Spice and Wolf + Hanasaku Iroha Episode 1

Dear reader, I regret to inform you that I will be unable to fulfil my aforementioned challenge of watching three animes in three weeks on account of having a life. I know, how would have guessed that I would actually do stuff? Realistically, no one is reading this, and I am just writing it to express myself anyway. In which case, there is no problem. Awesomeballs. Yes, I just ended a formal address with 'awesomeballs because I am cool like that.

I'm back! My goodness, I've really been slacking off with blogging for the past few days. Tomorrow I shall update the 30 Day Anime Challenge posts because, wow, I've gotten behind. Anyway, I've decided to move on from Maid-sama! even though I was enjoying it very much. Why? Because I really do want to at least start three new anime during my mid-year break, and as you can see from the title, I now have. Originally, I'd intended to watch Spice and Wolf  or Baccano! next, but after watching one episode of Hanasaku Iroha, I can tell that it's going to be the one I watch first.

I started Spice and Wolf a few days ago, and to be honest, it wasn't as good as I had hoped. I'd read so many good things about it, so I expected to be hooked from the first minute. I can't say why I wasn't, because there were a lot of things that I liked about it. Seeing as it's getting late, and I want to sleep, I'm just going to take the synopsis from the TV Tropes page.

The setting of both the novels and anime is a middle-ages European-esque world. Lawrence, a traveling merchant, accidentally frees the local harvest god, a centuries-old giant wolf named Holo who takes the form of a young girl. She convinces him to let her travel with him and seek out her dimly-remembered homeland.

Interestingly, the main thrust of the anime is centered more on the business of Lawrence than on Holo's supernatural nature. Instead of action or fanservice, Spice and Wolf is far more likely to focus on an in-depth discussion on the currency exchange market, with no notable attempt to make it more interesting by going over the top. Surprisingly, the show does this rather well using character interaction and business intrigue. The romance between Lawrence and Holo is also a major part of the plot. 

Uncharacteristically, I am looking forward to this series focusing in on Lawrence's business, because there was some pretty blatant fanservice in the first episode (for guys that is. No chests for me D:). That said, I love the animation. Scenery porn and what not aside, there are small things that make me really like it. Like Holo's smile. It's just so... cheeky. Okay, so I just like Holo in general. She's a very interesting female protagonist, and proved to be even more complex than I would have thought. Props to Lawrence for keeping his mind on business when Chloe was so blatantly throwing herself at him. That could have been because, you know, he was thinking about a certain naked female fox harvest-god, though. I really do ship that.

Now, I must gush about the opening. To me, an opening sums up a show. Let's use Princess Tutu, for an example, because I love to mention this anime whenever possible to cover for the fact that I'm much to scared to talk to people about how much I love it in general life. Straight away, I could tell that the show wasn't going to be the fluffy-happy-young story that it claimed to be, because the opening was so incredibly melancholy. I must confess though, I laugh almost every time I watch it, because I end up clasping my hands to my heart and singing along in a very over-dramatic fashion. But, I digress. The opening to Spice and Wolf is amazing. Like, amazing. So amazing that it needs to be shared here. Watch it. Now. I love that it's not your typical upbeat-yayteimz opening, though these do have their place (Change the World from InuYasha, anyone?) It is just so beautiful! There's this real sense of thoguhtfulness that come with it, which I adore. The opening alone makes me want to watch more of the show. Which is lucky, because I just didn't feel hooked at the end of the first episode. It's really bugging me that I didn't, because I can't say there was anything I disliked about the show, and there was much that I did like. Then again, all of my favourite animes, I dropped after the first episode or so, only realising that I loved them after returning to them, sometimes months later. So I'm sure that I'll finish Spice and Wolf, and if it manages to hook me in, I might watch the second season as well.

On to Hanasaku Iroha. I've been wanting to watch this anime all season, and now I'm kind of bummed that I left it so late to start, because it ends next week. This is one of the few animes I have ever watched that has completely grabbed me from the first episode, and it's one that I didn't really expect to. Ohai there TV Trope summary. Thankyou for making my life easier.

The comedy-drama series follows sixteen-year-old Ohana Matsumae, a mildly happy-go-lucky but pragmatic girl who dreams for drama in her typically normal life of school alongside her best friend Koichi "Ko" Tanemura.

When Ohana arrives home from another day of school, her eccentric mother Satsuki decides to send her to live with her estranged grandmother while Satsuki plans to flee their apartment with her boyfriend after he racks up substantial debt in their name. Ohana tells Ko, who confesses his feelings for her, but their relationship grows awkward when Ohana is too surprised to respond and Ko runs off without telling her goodbye.

Ohana's mood soon brightens only to get quickly get dashed against the rocks when she finds out the hot spring inn—Kissuiso—isn't quite to her fantasy as her unfeeling grandmother Sui Shijima quickly puts her to work, she runs afoul with coworker Minko "Minchi" Tsurugi, and each of Ohana's well-intentioned gestures towards Minko end up with not-so-pleasant results.

Despite this, Ohana tries to not let the circumstances get her down as she works hard in her new environment.

Okay, so whoa. If this and Ano Hana represent the Spring 2011 season fairly, than it has been quite amazing. Despite the fact that Ohana looks ten rather than sixteen, I like her. She reminds me a lot of myself in the way that she always dramatises everything, and thinks of her life as a story. Unlike her, I wouldn't allow my grandmother who I had just met to slap me in the face three times without sheet going down. She's probably just a better person than I am.

On to the reviewing. Animation is like... whoaballs. When I say scenery porn, I mean scenery porn. It even has a sort of 3D feel to it at times, which is cool. Kind of reminds me of something KyonAni would do, but not as freakishly realistic. I also like the way the character's mouthes are illustrated. It's just that bit more detailed than most shows, and yeah, I just always seem to notice mouths mkay. Do not judge me!

The characters are quite messed up, which always makes for good drama. I'm a little annoyed at myself for picking a third slice of life to watch in a row, but the heart wants what it wants. I never thought I would like magical girl or slice of life, and they're turning out to be my two favourite genres. I must really suck at predicting myself /laughs/.

So, my first impression of this show has been very good. Love the characters, it's not too boring-slice-of-lifey, the animation is great, lots of drama, voice acting is good so far. My only complaint is the opening song. I haven't bothered to research what is it yet, but the singer's voice is rather grating. On the other hand, the opening animation is fantastic.

Apologies, I was going to upload Hanasaku Iroha screenshots for this post, but my computer had a security issue. Bummer.

I just watched the S&W OP five times straight, and now I feel like watching the next episode. See how fickle I am? The is [demisemiquavergirl] signing out. I hope you are having better luck prioritising anime than I am!