Novel Review #1: Spice & Wolf Volume 7: Side Colors
The first 6 volumes of Spice & Wolf were each usually centered around a town and a story arc. They followed the traveling merchant Kraft Lawrence and his demigod wisewolf companion, Holo. Volume 7 is different. It includes a Novella called The Boy and the Girl and the White Flowers, a short story called The Red of the Apple, the Blue of the Sky, and another short story that is the first story told from Holo's perspective called Wolf and Amber Melancholy. Apparently the first two stories were already featured on the Dengeki website, but the 3rd story was new for this novel.
So, was it any good?
SPICE & WOLF VOLUME 7: SIDE COLORS
BY ISUNA HASEKURA
ILLUSTRATED BY JYUU AYAKURA
TRANSLATED BY PAUL STARR
PUBLISHER: YEN PRESS
COVER PRICE: $11.99
When you first open this book, you are first treated to wonderful paintings by Jyuu Ayakura for the novel. Every book in this series has 2-4 illustrations that are colored on print paper and not the black and white normal paper that makes up the rest of the book. Each illustration represents one of the 3 stories with the title of the story as well as a quote from it. There are also a number of illustrations throughout the book, each taking up a full page. There are 5 in the first story (including splash pages for each story), 2 in the second, and 3 in the third for a total of 10 B&W and 4 colored (+ a little chibi Holo). Overall, Ayakura's art is quite good. I really love his depiction of Holo. She has such a huge range of emotions and expressions. I'll tell you this, though, the art style is quite different between the novel, the manga, and the anime.
Jyuu Ayakura (light novel), Anime, & Keito Koume (manga)
I personally like Ayakura's version the best...and he is the original designer of her character as the novel came first. I feel like the anime one makes her too cheery and older (appearance-wise, Holo is quite old...) in a way while Keito Koume's version makes her look cuter. Ayakura has a nice sweet spot right in the middle that I love.
The Boy and the Girl and the White Flowers
The first story in this book is by far the longest. It starts on page 7 and goes all the way to page 124. The entire novel is just 203 pages, so it is by far the bulk of this read. It starts off with a pair of children who are on their way to the sea. This story is told from the point of view of 10-year old boy Klass, who really doesn't know a whole lot about the world, but he knows WAY more than his traveling partner, the fragile, flighty, serious, ignorant, very religious 12-year old girl Aryes. Aryes reminds me of a young Estelle (Tales of Vesperia) in a lot of ways. Think Estelle but the only book she ever read was the Bible. Ya...your first introduction to Aryes has her confirming with Klass that what she sees are flowers and that it is perfectly normal for them to be without a vase. She doesn't know what birds are and she becomes concerned when she sees them flying. She doesn't know what a "man" is except that back where they came from the other women told her that they are scary beasts. Aryes doesn't even realize that Klass is a boy! She even makes a bet with Klass later that he is lying when he told her about huge ships floating on water. Yes, she is quite entertaining for the reader, but Klass considered leaving her behind a couple of times very early on since she is quite frail and slow.
Klass and Aryes began their journey because they were both kicked out of the mansion where Klass' master lived. The master of the mansion travelled a lot and apparently died somewhere in his travels, so one day a mysterious man showed up with a bunch of supplies and claimed to be the former master's brother. He told the servants to gather their things and leave. Aryes lived in a different building and she left on her own after seeing the man. Klass gathered some water and bread and decided to chase after her. A couple of revelations come up later regarding Aryes' relationship with the owner of the mansion, but I won't spoil that. Anyway, they travel for a little bit before they are attacked by wolves one night. Or they would have been, if the wolves weren't scared off by something else. That something else turned out to be Holo, who had apparently been following Klass and Aryes for a while and helps them out since they were severely ill prepared. Aryes was very fatigued and Klass didn't know what to do so Holo decided to help them out. Holo was actually trying to track down the owner of that mansion, but she changes her plan when she hears about Klass and Aryes' promise with each other to go see the sea. It becomes a bit of a love story as Holo starts to tease Klass about Aryes and how he should be more manly and stuff like that. The story takes a turn when they are apparently are being chased by some mysterious men and head for a forest. I don't really want to spoil anything else, but the conclusion is quite sweet, but not before the climax. Fun twist, but not too surprising if you're really familiar with Spice & Wolf. Klass makes for a very entertaining narrator as just a young boy traveling with an older girl and Holo. Overall, it was a good read. Most of it moves pretty slowly, but those parts have the best character interaction. I think the work as a whole suffers a little bit through translation, but I think that's unavoidable. The language flow is quite a bit different to typical novels that I read because of that. It isn't necessarily bad, but some of it feels a little clunky. It was enjoyable overall, though. 8/10
The Red of the Apple, the Blue of the Sky
This was quite a short story, spanning from pages 125 to 156. This one takes us back to the main characters of the series Kraft and Holo. They are in the town of Pazzio (which is the first town they reached and had their first adventure in) and it starts off with a very entertaining scene of Holo eating apples...lots of apples. She bought 120 of them and Lawrence really can't do anything but shake his head. From there, Lawrence tells Holo that they are going to need to buy some warmer clothes for the trip to the north, but he needs to get some change for his gold coins. So, they head off to meet with Lawrence's cambist (money changer), Weiz. Weiz was a character in the 1st volume, and he is quite the womanizer. He flirts with Holo and of course she flirts back because she knows it annoys Lawrence. From there, they buy some clothes and that is more or less it. There is a lot of cute character interaction; mostly between Holo and Lawrence. I really enjoy their jabs back and forth all throughout the series. Both characters are very smart and clever and they have to be. One is a traveling merchant who has a LOT to keep track of and think about. He is always trying to get the best deal and will do most anything to make some profit. The other is a centuries old wisewolf who is wily and loves seducing men to do her bidding. It's a fun little short story, but it really is too short. 7/10
Wolf and Amber Melancholy
THIS is truly an incredible read for any fan of the series. That is because it is the first ever story written from Holo's perspective. You finally get a look into her mind and boy is it revealing. You get to see her jabs from a different angle and ride the roller coaster that is her thought process. This story also reminded my why I can't help but think about my sister whenever Holo is around. A lot of the time I communicate with my sister, I feel like Lawrence and I really feel like I can relate to him (except for the love part. That would be pretty sick). I don't think my sister would see it quite the same way, but from my eyes the two are very similar. Maybe that's why I like Holo and Lawrence so much and what has kept me so much into this series. The whole series revolves around these two traveling companions and its pretty much all about their interactions with each other and their journey.
Back to this short story...
Plotwise, there isn't a whole lot here. Lawrence and Holo are celebrating with Norah after their successful plan to get Lawrence cleared of his debts (I believe this was volume 2), but Holo isn't feeling well and she ultimately collapses. She spends pretty much the entire story in bed thinking to herself and interacting with Lawrence a couple of times as he cares for her and helps her feel better. The dialogue is great and the glimpses into Holo's mind are even better. 9/10
CONCLUSION
I enjoyed this book. I've always like short stories and it was interesting to get a couple of vignettes about a couple of my all-time favorite characters. The first two aren't really necessary to people who follow the series, but the 3rd story is a must read for any fan of Holo. It took me a while to read simply because I haven't made much time for myself and I've been trying real hard to get to bed earlier. Writing this review at this time of night doesn't help that, but at least I feel like I'm getting something done.
Good book overall. The art is wonderful and the stories are ok. The characters are always where this series shine and this book doesn't dissppoint. The translations are a little rough with some grammar mistakes, but in a way it adds character of its own being unique in my novel library. There is a certain flow to it that tells my brain that I'm reading Spice & Wolf. 8/10
So, was it any good?
SPICE & WOLF VOLUME 7: SIDE COLORS
BY ISUNA HASEKURA
ILLUSTRATED BY JYUU AYAKURA
TRANSLATED BY PAUL STARR
PUBLISHER: YEN PRESS
COVER PRICE: $11.99
When you first open this book, you are first treated to wonderful paintings by Jyuu Ayakura for the novel. Every book in this series has 2-4 illustrations that are colored on print paper and not the black and white normal paper that makes up the rest of the book. Each illustration represents one of the 3 stories with the title of the story as well as a quote from it. There are also a number of illustrations throughout the book, each taking up a full page. There are 5 in the first story (including splash pages for each story), 2 in the second, and 3 in the third for a total of 10 B&W and 4 colored (+ a little chibi Holo). Overall, Ayakura's art is quite good. I really love his depiction of Holo. She has such a huge range of emotions and expressions. I'll tell you this, though, the art style is quite different between the novel, the manga, and the anime.
Jyuu Ayakura (light novel), Anime, & Keito Koume (manga)
I personally like Ayakura's version the best...and he is the original designer of her character as the novel came first. I feel like the anime one makes her too cheery and older (appearance-wise, Holo is quite old...) in a way while Keito Koume's version makes her look cuter. Ayakura has a nice sweet spot right in the middle that I love.
The Boy and the Girl and the White Flowers
The first story in this book is by far the longest. It starts on page 7 and goes all the way to page 124. The entire novel is just 203 pages, so it is by far the bulk of this read. It starts off with a pair of children who are on their way to the sea. This story is told from the point of view of 10-year old boy Klass, who really doesn't know a whole lot about the world, but he knows WAY more than his traveling partner, the fragile, flighty, serious, ignorant, very religious 12-year old girl Aryes. Aryes reminds me of a young Estelle (Tales of Vesperia) in a lot of ways. Think Estelle but the only book she ever read was the Bible. Ya...your first introduction to Aryes has her confirming with Klass that what she sees are flowers and that it is perfectly normal for them to be without a vase. She doesn't know what birds are and she becomes concerned when she sees them flying. She doesn't know what a "man" is except that back where they came from the other women told her that they are scary beasts. Aryes doesn't even realize that Klass is a boy! She even makes a bet with Klass later that he is lying when he told her about huge ships floating on water. Yes, she is quite entertaining for the reader, but Klass considered leaving her behind a couple of times very early on since she is quite frail and slow.
Klass and Aryes began their journey because they were both kicked out of the mansion where Klass' master lived. The master of the mansion travelled a lot and apparently died somewhere in his travels, so one day a mysterious man showed up with a bunch of supplies and claimed to be the former master's brother. He told the servants to gather their things and leave. Aryes lived in a different building and she left on her own after seeing the man. Klass gathered some water and bread and decided to chase after her. A couple of revelations come up later regarding Aryes' relationship with the owner of the mansion, but I won't spoil that. Anyway, they travel for a little bit before they are attacked by wolves one night. Or they would have been, if the wolves weren't scared off by something else. That something else turned out to be Holo, who had apparently been following Klass and Aryes for a while and helps them out since they were severely ill prepared. Aryes was very fatigued and Klass didn't know what to do so Holo decided to help them out. Holo was actually trying to track down the owner of that mansion, but she changes her plan when she hears about Klass and Aryes' promise with each other to go see the sea. It becomes a bit of a love story as Holo starts to tease Klass about Aryes and how he should be more manly and stuff like that. The story takes a turn when they are apparently are being chased by some mysterious men and head for a forest. I don't really want to spoil anything else, but the conclusion is quite sweet, but not before the climax. Fun twist, but not too surprising if you're really familiar with Spice & Wolf. Klass makes for a very entertaining narrator as just a young boy traveling with an older girl and Holo. Overall, it was a good read. Most of it moves pretty slowly, but those parts have the best character interaction. I think the work as a whole suffers a little bit through translation, but I think that's unavoidable. The language flow is quite a bit different to typical novels that I read because of that. It isn't necessarily bad, but some of it feels a little clunky. It was enjoyable overall, though. 8/10
The Red of the Apple, the Blue of the Sky
This was quite a short story, spanning from pages 125 to 156. This one takes us back to the main characters of the series Kraft and Holo. They are in the town of Pazzio (which is the first town they reached and had their first adventure in) and it starts off with a very entertaining scene of Holo eating apples...lots of apples. She bought 120 of them and Lawrence really can't do anything but shake his head. From there, Lawrence tells Holo that they are going to need to buy some warmer clothes for the trip to the north, but he needs to get some change for his gold coins. So, they head off to meet with Lawrence's cambist (money changer), Weiz. Weiz was a character in the 1st volume, and he is quite the womanizer. He flirts with Holo and of course she flirts back because she knows it annoys Lawrence. From there, they buy some clothes and that is more or less it. There is a lot of cute character interaction; mostly between Holo and Lawrence. I really enjoy their jabs back and forth all throughout the series. Both characters are very smart and clever and they have to be. One is a traveling merchant who has a LOT to keep track of and think about. He is always trying to get the best deal and will do most anything to make some profit. The other is a centuries old wisewolf who is wily and loves seducing men to do her bidding. It's a fun little short story, but it really is too short. 7/10
Wolf and Amber Melancholy
THIS is truly an incredible read for any fan of the series. That is because it is the first ever story written from Holo's perspective. You finally get a look into her mind and boy is it revealing. You get to see her jabs from a different angle and ride the roller coaster that is her thought process. This story also reminded my why I can't help but think about my sister whenever Holo is around. A lot of the time I communicate with my sister, I feel like Lawrence and I really feel like I can relate to him (except for the love part. That would be pretty sick). I don't think my sister would see it quite the same way, but from my eyes the two are very similar. Maybe that's why I like Holo and Lawrence so much and what has kept me so much into this series. The whole series revolves around these two traveling companions and its pretty much all about their interactions with each other and their journey.
Back to this short story...
Plotwise, there isn't a whole lot here. Lawrence and Holo are celebrating with Norah after their successful plan to get Lawrence cleared of his debts (I believe this was volume 2), but Holo isn't feeling well and she ultimately collapses. She spends pretty much the entire story in bed thinking to herself and interacting with Lawrence a couple of times as he cares for her and helps her feel better. The dialogue is great and the glimpses into Holo's mind are even better. 9/10
CONCLUSION
I enjoyed this book. I've always like short stories and it was interesting to get a couple of vignettes about a couple of my all-time favorite characters. The first two aren't really necessary to people who follow the series, but the 3rd story is a must read for any fan of Holo. It took me a while to read simply because I haven't made much time for myself and I've been trying real hard to get to bed earlier. Writing this review at this time of night doesn't help that, but at least I feel like I'm getting something done.
Good book overall. The art is wonderful and the stories are ok. The characters are always where this series shine and this book doesn't dissppoint. The translations are a little rough with some grammar mistakes, but in a way it adds character of its own being unique in my novel library. There is a certain flow to it that tells my brain that I'm reading Spice & Wolf. 8/10