue being the distant love interest?

So far, I have to say I prefer the anime's version of the events. One scene was broken into two with Chole in the middle, and did come out a little awkward, but I think it adds a spice to things.

The pace is pretty normal for anyone into slice of life series like ARIA and the like, but with a business aspect.

Love the cast and especially the music.

KrayZ33

Wed, 01-09-2008, 06:34 PM

Well, the art is not that good.

i totally disagree, its actually pretty good Oo the landscape and stuff (man i love this middle age style :P) look really great and so are the animation and movements of the characters

and ya i like the ED too (and the OP as i mentioned alrdy :P) finally some good music again

shinta|hikari

Thu, 01-10-2008, 12:12 AM

I also think the art is quite well done. Maybe david is saying that he simply does not like the style.

Buffalobiian

Thu, 01-10-2008, 12:53 AM

Come on... Surely you could have found a better screenshot than that. This looks like a very good anime, and you post a... block of concrete with some text on it?

But aside from Buffalobiian's immeasurably bad taste, this truly looked like a fine series. I liked it right away. No teens running around for a change, which in itself was very refreshing, along with such details that Lelouch... uh... Lawrence didn't fall on his back with blood pouring out of his nose when he saw Kallen... pardon me, Horo for the first time (naked). (It indeed looks like this time Kallen will get her Lelouch. Nice second chances.)

I'm looking forward to the next episode. This first one felt like it ended too soon.

Send me a link to a better screenshot and I'll edit it. It was all I could be bothered about at like 4pm local time.

Meanwhile, a release by a different group: ADTRW

ep 1 in 1024x576 (http://raspberryheaven.net/~adtrw/torrents/Spicy_Wolf_01_ADTRW.torrent)

edit: well, everything's been said. I'll be staying with this one. Did the BSS one have any encoding/translation issues? ADTRW were pretty good. Only thing I can complain about is that the final 5s of credit were back to front and upside-down, but other than that, it was all good.

David75

Thu, 01-10-2008, 02:13 AM

I also think the art is quite well done. Maybe david is saying that he simply does not like the style.

I'm very focused on faces, regarless of zooming. That part seems to show over simplifications that are handy for quick episode release. However it's less interresting to watch.
Maybe there are also too much differences beetween several artists drawing the same characters and quality isn't equal from scene to scene.

That's how I saw it.
Scenery and place of events are ok. My opinion is focused on people and faces.

KrayZ33

Thu, 01-10-2008, 05:48 AM

i havn't seen anything like that.. i m very focused on faces , too... thats why i can't watch something like H2O... i hate animes with ultra-oversized eyes like that and i think Wolf + Spice has very beautiful characters...

for example i like the eyes of Horo very much!... hmm i simply can't find anything wrong with the faces or even the movements of the characters.. however as you alrdy said

That's how I saw it.

btw what is best when it comes to quallity? (h264 and so on....)

Buffalobiian

Thu, 01-10-2008, 07:41 AM

h264 uses better compression, hence can yield better quality for the same file size compared to xvid. Most mkv releases are in H264 and avi releases Xvid. In regards to Spice and Wolf, the mkv I posted earlier by ADTRW probably of the best quality out of the three. (subs and all)

KrayZ33

Thu, 01-10-2008, 04:29 PM

and if its 720p vs h264 vs Xvid (in quality)

i think the ranking would be:

720p
h264
Xvid...

am i right?

Board of Command

Thu, 01-10-2008, 04:40 PM

720p is a resolution, not a codec. Pretty much all of the 720p anime releases are encoded in H264.

720p = 1280x720 progressive

tnynyn

Thu, 01-10-2008, 04:43 PM

h264 is normally 720p so they're both the same ;)

David75

Thu, 01-10-2008, 05:04 PM

h264 is normally 720p so they're both the same ;)

It's as BoC wrote it.

h264 is a way of encoding the video
720p is the resolution and refreshement type for the image (short for 1280x720 progressive)

h264 and 720p are unrelated.
It's just that h264 is more efficient for encoding, hence it's choosen for 720p encodes that require a lot more data than usual resolutions.
Xvid would give much bigger files for the same visual quality.
Xvid is fine for older machines. When it was first developped, it was a bit power hungry... not anymore.
h264 being more recent benefits from newer hardware speeds (although h264 isn't that recent and hardware got more power in the lapse of time)

Board of Command

Thu, 01-10-2008, 05:15 PM

H264 should be the standard format for all anime releases. The only reason why anyone would choose a 170 MB Xvid release over a 170 MB H264 one would be for DVD player compatibility. Since that only accounts for about 1% of people who download anime, H264 should be the norm. Xvid is old; technology needs to move on.

If you don't like H264 because you can't figure out how to play it, then you don't deserve to watch anime. This is just my opinion, btw.

Death13a

Thu, 01-10-2008, 05:31 PM

I don't have enough processing power to play H264s most of the time so i usually download .....HD.avi(even through they are big but they look good and i don't have any problem to play them) and subs(if no avi available i download mkv play it if it lags i download HD avi and Rip subs out of mkv with mkvextract.)

Board of Command

Thu, 01-10-2008, 05:35 PM

If your computer can't play standard definition H264, then it must be a complete POS and I feel sorry for you.

I'm only talking about SD stuff here. None of that 720p stuff. The standard should be 170 MB H264, not Xvid.

Buffalobiian

Thu, 01-10-2008, 05:43 PM

h264 is normally 720p so they're both the same ;)

ep 1 in 1024x576

Standard definition mkvs in h264 shouldn't be a problem on just about any computer anymore. The only issue is usually the HD releases. Does anyone roughly know the min cpu speed to play 720p in H264 using Media Player Classic(CCCP)? All our computers have H264 hardware decoding graphics cards, so it's a bit hard to measure sole cpu usage.

edit: BoC beat me.

edit2: sometimes though, I will prefer SD xvid to HD mkv when they're both the same file size. Not an encoder myself, but I'd expect the HD version to run at a lower bit rate, since it's the same size, despite the higher compression H264 offers. Qualitatively, I just find 170MB HD quality lacking, and I just prefer SD Xvid. 230MB/343MB are the bomb though, they look amazing.

KrayZ33

Thu, 01-10-2008, 06:25 PM

great i understand even less now xD

Qualitatively, I just find 170MB HD quality lacking, and I just prefer SD Xvid.

hmmm i've got a h264.avi and a normal .avi(230mb) from ookiku furikabute and they both seem to be the same except that h264 is alot smaller (170mb)

i ve also got a .mkv file,which is the smallest(119mb), yet it has by far the best quallity... the colours seem to be stronger while the .avi files seem a bit blurry..

230MB/343MB are the bomb though, they look amazing.

are you referring to a h264 or .mkv file with a size of 230/343mb here?

Board of Command

Thu, 01-10-2008, 06:44 PM

Does anyone roughly know the min cpu speed to play 720p in H264 using Media Player Classic(CCCP)? All our computers have H264 hardware decoding graphics cards, so it's a bit hard to measure sole cpu usage.
To take advantage of video card assisting/decoding, you have to use PureVideo (for Nvidia cards) or a DXVA-capable player (both Nvidia and ATI). I'm going to assume that none of your computers are actually taking advantage of your video card's H264 capabilities.

For CPU requirements, any consumer dual-core CPU would be enough. Not because it's dual-core, but because all dual-core CPUs are recent enough for 720p H264 decoding to be fast enough. A fast single-core CPU (e.g. my old Athlon 64 2.5 GHz) is also fast enough to decode, but you won't be able to use intensive filters on top of the video like noise reduction.

Ryllharu

Thu, 01-10-2008, 07:14 PM

It's just that h264 is more efficient for encoding, hence it's choosen for 720p encodes that require a lot more data than usual resolutions.
Xvid would give much bigger files for the same visual quality.
However, this is entirely dependent on the diligence of the encoder. I've been seeing more and more encodes from the newer groups that are still at 704x400 but are around 233 Mb.

That's lazy encoding. If skilled encoders can get a 170 Mb file crammed into an XVID avi and still get great visual quality, they can certainly do it for the h264s in .mkv containers. I've seen mpeg-4's that are even smaller.

EDIT:

Standard definition mkvs in h264 shouldn't be a problem on just about any computer anymore. The only issue is usually the HD releases. Does anyone roughly know the min cpu speed to play 720p in H264 using Media Player Classic(CCCP)? All our computers have H264 hardware decoding graphics cards, so it's a bit hard to measure sole cpu usage.
It's not dependent upon your processor solely, it's also largely due to the decoders you are running.

I switched from CCCP (and therefore the FFDShow) to CoreAVC to decode my h264, and I no longer have any issues with 720p encodes with my ancient 2.66 Ghz Pentium 4. CoreAVC is just that much more efficient.

Lucifus

Thu, 01-10-2008, 08:12 PM

I'd say we've all got enough information about that. Back to Horo and Chloe. >.>

Death13a

Thu, 01-10-2008, 08:44 PM

At last scene with Chloe; was she at barn or somewhere else? i kinda confused about it.

Ryllharu

Thu, 01-10-2008, 08:50 PM

Chole was let out of the barn she was staying in as part of the pagan festival honoring Horo.
They didn't explain it too clearly. Who ever picks the last stalks of grain from the field becomes "Horo" and has to get trapped in the barn for a week to ensure a good harvest, and Horo's return next growing season.

Who let her out, I can't say, he looked like a Church Priest rather than a member of the village.

Kraco

Fri, 01-11-2008, 03:00 AM

Yeah, it indeed looked that way. We may assume the surrounding areas finally got bored of watching the pagan rituals and proceeded to do something about it. Let's hope they won't do anything to Chloe or the other villagers... Like burning a couple of witches.

Mhalador

Fri, 01-11-2008, 05:59 AM

Kraco

Wed, 01-16-2008, 04:35 AM

Happiness can be found in a grain of wheat:

Episode 2 h264 - BSS (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=3906)
Episode 2 xvid - BSS (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=3907)

KrayZ33

Wed, 01-16-2008, 06:14 AM

geez this series is fun to watch. The only thing i hate about it is that Lawrence looks like he's in his 40's....(it simply doesn't fit when horo says "you lack experience because you are young!" since he looks like hes about to die in a few years with his gray hair and his sleepy eyes)

animus

Wed, 01-16-2008, 07:52 AM

Horo's also very old, even if he was in his 40's he'd still be young compared to her.

Kraco

Wed, 01-16-2008, 10:06 AM

Lawrence certainly looks a bit old especially if compared to general contemporary anime looks (style), but I don't personally think quite as old as KrayZ suggests. On the other hand, since we do know he isn't so old a geezer in reality, I'm just happy he isn't any hyperactive teenager hero.

Horo is a peculiar character because she doesn't really look that young but far from old as well. I guess it must be the sense of wildness they have so succesfully instilled in her character that gives me such a hard to define feeling when I try to judge her.

KrayZ33

Wed, 01-16-2008, 10:10 AM

yes i know but it would be pointless to tell a 40 years old guy that he lacks experience especially in the middle ages where people die when they reach 45 or 50....

it would be so much better if horo and lawrence wouldn't look so different in age.. (love story and stuff)..its not that big of a deal but its still somehow annoying.

i tell ya, its all because of this one little line underneath his eye which makes him look so old.. you usally draw this to show (uhm what is it called) wrinkles(?) for old people.
maybe the big difference in height plays a role too..

it feels like Horo transformed into a 15 years old girl to me... but i m not sure if this was intended.. yet, her wildness and care free attitude fit like a glove

animus

Wed, 01-16-2008, 10:35 AM

Man that nude scene after they get shelter was wayyyyyy more erotic in the manga. They made the scene in the anime into a comedic one with a happy tone.

Death13a

Wed, 01-16-2008, 10:51 AM

In manga chapter 1 it mentioned that Lawrence is 25. It was good episode. I like how Horo is so good with words.

KrayZ33 you must understand that during the time story takes place, 15 years old married to 20 years old couples would be usual sight.

KrayZ33

Wed, 01-16-2008, 11:56 AM

Man that nude scene after they get shelter was wayyyyyy more erotic in the manga. They made the scene in the anime into a comedic one with a happy tone.

might be true, but i don't think that erotism is needed so early in the series.. it is fine as it is for now... btw i like how her tail and ears show her emotions ^_^ and how she is petting her tail when she sits =) kind of cute.

Kraco

Wed, 01-16-2008, 12:26 PM

and how she is petting her tail when she sits =) kind of cute.

I know one thing: If I was sitting there next to her every day, watching her to pet that tail all day long, I wouldn't be able to resist it too long before I had to ask for a permission to pet it as well. It looks so soft and fluffy...

KrayZ33

Wed, 01-16-2008, 12:36 PM

so true...so true... i would use it as a pillow though
i can feel my head resting softly on that fur *haaaaaa....* i bet lawrence was playing with her tail with his feet when they were sleeping at the end of the second episode!

Ryllharu

Wed, 01-16-2008, 05:19 PM

Lots of tail-love in this episode, and looking forward to much more!

Horo is so cute when she's got her head covered and spouting poetry.

KrayZ33

Tue, 01-22-2008, 12:31 PM

http://a.scarywater.net/ayako/%5BAyako%5D_Wolf_and_Spice_-_01_%5BH264%5D%5B1280x720%5D_%5BA404778E%5D.mkv.to rrent
http://a.scarywater.net/ayako/%5BAyako%5D_Wolf_and_Spice_-_02_%5BH264%5D%5B1280x720%5D_%5B3FE45C01%5D.mkv.to rrent

hmmm 1280x720 releases from ayako... didn't know that they sub this too Oo

Kraco

Wed, 01-23-2008, 05:04 AM

Resting softly on the fur...

Episode 3 h264 - BSS (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4080)
Episode 3 xvid - BSS (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4081)

shinta|hikari

Wed, 01-23-2008, 09:09 AM

This show gets my vote for best series this season.

Whats with the kiss attempt at the preview? Cant wait for 4.

Kraco

Wed, 01-23-2008, 10:01 AM

I have to second that. This is the series whose episodes I wait the most every week. It just has some unexplained magic.

The kiss attempt certainly caught my attention as well, and the fact Horo stopped him. But to speak the truth, it would be too strange if Lawrence really could keep it all platonic.

According to Nipponsei, the release date for the OP and ED will be 5th of February. It has been a while since I last time looked forward to single releases.

KrayZ33

Wed, 01-23-2008, 10:46 AM

awwww.... horo was so happy when she spotted the apples <3 *wag wag*

Death13a

Wed, 01-23-2008, 11:13 AM

I liked the episode, lots of merchants' tricks and Horo left Lawrence in dust through Lawrence picked up the pace in the end.

Lucifus

Wed, 01-23-2008, 01:58 PM

Already knew I was gonna love this series from episode one. Its my favorite this season. ^^
Love for Horo, now to make a sig o her. Episode Preview seems promising.

Yukimura

Wed, 01-23-2008, 07:12 PM

Horo is so win, at a level right below C.C. after only 4 eps.

Anyone have ideas on what the merchant trick is? My guess is it's similar to selling stock short, but I'm not sure exactly how that would work for goods and currency.

Kraco

Thu, 01-24-2008, 03:23 AM

It's a good question. Lawrence explicitly stated he knows how to make profit by buying the weakening currency. The only way I immediately could think of would be to exploit any panic that could be caused among the people when they suddenly learn the value of that particular currency is going to crash. Such a drop would be increased by the fact, like Lawrence mentioned, the value of a (credible and stable) coin can be higher than the actual amount of silver in it. So, in addition to the decrease caused by the lower silver content, that "air" is going to disappear further crumbling it.

So, when people desperately suddenly want to get rid of the currency, he could buy it for less than it's actually going to end up in reality. Furthermore, if it is a very popular currency, other major ones could increase in value when their demand grows. So, if he now "buys" the other major ones, and sells them for more than they are really worth, he could end up with a sizable sum of the weakened one, then just wait for a time until it stabilizes at a reasonable level and then invest it.

However, I'm no currency expert so I don't know if it actually could work like this and strongly enough to realistically make any profits. Somebody wiser could make an educated guess instead of layman speculations.

High Wind

Thu, 01-24-2008, 03:57 AM

Just picked this show up. Its very charming and I'll probably stick with it all the way through.
All this currency talk aside, can anyone else not watch the first 10 seconds out the OP without thinking of Mozilla Firefox?

David75

Thu, 01-24-2008, 05:17 AM

For the currency trick it seems that:
The youngster was paid by someone else to tell that story. So he basically has his money whatever happens. That's why "only" ten coins that Lawrence could get back is no problem.
He probably isn't aware/hasn't been told where the real trick.

The thing is that I don't understand why Horo didn't warn him that the deal wasn't balanced enough for the youngster.
I mean:
He gets only ten coins as a safety.
If the thing doesn't work, he has to give the coins back.
He only gets money if the thing works.
I can think of no good deal working where the provider gets benefits only if the client has gains... In fact Lawrence himself should have known.

We'll see what's the trick behind later.

Kraco

Thu, 01-24-2008, 05:26 AM

That cover deal wasn't so bad. The basic setting was that the silver content increases, thus they would make profit. It sounded like a viable deal because it wasn't one where only the youngster would have profited no matter what. And since it wasn't any real deal, only a cover, it doesn't really matter how flimsy it was, as long as it looked real enough to not make people second guess the reality behind it. Who knows how many people the youngster had contacted.

Everon

Fri, 01-25-2008, 05:42 PM

I'm assuming the person who makes money is the company that exchanges the old coins (high content) for new coins (lower content). If they can create a spike in exchanges during this time they can come out with a health profit.

Ryllharu

Fri, 01-25-2008, 05:54 PM

I think it's even more important than that.

My Theory:
If the young guy is part of the company I think he is, he's with the foreign traders. Now, the foreign traders are giving coins for material goods. But, the coins they are giving away are about to become devalued. Only no one knows it yet. If they were sure they were giving away recently issued coins (the ones with less silver), they'd know they were earning far more in goods than they just traded for currency that was suddenly about to devalue.

Before the announcement is made, trader thinks he just made off with a killing of coins (like Horo did) but the company didn't really mind because they just got something far more valuable in a material form.

Since we learned in the second episode that Lawrence prefers his business dealings where he doesn't have to use currency, I believe this is what he has figured out.

(And no, I haven't read the manga beyond chapter 4, so I have no idea what really will happen.)

shinta|hikari

Fri, 01-25-2008, 11:10 PM

But the coins havent devalued yet, which means that any transaction done at that point is not really a loss for the trader, at least as long as he does not keep the coins for long. He can simply just buy goods right after, and technically have no loss since the value has not fallen by any noticeable margin.

The idea is quite plausible, just not a surefire one that would make Lawrence jump out of his seat and leave a cute wolf girl behind.

Buffalobiian

Thu, 01-31-2008, 01:56 AM

BSS episode 4:

Xvid (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4249)
H264 (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4248)

David Craft

Thu, 01-31-2008, 02:00 AM

Just watched ep 4... wow... Things are getting interesting... *is definitely hooked* I also love Horo's character. Just everything about her ^_^.

anyways I predicted a certain person's involvement about 5 min into the ep... the ending pretty much confirmed it.

Guess Ill see if I'm right next week.

~David

Kraco

Thu, 01-31-2008, 09:32 AM

Horo is just too awesome a character. Hugging her own tail when sleeping...

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/4273/huggingherowntailxo2.jpg

The whole idea, or what's revealed of it so far, behind the currency value change seems to be pretty much as I expected. Of course it still remains to be seen whether it's really true or not and to what extent. I find it a bit hard to believe Lawrence is going to make amazing amounts of money out of it - usually heroes are poor, after all. But time will tell.

I also didn't expect them to run into trouble this soon, and especially getting caught this soon. Though it could be they will need to play cat and mouse more often than once during the series, that many times they have discussed about the importance of keeping Horo's identity secret.

David75

Thu, 01-31-2008, 10:30 AM

The whole idea, or what's revealed of it so far, behind the currency value change seems to be pretty much as I expected. Of course it still remains to be seen whether it's really true or not and to what extent. I find it a bit hard to believe Lawrence is going to make amazing amounts of money out of it - usually heroes are poor, after all. But time will tell.

I haven't watched it yet.
I guess Lawrence won't gain anything, or he may even loose everything.
And I guess Horo is waiting for him to live those hardships. Not that she'll enjoy it.
It's just that she is 5 times older than he is and has seen so many things, knows so much about people, that she wants to know how exceptionnal Lawrence is.
Why Exceptionnal? Well nobody knows how she looks like, because she doesn't reveal herself to anyone, and when she does there's a trick.
So I guess that Lawrence had something explaining why she travels with him and he knows who she is.
So he may well be spoiled to the point he'll end up having no money. And Horo doesn't care about money... she'll just have to see how Lawrence recovers from that, that very young Lawrence that isn't yet to her level of wisdom and knowledge.
Then he'll end up being the poor Hero, but having horo by his side.
My guesses.

Kraco

Thu, 01-31-2008, 12:35 PM

I sometimes wonder how wise Horo is. Not literally; I'm sure she is wise enough, but how exceptionally sagacious like she keeps telling. The scenes in this episode and also before paint quite a humane picture of her, afraid to be left behind, needing company and somebody to talk to about anything. Not like some ages old guru who has achieved enlightement. I'm starting to think it's just a part of her personality to try to appear so old and wise, telling she has seen many human life spans already. Maybe she did it partly to give Lawrence more reason to keep her with him on his travels, that is, to suggest he might benefit from her vast knowledge (that she might or might not have in reality).

shinta|hikari

Thu, 01-31-2008, 01:45 PM

I doubt its anything that complex, or intentional on Horos part. She HAS lived for a long time, and that would sufficiently explain how she acts when she flaunts her knowledge. How she acted in that episode simply emphasized the point that she made when she was about to make herself bait.

Either way, Horo doesnt really act sage-like. Its because she might be old for human years, but not so far into her own lifespan. A beings perception of things and the world greatly change in relation to what point they are in their life, not just the amount of knowledge that they have.

animus

Thu, 01-31-2008, 05:19 PM

I'm 90% sure that might be Chloe at the end.

KrayZ33

Thu, 01-31-2008, 05:33 PM

yup i think that is the case.

Buffalobiian

Thu, 01-31-2008, 06:22 PM

I'm 90% sure that might be Chloe at the end.

+1. I'm just thinking, how would she know though. I guess introducing yourself to everyone as Horo isn't the best idea.

Kraco

Thu, 01-31-2008, 06:48 PM

Wasn't Chloe apprehended at the end of... the first episode? She might not have needed to tie all the loose ends by herself. Although it'd still be pretty peculiar unless Lawrence and Horo have been travelling in circles. If their route has been linear at all, I wouldn't have thought they would have yet gathered enough attention unless somebody specifically knew about her and was looking for her even before she joined Lawrence.

Ryllharu

Thu, 01-31-2008, 07:16 PM

I'm 90% sure that might be Chloe at the end.Motion passed.

It would explain why she is being helped into the carriage by a priest in the OP. I had previously thought she was being put into it for her deep role in the first episode's pagan festival. That would make her a heretic after all. The question is how she became an agent of the church now.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say she has become a convert. She appeared to not honor the tradition by sneaking out of the barn in an attempt to seduce Lawrence into marriage with her, but she still gladly participated in it.

We clearly see a priest "rescue" her from the barn at the end of the first episode, where she was hoping it would be Lawrence. Horo and Lawrence are not exactly traveling by the fastest means, and we have not seen Chloe in some time. Plenty of time to..."absolve her of her sins." In the grandest of Inquisition styles.

...Or perhaps I've been reading too much Berserk.

Buffalobiian

Thu, 01-31-2008, 07:32 PM

One thing bugs me. I thought Horo was planning to hide her ears and tail for a day. Wonder what happened.

Ryllharu

Thu, 01-31-2008, 07:39 PM

I forgot to add, I have never wanted an OST so badly since ARIA, possibly ever.

It all meshes perfectly and sets the mood and tone of each scene perfectly.
The haunting OP, all the stuff in between.

Just not so much the ED. I'm not sold on that yet.

Lucifus

Thu, 01-31-2008, 09:04 PM

Horo, o my dear Horo. Up on C2's level in only four episodes.

Seconded there Ryllharu; I need this OST.

"One thing bugs me. I thought Horo was planning to hide her ears and tail for a day. Wonder what happened."

Yeah, seriously?

Everon

Thu, 01-31-2008, 09:21 PM

One thing bugs me. I thought Horo was planning to hide her ears and tail for a day. Wonder what happened.

In order to do a transformation of any kind, Horo has receive a sacrifice (eat the wheat grains). Perhaps before she had the chance, her form was discovered.

It makes me wonder though...who in the church managed to see her real form? Except for that tail wagging during the apple scene, she seemed to have kept a low profile. It seems like there's more to whats happening here.

animus

Thu, 01-31-2008, 09:29 PM

It's Chloe that love-scorned wench!

David Craft

Thu, 01-31-2008, 11:07 PM

I'm 90% sure that might be Chloe at the end.

Yah thats what I was getting at in my post lol....

anyways I predicted a certain person's involvement about 5 min into the ep... the ending pretty much confirmed it.

Guess Ill see if I'm right next week.

~David

TheBladeChild

Fri, 02-01-2008, 12:28 AM

Horo, o my dear Horo. Up on C2's level in only four episodes.

You speak blastphemy.

shinta|hikari

Fri, 02-01-2008, 12:51 AM

Seconded. Damn convert.

She's a close second though.

David75

Fri, 02-01-2008, 02:04 AM

I don't know how Chloe has been involved.
However, regarding Horo being discovered, I guess it was when she showed a part of her true form to Lawrence. They were not alone at the time maybe.
And I guess that when she shows her true form, or at the time when she transforms, she the "magic" that dissimulates her does not work.

The thing is that Chloe was in the barn at the time if I'm correct, so it would have been someone else.

Or maybe Chloe eavesdropped at some point of the story, when they were still in that village.

TheBladeChild

Fri, 02-01-2008, 03:25 AM

Seconded. Damn convert.

She's a close second though.

I dont know about second, to early to tell for me. Right now Horo is contesting Haruhi for my number 2 fav spot.

Yukimura

Fri, 02-01-2008, 11:53 AM

I can see where Lucifus is coming from, Horo so far has been more appealing than any female character I've come across since C.C. I still put C.C. at the top but the difference between her and Horo on my scale is much smaller than the difference between Horo and the next person down. I mean..."Tail Feel So Good" who else can compete with that?

Anyway, while everyone thinks it's Chloe I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's the blond from the OP. I have absolutely no reason to think this other than she hasn't been seen yet and we're a third of the way through the show. However if it is her then we'll need an explanation of why Horo recognized her. Also from the way she looks in the OP the blond seems to be a regular working woman, and would more likely be involved in some sort of escape and hiding operation Lawrence might concoct then be part of a company/church sanctioned kidnapping operation. In fact it seems much more likely that Chloe is the person in the hood and the blond will be involved in the rescue...but I'm stubborn so I'll stick to my original random idea that doesn't make sense.

KrayZ33

Fri, 02-01-2008, 11:56 AM

or maybe its the boy she made a contract with? i don't know when she did it (maybe it was century ago) but if it was just some decades then probably its her old companion? i mean who else could know that she is a wolf?

(i mean the boy she was talking about in this episode)

TheBladeChild

Fri, 02-01-2008, 02:31 PM

Kraco

Tue, 02-05-2008, 07:23 AM

I have a feeling the ED karaoke's going to look slightly different in the next episode release...

OP - Nipponsei (http://tracker.minglong.org/torrents/%5BNipponsei%5D%20Spice%20and%20Wolf%20OP%20Single %20-%20Tabi%20no%20Tochuu%20%5BKiyoura%20Natsumi%5D.zi p.torrent)
ED - Nipponsei (http://tracker.minglong.org/torrents/%5BNipponsei%5D%20Spice%20and%20Wolf%20ED%20Single %20-%20Ringo%20Hiyori%20~The%20Wolf%20Whistling%20Song %20%5BROCKY%20CHACK%5D.zip.torrent)

Kraco

Thu, 02-07-2008, 05:17 AM

The person in the hood:

Episode 5 h264 - BSS (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4365)
Episode 5 xvid - BSS (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4366)

David75

Thu, 02-07-2008, 07:55 AM

The person in the hood:

Episode 5 h264 - BSS (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4365)
Episode 5 xvid - BSS (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4366)

I really need an uber quiet pc on 24/7 I can control from a web interface... so that I can start my prefered downloads as I wish.
I'm so sad thinking I'll have to wait 10 minutes to watch this when I get home...

Thanks mate

animus

Thu, 02-07-2008, 09:06 AM

Really liked the part when Horo's blushing and her ears are down during 15:13.

Kraco

Thu, 02-07-2008, 09:45 AM

It's sometimes kind of hard to follow Horo's moods and what's going on inside her head. But I suppose that's one factor of her cuteness, like she says herself.

shinta|hikari

Thu, 02-07-2008, 12:52 PM

While I loved the episode as usual, I would have preferred one scene to have played out differently, particularly because of this:

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb258/shinta_hikari/ssw4.jpg

The japanese text there translates as:
"Im glad you are safe."
"Well, as long as you keep my "mugi" (wheat, whatever, forgot how they translated it) I won't die."

Yep, its the scene in the carriage. I cant believe I missed out on this scene. Why did they have to change it?

David75

Thu, 02-07-2008, 12:55 PM

Now that I'm home, I think I'll wait for the HD ayako sub. I even erased previous BSS ones to replace them with ayako HD ones...
I only started Code Geass, so I can wait a little more for that W&S ep.

DDBen

Thu, 02-07-2008, 04:35 PM

the BSS tracker is down so instead here are the Direct download links for episode 5.

H264
http://www.no-sry.org/%5BBSS%5D_Spice_and_Wolf_-_05_%5B704x400_h264%5D%5BCCEAF819%5D.mkv
XVID
http://www.no-sry.org/%5BBSS%5D_Spice_and_Wolf_-_05_%5B704x400_XviD%5D%5BC9A81199%5D.avi

Buffalobiian

Thu, 02-07-2008, 07:36 PM

Well, this episode just made my day. It's funny watching Horo playing with Lawrence's feelings. Secretly she likes him more or less, but she plays it down all the time, which makes this all the more interesting. I always thought the guy from the OP with glasses was going to be a bad guy. Maybe he is, but he's on their side for now. And the church's efficiency at doing such a search so soon after the escape...think twice before you insult the Pope next time. In Horo's words, something might just fall off.....

Preview of next ep looks like Horo's trying to ditch Lawrence to keep him safe. Now, to start the one week countdown...

Kraco

Thu, 02-14-2008, 04:35 AM

The tailful day is here:

Episode 6 h264 - BSS (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4518)
Episode 6 xvid - BSS (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4519)

- - - - - - - - - - -

Edit: A jolly good episode. The somewhat vague silver coin trade was still there in the background, as well as other shady business, but the real thriller naturally was whether Horo really would leave Lawrence behind or not.

The only thing that bothered me was that after all that happened Lawrence is still afraid of Horo in her wolf form. Maybe it's realistic, considering these are people of the past and as such should be narrow-minded, but nevertheless he has spent so much time with her and even seen that form before. You would think he would trust her a bit more and overcome any initial shock he might have.

Well, anyway, apples always win in the end.

Death13a

Thu, 02-14-2008, 02:02 PM

That was awesome episode.

Lawrence was understandably afraid as he seen only her hand/paw fully transformed before, he had blood lose, she transformed top of him and he is not very fond of most wolfs as seen in his flashback in past episode. I liked how Horo scattered those guys around sewer. And Lawrence doesn't lose his touch as he exchanges his share of profit to pepper(spice) to make more profit.

Buffalobiian

Thu, 02-14-2008, 07:14 PM

David75

Fri, 02-15-2008, 01:56 AM

And I thought Spice and Wolf couldn't get better...that Silent Farewell in the title sure made me sit on the edge of my seat this episode. They pulled of the happy ending type thing without feeling cheezy at all. I guess Lawrence being afraid of Horo's wolf form is realistic, but I can't help feeling how hurt Horo would be. She knew he'd freak out, that's why she told him not to look, but deep down, she's always wanted someone to accept her in that form. I'm guessing that's never happened before, hence her saying before: "No human male is fit to be my partner."

Can't wait till next episode. Horo looks a bit drunk. :D

Wolf is not really a predator to human beings, however there can be some hunts where some humans are preys. Horo mentionned it, Lawrence caught the thing.
It also seems that Lawrence was once the prey, and probably felt every feelings of fear and anything related when he was hunted by a group of wolves.
We also are in middle-age like times, wolves really are a though ennemy towards unprepared human beings.
I guess all of these reasons explain why he is so afraid, he may even have a real phobia rooted in thos past experiences...

No prey would be at ease next to a natural predator...

KrayZ33

Fri, 02-15-2008, 07:46 AM

this episode was awesome!

and lawrence wasn't "that" scared... its just natural if you see a monster, which is like 8-9 times larger than you, to feel fear...

when he recognized that horo is "horo" he started to feel more confident and knew that that big wolf won't hurt him... i believe that he thought at first that when horo gets into her wolf-form, she is unable to identify friend or foe

SamuraiOdin

Fri, 02-22-2008, 10:02 PM

Episode 8 By BSS:
XVID: http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4670
h264: http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4669

Question: But wait... what happened to episode 7?
Answer: Episode 7 has been announced as a DVD only episode, so TV channels are listing the newest episode as episode 8.

Board of Command

Fri, 02-22-2008, 10:33 PM

That's kinda odd. Oh well. As long as it doesn't disrupt the continuity of the story.

Kraco

Sat, 02-23-2008, 04:42 AM

Horo became certainly jealous when the magician was revealed to be a beauty (I think that's why she said the magician is the kind of person she hates). Those two have a peculiar kind of a relationship in any case. Horo can make Lawrence do whatever she wants by pushing a little. That makes me think Lawrence wouldn't mind if things went a little further between them, but at the same time I suppose at some level he tries to keep a certain distance because they are a wolf and a human in the end. Or at least he isn't actually pushing forward like he probably would if she was a normal girl.

But Horo sure likes delicacies...

Ryllharu

Sat, 02-23-2008, 06:35 AM

Despite the apparent censorship of eps 7, I had no problem continuing on from here. The series has been largely episodic, so it doesn't matter too much.

More of Horo's observational awesomeness, her messing with Lawrence whilst pretending to be drunk, and in addition, a peaceful, ARIA-esque air about this episode.

One would think that Lawrence would be more observant and wary of being manipulated if he has been burned so often when he was starting out. He certainly avoided the first trap by claiming he trusted in God in terms of using a scale, but missed that the entire table was slanted. A very clever ruse for the company man, I must say. Located on a hill, it would be hard to guess that something was off just a little bit. He could have had the entire building slanted just a bit. Yet, as Horo implied, Lawrence doesn't seem to be learning too many lessons from it. Together, they make quite the team. She catches nearly everything he misses, and then with extreme shrewdness, he ensures they get a better deal than they would have if everything was on the straight and narrow.

I also wonder if this series will do the same to Ami Koshimizu what Code Geass has done for Yukana, at least in the eyes of fans. Horo is dramatically unlike the character she usually plays. She's usually the cutesy moron (Tenma, School Rumble) or the brash angry girl. Horo is the infinitely wiser, oozing smexiness character just like C.C.

Everon

Sat, 02-23-2008, 08:21 AM

Koshimizu is definately showing off her talents as a playful trickster.

And what a manipulative trickster Horo can be. Oil for tails! I'm thinking she'll tell him that she repaid him with wisdom. Either that or Lawrence will surmise as much.

shinta|hikari

Sat, 02-23-2008, 09:29 AM

Was Lawrence referring to Holo when he said he trusted in god?

KrayZ33

Sat, 02-23-2008, 01:20 PM

wow, horo was extremely cute in this episode..she licked her tail didn't she? oh my gawd

btw, what happened to episode 7? even though it didn't feel like i have missed something at all but i still want to see episode 7 (i want to see horo as much as i can ^^).

Ryllharu

Sat, 02-23-2008, 02:32 PM

This series is 13 episodes, but was only slotted for 12 like Code Geass was for only 23 and a few clips shows.

So 7 is a dvd-only episode.

Either that, or it is a dvd-only episode because the broadcaster cut it for some censorship reason.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 02-23-2008, 06:22 PM

Was Lawrence referring to Holo when he said he trusted in god?

He said it to the buyer to bypass the rigged scales, and looked at Horo with a "I'm pleased with myself" look. It's likely she doesn't fully understand why believing in God will get you a better trade right now, since she didn't know just how influential the church is. I enjoyed this episode, Horo starts by telling him he's easily seduced by women. Halfway through, she persuades him to by oil with a drunk/tail way look, then finally gets jealous at Lawrence's "wow" when the shepherd took off her hood. When she says I hate this kind of human, I wonder if she actually meant shepherds.

KrayZ33

Sat, 02-23-2008, 06:40 PM

When she says I hate this kind of human, I wonder if she actually meant shepherds.

thats what i think too... however i can't believe her when she says she hates them...

arn't sheeps good and easy food for wolves, so whereever is a shepherd there are sheeps? or is it because shepherds have a good way to defend the sheeps from wolves? (i know that this is their job but i can't believe that a single shepherd is threat to a pack of wolves)

this is the only reasonable suggestion because she can't possibly "heard" or "smelled" that the shepherd looks sexy ^^

Buffalobiian

Sat, 02-23-2008, 07:29 PM

Horo's not alone. Earlier in the episode, there were like a dozen wolves snarling at the shepherd as she walk. Perhaps in their eyes, shepherd have some kind of hatred for wolves, or just kill them indiscriminately, since they recognise all of them as a threat, whether they intend to feed on their stock or not. Something tells me wolves can't attack them though, maybe it's to do with that bell.

shinta|hikari

Sat, 02-23-2008, 07:49 PM

@Buff - Is that really just it? I thought that Lawrence was hinting that even if there was a trick with the scales, Holo (a wolf god) would be able to spot it easily, like how she has done for most of the tricks so far.

EDIT: the reason I think so is because he repeated the same "because I believe in god" line after the trick was revealed by Holo.

Everon

Sun, 02-24-2008, 12:39 AM

Yes, the sentence has a double meaning, but the first time he didn't suspect any tricks beyond the scale.

Yukimura

Thu, 02-28-2008, 11:43 PM

Spice and Wolf - 09 (XviD) - [BSS] (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4774)
Spice and Wolf - 09 (h264) - [BSS] (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4773)

Board of Command

Fri, 02-29-2008, 12:09 AM

It looks like there's more to the shepherd girl than what meets the eye.

The next episode is titled "Spiraling Conspiracy," so we've probably entered the final stretch of the series and the final episodes will be a continuous story involving the shepherd girl and the church.

Buffalobiian

Fri, 02-29-2008, 07:09 PM

That look that they all gave Lawrence. It wasn't one directed to a merchant selling armour or not. They were told about Lawrence, and to let him pass, or at least recognised him. I get the feeling the church is luring him in. Girl shepherd. I don't know what to think. How much truth was there in Horo's words? "Did you notice she didn't like talking to you?" Was that simply a tease, or did she notice that the girl was just talking to Lawrence to either pump info/get on his side/was ordered to? The townsfolk obviously are afraid of her, possibly 'cause of the rumours, but the priest at the church was like "oh....it's you." kinda look. The last guy before the end reeked of sly evilness.

Ryllharu

Fri, 02-29-2008, 09:37 PM

I don't think the Church likes Nora either. The priest gave her a clear look of contempt. She may work for the church, but it seems more like they only tolerate her, not welcome her. Maybe she does have frightening powers. A figurative "wolf in shepard's clothing."

As for Horo's line about Nora not liking talking to Lawrence, I wonder if it is less about her pumping him for information (she likely has no idea that the Church is after Horo, much less that Lawrence is with her), and more about not used to talking to people. Everyone in town ignores her. Perhaps she thinks people only say cruel things to her, or only use her.

She's highly suspicious, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt for now. Unless she actively kills them to keep them at bay, she's communicating with the wolves to drive them off. She can't be all that bad then, can she?

David75

Sat, 03-01-2008, 02:03 AM

I wonder what Nora is...
Horo does not like her, but she's like that to any stranger. Yet she didn't insist on anything particular about her, she didn't see any danger.

But we know Nora was the one attacking another merchant the ep before that last one.

Could she be a being on the same level Horo is, explaining why she can't feel that she's dangerous while Nora is in her Human form?

Also at first I was a bit disapointed Nora and Horo didn't have some kind of fight... but I guess that the more they are near each other, the better that fight will be.

KrayZ33

Sat, 03-01-2008, 01:27 PM

btw did anyone noticed Horos reaction when nora was ringing hell bell?

she leaned forward to Lawerence but in my eyes it looked like she was leaning forward "the sound" the dog took it as a command to get to nora's side..and i think Horo felt the same, but since she is not a "normal" wolf or dog she was able to resist it.

it happens around 7:42

and what does that dog has on its ear? is it something nora gave him to show that he has a owner?
the story of the dog is strange... its seems to be a special dog. somehow, for example, why the hell did it have a staff in its mouth?

Ryllharu

Sat, 03-01-2008, 02:07 PM

I believe the implication was that it's previous owner had died or more specifically, been violently killed by either wolves or bandits, and the highly mysterious Nora stumbled upon him.

The question is whether she is fearsome (as a wolf slayer or a witch), or if she is simply generally disliked for no particular reason.

I even mulled over the possibility that she was similar to Horo (though perhaps not specifically a wolf). Horo does have a pack or a family up North.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 03-01-2008, 07:24 PM

the story of the dog is strange... its seems to be a special dog. somehow, for example, why the hell did it have a staff in its mouth?

And is that staff the one Nora is holding right now?

edit: Just checked. It's the same staff. They mentioned earlier in the series. Some people in the bar were calling her a pagan shepherd. Whether that's to do with her supposed powers I'm not sure.

David75

Wed, 03-05-2008, 08:39 AM

If some of you are interrested in Ayako's release for Ep9:

HD mkv
http://www.mininova.org/get/1218618

SD xvid
http://www.mininova.org/get/1218621

Yukimura

Wed, 03-05-2008, 04:28 PM

If you're going to be like that...
Spice and Wolf - 09 (1289x720 H264) - [sudo] (http://sudo.ep-get.info/%5Bsudo%5D%20Spice%20and%20Wolf%2009%20%5B1908EDF0 %5D.mkv.torrent)

Buffalobiian

Thu, 03-06-2008, 10:33 PM

When trade doesn't go his way.

[BSS] Spice and Wolf - 10 (http://tracker.anirena.com/download.php?id=4910)
[Ayako]Spice and Wolf - 10v2 (http://a.scarywater.net/ayako/%5BAyako%5D_Wolf_and_Spice_-_10v2_%5BXVID%5D%5B704x400%5D_%5B42DFFCDF%5D.avi.t orrent)
[Ayako] Wolf and Spice - 10v2 HD (http://a.scarywater.net/ayako/%5BAyako%5D_Wolf_and_Spice_-_10v2_%5BH264%5D%5B1280x720%5D_%5BA76268B9%5D.mkv. torrent)

Everon

Thu, 03-06-2008, 10:49 PM

hmm, only way I see him getting out of this is either using that sheperdress (for what, I have no idea), or somehow driving the demand for armor up. Maybe they'll bring up the news of the bandits.

Kraco

Fri, 03-07-2008, 04:42 AM

The financial side of this series is sometimes hard to follow. I had no idea before this ep that he didn't actually buy the armor, or at least fully. So, in practice he borrowed money to get that amount of armor and now with the price crash the amount he needed to borrow is more than the value of the armor. It had to be quite a crash indeed considering they get the ware for half the normal price in the first place. I guess he didn't have that much spice either, after all. Though it's hard for me to see how the price of armor could drop so much. Back in those times steel itself was very valuable indeed.

Well, other than that I didn't like how Lawrence was led to say that thing to Horo. It was just too cheap (script writing) and not fitting for this series in my opinion. I feel a bit let down by that, even if it was considered necessary for the plot. Sure things are looking grim for him but I didn't expect him to be one that would instantly blame somebody else for his troubles. He didn't seem like that kind of a guy.

Ryllharu

Fri, 03-07-2008, 05:09 AM

Ayako's release slapped on some notes from the light novel about why the price in armor dropped so much, and exactly how Lawrence got screwed. Really helped out, and now it makes perfect sense why he wanted the armor in the first place, and why all those merchants were giving him dirty looks.

Because I had no clue either.

For those who watched BSS's, or didn't wait for the notes, the really short version is that the city usually uses a ton of the armor every spring for some annual ceremonial crusade, but it was canceled this year, and the market got flooded with supplies.

Kraco

Fri, 03-07-2008, 06:46 AM

David75

Fri, 03-07-2008, 06:54 AM

Well, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. An armor was a bloody pricy piece of equipment back when the industrial revolution hadn't happened yet (and of course at that point nobody used them anyway because guns had already made them obsolete). You didn't buy a new suit every year unless you were a king or an emperor or otherwise equally rich and a total armor otaku. They were passed from father to son, or issued by the armed forces of whatever noble was in power to select personnel. So, a long period of peace would drop the prices. However, such a thing would hardly confuse any merchant, so let's say a surprise peace treaty ending a long lasting war or an end of a (real) crusade. Cancellation of a ceremony? Are we talking about ostrich feather hats here or something?

Ideas:
Buble on the armor market.
Everybody thought it was the hot item. Too much manufactured, market overflooded.
At some point the price drops a lot, because you have not enough buyers to have it live on, or buyers are waiting for the prices to drop.
Compare it to housing bubble (although in that case it's more a mortgage/credit bubble)

Or you have a company that played evil by producing a lot of amor, stocking them without selling to anyone.
You then have a lack of the product on the market. Prices rise because customers are desperately seeking for those items. All merchants get the feeling the armor is a very hot topic.
At some point, the company (who first or second armor supplier at least) releases armors massively at a greater price thanks to their idea.
For it to work you need merchants that have little communications between them, or the guild they are in got corrupted by the company planing this.

In the end you have lots of merchants, with too much armors at a price too high for amors.
Customers are overflooded with armor choice. In such a case prices drop, always...

KrayZ33

Fri, 03-07-2008, 07:24 AM

i don't understand this stuff at all but it still kicks ass! horo is the best ^.^

why did horo start calling lawrence "master" btw?

and why didn't they lent him money? because horo wears all these nice clothes and so on?

Kraco

Fri, 03-07-2008, 09:01 AM

Yeah, I guess it has to be something like that, David75. A cancellation of a single ceremony can't be the whole answer.

The episode name included the word conspiracy, so I don't think we yet learned the whole picture in this episode. Normally a merchant would lend money to another if it generates interest with a reasonable risk (all aspect considered, legality, trust, etc) and he has some extra capital to lend. Something tells me this point has been invalidated by something, and it's not simply that they would disapprove of Lawrence travelling alone with a woman yet not being married to her. The first guess would be the church but I don't know why they would resort to such indirect means when they could just snatch Horo from the streets and nobody would complain. So, the church should have no need to make Lawrence hand over Horo. Yet I don't really see any profit for anybody to get Lawrence simply out of the market, financially thinking. He's not a specialized merchant, after all.

Yukimura

Fri, 03-07-2008, 11:11 AM

Yeah that one merchants response didn't really make sense, but I suspect we're missing something of the story about either the culture of their world or the situation. The church is the looming entity that's always haunting Lawrence and Horo's steps but it hasn't really done anything or revealed it's intentions beyond the suppression of other religions or practices.

The thing that I really don't get from a business perspective is why they'd rather sell Lawrence into slavery, which doesn't sound like it would net them all that much of a return on the loan, as opposed to forcing him to pay back the debt with interest over time by turning over any profits he makes from future business deals to them. If they sell him off it doesn't seem likely that they'd get anywhere near the full return on the loan. It's like a bank foreclosing on a house instead of negotiating a temporary reduction in monthly payments to give the borrowers time to improve their finances.

The only thing I can think of is that they know even if he had a long time to work at it he's not in a good position to make any profitable business deals now and they actually would get more in the long run just selling him off.

David75

Fri, 03-07-2008, 04:12 PM

So I've been able to watch that ep at last. A detail or 2 weren't mentioned as of yet. Or maybe I'm wrong in my statements:

-The debt transfer is very strange.
Why would a company transfer the debt that way? and why to a company that lost everything on the armor bet?
-The debt transfer was quicker to arrive than Lawrence? How is that possible as he took the quickest path to this town? If I'm not wrong on that one, that means the trap was prepared even before he conclueded the deal that would get him in trouble. Did they use a pigeon for debt transfer? come on...

Then there are these references to God everytime he gets stressful meetings.
The Guild representative said he couldn't help due to the ways of God
The same goes for the guy that was almost ready to help Lawrence.
These two ones were interrested in Horo, not for the same reason though.

So all in all, it's highly probable the church is behind all of this. Merio company representative said they couldn't do anything against the church. In truth, it's the most powerful organisation around it seems. So Lawrence is quite screwed for now.

Yukimura

Fri, 03-07-2008, 05:18 PM

The Ayako version answers your first question with extra info from the novels. The company that Lawrence got the armor from was a partner with the company he went to to sell it to. Apparently they gave them the debt to try and help them out.

Ryllharu

Fri, 03-07-2008, 05:40 PM

Lawrence was the only idiot that didn't know the city had canceled their annual pilgrimage. Kraco, think of it more as a Ceremonial short version of the Crusades, every year. Knights, who would be nobility, stock up on supplies and armor and such. However, political unrest in the region they need to pass through disrupted it.

You end up with a lot of merchants (hence, everyone saying how tough a time they were having when Lawrence went begging) with an enormous overstock and no place to unload it to. Lawrence got swindled by people who already knew all the details. He got overconfident.

I agree with you that it is stupid of them to be buying lots of new armor all the time, but I didn't write this stuff. Still, Lawrence only had a half dozen or so sets, so perhaps the amount of armor being bought is far less than both of us are imagining.

Kraco

Fri, 03-07-2008, 06:36 PM

Yeah. A very good point. In fact it also makes more sense now that you said it like that. The total number isn't so high, but each piece of pretty expensive. That's why Lawrence got the nasty debt so suddenly and so easily, as well.

David75

Fri, 03-07-2008, 06:42 PM

I've been searching through the eps this "armor" trouble.

During the negociation after Horo discovers the Table/Scale trick in Ep8, Lawrences asks for Armors as a compensation.
At the time he is over confident, as Horo is.
The merchant reactions can be interpreted as troubles because he was discovered and is shocked of being compelled to obey... Or just "What the heck, armors?"
Of course it's easy to write this after you know about armors, but he didn't talback at the time, didn't try to negociate a bit more even though he was guilty.

I will search Ep6, but I don't think I can find reference to armors there.
Ep7 is probably central to the armor problem, someone Lawrence (that he trusts quite a lot?) did put that idea in his head... That ep probably also is an explanation on why he insists so much on "I trust God after all".

On a side note, I heard Horo use "Nushi/Master (spell?)" refering to Lawrence in ep8.

Ryllharu

Fri, 03-07-2008, 06:48 PM

I thought the general idea was that episode 7 was about Horo being in heat, but maybe that's just 4chan talking.

Buffalobiian

Fri, 03-07-2008, 08:21 PM

Well, finally got around to this ep. All's pretty much discussed. I thought this ep was going to be around that evil looking guy who showed up at the end of episode 9. Btw, is this series 12 eps or 13?

Ryllharu

Fri, 03-07-2008, 09:32 PM

It is 13, but they only had enough episodes timeslotted to air 12.

complich8

Wed, 03-12-2008, 02:24 AM

-The debt transfer was quicker to arrive than Lawrence? How is that possible as he took the quickest path to this town?
I think this is actually feasible.

They went the only "open" route that it'd be safe to travel as a merchant (assuming you weren't worried about wolves and witches and whatnot). However, as they took that route, they took it at a pace where they weren't worried about a shepherd as an escort slowing them down.

In fact, if you remember a couple eps back they let that merchant on foot go ahead, because they'd slow him down, not the other way around.

So basically, they went from city to city at about a slow walking pace -- which is why it'd be more dangerous to travel through a place full of mercenaries. If you're dragging a cartload of heavy armor with a single draft horse, you're not going to make nearly as good time as a messenger on horseback, even if he's moving at a relatively leisurely trot. For that matter, a carriage with a team of horses would also make better time.

Well, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. An armor was a bloody pricy piece of equipment back when the industrial revolution hadn't happened yet (and of course at that point nobody used them anyway because guns had already made them obsolete). You didn't buy a new suit every year unless you were a king or an emperor or otherwise equally rich and a total armor otaku.

Think of it like buying a new pimped-out Escalade every year. 'cause you can't possibly be seen rollin' up in a 2 year old car. People would talk! Same deal with that dinged-up dingy rusty armor...

Buffalobiian

Wed, 03-12-2008, 07:34 AM

[Nipponsei] Spice and Wolf Original Soundtrack - Ookami to Tabi no Ongaku.zip (http://tracker.minglong.org/torrents/%5BNipponsei%5D%20Spice%20and%20Wolf%20Original%20 Soundtrack%20-%20Ookami%20to%20Tabi%20no%20Ongaku.zip.torrent)

Buffalobiian

Wed, 03-12-2008, 09:02 PM

Episode 11 - one more to go, Horo's master plan.

[BSS]_Spice_and_Wolf_-_11_[704x400_XviD][2AB4137D].avi.torrent (http://tracker.anirena.com/download2.php?id=5049)
[BSS]_Spice_and_Wolf_-_11_[704x400_h264][31C52197].mkv.torrent (http://tracker.anirena.com/download2.php?id=5048)

shinta|hikari

Thu, 03-13-2008, 01:27 AM

The conversations between Lawrence and Holo never fail to crack me up. The bit about Holo forcing Lawrence to confess his feelings was incredibly funny. Im glad Holo isnt the hyper sensitive emo type though, actually knowing when it is in fact her fault.

Kraco

Thu, 03-13-2008, 09:36 AM

That was a cute episode. The discussions Lawrence and Horo have are always so far from the anime cliches that this show is a joy to watch.

Their money making scheme is pretty desperate but then again desperate measures are what desperate people need.

Yukimura

Thu, 03-13-2008, 12:08 PM

Lol Horo is such an all around awesome character, she can do cute just as well as she can do Tsundere and the way she can flawlessly transition is remarkable. I especially loved how first throws an emo fit, then switches to bitching out Lawrence for not saying the right things in response to her admittedly fake tantrum and THEN proceeds to force a do over so he can do it right the second time around.

David75

Thu, 03-13-2008, 03:02 PM

That sheep idea sure is cheap.
I guess there's another trick to it.
Or Nora will only serve as means to pass a much higher quantity of gold while she is caught.
You know like when customs take 1 kg of drugs when several tons are going through right behind their back...

Ryllharu

Thu, 03-13-2008, 05:38 PM

So even the great Horo-sama recognizes Nora. Here I thought that nothing could make the unflappable Horo uncomfortable in even the slightest of ways. It seems that Horo kept quiet on their last trek with Nora for more than the feigned reason of being jealous Lawrence was drawn to Nora.

If Lawrence was totally accurate and Nora is constantly investigated by the church for being a pagan, as seems to be the case, then she truly must be someone to fear. Lawrence must be right about it, and Nora is far more than she seems. What better place to hide than amongst the people who would want to investigate you? Only Nora has been too close to the church for too long and is under that constant suspicion she tried to avoid.

She's certainly a pagan, and if she has almost no issue with mercenaries (and certainly not wolves), I'm very curious to find out her full capabilities.

Buffalobiian

Thu, 03-20-2008, 04:23 AM

David75

Thu, 03-20-2008, 04:55 PM

Desperate measures. Unleash the shepherd.

[BSS]_Spice_and_Wolf_-_12_[704x400_h264][1309FA63].mkv.torrent (http://tracker.anirena.com/download2.php?id=5188)
[BSS]_Spice_and_Wolf_-_12_[704x400_XviD][3924969C].avi.torrent (http://tracker.anirena.com/download2.php?id=5189)
Strange no one thanked you/commented yet.
Thanks

Then, what a ep, from the Enik=Lawrence fun to another very dire situation.

KrayZ33

Thu, 03-20-2008, 05:42 PM

just watched it

very interesting stuff..

do they intend to kill the shepard girl?
btw enik is so cute ^_^

the preview of the next episode makes me somehow sad... i hope its a happy end and not something like "looks like we have to splitt up from here on and everyone has to go his own way bleh bleh stuff"

Buffalobiian

Thu, 03-20-2008, 06:49 PM

Only just watched the episode myself. The mood of this ep fits this series nicely. Light heartedness with surprises and some dark betrayal moments. I hope a new journey means they meet up and go off together again. It looks like they indeed are considering killing Nora, but she'll come out alive somehow. Maybe that escort will do something about it. If Horo's rank in my books can go up anymore it would. She radiated of deity awesomeness from her "Stand down!" to criticizing the young wolf. It was cute to see Horo and Nora getting along a bit better, and it seems they both have the same opinion of Lawrence, to Horo's amusement. I'm hoping for a happy ending, but not too sure. The week's countdown is on.

Buffalobiian

Wed, 03-26-2008, 10:52 PM

Last Ep. Grab it hot!!

[BSS] Spice and Wolf - 13 [704x400 XviD] (http://tracker.anirena.com/download2.php?id=5321)
[BSS] Spice and Wolf - 13 [704x400 h264] (http://tracker.anirena.com/download2.php?id=5320)

DDBen

Wed, 03-26-2008, 11:49 PM

This series was really awesome from start to end every single episode was absolutely great. I'm glad there is another DVD only episode that BSS plans to sub as soon as its out and this series deserves a sequel as of yesterday.

Easily the best 12-13 episode series this time around and this episode like all of them was great. The clock moment that Lawrence pulled off has hilarious.

NeoBear

Thu, 03-27-2008, 03:15 AM

bleah how wonderfull, (sigh) now thats its gone im gonna feel all empty inside was a great series

Buffalobiian

Thu, 03-27-2008, 05:48 AM

This last episode managed to demonstrate exactly why Spice & Wolf is just great. In one ep, we saw the dark mysterious action of the giant wolves, followed by the tricks and trade of Medieval merchants, and finally topped of with Lawrence x Horo comedy. Everything Spice and Wolf is known for, all in one. What more can I ask. Perhaps a sequel? Just to see Horo's tail wag once more.

Inazuma

Thu, 03-27-2008, 06:07 AM

I Needz Second season.

animus

Thu, 03-27-2008, 09:31 AM

What did they mean when Lawrence said "Right before them, you..." She gave her body to them as a fucktoy?

Buffalobiian

Thu, 03-27-2008, 09:46 AM

What did they mean when Lawrence said "Right before them, you..." She gave her body to them as a fucktoy?

The shot showed her kneeling, so I guess she submitted her pride to them, rather than her body. Seeing as both she and the other wolf were so proud, it must have been hard for her, and Lawrence knew it. That's my take.

Manga-readers, did the manga reveal differently?

Kraco

Thu, 03-27-2008, 11:49 AM

It was quite a series but surely and sorely would need a second season. In the end we didn't get to see the greater plot very far at all, just some smaller arcs that deepened characters and the world but weren't really that relevant to the bigger picture (getting Horo back to the north). An excellent last episode as well. It had nicely all the exquisite elements this series has in general had and that made it so exceptional. The weeks won't feel the same anymore without Spice and Wolf, that's for sure.

David75

Thu, 03-27-2008, 01:23 PM

KrayZ33

Thu, 03-27-2008, 06:44 PM

beautiful, i bow down before this great series... cute horo and nice funny ending! even though i didn't understand this "say my name" stuff at the end.

he could just have said Horo and then NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

^^

David Craft

Fri, 04-11-2008, 01:41 PM

Manga wise: As far as I can tell they are only like 5 chapters into it. It comes out once a month. It is still back where they are discovering if the silver coin value has fallen or risen, way back in like ep 3 or 4 was it?

Both the Manga and the Anime are based on the novels I believe which I have not read nor do I know where to even get.

Anime wise: AWESOME and yes DEFINITELY a second season!!!

Horo is so cute as always ^_^. Prob one of my all time favorite female anime characters, if not all time favorite.

~David

Munsu

Sun, 05-04-2008, 03:01 AM

Well, just watched the whole series... here's a torrent fully by Sudo for those interested:
http://sudo.ep-get.info/%5Bsudo%5D%20Spice%20and%20Wolf%2001-13.torrent

As for the wolves vs. Horo thing, I pretty sure she was simply kneeling down... that's why they showed the mod on her knees.

Overall an alright series for me. Aside from the fun character interactions between Horo and Lawrence, I thought the plot was weak in most of the mini-arcs. Those trade negations and the problems they were presented with were quite dumb. It didn't help that I hated Lawrence as the main character.

I see there's a dvd only episode coming out, anyone knows when that particular dvd comes out? It seems to fit between episodes 6 and 7. Also any news on a second season?

As mentioned above, this is based on a light novel and the anime seems to cover the first 2 volumes. Currently, the novel should be about 7 volumes and still ongoing... so they should have plenty of content to continue.

Buffalobiian

Sun, 05-04-2008, 03:22 AM

I see there's a dvd only episode coming out, anyone knows when that particular dvd comes out? It seems to fit between episodes 6 and 7. Also any news on a second season?

I believe that Episode 7(a.k.a episode 6.5) comes out on Volume 3, which, according to this source (http://www.spicy-wolf.com/DVD/dvd.html), is on sale 30/05/2008. Right in the middle of my exam block. You can guess which takes priority. :D

Munsu

Mon, 06-02-2008, 06:38 PM

Episode 7 (the unaired one is assume) by BSS:
http://e.coli.kamosuzo.net/download.php/224/%5BBSS%5D%20Spice%20and%20Wolf%20-%2007%20%5B853x480%20h264%5D%5B7270CB70%5D.mkv.tor rent

Buffalobiian

Mon, 06-02-2008, 11:16 PM

Awesome, thanks Munsu. They bumped the resolution a notch too. *downloads*:D

Yukimura

Tue, 06-03-2008, 08:16 AM

DVD's for the win. Now we know how Horo got the new outfit and that she's awesomely cute and awesome...

I'd missed all the crazy money exchanging and Horo Lawrence dynamic and now I feel bad that there's no more show to watch. I'll have to go back and rewatch the whole series.

Kraco

Tue, 06-03-2008, 09:14 AM

It was a decent episode but I can see why this one was selected as the one not aired. It didn't do much to advance the plot (not that they usually did but anyway), and aside from the clothes not much was learned from it.

Still, it was good to see again how Lawrence always somehow manages to stay afloat and avoid drowning in the sea called Horo.

Buffalobiian

Tue, 06-03-2008, 07:15 PM

Did they plan to release this as DVD only all the way? I think it was probably the best way to end this series. They could have slotted it in, but like Kraco said, it would have been a really shallow episode. Now they finished the series nicely, and topped it all off with this. In Horo analogy, this really is an apple pie after all that meat and fish.

Now I can only hope for them to green-light a second season.

KrayZ33

Wed, 06-04-2008, 05:32 AM

well it wasn't an important episode for the "plot" (btw does this anime play in Germany or in Prussian/Austrian-empire? because on the paper, it said

"Ein Bericht über *I can't read the last word*")

but it was very important for the relationship between Horo and Lawl-rence

shinta|hikari

Thu, 06-05-2008, 09:59 AM

A ton of wordplay and wit was lost in the translation. I really cannot blame the translators since it wouldn't translate properly into English, but I would have opted for notes that explain the wordplay instead. The whole thing about the apple pie and money changer (Lawrence's jealousy in particular) seems to be quite random in relation to the clothes, but it was all brought together by the final conversation between the two. Superb, in the way that makes Spice and Wolf great.

shinta|hikari

Thu, 09-11-2008, 08:15 AM

A bump and a double post, I know, but this is worth it.

Spice and Wolf Drama CD part 01 (http://www.sendspace.com/file/2zxya2)

I did the video and translations myself this time. I hope you guys enjoy this.

EDIT: Here comes part 2

Spice and Wolf Drama CD part 02 (http://www.sendspace.com/file/0di5eq)

Kraco

Thu, 09-11-2008, 02:22 PM

Excellent work! Thanks for translating this.

It was funny as well. Brings back good memories. Though it was somewhat weirder to listen to it now while Code Geass is still running.

shinta|hikari

Thu, 09-11-2008, 10:11 PM

Youtube links are up, for those that don't care about quality.

01 Izakaya (http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=mVZkqnYTm3E)

02 Yadoya part 01 (http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=UfTiNIWX1r8)

Buffalobiian

Mon, 09-15-2008, 04:18 AM

Hehe, that was awesome work from shinta, just like all his others. Long Live Horo!!

*excuse me, just like Horo, I'm a little light-headed right now :)*

Guest82

Thu, 09-18-2008, 02:11 AM

Finished the series a while ago, I wish it had more of an epilogue. Pretty good series overall.

DDBen

Sun, 10-05-2008, 01:26 PM

Some news I know I've been waiting for Season 2 is Green lit!

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-10-05/wolf-and-spice-2nd-tv-anime-season-confirmed

Buffalobiian

Sun, 10-05-2008, 03:34 PM

Some news I know I've been waiting for Season 2 is Green lit!

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-10-05/wolf-and-spice-2nd-tv-anime-season-confirmed

YES!:D ........

David Craft

Wed, 10-08-2008, 11:54 PM

awesome news!

KrayZ33

Thu, 10-09-2008, 06:18 AM

Horo~!

Super-special-mega-awesome!

RyougaZell

Sat, 11-15-2008, 07:33 PM

FInally got to see the series. Very good I must say.

Though I can't help but to think Lelouch and Kallen everytime I heard Lawrence and Horo.

NeoCybercoin

Sat, 11-15-2008, 08:02 PM

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/4542/1226505477309nk7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Sorry Could not resist

Munsu

Sat, 11-15-2008, 08:23 PM

Well, while we're at it... finally the missing episode 7 is out by sudo for those interested in that version:
http://sudo.ep-get.info/%5Bsudo%5D%20Spice%20and%20Wolf%2007%20%5BCAA0CD51 %5D.mkv.torrent

RyougaZell

Sat, 11-15-2008, 09:00 PM

FInally got to see the series. Very good I must say.

Though I can't help but to think Lelouch and Kallen everytime I heard Lawrence and Horo.

Ok... seems I need to explain myself... after certain rep (positive though) I received.

The rep was:

Ahrem,...I believe you mean Lelouch and C2. -_-

My answer: NO WAY.

I said: 'everytime I heard'

Lawrence and Lelouch share the same VA: Jun Fukuyama
Horo and Kallen share the same VA: Ami Koshimizu

Hence... I 'heard' them. I can care less if she resembles C.C. a bit.

Buffalobiian

Sat, 11-15-2008, 09:04 PM

They were nice giving you a green one. You're asking for a red now :p

Of course, little sacrifice to you for expressing your Kallen Fanboyism.

Pandadice

Tue, 12-09-2008, 06:14 PM

meh. the ending was decent, but the rest of the show was boring, and pretty uninteresting. I didn't like how they ended it with the completion of some minor story premise in stead of ending the actual over laying story. but I guess that's what a season two is for.

horo was okay, her attitude and emotions, and the fact that she changed into a giant wolf were really the only things making this show watchable..

Lawrence? nah, didn't care for him, he showed too much weakness and proved downright undependable. good thing he had horo.

I'd give it a 6/10.

I don't know if I'm gonna bother watching the second season or not.

shinta|hikari

Tue, 12-09-2008, 06:44 PM

Pandadice

Tue, 12-09-2008, 11:06 PM

It seems you missed a lot of the wit that made this show interesting, but that is probably because a lot of it was lost in translation, especially in the episode released after the series (7, I think). It was never about the plot, but rather the character interaction between the two main characters, which is something a lot of anime are lacking in.

I'm sorry, I didn't word my post accurately. when I said that I liked Horo's attitude and emotions, it was talking about in reaction to Lawrence. their interaction was more what I liked, not just solely horo.

I didn't look into the series much at all before watching it. I was told, and read, that it was very good. After that I read the tags and categories on aniDB, and then got the show. I didn't read a story synopsis.

What I was expecting was a romance, not a tutorial on how to barter.

I said I liked the ending, and yes, it was entertaining. But frankly, it was incomplete. Most of the story gives us business lessons, and the final episodes revolve around a mistake he made, while the series never actually resolves the underlaying story. It's an incomplete story.

the progression and general portrayal of the characters was shallow, predictable, and generally boring. apart from select moments between horo and Lawrence. Watching horo haggle with the dealers made me ask myself "am I actually watching this?".

If the series is going to revolve around the main characters interaction, then maybe they should change the male, because he was downright annoying. Now that you say it's not actually about the story, but in stead the characters, I highly doubt I'll bother watching season two. I only would of watched it for the fulfillment of the story that this season lacked entirely, but if what you say is accurate then I probably shouldn't expect a resolve.

Kraco

Wed, 12-10-2008, 02:58 AM

Seinen series tend to feel more free about the way they present the story and what kind of a story or other elements can carry the series in general. The story was quite weak at least in this first season, in my opinion, making this look almost like a half slice of life show. However, it was also your expectations that betrayed you: It should be obviously after watching the season that it was indeed trade this show was all about if we ignore the characters.

Kraco

Sat, 05-02-2009, 02:10 AM

Scipy comeback of the wolf:

Spicy and Wolf II OVA - BSS (http://tracker.minglong.org/torrents/%5BBSS%5D_Spice_and_Wolf_II_-_00_%5B9FA88166%5D.mkv.torrent)

Apparently this ova launches the second season (which should start this summer, like has been said).

David75

Sat, 05-02-2009, 03:34 AM

Horny Horo with her ass up in the air, her tail waiving in excitement, waiting for a male sure was a sight... :o

Other than that, the cool and soothing pace sure did work right from the start, again.

shinta|hikari

Sat, 05-02-2009, 03:48 AM

It should air in the same season as Haruhi's 2nd season.

A lot of the material from this OAV is from the sound dramas released a while back, with some minor changes. Those who got to see the ones I managed to translate before should notice this as well.

Kraco

Sat, 05-02-2009, 03:58 AM

That was a pretty contentless episode, aside from what David pointed out. Lots of light banter and not even fancy trading knowledge mixed in. Well, actually the medical stuff was a pretty interesting part, reflecting nicely what used to be solid "knowledge" in the past. It's nice how this series integrates with the time period with details like that. In the end I reckon this was an ova underlining how much Horo likes Lawrence. And how dense Lawrence is in return...

Buffalobiian

Sun, 05-17-2009, 02:41 AM

Wow, that vision of Horo's was something I'd expect near the end of the show. It really highlights that if she chooses to stay with Lawrence after all after their journey to the North, their time will only last an instant compared to her own lifespan.

According to this though, it's well worth it.

And call me dense, but I didn't get the joke at the end neither. :o