[TinyRedLeaf]

Animation Quality: 5
Voice Actors: 9
Script: 7
Adaptation from Novel: 5? (I haven't read the novels, can only compare against the manga)
Editing: 6

Result: 6.4, rounded down to 6 (Average).

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Unlike KholdStare, I started the show with reservations. I liked the premise, which felt very original (in the way Sorrow-K had described), and I thought it had a lot of potential for being an intelligent and entertaining show that mixed romance with a medieval setting. However, I had mixed feelings about Horo right from the start. She simply did not behave the way I would imagine an ancient goddess to do so, and it rapidly became apparent to me that her design was meant to appeal to a very different audience.

However, I was soon drawn into the first arc, about silver speculation, about Horo's background. And as many of you could tell, I was especially excited to discover the history, economics and mythology that inspired the author to create this story.

So, by the mid-point of the series, I thought, ah well, even though I may not personally like Horo very much (and it was clear by this point that she was the major attraction of the show), at least I enjoyed how the story was unfolding.

But the second arc let me down. As many people have pointed out, the shoddy editing and story compression in the second arc was very apparent, and all the flaws in art, animation and character development began showing itself. The pacing was off in several areas and Horo increasingly came across as a jealous, clingy, tempermental courtesan, which made me dislike her even more. Correspondingly, the interaction between Horo and Lawrence in the gold smuggling arc felt contrived and forced, and it didn't flow as naturally as it did in the first arc.

More disappointingly, the clever socio-economic aspects seen in the first arc just didn't come across as convincingly in the second arc. I get the feeling that too many details were lost in the adaptation and the story suffered because of it.

So, taken altogether, I regret that Spice and Wolf had only been an average show for me, at best. It failed to live up to its full potential.