Ookami to Koushinryou (Spice and Wolf)

Holo is a powerful wolf deity who is revered in the small town of Pasloe for blessing the annual harvest. Yet as years go by and the villagers become more self-sufficient, Holo has been reduced to a mere folktale. When a traveling merchant named Kraft Lawrence stops at the settlement, Holo offers to become his business partner if he takes her to her northern home of Yoitsu. The savvy trader recognizes Holo's unusual ability to evaluate a person's character and accepts her proposition.

Now in the possession of both sharp bargaining skills and a charismatic negotiator, Lawrence inches closer to his goal of opening his own shop. However, as Lawrence travels the countryside with Holo in search of economic opportunities, he begins to realize that his aspirations are slowly morphing into something unexpected.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Note: This entry contains all Spice and Wolf episodes, including the DVD-only episode #7.
More Info: Here

Ookami to Koushinryou was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Funimation Entertainment as Spice and Wolf on November 24, 2009 and August 30, 2011 respectively.

An internet radio show called Ookamikku Radio aired between December 7, 2007 to April 25, 2008 to promote the series. Hosted by Ami Koshimizu and Jun Fukuyama—voice actors of Holo and Kraft Lawrence—the show featured news about the anime, comments and submissions from listeners, and a radio drama.

Episode Videos

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Ookami to Koushinryou
Sequel:	Ookami to Koushinryou II: Ookami to Kohakuiro no Yuuutsu
Alternative version:	Ookami to Koushinryou: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Holo

Main

Koshimizu, Ami
Japanese

Lawrence, Kraft

Main

Fukuyama, Jun
Japanese

Arendt, Norah

Supporting

Nakahara, Mai
Japanese

Chloe

Supporting

Nazuka, Kaori
Japanese

Liechten, Marhait

Supporting

Ootsuka, Houchuu
Japanese

Tarantino, Jacob

Supporting

Tsuji, Shinpachi
Japanese

Remerio, Hans

Supporting

Gouda, Hozumi
Japanese

Liebert, Marten

Supporting

Horiuchi, Kenyuu
Japanese

Zheren

Supporting

Namikawa, Daisuke
Japanese

Weiz

Supporting

Hanawa, Eiji
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Clinkenbeard, Colleen

Producer

Cook, Justin

Producer

Ishiguro, Tatsuya

Producer

Tokuda, Naomi

Producer

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Opening Theme

"Tabi no Tochuu (旅の途中)" by Kiyoura Natsumi

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Ending Theme

	1: "Ringo Biyori (リンゴ日和～The Wolf Whistling Song)" by ROCKY CHACK
	2: "Tabi no Tochuu (旅の途中)" by Kiyoura Natsumi (eps 13)

Reviews

Apr 22, 2008

Ranivus

Recommended

Wolf and spice can be summed up fairly easily. Be prepared for ALOT of dialog. In essence, its about a story about merchant trading during medieval times. A time when the word of the catholic church was more important than anything else and anyone else was deemed a witch or heretic. Since it is set in such archaic times it would be a perfect fit to have an anime about merchant trading.

Ever since i was in middle school I used to play video games with trading and how prices rise and fall from location to location and how supply and demand and even risk margins ... for investing in certain things to turn a profit. That was the main goal, to make money. And that is the main goal of our main character Lawrence Kraft. Through his travels he entrusted a small heretic town that believed in a wolf god named Horo that watched over their crops. And it just happens that Lawrence Kraft befriends this god and he soon finds out that she just wants to go home. And so the adventure begins....

Being a story about trading goods there is bound to be alot of dialog between bartering, negotiating, trading information and the chemistry between Horo and Lawrence. If theres going to be alot of dialog an my anime it better at least intelligent and make sense. Luckily this show does it very well, almost perfect. And its safe to say this is because how Horo and Lawrence feed off each others energies so well that you almost feel like you're right there arguing with Horo. Theres no "voice in the head" in this anime, all their thoughts and ideas go between each other and nothing is never left out. Although little background details are left out for time constraints, viewers with an open mind can understand most of the unmentioned side stories. Those who cant figure out the small things, the subbers (ayako) were nice to place side notes for every episode. Its very refreshing to see an anime that actually takes time to explain things to the point that you are convinced enough to believe the situation at hand.

Lawrence and Horo are the only main characters of the show so having a good chemistry between them was key but also having a strong seiyu cast for those two is another reason why this show is addicting. Their voices emit their emotions perfectly and the background music just makes this show so much more elegant and beautiful. Its basically consists of a string quartet. Who ever composed all of the background music must be one of the best composers I've ever heard. I never knew so many emotions can come out of just a group of strings. Environmental sound effects are just as what you would expect after hearing the beautiful strings and artwork. Crickets chirp at night, flames flicker and click, they're all of high quality. But they never interfere with the dialog at all which I enjoy the most.

The last component that brings this whole show to masterpiece status is the artwork. This show is best shown on HD resolution definitely. You can see all the painstaking detail it took for all the artists to draw all the settings of the medieval towns, each cobble stone looks different from each other, the stained glass is painted with perfect care. Even all the guild halls and churches have a massive feel to them. Everything about the artwork screams perfection and is easily one of the best artwork I've laid my eyes on. The character animations aren't as greatly skilled as the background and static animations but it does hold a medium-high quality at best. But Horo and Lawrence are still quite memorable throughout the whole show.

Overall this show crams so much information and dialog to the viewers its easy to say that its not for everyone. But this is indeed a very intelligent, beautiful, and intriguing show. Its a show that you will either understand or not. As for me I love shows like this that leaves JUST enough out for the viewer to make them think and analyze about the episode they just saw. And I am a total sucker for beautiful artwork and music, but character chemistry is what drives me (and all my other 10's on my list) to score this a 10.

...mind you this show still isn't for everyone.

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Feb 22, 2017

Hibbington

Mixed Feelings

When watching this show I ponder on what it really means to “Falling into the Hype”.
It is naïve to think that when a show is popular that it doesn’t effect your mood going in.
But on that same thought is there a difference in “Falling into the Hype” and just seeking understatement on why something is popular.
I didn’t come into this show hyped but throughout this experience I was always search for that special something.
Something I never found. All I was left was this indifferent feeling.
When you are stuck in an indifferent feeling is a good indication that the show is average.
It ...

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May 9, 2015

TeslaFreak

Not Recommended

I saw this anime because of a few recommendations online and several glowing reviews, however upon watching Spice and Wolf I have to wonder how old the writers of these reviews are that they can find this enjoyable. If you've read any other review on this show, you'll know it is praised for its "character depth" and its use of economics. Let me warn you ahead of time, I have seen puddles with more depth than these characters. They are extremely 2 dimensional, the dialogue might as well have been written by a junior high student, and the monotonous tone of the voice acting is ... appalling. As to the economics so heavily praised by viewers, it is hardly a fair trade for a good story. When the subject is brought up, it sounds more like the characters are reading from a textbook rather than furthering the story. It basically consists of an economic buzzword being said, followed by the definition, in other words the show is extremely full of parrot expositions.

The sound of the show also leaves something to be desired, as there is little to no music, almost exclusively dialogue and ambient noise, which I understand was the intent, and could be quite powerful if done correctly. Unfortunately, it was not. Instead of using this tactic to emphasize important and deep scenes, the entirety of the show is treated the same and the viewer is quickly desensitized to the effect and no emphasis is ever placed on anything. When music is actually used, it tends to be poor quality and rather obnoxious, typically played over conversation which was clearly intended to make the conversation seem fun and uplifting but ends up causing the opposite.

The art style of the show is average quality and I really have no comment on it.

Right off the bat, we are greeted by both Lawrence's friend provocatively discussing a business transaction and Holo explaining nonverabally how comfortable she is nude, and how frequently you can expect to see her that way. At this point you would expect that fanservicing will be the downfall of this show but overall what ruined the show for me was the abysmal dialogue and utter lack of real character depth. As I continued to watch I noticed that the closest thing I could compare this show to, both in character and in dialogue would be Twilight. The obnoxious amount of exposition tropes is also reminiscent of your typical shonen.

I expect the crowd who actually do care for this show are coming from a background in Naruto or One Piece, which were also not my cup of tea.

TL;DR: If you are below the age of 16 and have never seen anything with a more dynamic story than Naruto, you may enjoy Spice and Wolf, you may even praise it for the greatest characters ever written. But for the adults reading this article who are looking for a show with legitimate character development and an enthralling story, look elsewhere.

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Poll: Ookami to Koushinryou Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) cyruz - Jan 16, 2008	146 replies	by GooseHybrid »» Apr 17, 10:00 AM
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Ookami to Koushinryou

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Holo

Lawrence, Kraft

Arendt, Norah

Chloe

Liechten, Marhait

Tarantino, Jacob

Remerio, Hans

Liebert, Marten

Zheren

Weiz

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Ookami to Koushinryou

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Synopsis

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Episode Videos

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Characters & Voice Actors

Staff

Opening Theme

Ending Theme

Reviews

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