Ookami to Koushinryou: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf

With a cartload of fur pelts in tow, traveling merchant Kraft Lawrence stops by the village of Pasloe. According to local folklore, centuries ago, one of the villagers made a promise with the wolf deity Holo, who swore to bless Pasloe with bountiful harvests of wheat. Yet, as time passed, such stories became little more than relics of the past.

After quickly finishing his business in the village, Lawrence sets out to his next destination. His journey, however, takes an unexpected turn when he discovers a nude, animal-eared girl sleeping among his pelts. Even more surprisingly, the youthful-looking woman claims to be Holo—the wolf of legend.

Holo wishes to return to her hometown in the north, and though their first encounter is rocky, she convinces Lawrence to accompany her on her travels. In return, she vows to earn her keep, using her quick wits and lifetime of experience to help her newfound companion in his dealings. As they continue their journey, Lawrence and Holo take advantage of whatever economic opportunities they come across, often landing in situations that put both their business skills and their relationship to the test.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Holo Main

Koshimizu, Ami Japanese

Lawrence, Kraft Main

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Arendt, Norah Supporting

Nakahara, Mai Japanese

Myuuri Supporting

Tanaka, Aimi Japanese

Rubens, Dian Supporting

Watanabe, Akeno Japanese

Liechten, Marhait Supporting

Ootsuka, Houchuu Japanese

Cole, Marc Supporting

Koyama, Rikiya Japanese

Amati, Fermi Supporting

Chiba, Saeko Japanese

Remerio, Hans Supporting

Gouda, Hozumi Japanese

Tarantino, Jacob Supporting

Tsuji, Shinpachi Japanese

Sotokawa, Akihiro Producer

Hosoi, Shunsuke Producer

Fujita, Mikito Producer

Kondou, Tomohisa Producer

Reviews

Jan 15, 2025

PrivateJoe

Recommended

I've never watched the original anime, so I'm unsure which version is better. All I know is that this version is more faithful to the light novels. You can summarize this anime as a romance drama with a plot focused on economics, trading, and peddling. Whether or not that's interesting is up to you. I thought it was boring up until over halfway in the series. It wasn't until the romance between Lawrence and Holo began growing that I found the series interesting.

Now does personally thinking that a series is boring make it bad? No, it doesn't. This anime's target audience is not aimed at ... shounen fans or someone like myself who enjoys action and comedy animes. There's almost no action or goofiness besides Holo's occasional antics. If you're not interested in a slow-paced romance, then you won't like Spice and Wolf. It sets out to tell the story it wants to tell and does it well. It's just aimed at a niche audience.

My only critique of the show is that Lawrence's white hair design makes him appear fifty years old when he's actually twenty-five years old. It makes it hard for me to view him as a young man.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Nov 15, 2024

SeeNyu

Mixed Feelings

I never write any reviews. But for this remake I just cannot handle the dissapointed I encountered. Just watch the old one. You can't fully feel how Holo is like. Art even if it looks better / fresh at the begining is actually is very poor in detailed sense. Ahhh... My childhoods best anime was torn to pieces. When it comes to "fan service", it's been a an inseparable part of the main character's animalism, very sophisticated. But they removed it which results in you perceiving Holo like a casual human

Art style - bad, not matching the anime well.
Details - poor.
Voice actors - same actors ... but worse performance

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Nov 24, 2024

Playbahnosh

Not Recommended

The first thing that popped into my head when I saw this is "why?".
There was absolutely no need to remake this anime, as we already have the 2008 rendition, which still stands the test of time to this day. The art and design is beautiful, the animation is great, and since this is not some edgy action anime, frame rate and CGI doesn't play here. The VO and localization team is the same as well, and bring about the same quality.

What [b]did[/b] change is the characters themselves. In the original, Holo is a dignified albeit fickle goddess with surprising bouts of vulnerability hiding under ... her austere and beguiling nature. While Lawrence is an experienced and shrewd merchant who wouldn't take her shit, but is also mesmerized by her often playful nature and incredible insight. Holo is intrigued as to how Lawrence could treat her as an equal and wouldn't just succumb to her godlike power and feminine charm, and Lawrence's empathy and compassion instinctively wants to protect the fragile heart hiding in her hard shell of animalistic pride and ancient wisdom. It's this delicate power dynamic that makes their relationship so interesting and fun.

In this new version, however, everything goes out the window. Holo is presented as an angsty, hormonal teenager throwing tantrums, while Lawrence comes off as a total pushover. Gone is the amazing banter, the masterfully crafted back-and-forth between the unstoppable force and the immovable object. The depth and charm of their characters are replaced by awful caricatures. Holo the unstable tsundere and Lawrence the simp. Even the upgrade in art and animation doesn't trade for killing the soul of what made this anime great.

My suggestion is, stick with the original 2008 rendition of Spice & Wolf.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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