Originally Posted by
Neichus
Well, I guess I'll kick off the Spice and Wolf rewatch discussion. I have seen this series before, and rewatched S1 in the last year or so with a friend, so these first episodes are fairly familiar to me.
S&W is one of the few series were most of the nudity doesn't bother me. I'm normally part of the Prude Police, but S&W just knows how to frame situations properly. A good demonstration of their conscious understanding of how to frame females is in the comparison between Chloe and Holo in the first episode. While Lawrence has no romantic inclinations toward Chloe, when she lies down on the hay and comments that she has grown up his eyes can't help but notice. The way they frame those shots and then cut to Lawrence's face clearly indicate that we're being treated to Lawrence's point of view, not just being given shots of a pretty girl for fan service reasons.
Later on when Holo is getting out of the cart she is stark naked but the way the situation is handled manages to keep it from feeling like it's just there for sex appeal. Her being naked is natural; she doesn't give a second thought to it and neither should we. The only compromising shot is yet another that is clearly from Lawrence's point of view: when she bends over to pick up the jerky and looking at her (nicely rounded) buttocks he notices that she has a tail. So the scene which could be a train wreck of bloody noses and shallow fan service manages to wordlessly demonstrate to us how Holo views her body and how we as the audience should as well.
One thing that is interesting to note is that later in the second episode when they are drying off in the inn Lawrence does become embarrassed at Holo being naked. At first I thought maybe this was inconsistent, since he didn't display any of this in episode one, but on further reflection I think it could be argued that he is becoming familiar with her as a person now. Even if she doesn't care, his maleness does.
Continuing on to Holo herself as a character, I've always had a very interesting time trying to pin her down. I know she is a fan favorite, but I don't think most people appreciate a simple fact that is stated in the first episode: Holo is Holo. She is her own personality that is not any particular trope and doesn't play to what people want. She is very old and experienced, despite appearances. However, she knows the effect her appearance has and smoothly abuses it to get what she wants. The only reason she isn't a villain is because what she wants is usually fairly basic (apples!) or more or less good-willed (helping Lawrence). In short, she is highly, but benignly, manipulative.
This is the reason that again, despite her popularity, I really don't think people appreciate how dangerous she is. Not in a "wolf eat you" way (although that is also true), but in the fact that in scene after scene she is content to play with Lawrence. To tease him, to excite his emotions, and then to stomp them. It's her pastime. This is somebody who is very adept at wearing a mask and only rarely lets what she thinks and feels through, instead pretending to be many different things and watching other people react. So in short, even though I admire Holo as a character I have never thought that she would be an amazing person to be with in real life.
To finish up, I have a question for people: where do you imagine S&W taking place? I've always imagined either southern Germany or northern Italy given the names, but never could quite decide on which.
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I typed it unintentionally then realized what I said and left it lol
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