We’re back with another week of Spice and Wolf. This week Holo get’s jealous, Lawrence makes some business connections and a new waifu enters the fray! Who will win? Find out this week on Throwback Thursday!
This episode picks up right where we left off last week and to be frank? It wasn’t really my speed. The first half of the episode was slow going and I understand why. Spice and Wolf is introducing us to Norah, letting us get to know her and priming us for the arc to come. This isn’t automatically a bad thing as Spice and Wolf is all about slow travel and interesting conversation. But Norah doesn’t really have the same charisma as Holo and her presence makes Holo clam up. Depriving us of some prime banter, though we do get some about halfway in. That said, getting us invested in Norah early is a good plan if she’s going to be important later on. But this time is an investment and if Norah’s story flops or isn’t used then I probably won’t remember this episode fondly.
Going back to Holo and Lawrence’s banter for a second, I can’t stress enough how much I enjoy their relationship. The natural progression from strangers to partners to almost-lovers has been fantastic. It’s refreshing to see an anime couple that don’t freak out or make exaggerated faces and noises at every little compliment or joke. Instead taking them in stride or firing right back with one of their own. Of course it helps that they are both adults since most anime romance tend to be about high schoolers. But when my favorite romance before watching Spice and Wolf is the Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal OVA? That should tell you a lot about what I look for in a romance anime. So even if Spice and Wolf nose-dives in these last few episodes it will have at least succeeded in that.
Returning to the main plot, lets talk about Norah. Spice and Wolf tells us a decent bit about her: How she wants to be a tailor, how she met her dog Enek and how she became a Shepherd. But I think we learn more from her expressions and the context clues around her than we do from her own mouth. How the village, including her employer the pastor, treat her and her seeming desire to leave this city behind. Based on her reactions I would wager she doesn’t truly want to be a tailor at all. Ranging far and wide with her sheep, making extra money, seemingly not happy with her job or how “consistent” the church is. Norah wants out for whatever reason and I think Lawrence is going to end up being that ticket. Assuming of course his debt doesn’t come back to bite him in the ass.
Why do I mention the debt? Because everyone in town is freaked out or surprised that Lawrence brought armor and that’s not good. Maybe the market is flooded and the price has dropped significantly. Or perhaps the local lord is seizing arms and armor to combat the mercenary threat we learned about last week. It could even be something completely different! The point though is that something bad is about to happen to Lawrence, I can feel it. He’s about to lose his entire investment in this armor and end up in debt to the other merchant, his greed getting the better of him. The real question now is: What happens after? Does he go to jail? Or maybe he figures out some crazy money making scheme with Norah to pay it off? I don’t know but I’m curious and looking forward to finding out.
Finally I want to take a moment to talk about some questions I had and point out some jank. Because god damn was that horse animation at the end terrible. I know horses are hard, Shirobako taught me that, but come on. As for the guy who rode in on it? Well he’s just as confusing though for better reasons. I’m curious who he is, what he’s doing here and why exactly he’s looking for Lawrence. Has something happened? Did the merchant in the last town report them as thieves? Is the church still hunting them down? Spice and Wolf doesn’t need another layer like this to give the arc purpose, so I’m really wondering what his role is. Sadly we won’t know until next week but whatever it is I hope he fulfills it well. And takes that horse to a doctor. Looks like its run needs one.
All in all though, questions aside, what did I think of this weeks episode of Spice and Wolf? It was alright! It certainly wasn’t the strongest episode. I think Norah’s presence put a bit of a damper on the Lawrence and Holo time since Holo isn’t comfortable around Shepherds. But what we did get from them was just as good as it always is. Meanwhile the main story is going to need more time before I can really rule on it. The worth of a setup episode like this comes from how well it prepares us for the arc to come. If the arc is good, like Haikyu’s Ball Boy leading into Nationals, then the setup will be remembered fondly. But if the arc flops then the setup episodes just feel boring and empty, like My Hero Academia before the Overhaul raid.
I don’t expect Spice and Wolf to flop. It’s writing has been relatively strong so far. I’m just not sure if I’ll like it more than the kidnapping arc we recently finished. Only time will tell I suppose. But now that this post is done and written I’m free to watch the next episode without ruining these first impressions! I’ll see you all next week for that post.
