First Date: Ookami to Koushinryou
- Title: Ookami to Koushinryou (Wolf and Spice)
- Studio: IMAGIN
- Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Ratings (out of 5):
- Story: ♥♥♥♥
- Animation: ♥♥♥♥
- Characters: ♥♥♥
- OP/ED Themes: ♥♥♥♥
- Overall: ♥♥♥♥ (Solid animation, interesting story, unique world setting for an anime, naked wolfgirls…sold!)
Thoughts:
The merchant Lawrence arrives in a small town just in time for its annual festival celebrating the harvest and dedicating it to the local wolf god– a tradition perhaps no longer believed in, but celebrated nonetheless. There, he finds himself assaulted by two women: one a merchant-in-training who he’s known for some time who offers a “partnership,” and the other the aforementioned wolf god.
In the end, Lawrence finds himself abandoning the merchant girl and taking the wolf god on a journey, which will be the subject of the rest of the series.
The first thing that surprised me the most about this series is that none of the main characters look young. In fact, Lawrence could be considered a little on the old side. He’s probably at least 30– practically ancient in anime-land. The wolf god, Horo, is hundreds of years old and looks early 20s-ish; same with Chloe, the merchant.
The second thing that surprised me is that it’s set in a world vaguely like western Europe in the late middle ages, something you don’t see too often in anime. Horo is still a Japanese-style god, however; more like a youkai than an all-powerful being.
We see reference in the first episode to the village’s celebration being a “pagan” one and that they aren’t devoted enough to the “one true religion,” which could become a really interesting conflict in the rest of the series.
But even if it’s a relatively peaceful slice-of-life journey sort of thing, I think it’ll still be a lot of fun. I definitely recommend picking this one up.