Video #35: Hellooooo, Merchant! (Spice and Wolf)

Subtitle: Violations of Personal Space

Anime: Spice and Wolf, seasons 1 and 2 (no spoilers to speak of)
Song: "Patrick Fagan", Bastard Bearded Irishmen
Genre: Romantic comedy shenanigans.
Summary: Everybody wants a share of Lawrence's...business dealings. Lawrence mainly wants to be taken seriously. Sigh.
Other warnings: Some partial nudity. Not all that much, considering this show's reputation.
Links: Org, YouTube, Direct (XviD)

This video was built as such:

Lawrence's original goal of becoming a fine upstanding member of society
+ townsgirl-of-the-week syndrome
+ the covers/promos made you think that this show was all about T&A...hahahaha
+ the Celtic-influenced score in the anime
+ pure evil
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this video

Despite being egregiously dumb, this video wound up following the Lawrence's Life Goals thread of the plot in a strangely sincere way. Mostly in an effort to try and capture a little of the tone of the song. (The recurring phrase "you people" struck me, stranger-in-a-strange-land style. But I toned down a few early clip choices that were a little too serious.)

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Bastard Bearded Irishmen are a Pittsburgh band in that fake-Celtic-punk style. This is a traditional song, as far as I know, and it sounds even more cheesy in its original form.

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Lyrics, as far as I understand them. It sounds like they go off-book from the lyrics I'm finding online, in a few spots. ( But this is what I've got )

If you haven't seen this series, it's not actually this kind of romantic comedy, 90% of the time. It's about economics, romantic-comedy verbal sparring, UST, pretty scenery, and food/drink porn, in that order. After that comes harem-style romantic comedy (as seen here), Mayfly-December romance angst, and ruminations on the shift from paganism to deism. There are multiple entire scenes of people talking about speculative trading and/or the devaluation of currency, often between two characters just parked in some inn somewhere. Its sheer nerve is awesome, and the characterization and main romance plot are subtler than most anime I've seen.

How not to spend a winter afternoon.

( Minor? writing mishap )

I read an article the other day that had an interesting thesis. And though it's aimed at your stereotypical guys whining about how girls don't like them, I think there's something worth reading for the rest of us, too. The ideas have hung around in my brain since then.

( I think this is the longest ramble I've written since moving to DW )

So I guess that's my New Year's aspiration post, even though I hate the timing of New Year's resolutions: right when my willpower is in the tank. But I can feel jazzed about life in general. So that's what it's about.