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Hello! I come from a time when wandering merchants lied, deceived, and even killed for their own profit. . .no wait, it’s not the present time, really! There’s wheat and… and… people and… Musicians, y’know? I know we have that now but… Hey! Does this time have neko-mimi? Kitsune-mimi?…Oh, right… Japan. Err… well… Ah, I got it! There are horses! I bet you don’t have horses anymore, right? What? you do?! Oh man, how to make you believe I come from the past? Hmm. . .sorry, you just have to believe me in this one, buddy, even though I’ll investigate more into it later. I think I’ll write a memo on my iPhone. . .

Made by Studio IMAGIN on 2008, this 13-episode series will increase your passion for tsunderes. The genres would be Drama, Fantasy…and economics.

STORY

This anime is situated in the past, if my intuition and powers of observation don’t deceive me, I’d say it’s sometime between the end of the dark age and the Renaissance, around 1553 a.C.. . .or if you prefer, it’s in a place where there’s still a long way towards the industrial era. Anyway. . . the story revolves around Lawrence, a normal merchant who does his monthly routine selling wheat and furs to the nearby towns part of a supposed central Europe.

One day he finds a girl with a fox tail and ears, this one claiming to be Horo the Wise, the Deity of wheat, and that she needs to get to the Northern mountains 12+ episodes away from where they are now. Without putting too much resistance, Lawrence accepts. Now we will experience the ups and downs of being a merchant who has a Kitsune-mimi girl sticking around. . .

By the way, Horo is, from this moment until I see something better, the best Tsundere I’ve ever experienced in an anime. Kudos for that!

GRAPHICS

The graphics for the entire show are quite standard; Character designs are standard, although the eye designs are pretty well made (look at Horo for some time and you’ll never be able to stare away from those blood-red eyes). Also, Horo’s clothing designs are very interesting: she has a long skirt but the colors aren’t bright, as most times in anime, which gives it a classy-yet comfortable feeling. Like. . .if somehow they would be nice to be put on (in case you’re a girl. . .or you roll that way >>;). The downs: Running is choppy, action scenes not very action-ly really, sometimes we get to see not very good character designs, but overall good if you’re not so nitpicky with QUALITY in your animu.

Tsun-Tsun!

SOUND & MUSIC

The OP song, “Tabi no Tochu” is calm and melancholic, something you’d expect in a shoujo drama, although this isn’t shoujo at all. Still, it manages to wrap up Spice and Wolf in a good manner.

Oh, and the ED “Ringobiyori” is truly an experience! If I were able to catalog it, it would be in the “tonal naif” section (all this just to not use the word “nonsense”, sheesh!).  The woman singing does it with so much. . .sloth that you can actually feel the increasing weight of your pupils when you try to sing like her. Also, but not less important, the lyrics are oh so incoherent and badly spelled that I let myself to not give a shit about anything and embrace the Spice and Wolf experience, hahaha! Definitely a must to put on your car’s CD / mp3 player if you want to confuse the neighborhood!

Now, the BGM for the show is somewhat well done because the composer tries to transport us to the pre-baroque eras with music that really sounds renassaince-y; sometimes we’ll hear flute trios, or small ensembles playing in styles of composers of the past. A good job, indeed!

Tsun-Tsun-Tsun-Tsun!

OVERALL

Watch this show only if you agree with these 2 points:

You love Tsundere behavior

You like -mimi girls.

Really, don’t get me wrong. The story is kinda forced and the explanation of the economic movements and tendencies is close to disastrous. At most it teaches us that we never have to trust entirely on our kin. Well, it’ been some time since an anime left me with something to apply in real life, so maybe you can give it a shot. Also, Horo is a great Tsundere so if you love these kind of women you’ll have quite a ride!

STORY    8.5

GRAPHICS    8

SOUND & MUSIC   9

OVERALL                            8.5 Diamonds. Not bad!