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Aaand on to another blog while I'm in the mood.

Ookami to Koushinryou season two. Aka Spice and Wolf II. More Horo. <3 For a series I preach about, and Horo being my most favourite character to date, this is very delayed. A lot of people questioned why I didn't watch it while it aired, and... well, several reasons. Firstly, it's too epic a story to watch week to week. It'd drive me bonkers waiting for the next episode. Also, the first season was licensed, and there was all sorts of nonsense about her name among the community, not just here on MAL but everywhere, since anybody with a brain disagrees with the R->L romanisation. It caused a lot of drama all over the place, and I wanted to wait and confirm I was getting a good release by a group that subtitled her as Horo.

“But you don't even watch subs, why be so anal about it, Asa!” some have asked. And to that I answer: It's the principle of the thing. I get fansubs because I share anime with friends, who do not speak Japanese. I'm fussy about releases because I want the best available quality to share, so people aren't stuck with crap; seeing crap gives people poor opinions. Speedsubs and other crapsubs, and idiotic editors agreeing with the morons at Funimation about R->L can just go to hell. So here I waited for a good release confirmed with proper spelling, then all sorts of other stuff delayed me from watching it until recently.

So, yeah, I watched I finally, so on with the review;

The artwork I think actually improved with the new studio. A lot of people were concerned they'd ruin it, but I think it looks better, particularly in HD. They kept the same anime style the first season used, however it was a bit more polished; background work, character movement, everything. It's just better as a whole; and it is a difficult thing to improve on a series that was already pretty damn good looking. :D So yeah, very happy with all aspects of the artwork, character design and animation.

Unfortunately the OP and ED paled in comparison to the first season. I absolutely adored the first OP, and the ED was weird and catchy. This season is just... eh. Not interested in either. The scoring was solid, though. Very happy with the composition and use of all of it.

Of course, the voice work... this deserves its own paragraph because Horo is Ami's best ever role, and Jun as Lawrence is just awesome. Definitely one of his best roles, I think he does the character brilliantly. But, Horo... Ami's portrayal of her is just perfect. The best voicing to be heard in anime. The way she does it is most excellent, I can't even begin to put how I feel about it in to words. Nobody else could do Horo. Horo IS Ami, Ami is Horo. Simple as that. =p

So, yeah. The story. The first arc was really disappointing. I found it a bit of a chore to get through, which turns everything I just said upside down I suppose. Yeah, the art is better. And yes the voice work is perfection, and the music is well done and appealing... but the story for the first arc was just blah. Made me rage at a few points, even. I knew how it was going to end so I just felt it was rather unnecessary, I guess. However, the following stories were fine and I was content with the rest of the series, just the first bit was rather feh to me. =p

The series, like the first one, gets a very solid ten. Despite the weak start, all the other factors combined plus just the fun later story redeemed it from a lesser score. I still think it's one of the best anime ever, and look forward to further seasons.

Oh, and this was the 600th completed entry on my list. But I'm blogging late so read the 600 entry earlier on. ^^;