Eva’s First Impression
Oh my gosh, I SEE WHAT THEY DID THERE!!!!! THE OPENING SCENE IS FREAKING HOLO TELLING THE STORY OF HER JOURNEY TO THEIR DAUGHTER. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAKLSJDLASJDASLJKASDLK!!!! I absolutely love love love that they did that! What a nice treat to start the remake with!
For new fans, the premiere might have felt like an info dump. I will admit, I got the impression if I hadn’t read the novels or watched the original 2008 adaption, then I probably have been quite overwhelmed. There was a lot to take in, such as Lawrence’s occupation, the importance of Trenni, and various currencies that will come into play later. But let’s focus on the stuff that’s relevant to this episode.
We were introduced to Kraft Lawrence, a travelling merchant. We actually don’t learn too much about him today, perhaps a bit too bare-boned than one might expect to kick things off. He meets Holo, the Wise Wolf when he discovered she sneaked into his wagon, snuggling herself under the wheat and pelt. And yet, despite discovering a young woman with ears and tail, all credit is due for Lawrence having the guts and nonchalance to just face her, and even demand her to prove she is Holo, the God of Harvest. He ended up regretting being a bit too headstrong about that, as her true form (that requires her to consume wheat or blood, she chose the former) scared him shitless to the point he ended up going back to the village to take up the chief’s offer to stay the night ahahaha. That said, despite his initial fear, he didn’t run away from her, in-fact, she was the one who actually gave him space to calm down. Although he did intially say he’d allow her to join him if she proves she’s what she says she is (which she did) because she’d be good fortune, at the end of the day, the offer help her make the journey north, back to her homeland of Yoitsu, where she was born was an offer than came from the heart.
The festival was part of a tradition that was once said to determine whether they’d reap a bountiful harvest or not. But as Holo explained, there’re times when she had to create a bad harvest to ensure the health of the lands because bountiful harvests are hard on it. In consequence of that, the villagers opinion of hers has soured and when the new lord offered a new farming practice to follow, the villagers eagerly hopped onto that, and are happy with the results. Now Holo is no longer revered, and is even passed off as mere superstition, and the festival they carry out is merely just continuing a tradition. It no longer carries the same significance as it once had. That’s why Holo is no longer needed there, which is honestly heartbreaking considering how long she had looked after them and their harvests. So it’s an understatement why Holo is more than ready to leave this place, and hopes to return to her homeland.
Holo doesn’t and never has consider herself to be a God, she’s just Holo, nothing more, nothing less. She lives inside the wheat. The only reason she was able to escape from the village today was because Lawrence was carrying a large batch of on him. Thanks to that, she was able to move into his wagon without being seen when Yarei had cut the last of the harvest. She has that mythical air about her, wise and adorably shrewd. However we can see outside of the prideful air she puts up as Holo, the Wise Wolf, at heart she’s very lonely, and that was something Lawrence picked up right away. It certainly played a part as to why he was so willing to even offer her to accompany him in the first place.
Overall I thought this was a great way to start fresh again! I think the highlight of the premiere was the soundtrack, because man they are starting off strong with it. The animation was very beautiful, and while new and more faithful character designs also quickly grew on me.
I will give a heads up, this is a series has a lot of economics at play here, and for that reason it’s going to be a lot slower, but the chemistry between Holo and Lawrence and the overall story has always been interesting enough to keep me invested. I’m really excited for the remake, and I’m certainly hoping we’ll get the chance to go further than the previous one had.
Another thing I wanted to address, is that I know a lot of people are/been worried about Passione handling the series. So here’s my two cents: rather than getting caught up in doom posting about something that hasn’t happened yet, let’s all just wait and see how it plays out. This is going to be 25 episodes, so there’s going to be a lot of time to see how this unfolds. There are returning staff members from the original adaption involved with this project, and while the original adaption wasn’t perfect (such as throwing in an anime original character in the first episode, skipping out volume 4 and jumping to volume 5 instead), it was still enjoyable. And so far, they definitely started off on the right foot this time with sticking with the actual characters that exist in the novel. Anyone who watched the original adaption knows which anime original character I’m referring to (coughChloecough). So my best advice is just go into this with no particular expectations whatsoever, because that’s exactly what I’ll be doing. Just taking one episode at a time!
I will note it’s been a real long time since I’ve reread the series, especially the earlier volumes. Certain details are still vivid in my mind, but any specifics are pretty hazy so I’m sort of going into this blind until it jogs the memory. I started reading series in high school back in 2009 when it was first localized by Yenpress after being smitten by the original anime adaption. I have the entire series, though the only bit I haven’t read yet are the spring logs, and I’ve been stockpiling Wolf and Parchment to binge read (which is already at 8+ volumes)! So I’ll be covering this series mostly blind again.
Possibility of Blogging: Guaranteed – I will likely do double-posts more frequently with this series due to it being a lot more on the slow side. As usual, I’ll always let you know when it comes down to that the day of in the latest entry’s comment section.
Notice: Ep 2 entry will be released as a double or triple post. I’ll update here if it comes down to that. Thanks for understanding!
Update: As expected, this is going to be a triple post entry (EP 2 – 4). It is proving to be rather difficult for me to write about as it is, so might just come down to writing up the posts covering the arcs as they go.