~Story~
The story is actually fairly interesting and has a good foundation: a merchant happens upon the incarnation of a wolf God while conducting business in a small town. He promises to escort the wolf home to the north and off they go on medieval merchant inspired adventures. It's original and intriguing, but the execution of the main ideas leaves something to be desired.
From the very start, I feel like we the viewers are left with gaps in the overall story. Horo, the wolf, never really explains how exactly she came to be the wheat God for the village in which she and Lawrence, the merchant, meet. It is somewhat implied, but this is never fully explored. Okay. No big deal. The story is still interesting. However, the gaps in info. don't end there. I'd personally like to know why in the world and how in the world she is connected to wheat. She's a wolf, so how did she become so reliant upon wheat? And can that connection ever be broken? Sadly, this is something that is pretty much ignored. The ending of the series is also very open-ended and ambiguous. Now, maybe there's a second season in the works, but it still seemed like a rather random and unsatifactory ending to me. It sort of tied up some overarching themes and concluded the final subarc, but it just felt unfinished to me because it failed to progress the main plot.
Another thing that I felt was unsatisfactory was how they presented the various economic nuances and dilemmas of the protagonists. It was very difficult for me to figure out what was going on whenever they started talking about debts wrought by miscalculated contracts and the inner workings of bartering businesses. I felt like my confusion could have easily been cleared up had they bothered to add a sentence or two explaining the situation in layman's terms. For example, the movie "The Producers", which also deals with understanding how an economic risk works, I understood because of the scene in which Bloom explains how their scheme could scam the system. For "Spice and Wolf", there was no such equivalent explanation scene. They tried to explain things but did it in a fashion that presumes that the viewer already grasps the basic situation. Hece, confusion.
~Art~
As has been pointed out by the other reviews, the artwork for the series really is high-calibre, especially in relation to the backgrounds and buildings. So, why didn't this section get a 10 out 0f 10 from me? Two reasons: 1. the way they drew noses for straight-on headshots was pretty shoddy at times by using only a bent line to indicate the nose, 2. they often drew Lawrence in such a way that it looked like he had a double chin. Yes, yes, nit-picky, I know, but the double-chin thing in particular really bothered me and they did it consistently throughout the series. I think they were trying to make it look more realistic (your chin does do weird things when you clench your jaw and/or lower your head) but it just came off looking awkward.
~Sound~
The sound of the series was superb both in the sound effects department and openings and endings department. There was one scene in particular which I was impressed by because they included realistic sounds mimicking how someone's bare feet would sound running on stone. The openning theme is slow and methodic, fits the show well, and was so enjoyable that I only skipped it for one episode. The ending theme is cutesy...and weird. But not uncharming.
~Character~
This is the section in which I deviate most strongly from what the other reviews have said. Horo is a nice enough character, but I found myself usually more annoyed by her than engrossed. There were just a couple of things that she did that really grated on my nerves, and had she been a real acquaintance of mine, I would have smacked her. For example, the scene in which she uses Lawerence's money to buy apples, hits him when he tries to eat one, and when he points out that she bought them with his money so he's entitled, she claims, "I can get money whenever I need it." I would have kicked any friend who did that to me off the cart. I don't find such behavior endearing or cute, but selfish and bratty.
She also had the tendecy to always act superior and constantly say "I am Horo the wise!" Aside from scamming a merchant, concocting one plan, and determining the validity of one or two things, she doesn't really do anything "wise." In fact, when it comes to relationships and helping Lawrence out of tight situations, she's pretty useless. Or at least, that's how it seemd to me. Her arrogance just bugged me. Oh! And as I just stated, she scams this one merchant and that reeeeeaaallly bothered me considering said merchant had done nothing wrong and originally offered Lawrence a really good price for his wares. The merchant takes it in stride, but that doesn't make conning honest business men out of their money any more right. Okay, so it's the game of merchanting to get the most money you can, but that doesn't mean that every merchant should sink to the corrupt system's level.
Other than Horo, my main beef with the characters is that they weren't very dynamic or developed. They're realistic enough but all rather flat and forgettable.
~Miscellaneous~
Two other things to note: 1. the dialogue at times is somewhat nonsensical and doesn't flow particulatly well, 2. there should have been more Horo in wolf form action. I gotta say that Horo in wolf form was awesome. I liked her in wolf form (for all the things I dislike about her otherwise), and I really wish they'd focused more on that.
Overall, it's not a bad series, not at all, but it's not fantastic either. It's decent and seems like it's more of a work in progress waiting for some more touching up. Hopefully, people interested in watching it will take the time to read all the reviews and compare their lists with the users who left them to determine whether or not it's for them. Then again, if you've got time to burn anyway, giving it a chance won't be detrimental.
