Spice and Wolf - Episode 4 Discussion / Poll

[Masanori Ota]

Episode 4 is up on Veoh now.

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v3412272qGMhkwQD

[Khaos]

I don't understand how anyone would come to the idea of Horo pulling an act about her being lonely...

[Spectacular_Insanity]

I liked this episode, and there was some interesting suspense at the end with... what was it? A new wolf? I figure that because of the hood and cloak. I could be completely off, but Horo seemed to recognize him/her. However, it doesn't look like s/he is too friendly...

Their concern for each other is cute. I'm looking forward to the next episode. 9/10.

[SvenTheSweeper]

I enjoyed Ami’s Horo again in this episode. It’s hard for me see why some Japanese fans don’t think her performance is sexy enough. The wide range of emotions she shows and the tone of her voice reinforces Horo’s feminine charm. I find Horo to be delightfully sexy without being overpowering, enchanting, lovable, strong, and yet have a sympathetic vulnerability. This episode proves it again. I’d love to be in Lawrence’s position.

On the other hand, Chloe gave me a nice impression in the first episode so I wouldn’t mind ending up with her if I was Lawrence, just based on that one episode. However things may change, because I am of the same mind as everyone else that the girl Horo recognized at the end of episode 4 is Chloe. I am guessing the big business proposal Chloe offered to Lawrence in episode 1 will be revealed later on as being related to the currency exchanging scheme. We will see how virtuous or villainous she is.

Originally Posted by Spectacular_Insanity

I liked this episode, and there was some interesting suspense at the end with... what was it? A new wolf? I figure that because of the hood and cloak. I could be completely off, but Horo seemed to recognize him/her. However, it doesn't look like s/he is too friendly...

The idea of a new wolf character was my first impression because Horo recognized him/her, Horo is a god that is not easily caught and therefore it took another god to catch her. But I talked myself out of it and thought it was more likely to be a human character such as Chloe. I am in a delightful state of suspense as to who the mystery person will be.

[Cal-Reflector]

Originally Posted by Deathkillz

No, you aren't the only one

Having chloe play the part of a rival will open up a can of drama imo. On one hand we have chloe who already expressed her love interest on lawrence, but on the other she may soon find out that horo has taken that place in lawrence's heart. Things will get ugly if she becomes jealous and uses "business" as a weapon. She will certainly be good at bargining especially while holding horo hostage. This would put her on the side of being a villain but in her defense its for the sake of love

Glad to hear it; I've a reoccurring soft spot for underdogs (underdog vs sage wolf? makes a good analogy actually).

Too much of the speculation taking place in this thread depends on the assumption that Chloe is the figure in the cloak. It's possible; I think the biggest hint is the title of the next episode, but we don't know for sure it. I personally think that it's rather quick of the staff to bring back Chloe so quickly... though I certainly wouldn't complain.

Looking back at episode 1 however, it seems that there was much foreshadowing about Chloe's participation in the current plot--her mention of a big deal coming down that she and Lawrence could make a killing off of (enough to open their own stores) and that he'd suffer if he underestimated her (which he did).

[Vexx]

Finally sat down and watched the whole of ep 4 .... solidly executed - I'm amazed the director covered so much ground well with so little time budget. a "10" just for the editing .... though I wish to hell these were 1hr eps or that the series had been tagged for 26 eps.

Aye, frankly the Horo "not sexy enough" naysayers leave me dumbfounded. The VA's acting and Horo's animation combine to make one of sexiest portrayals I've seen in a while --- exceptionally amazing with what is clearly a fairly tight budget production.

I listened to the Japanese several times but I got the impression that even Horo had a finite life span from her talk about her missing comrades. Imagine living so long and everyone you know is gone or only lives for a brief instant.

[Ultenth]

Yeah, Horo isn't supposed to be a god or anything really, just a very smart wolf who is really big, has some magical powers, and lives a lot longer than usual.

I was kinda surprised that Lawrence gave up her identity so quickly, but my guess is that it's because they were unwilling to save her initially, and he hoped it would give them motivation to try to help her. My guess is it could very well backfire on him though.

[Vexx]

He literally had no other choice, especially once he understood the Medioh house *knew* who she was. This part is a bit "wtf?" because the impression given was that in this time period most people figure the nature gods are imaginary anyway ... and a bit hard to believe that business-minded people would go for the idea.

The word "god" has to be taken in a sort of Arthur C Clarke way: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Though in this case its 'any sufficiently alien or advanced being may as well be labeled a "god".

Nasty little threat about the Church doors opening in that letter though ....

Certainly the episode is quite an epiphany for Lawrence as well as a cliff-hanger.

Speculation:
There's only really enough time in the series for two adventures (assuming this current adventure doesn't last the entire series)
.... so my speculation is that Chloe is involved and the money-scam adventure will be at least tentatively resolved by ep 6. Then the last half may concern an adventure relating to the shepherdess we see in the OP.

[Masanori Ota]

I'd copy Vexx's comments if I didn't have anything more to say, but I do after watching the subs.

My main concern is the sexual tension in the bedroom when Horo switches beds. Lawrence was surprised, she pulls him down, he hugs her, and moves in for a kiss? Or is it that he really can't see her yet? Anyhow, she tells him she finally remembered what she had to say, but what she says, that bad dudes are outside the door, doesn't seem to match the her mood in her drunken moments the day before.

So does she still have more to say? Is what she wanted to say "I believe in you"? Are the "lovers" referred to in the title of the next episode literally or jokingly referenced?

As you can see, I'm mainly interested in the romance part of SaW/WaS, lol. Don't know why. I'm male too. Guess I'm just a sappy dude, a sucker for sweetness. :l

[Vexx]

I think the little conversation and bed chat has as many vectors of meaning as one might dream up. One of the nice things about the series --- its just not one-dimensional in context. In a nutshell, the bad guys had extremely bad timing to torture the romantics among us ... or perhaps Horo knew she would have his full attention so that they could maximize their survival chances... or after the conversation it just seemed natural to cuddle...

Sidenote:
I did some dialog comparison of all the groups subbing the series
.... so far I like ADTRW's translation the best (even though it may not be the most accurate) as it flows well and conveys the underlying meaning of the communication. However, they seem to have dropped the series (?) after one ep.
So, my next favorite choice is BSS (amazing translation considering the speed of release). They aren't futzing up basic pronouns in implied-noun sentences or ending up with awkward grammatical construction (multiple factual examples found). The sentence structure seems to reflect the pauses and pacing of English while managing to retain more of the japanese sensibility (purely subjective on my part).

I used about 10 comparison scenes from the first two episodes to arrive at those choices.

That said, as usual, each translation from all the groups had better and worse moments depending on the scene, so your mileage may vary depending on what is important to you.

[Chiibi]

This episode was pretty good. I went "awww" a lot.

[FlareKnight]

Really too bad that it isn't going to be a really long series. But sounds about right that we will take care of this money plot and probably have time for one more thing with that other girl from the OP before its done.

Guess Lawrence had to take a gamble since he couldn't exactly go and get Horo out all by himself. Plus since that Medioh group knows who she is they could indeed follow through with the threat of taking her to the church, though I'm sure they plan on making use of her.

If Chloe is a big part of this I'd say any positive opinion of her is going right out the window. Putting Horo into this kind of situation is somehow not going to get on Lawrence's good side. Just seems like she is playing a role somehow with the foreshadowing at the start of things.

Originally Posted by Masanori Ota

My main concern is the sexual tension in the bedroom when Horo switches beds. Lawrence was surprised, she pulls him down, he hugs her, and moves in for a kiss? Or is it that he really can't see her yet? Anyhow, she tells him she finally remembered what she had to say, but what she says, that bad dudes are outside the door, doesn't seem to match the her mood in her drunken moments the day before.

I do think that what she had to say was concerning people from the Medioh company showing up. Probably intended to say it earlier, but got drunk and her mind wandered. So she started remembering funny times with that first friend of hers and couldn't recall it until hearing those guys outside the room.

[Shiroth]

So it's pretty certain that

Spoiler for Episode 05:

the person who faced Horo at the end of episode four is the same person she was talking about, her first friend?

Oh and gotta love the episode title for episode 05.

[Vexx]

Um, no, her first friend after leaving the north was the human boy whom she made the compact with to support the village harvest. He's long dead because that happened hundreds of years earlier.

The names of the missing comrades Poro, Miyori, Yueh, Intii.... they're apparently her fellow wolfpack she set out from the north with 500 years before... somehow she got separated from them and lost them. She still has nightmares about it. She's lost *everyone* she's had an attachment to.

From a wolf/canine perspective, the most emotionally traumatic thing you can do is separate them from their pack. That's why many dogs misbehave or tear things up when left alone --- they range from thinking the pack is punishing them to being simply driven insane with loneliness. That's a major reason I don't own a dog though I'm quite fond of them. Unless I had a job that let them accompany me (like hunting or farming, etc), it just isn't fair to them to be separated from the pack (or the alpha dog == owner).

Its unknown who the cloaked person is, but the oddsmakers are betting on it being Chloe.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Um, no, her first friend after leaving the north was the human boy whom she made the compact with to support the village harvest. He's long dead because that happened hundreds of years earlier.

Hmm, i don't remember hearing about his death (did we?) --- so i'm just gonna keep the possibility in my head until episode 05 airs. I know 100 years ago, but who knows.

But yeah, chances are rather low.

[Bonta Kun]

All I can say is

OMG DIVINE PUNISHMENT WILL BEFALL THEM THAT CUT HORO'S HAIR!!!!!

how dare they do that to Horo!!!

well the person in the cloak def has to be a woman as the shoes and the build just say so to me.

have to say been a while or in fact I can't really remember a series that has wanted me so eagerly awaiting a next episode, or got me soo fired up over something like hair cutting but then cutting Horo's hair in that manner is a crime not even gods can escape!

[Deathkillz]

Originally Posted by Bonta Kun

All I can say is

OMG DIVINE PUNISHMENT WILL BEFALL THEM THAT CUT HORO'S HAIR!!!!!

how dare they do that to Horo!!!

Considering that she was growling like a wild wolf, I'm rather surprised that they managed to get some hair in the first place.

She should have just ripped their balls off for touching her prized tail (looked like tail hair to me ).

[mikesince83]

Overall and excellent mix of romance and action in this one. It was entertaining to watch Lawrence fumbling his way over to bed. Initially I expected him to 'become disoriented' and end up going to her bed, but the actual result speaks volumes for Horo.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Deathkillz

Considering that she was growling like a wild wolf, I'm rather surprised that they managed to get some hair in the first place.

She should have just ripped their balls off for touching her prized tail (looked like tail hair to me ).

Who is saying that those guys we saw near the end were the ones that went for the hair .

I'm pretty sure that anyone who went after her precious tail would have quite the painful lesson coming their way. Might even add onto why she was pretty angry at the end of the episode. Not that being captured wouldn't add onto that.

[KholdStare]

This episode was almost perfect. It's one of the most enjoyable ones for me this year. 10/10