Spice and Wolf (S&W) is what I'd call a great romance anime. It's a mature romance anime, and while not specifically targeted at an adult audience; I would call it a “seinen” romance – there are no cheap fanservice scenes, the characters’ behaviors are not exaggerated and the story itself is well-paced. The story deals with economic concepts but you don’t need a deep background in economy to follow along.
If I had to complain about one thing about the series, it is the lack of a definite conclusion. While there are 17 light novels (completed in Japanese, 12 translated to English by YenPress at the time of writing this), the anime only covers novels 1,2 (Season 1) and 3,5 (Season 2). That’s not even half of the story. While the ending of Season 2 is satisfactory and still a must-watch, you’re getting into a show that is incomplete. Each season covers 2 arcs, around 6 episodes each. There is no Season 3… yet! But we can hope!
Don’t let this discourage you however, Spice and Wolf is the show to watch if you’re looking for adventure, slice-of-life travels and a great romance.
[Background]
Kraft Lawrence is a travelling merchant that, while passing through a village, discovers a naked girl in his wagon. This girl has wolf ears and a bushy wolf tail and claims to be Holo the Wise Wolf, a wolf goddess. This is how their journey together begins, as Holo wishes to return to her homeland.
[Art – 8/10]
The art of S&W is well made. While the background scenes are not as pretty as some Miyazaki or Shinkai-level backgrounds, they are good enough and serve their purpose. I particularly liked how the old cities and towns are shown. I have a thing for depiction of medieval-set shows.
The characters’ designs are good and many anime fans would agree that Holo’s look is now iconic. No complaints there, but especially, no extravagant hair colours and things like that – which would look out of place in the atmosphere of the show.
[Sound – 8/10]
I loved both the openings of Season 1 and 2. This music got stuck in my head for so long!
The music used during the “drama” scenes are well-chosen and at some points, do well to enhance the atmosphere of the show and bring out the necessary tension. Nothing especially great (except the OPs, these are amazing), but the music serves its purpose.
The characters’ voices were appropriate and don’t sound childish – considering that the show depicts adults, this would have ruined it for me. Fortunately it’s nothing like this. The emotions and outbursts were appropriately handled, without excessive shouting and loudness. I particularly like Holo’s use of “old Japanese” if I could call it like this, such as the word “nushi”, short form of “onushi” for “you”, which could also be translated as “master”. Fitting, isn’t it?
[Story – 8.5/10]
Many viewers will come to S&W because of the romance aspect of the show – you will not be disappointed, the romance between the two main characters is great! It’s subtle at first then it gradually builds up. While I have not yet read the Light Novels, I hope the relationship is like this in the novels too.
Too often, romance shows show the relationship with too much drama, for example, Toradora. Another common complaint with romance shows is that the relationship only develops at the end and is only shown over the final one or two episodes. Not in S&W. The relationship is all over the seasons and the best thing is, it seems natural. The characters behave in a very mature way and are not shy to show their appreciation of each other.
Other elements of the story involve travel, adventure and economics. Not your usual blend of genres! The journey is fun too when we get to see the two main characters interacting on the road. The show is not romance, romance and romance! In fact, the romance is subtle but very heart-warming. You will also get tense moments, drama and even some action scenes!
Still, my major complaint with the story is that sometimes, it gets complex to follow. I indeed said you don’t need an economy background to understand the story, which holds for most of the show. But! A number of the plots revolve around economic aspects that for me, someone without economic background, were hard to understand. At some points, I was not exactly sure what was going on with the story or why the characters were so tensed, angry or sad.
[Characters – 9.5/10]
While I loved the characters, I cannot give them more than 8/10 based on what the anime shows. Yes, I said they behave in a way that fits the show and their relationship is great. I do wish that the characters stopped being so shy towards each other though. This may annoy a few watchers but it’s not a serious problem.
I believe Holo is one of the best female anime characters ever – she is intelligent, independent and yes, pretty. The depiction of her character is brilliantly done. She may be a Wise Wolf, but she does have her quirks and sometimes, childishness. Lawrence starts as a business-minded man who slowly discovers there are things beyond money.
However, I feel that their background is not covered appropriately. For example, the shows never mention Lawrence’s background before meeting Holo, beyond “he was a travelling merchant before”. There is no word of his family or his hometown for example.
Fortunately, this does not apply to Holo and you will get extensive development on her background and her character in general.
One positive aspect I noticed is the development of the characters while travelling with each other. The way they behave when together changes over the course of the show, and the show itself does highlight this at several points. A nice change from anime where the characters remain fairly static and their behavior does not change much.
Another plus point is the lack of distracting side characters or “harem-type” characters. While yes, there are a few times where they appear (to make Holo jealous!), their presence do not last long enough to ruin the show. Even these passing characters get background development.
While I don’t understand the reason behind this, some people do not like the witty exchanges and economic discussions between the characters. Check out a few episodes first. If you find you don’t like the chitchat, then this show is not for you as this continues throughout.
[Enjoyment – 8.5/10]
I appreciated the show very much, definitely for how the relationship between the characters was shown. You don’t get to see this kind of relationship often in anime. In fact, I’d say S&W is the only anime that shows a “mature” romance relationship between two adults this well.
The show has a definite re-watch value, just to see the story again and re-live the travels and chats between your two main characters.
It’s slice-of-life like so you only get pure enjoyment out of re-watching the show, without having to follow a story seriously.
[Conclusion – Overall 8.5/10]
If you are looking for a good romance show, you cannot go wrong with S&W. The characters are great, the music is nice and above all, the way the characters behave, interact and talk to each other is what makes this show so good.
Thank you for reading!
