Welcome all to another week of Spice and Wolf! This is a bit of an odd one as I’m currently writing it from the middle of nowhere Wisconsin. But hey, maybe that will grant it some extra spice, who knows. My physical location aside how about we jump into this weeks Throwback Thursday!
Starting off this is a bit of a straightforward episode. The plot still hasn’t really started and Spice and Wolf is still just laying bricks for what’s to come. But it does a decent job of presenting those bricks and making them interesting! The way it slow-rolled us on the fur for instance. Slowly introducing what is happening through tidbits of conversation between Lawrence and Holo. Reminding us of Holo’s advanced abilities, etc. Leaving us to figure it out and connect the dots before explaining it to us via the barmaid and then introducing how to exploit it through the mysterious guest, Eve. It’s nothing incredible. Like most building-block episodes, it feels rather slow. But just like how the last arc started, it’s worth will be determined by the payoff. Was it worth taking this long together to? Was it worth slowly introducing all this stuff? Only time will tell.
That said, how about we talk details? And like usual we have to talk about Lawrence and Holo. I really like how much more communicative the two are now. They are a lot more open, not just with their feelings but with their desires and thoughts as well. Holo only talked a little of it last episode but she repeats her desire to avoid conflict this week as well. And the wild thing? Lawrence listened! Not just in an accidental or perfunctory manner, he went out of his way to say Holo doesn’t want him getting involved. I’ll be honest, this surprised me. I sort of expected the “plot”, the drama between the two, this arc would be of Lawrence listening to and respecting her. Getting into a mess and then backing out before being fully committed as he learned to respect her words. Turns out though, we’re already there!
While we are on the topic of Holo and Lawrence I also want to mention another scene: The beaver tails, or whatever they are. This was cute, I enjoyed it! Not only because we are starting to get some more emotional vulnerability from Holo but because Spice and Wolf has started to introduce more elements of her past to this arc as well. Reminding her via smells, the crying, the gratitude towards Lawrence, etc. I was a little bit disappointed that the last arc didn’t delve much into that but that wasn’t it’s focus. My hope is that this arc, since we are closer to Yoitsu and their relationship troubles have been resolved, can give us a bit of a deeper dive into her past.
Moving on lets talk about cute barmaids, flirting and macroeconomics, awwww yeah. For the first two I actually found it rather cute. I half expected Holo to bust in or to appear over his shoulder and admonish him. You know, the standard anime rom-com fair of misunderstandings and drama. Instead though Spice and Wolf kept it to a tame word game and a reaffirmation of Lawrence’s commitment to Holo. It was a pleasant surprise to get a male lead who isn’t flustered easily and stays loyal even when the female lead isn’t around. Add on to that Spice and Wolf’s continued snappy dialogue and a sultry barmaid workin on that hustle and you have a good scene. Lucky for us though that this isn’t all it had as we also learn a lot about the towns economic state!
I’m still amazed how Spice and Wolf manages to make macroeconomics interesting. Or at the very least easily understood. The way the conversation went from the council to the docks to the fur to the craftsmen was well put together. It let me figure it out and connect the dots before the characters themselves explained it in full. And the actual problem at hand? It makes sense! Local traders won’t buy fur at the same price as nobles and knights in the crusades. So with the crusades canceled they have to decide, will they still sell fur to the local merchants? And if they don’t then there is no need for the craftsment to work it nor to buy tools from the traveling merchants. The entire economic circle of life is hinged on this decision to sell fur, effecting the entire local economy. It’s kind of cool!
Finally lets talk about our mysterious guest, Eve. I get a bad feeling from Eve. Her charm, her attitude, the way her scenes are shot. The earlier scene with the barmaid making us think of his relationship with Holo and her flirting. Even her name evokes biblical undertones making me think of Satan and the Garden of Eden. Combine that with the final shot of a deal over an open fire and it makes me think Lawrence is making a deal with the Devil. Maybe Spice and Wolf is setting her up as a red herring, maybe my fears are unfounded, I don’t know. But my initial impression right now is that she is going to get Lawrence into trouble. That or she’s going to be like Holo, ala a Wolf God type creature. Whatever happens though you can consider me intrigued!
All in all I think this was an “OK” episode of Spice and Wolf. I’m intrigued in the things that are happening. I want to see how Eve and the furs and their relationship resolves. I’m interested in how this story will end since we don’t have anymore seasons after this! But the episode itself was not particularly engaging nor exciting. It was just sort of… there. Hopefully all this setup pays off! We will have to wait and see.
And with that I’m done for the week! Apologies if this post isn’t as… good as the previous. I’m finishing it up in the Philadelphia airport before I get on another plane. Maybe not the best place but I didn’t want to leave you all hanging for an episode. See you next week when I will be back in the comfort of my home to write this!
