I hope everyone enjoyed Spice and Wolf because it’s back for round 2. That’s right, this season of Throwback Thursday is staying on the foxy waifu train, its Spice and Wolf Season 2. And as a bit of a bonus I even through in the OVA. So without further ado lets jump right into it!
And right off the bat I want to say that this season of Spice and Wolf looks leagues better. Everyone is just so much more… emotive. Characters are moving, physically interacting and in general being more than the cardboard cutouts they were in Season 1. From Holo stroking her tail, bouncing off Lawrence and her face after getting drunk to Fermi, Lawrence and Mark gesturing and walking. The fact that it managed this without dropping the background quality or heavily modifying the designs is just the cherry on top. I have no idea why Spice and Wolf shifted to Studio Brain’s Base, response for this season’s To Your Eternity, or how they managed to keep the same staff. But between the OVA and this first episode I’m glad they did. The production was one of my few issues with the first season and this addresses that in every way.
Moving on to the actual story I want to take a quick moment to talk about the OVA: Wolf and Amber Melancholy. This was a nice sort of check in I feel. A reminder of where the story is, what just happened and how far their relationship has come. Beyond that though this OVA doesn’t really… do anything. It can’t change the status quo, not before the new season. And it’s not like it can tell a whole story arc in a single episode. Especially not when it’s working in flashbacks and such throughout it. No doubt this was very helpful back when Spice and Wolf first aired considering the years break between seasons. But with modern anime binging culture I can’t help but feel that this OVA is no longer necessary. Still it did give me a few cute couple moments, so that was nice.
Small stuff such as Lawrence’s reference to the “Four Basic Qualities” of medieval medicine. Or the ending joke with Norah about herding sheep. Even Holo’s continued jealousy of Lawrence’s affection for Norah were all played to good effect. If all you want was some feel good romantic fluff then this OVA has you covered. For me though it felt to much like a retread.
Next we come to the first episode proper, Wolf and a Sudden Rift! And my immediate impression is: This great, I love how much more Holo we are getting. Not just in terms of physical appearance and mannerisms, though the new production has that to. I more mean how much time we are getting inside her head and all these tidbits of information about her home. Season 1 of Spice and Wolf was largely concerned with how Lawrence and Holo met. Their first few months traveling together. So far however Season 2 seems to be focusing a lot more on the actual quest: Holo’s home. We learn it’s called Yoitsu, that it’s near a town called Nyohira and that’s not widely traveled. This is more than we learned in the entire first season! So far at least it feels like this season is more structured and focused than the last.
This focus isn’t restricted to just the overarching narrative however. The same could be said for their relationship. At the start of the episode, and this was in the OVA to, we get a glimpse into Holo’s head. Her fears and worries about this budding relationship between a mortal man and an ageless wolf. I freakin love it. This sort of ageless romance is one of my favorite kind’s of romantic tragedy. I loved it in Lord of the Rings between Aragorn and Arwen, Hellsing between Seras and Bernadotte, and now Holo and Lawrence. That Spice and Wolf is diving into the implications of such a romance, the difference in how meaningful a year is to each of them, is great. I hope that Spice and Wolf can do the concept justice. I think it’s inclusion and exploration will add a lot to the series.
As for Lawrence his side of the romance hasn’t changed much. He’s still stubborn, still doesn’t outright say anything, but he seems to have acknowledged it’s existence. He’s a lot more physical and open now with his affection. Stroking Holo’s tail, bringing it under the blanket and admitting to her face that she’s his type. He’s being more honest with her as well, more comfortable. Apologizing when jabs go to far, concerned about her homeland and probing for information before he blunders something out which might not be true, etc. It’s nothing as overt as what we got from Holo but then we don’t see inside his head like we have hers. My hope is that with the introduction of Fermi we might get a small jealousy arc from him. Something akin to what we got from Holo during Norah’s tenure. Whatever we get though I trust it’ll be good.
Speaking of Fermi, lets talk about him. Fermi is one of the two new characters Spice and Wolf introduces this episode, another member of Lawrence’s trading guild. He’s young, successful and head over heels for Holo. What does this mean? I honestly have no idea. Fermi could easily be a sort of antagonist for the arc. He has a full baggage train, probably a store, and he’s wildly successful it feels like. I wouldn’t put it past him to try and steal Holo away, to compete for her affections with Lawrence. But he doesn’t have to go that direction either. He could end up like Norah and become a good and helpful friend, a welcome business partner. He could even become the victim if Holo goes to far playing with his affections. Only time will tell here but I see a lot of possibilities with his character.
Fermi isn’t the only new character we meet though as Spice and Wolf also introduces Mark, Lawrence’s acquaintance. His role however seems to be much smaller. Just a point of contact in the town similar to the Lohen guild leader at the end of the first season. Whatever his role though I hope we see more of him. I really enjoyed his haggling with Lawrence. The back and forth about the armor shortage, explaining the last arc, how that leads to more nails only for Lawrence to counter with how that would raise the price of firewood, etc etc. It was cleverly written and each retort made sense when explained. The exact same kind of economic theory talk we got last season between him and Holo, only faster paced. We could have maybe used that last season but hey, better late than never.
And with that we have covered everything Spice and Wolf had to offer this week except one: The mystery of Yoitsu. We don’t get much information here, it’s primarily setup. But Spice and Wolf seems to be priming us for some sort of tragedy. Maybe the area burned down, maybe it got claimed by a larger nation, maybe the wolves got hunted to extinction, I have no idea. Whatever it is though Lawrence knows something is up. The flashback to a conversation he heard before is brief, only a few seconds long, and mentions Yoitsu once. There’s no reason to include this though, along with Lawrence cautiously asking about Nyohira, if something wasn’t up. though it’s possible I suppose that Spice and Wolf is going for a long con here and that everything is alright. I can’t help but think that would be a cheap subversion on the viewer.
All in all though I would say that this was a pretty damn successful first episode. It had romance, it had a legitimate narrative, some gorgeous background work, etc. I can’t help but think this is a superior version of Spice and Wolf in every way so far. And considering how much I enjoyed the first season, as seen in my review, that’s a really good thing. Now, I have no idea how much of the original novels this season covers. It can’t possibly complete it all with how many there are. But I have it on good authority from a friend who absolutely loves the series that it ends at the best stopping point it has so I have high hopes for it. Will Spice and Wolf meet those hopes? I guess we will find out together over the next few weeks.
Thanks for joining me and I hope you stick around for this new season of Throwback Thursday! See you next week.
