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REVIEW: Spice and Wolf GN 1


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neocloud9



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 1178
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 7:09 am Reply with quote
Wow, seems like the manga adaptation sucks out all the charm and heart from the original series. I remember fearing that might be the case when I saw the "explicit content" warning on it in the bookstore. Of course, I wasn't gonna pick it up anyway. That cover art looks like off-model fanart. Eew.
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Parsifal24





PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 7:49 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Her appearance is fairly childlike, as are many of her mannerisms. It often makes the intentionally sexual parts of the book feel inappropriate. It's worth noting then, both to set context and as a warning to readers, that Holo is very comfortable with her nudity, so readers will be seeing quite a bit of her. Of course, nudity doesn't automatically equate to sexuality but her posture, gestures, and the intentional views in which the panels are drawn from, all conspire to make her a much more sexual being then some will be comfortable with, both because of her youthful appearance and because of the pandering sexual-nature of these scenes in general. This isn't helped by moments of her deliberately playing on her charms with Lawrence such as asking if she's cute while licking a bun soaked in honey or bending over to show off her backside while enlightening him on how attractive others find her. It perhaps wouldn't be as bad if she looked an age where it didn't feel borderline sleazy – sorry breasts, you're just not enough of an age indicator to cover up everything else – or if the story didn't feel like it was trying to hold itself on a level higher than its fan service denotes.


This whole part basically summed up how I felt about all the fan service and borderline Chotto Ecchi moments from the Anime (that apparently made there way into the Manga with a vengeance). But who knows the Manga might be worth a lark I'll read anything once. I remember I thought I was gonna hate DearS because of all the negative opinions I heard from reviewers. But I ended up really liking so who knows might end up liking this one also.
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Teriyaki Terrier



Joined: 26 Mar 2008
Posts: 5689
PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 9:29 am Reply with quote
Parsifal24 wrote:
Quote:
Her appearance is fairly childlike, as are many of her mannerisms. It often makes the intentionally sexual parts of the book feel inappropriate. It's worth noting then, both to set context and as a warning to readers, that Holo is very comfortable with her nudity, so readers will be seeing quite a bit of her. Of course, nudity doesn't automatically equate to sexuality but her posture, gestures, and the intentional views in which the panels are drawn from, all conspire to make her a much more sexual being then some will be comfortable with, both because of her youthful appearance and because of the pandering sexual-nature of these scenes in general. This isn't helped by moments of her deliberately playing on her charms with Lawrence such as asking if she's cute while licking a bun soaked in honey or bending over to show off her backside while enlightening him on how attractive others find her. It perhaps wouldn't be as bad if she looked an age where it didn't feel borderline sleazy – sorry breasts, you're just not enough of an age indicator to cover up everything else – or if the story didn't feel like it was trying to hold itself on a level higher than its fan service denotes.


This whole part basically summed up how I felt about all the fan service and borderline Chotto Ecchi moments from the Anime (that apparently made there way into the Manga with a vengeance). But who knows the Manga might be worth a lark I'll read anything once. I remember I thought I was gonna hate DearS because of all the negative opinions I heard from reviewers. But I ended up really liking so who knows might end up liking this one also.


Agreed, basically parts of the manga are fan serviced based. I've actually seen people just read the manga and anime just for the fanservice and nothing else.

And then there are the people who also read the doujins of this series, but that is a whole other story all together. I personally, didn't really like this series myself though.
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Dakaran



Joined: 17 Jul 2009
Posts: 347
PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 9:53 am Reply with quote
I don't like the review. Spice and Wolf deserves much higher praises for the series. Written like a prude preacher, this review doesn't give it justice. I feel like it tried to gain the public's approval throughout the commenting on the ecchi when people want to read about the book. I'm definitely buying the manga for one of the most surprisingly charming anime I've seen in recent years. It's a total different thing and a chance of pace.
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Levitz9



Joined: 06 Feb 2007
Posts: 1022
Location: Puerto Rico
PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 12:00 pm Reply with quote
Fun fact: Koume Keito, the artist for the S&W manga, has an extensive eromanga backlist, notably including the 'Pollinic Girls Attack' eromanga.

Personally, I don't mind the fanservice all that much: it's actually was what I was expecting, considering the artist. In fact, I expected the manga to be a lot tamer. I'm torn, because I don't know if the reviewer's tastes are just really conservative, or I'm just a perv. Crying or Very sad

I already have the first light novel, and I expect to buy the series when I have the cash. Ever since I saw he manga announced in Yen Plus magazine, I had plans to buy it, so I'll be getting this anyway. Worst case scenario, I've got some eyecandy for when I get tired of reading high-brow stuff.

I get where the reviewer is coming from, though: I do understand that not a lot of people are going to like naked wolf-girl images, and I don't blame 'em. Don't end up like me, kiddies!
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Parsifal24





PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 1:39 pm Reply with quote
Levitz9 wrote:
Fun fact: Koume Keito, the artist for the S&W manga, has an extensive eromanga backlist, notably including the 'Pollinic Girls Attack' eromanga.

Personally, I don't mind the fanservice all that much: it's actually was what I was expecting, considering the artist. In fact, I expected the manga to be a lot tamer. I'm torn, because I don't know if the reviewer's tastes are just really conservative, or I'm just a perv. Crying or Very sad

I already have the first light novel, and I expect to buy the series when I have the cash. Ever since I saw he manga announced in Yen Plus magazine, I had plans to buy it, so I'll be getting this anyway. Worst case scenario, I've got some eyecandy for when I get tired of reading high-brow stuff.

I get where the reviewer is coming from, though: I do understand that not a lot of people are going to like naked wolf-girl images, and I don't blame 'em. Don't end up like me, kiddies!


Well knowing that about Koume Keito now iand he is the artist I can understand why it's like that. It's just disconcerting in a Manga that one of the main themes is medieval trade to have fan service in it it's like finding a playboy centerfold in a copy Wealth of Nations. As far as the whole naked wolf girl thing one only has to look at something like Kanokon to see there is kind of a market for that sort of thing.
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ABCBTom



Joined: 10 Sep 2009
Posts: 183
PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 3:10 pm Reply with quote
Dakaran wrote:
I don't like the review. Spice and Wolf deserves much higher praises for the series. Written like a prude preacher, this review doesn't give it justice. I feel like it tried to gain the public's approval throughout the commenting on the ecchi when people want to read about the book. I'm definitely buying the manga for one of the most surprisingly charming anime I've seen in recent years. It's a total different thing and a chance of pace.


It's not that there's anything inherently wrong with fanservice, but it sounds like the manga adaptation's use of it goes against the spirit of the book and the anime. Holo isn't supposed to be a cute sex pet: She's supposed to be a proud goddess who has found she's grown powerless and unappreciated. She's ambivalent about accepting help from a human. Is this the kind of character who'd lick honey off of a bun and ask "Am I cute?"
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Otaking09



Joined: 24 Feb 2009
Posts: 637
PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 5:30 pm Reply with quote
WOW! Uh... that just makes me wanna stick with the novel version...

Not saying that this review isn't an exaggeration, but for someone TO stress sexual themes about Spice and Wolf automatically turns me away.
The anime was anything BUT, sexually dominated. "Naked wolf-girl = instant addicting factor", yeah right...
I'm not sure what made Spice and Wolf addicting either, but it definately wasn't that weak excuse...
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Julia-the-Great



Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 328
PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 6:29 pm Reply with quote
I haven't seen or read any Spice and Wolf, but reading reviews of it, I can't help but be reminded of Anya from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her obsession with capitalism. Very Happy I might have to check this series out sometime, just to see what it's all about.
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Seljuk



Joined: 03 Dec 2008
Posts: 139
PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 8:56 pm Reply with quote
Oh God, now Horo is disturbingly childlike? Where do you people get off? Unless there were some major changes for the manga...

That said, I'm disappointed to hear that the manga relies more on fan service. That was never and should never be the point of the series.
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doctordoom85



Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 2091
PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 9:00 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, based on this, I'm sticking with the anime DVDs and light novels. Which is really enough, honestly I can't ever see myself buying THREE versions of the same story.
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chefneer
Aria Company



Joined: 27 Aug 2009
Posts: 1686
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 11:02 pm Reply with quote
I have the Anime, the novel, and the manga and I'd have to say that while I may not entirely agree with the review, the manga is the weakest of the three.

The art, I think, is nicely done but chunks of the story have been shortened to fit the format, and while I don't have any particular issues with the fanservice, there does seem to be more of it, and there is sexual inuendo that is not present in the others.

Holo is playful, which is normal for a wolf, and she teases Lawrence in the Anime and novel as well as in the manga, but in the manga her teasing could sometimes be considered a little more risque.

The full color insert pages are part of the story, but they're also pretty much all Holo with her clothes off, which may offend some people.

All in all, I thought the manga kept pretty close to the storyline in the novel, and I do like the art, but if I were to drop one of the three formats, it would be the manga.
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Joe Mello



Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 2251
Location: Online Terminal
PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2010 11:16 pm Reply with quote
Seljuk wrote:
Oh God, now Horo is disturbingly childlike? Where do you people get off? Unless there were some major changes for the manga...

Well, one could argue that even in the anime, Lawrence looks about twice Horo's age, but it does seem to be another indicator towards major adaptation decay.

It sounds like TPTB didn't trust their own product and tried to sex it up in order to move more volumes.
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nargun



Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 924
PostPosted: Sat May 15, 2010 5:40 am Reply with quote
chefneer wrote:
I have the Anime, the novel, and the manga and I'd have to say that while I may not entirely agree with the review, the manga is the weakest of the three.


Pretty much always the way. It's difficult to adapt works into manga form, because of the pacing issues. Manga is low content per page: maybe a half-dozen frames, about the same number of dialogue lines...

An artist adapting any novel beyond the most terribly lyrical and setting-dependent is going to find themselves terribly terribly short on pages and/or time, and the only question's going to be, "what are you going to drop". You're going to leave most of the novel -- and thus, near-invariably, most of the attraction of the novel -- is left on the floor.

You'll do a little bit better adapting from anime -- most things are less dense than text -- but then you've got the problem that anime's already been storyboarded for you and, well... what are you adding? If you're particularly careful and reconsider all the shot angles and so forth to better play to the strengths of your medium, but that'll take the same amount of effort as doing an original work but the results will still be mediocre because of the other issues.

Adaptions inevitably and inescapably leave much of what makes the original work attractive behind [this includes translation, btw]. A good adaptor can add enough of their own goodness to make the adaption worthwhile, or sometimes even superior... but many of the people doing manga adaptions particularly of anime are, bluntly, hacks, and even if they weren't they've got a hard row to hoe.

Manga adaptions are generally -- not always, but generally -- terrible. Sequels and extensions and side stories you run about the same sturgeon's law ratios as anything else, but adaptions are usually terrible.

[one day I gotta read asakiyumemishi]
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thefuturemrsuzumaki



Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Posts: 105
Location: Saint Charles, Illinois
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 12:14 pm Reply with quote
Hmm...well seeing as how the manga relies on Holo's sexuality---I'm TOTALLY BUYING IT! LOL Holo is amazing, and the story is awesome. I probably won't get a chance to buy the anime so for now I'll just stick with the manga. :3
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