Spice and Wolf, A wonderful light novel has finally been translated to english Options

[Ranma]

The life of a traveling merchant is a lonely one, a fact with which Kraft Lawrence is well acquainted. Wandering from town to town with just his horse, cart, and whatever wares have come his way, the peddler has pretty well settled into his routine - that is until the night Lawrence finds a wolf goddess asleep in his cart. Taking the form of a fetching girl with wolf ears and a tail, Holo has weried of tending to harvests in the countryside and strikes up a bargain with the merchant to lend him the cunning of "Holo the Wisewolf" to increase his profits in exchange for taking her along on his travels. What kind of businessman could turn down such an offer? Lawrence soon learns, though, that having an ancient goddess as a traveling companion can be a bit of a mixed blessing. Will this wolf girl turn out to be too wild to tame?

Okay, that's pretty much what's printed on the back of the book.
Spice and Wolf has an anime and a manga, but they are both based off of the book (and both change certain aspects of the story).

I have to say. I really love the characters in this light novel. The main character is a pretty good merchant, and though he's pretty wise for his age, he's constantly being showed up by his travelling companion Holo. The character's personalities are really well written.

((I'd also like to point out that her name is pronounced Horo. I know that when they dubbed it they say "Holo" but...if you read the original japanese text...well, it's an "R" sound... Well... aboud 60% "R" 30% "L" and 10% "D."))

The japanese cover - http://static.animekiwi.com/images/upload/...koshinryo01.jpg
english cover - http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51B0m%2BoJe%2BL.jpg

Here's the opening to the anime, in case some would rather watch the anime than read the book. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZkVmtYgQIc

[dittadulla]

I came across this topic yesterday and stumbled upon the anime opening, thought it was really interesting, and watched a few episodes of it. I have to say, it's really good~ Love the characters, especially Holo's personality. A very bubbly and outgoing smart character who turns out to be so lonely really, and Lawrence is a great personality aswell. The storyline is kinda hard to follow at times, with all the money talk and stuff (well atleast for me xD) but it just somehow stays really interesting~

Now I just really want to get my hands on this book >_> somehow.

[Ranma]

They sell it at most book stores. You can usually find it in either the fantasy section or the manga section. If that doesn't work try ordering it online. Most online book stores have it as well.

[dittadulla]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they don't even have it here yet. So I'll see about the online ordering option; I saw it was available on Amazon.

[Ranma]

3rd book comes out in december.

Also, I just noticed that your avi is now Horo...and your sig is Battler and Ange.

Have you read the umineko Sound Novel that the anime is based off of? The anime sucks in comparison. They wrecked it!

Battler becomes a total badass and whips out "the gold truth!"

This post has been edited by Ranma: Oct 29 2010, 5:00 AM

[dittadulla]

AnnieBelle reads the Visual Novels actually... I don't ~.~ I would if I could, though. But a) The novels are HUGE and b) Downloading files so big is a huge no. ;; Even though I've definitely spoiled myself with reading the wiki I really want the storyline past episode 4 ;A;

But yes, Spice & Wolf now ranks at the top of my list as all-time favourite anime. I bought the second volume of the manga, too! For kicks. I still need to get the novels though, hopefully soon~

[Ranma]

Umineko is actually considered a "sound novel." Sound novels are basically visual novels with a heavy focus on music and atmosphere. I can't wait until episode 6 is translated because 5 was fantastic. In the anime they ruined Ange's death scene...

Also, in chapter five, Battler becomes "the golden sorcerer" and takes control of Ronove and the 7 sisters of purgatory. So far it is my favorite chapter. Ah, they also introduce Furudo Erika, a new "detective" character.

Spice and Wolf is still one of my favorites, I can't wait until the third novel comes out. That covers my favorite part of the anime.

[dittadulla]

Ah well, I always hear them referred just as VNs. =.="

I have heard of Battler becoming a sorcerer and of Furudo Erika~ I really wish I could get episode 5, everything sounds so great ~.~

Ah, yeah, I loved the part it covers. The most confusing to me though, but also a favourite.

[Ranma]

Was it confusing because of the economics involved? I thought Lawrence turned into a badass when he was struggling to keep Horo by his side. He was really desperate!

Also, if you like Umineko then you might like Higurashi. It's made by the same people and is also very good.
As far as Umineko goes, you may be able to find a copy of it for sale online.

[dittadulla]

My thoughts exactly! He was extremely badass and desperate. And it got confusing about the time after Holo fought with him and he proposed a deal to the little kid I-forget-his-name and Riana and then it all goes downhill. Or maybe it's just me lmao.

I decided I'd watch Higurashi yesterday actually! Just didn't get around to it. People say it's much better and a better adaption to its visual novels and such so~

[Ranma]

Yeah, the Higurashi anime was great. I haven't read the novels so I don't know how well they adapted it though.

Also, my girlfriend came over when I was watching that season of Spice and Wolf once. I remember that she came over again the next week going "Did Horo stay with him?!" (Back then it was still when they were coming out weekly.) So help me if this series doesn't end with Horo and Lawrence staying together until Lawrence dies a wrinkly old man I will be extremely upset...

[dittadulla]

I've watched two episodes of Higurashi so far now lmao... I kinda like it, although because I'm not a fan of horror and flinch at the mentinon of blood I'm half-scared of what's going to happen next. Umineko was great because it... didn't involve axes okok. You have no idea how scared I was at the end of the first when the little gil had an axe, which turned out to be innocent lmao.

Aww yes, if Horo would leave him I don't know what would possibly happen to poor Lawrence. He was devasted in the arc when it was just a possibility. But Japan apparently have like 14 novels already so it's a long time until the end still!

[dittadulla]

Allright so.

I ordered all three S&W light novels from Amazon, the first two arrived today! Seem awesome so far! The third one is shipping right now, planned to arrive in the next few days~ tbh I can't wait to see what the US dust cover will look like, that cosplay thing is really cool even though I prefer the original art ~w~

[Ranma]

Yeah, I like the American art as long as it's just on the dust cover ^_^
Btw, I just got done reading the sixth chapter of Umineko, and I'm halfway through the seventh. I THINK I KNOW WHO THE ORIGINAL CULPRIT IS!!!

[dittadulla]

Really?? I've been letting Annie feed me the spoilers because she's some with 7th and everything... She tells me most bets are on Kyrie, and that the "purple truth" crosses out both George and Maria. Also Shannon is = to a bunch of characters such as beato and kanon... I read an interesting theory about George being the culprit but with the 7th game it was proved he wasn't.
Oh also, there are some spoilers for the eighth and last game out because it's out in japan but nothing of the culprit so far.

I like how this turned into a discussion about umineko.

[Ranma]

Kyrie isn't the culprit, I'm certain of it. In an alternate world, where the adults were able to solve the epitaph, Kyrie and Rudolph are the murderers, and that also explains Eva survived and looked after Ange. For example, the Ange that meets up with Battler during the games isn't the little sister from his own world/time line.

I believe the culprit is most definitely Shannon. All evidence thus far points to her, and if you look at "the heart" it would seem that she had the motive to commit the murders as well. Also, during the original murder, Shannon's face was beyond recognition, and George never checked the corpse. I believe that Shannon killed another servant and then faked her death so that she could continue on with the murders. If George would have checked the body her plan would have been all for naught.

That is my theory. And yeah, I like how this became an Umineko thing too... Btw, have you seen this? It's a pretty good skit that was put on during an anime convention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55sJXfj5Bew

[dittadulla]

Oh, you've got some nice points. See, I would never had figured that out because I can never outsmart detectives of a show/game/book and figure out anything before them >>

Not to mention the sin Beatrice told Battler to acknowledge at the end of episode 4 (or has it been resolved?), bets are on that the sin was that Shannon didn't recieve letters from Battler the years he was away, and he may not have a clue because with he forgot or he actually did and they just never got to Shannon. As Shannon is Beatrice, it seemed like a horrible sin.
Shannon is also Kanon, so whenever Shannon died, Kanon disappeared.

But I bet as soon as the 8th game is patched to English, there will be a huge twist and it's actually not Shannon. But the twist could be that it was actually Shannon. I just stopped making sense.

Ooh, that's a great skit! Ronove is so smooooth, he's amazing.

[Ranma]

It's still not really proven that Shannon = Kanon. Though I won't be surprised that they are (and there's evidence that they probably are), I don't think Jessica would fall in love with Shannon. She definitely sees them as two different people. So I'm kind of hesitant when it comes to Shannon being Kanon because of that...

Anyway, Battler's sin isn't that he never sent Shannon a letter. His sin is that he forgot his promise to Shannon. Bernkastel actually said in a poem once:
Do you know what is the sin?
It isn't because you ate the forbidden fruit.
Do you know what is the sin?
It isn't because you listened to the serpent.
You still don't know what is the sin?
Then, that itself is your sin.

The funny thing is, if you play/read both Umineko AND Higurashi, you learn that Rika and Bernkastel ARE the same person (even though many fans say that they aren't because Bernkastel once said that they were different people). However, if you play Higurashi, she explains all that. She considers herself a different entity so that Rika can exist. She named herself Bernkastel after a wine that her father liked.

Also, Furudo Erika, Bernkastel's piece in the game, sounds pretty similar to "Furude Rika" doesn't it? Not really relevant to them being the same person really, but a pretty interesting observation.

http://magixclub.com/forums/index.php?show...mp;#entry428921

This post has been edited by Ranma: Feb 5 2011, 8:32 AM

[Ranma]

ignore this post...double post.... ...

This post has been edited by Ranma: Feb 14 2011, 12:40 AM

[dittadulla]

Wow, somehow that post really went past me oops...

Well, anyway, back to Spice and Wolf!

Have you gotten the 4th novel yet? I'm always meaning to get it but never get around to it.