[BashZeStampeedo]

Alright, I've read the first volume of the fan-translated light novels now, and Lawrence seems a fair bit tougher and more perceptive than he appears in the anime. He's feels more like a hardened 25-year-old traveling merchant than he does in the anime.

Spoiler:

He knows his physical limits, he knows his talents, and he knows that he's fallen hard for Horo. Hell, he's even willing to burn at the stake beside her rather than make ridiculous amounts of profit at her expense.

The anime also seems more willing to have Horo give Lawrence clues that he figures out on his own in the novel (unless it's just the fansubs). This diminishes the impression that he's supposed to be a quick-thinker and truly gifted in his profession (an impression that's more apparent in the novels). It's usually very subtle. For instance, Horo never clues him in the novels to threaten Milone with changing sides if they try to abandon him and Horo. He honestly does the big thinking on his own and it's quite impressive (yet still believable).

I also think that the anime suffers from not presenting any of his internal monologues like the novels do (even a sentence of two here and there would help). You don't end up getting the same impression of Lawrence. For instance, when he blurts out that he's going to chase her all the way to the north (to get her to pay him back for the ruined clothes when she saved his life as a wolf), you don't understand that he's really struggling to find the right thing to say, but that's the best he can do (and he really regrets it). You don't "hear" him decide he'd rather burn at the stake with Horo rather than desert her. You don't get any explanation for why he's cowering at her wolf-form (he hates himself for it, but it's an instinctual response he can't prevent).

Cumulatively, the sorts of things I outline in the spoiler make Lawrence's character a touch less sympathetic and likable to me (he's seems more idiotic and shallow than he's supposed to be). Overall, however, I'd say that the anime is doing a respectable job with his character. I wonder how things feel after volume 2