By far the best thing about this anime is Holo the wise wolf. In fact, I enjoyed the character so much I had to coin a new name: a 4-D tsundere. Her character and aura revolves around mischievousness--and it's genuinely exciting to watch. Why? because, even as a watcher, sometimes you don't actually know if she has an ulterior motive or an underhanded meaning behind what she says or does. For example, it may SEEM ironic at first how she calls herself "wise" despite falling into human tropes like jealousy and sensitivity yet the way she immediately presents herself as so self aware of this interactions makes you rethink whether if she is actually falling for them. The way she initiates romance with may SEEM typical-tsundere-esque, but it's unique in that she still comes off confident with no self-defeat which presents her as not just adorable, but admirable. To parallel a merchant's dialogue, it seemed as if she's always getting the "better deal" and I couldn't help but me amused.
Because of Holo's sheer presence, Lawrence is the complementary character, but not forgettable. They both outwit each other, teach each other, and i'ts not always about "do you like me or not" dialogue. This made me feel that there was a genuine friendship there as opposed to their wagon being the slowwww vehicle that would end in romantic love. A golden example of their dialogue is this:
SPOILER BEGIN
"you listen. There are times when you want to hear something even it's a lie. There are times when you feel like hitting the person until his face swells up if he takes too long to say it. which do you think it is now?...from now on, please be upset. I appreciate you being considerate, but sometimes, problems can be solved quicker if we both get upset and argue...[from episode 11]"
SPOILER END
You can see why I'd call her "4-D." She is cleverly being meta but not just for the sake of it--it makes sense in the story and doesn't betray her character.
I can only appreciate that she is calling out not only Lawrence, but also basically every shounen/shoujo conflict out there. People can't read each other's minds. So why not blow off some steam and move on? At the end, both will understand each other better. Not only is this a mature dialogue, this exemplifies how Lawrence and Holo treat each other: respect and no bullshit. From now on, when someone asks me what is a "true feminist?" I will think of Holo.
Be it a romantic or plot issue, it's almost as if Holo embodied a harsh studio editor who would say "This conflict is dragging the pace. let's chop chop chop and move on."
Interaction with Lawrence certainly brings out heavy dialogue, to which I disagree with it being "boring." This ultimately lies in personal taste and age of the viewer so I can't "argue" why the dialogue matters, but imo, I just found it enjoyable and logical that he would explain his thought process which stem from the culture of a merchant's life. Even though some were shoehorned in, I found most of the virtues that he admires to which he believes to be a pivotal part of merchant identity make sense. The point is, it's clear that whoever was responsible for this world building actually cared about what mattered at that time and I appreciate that dedication.
SPOILER BEGIN
A problem I had with the plot was its repetitiveness--specially, betrayal being the only MAIN driving factor that moved the story. Because betrayal is such an easily predictable problem in the business world, I was bored and kinda rolling my eyes. While Lawerence seemed to be a master at his craft in the beginning, being a victim to this trap repetitively made him seem like an optimistic fool, which albeit he admits, but doesn't justify that he seems awfully naive in a world that clearly portrays this merchant cultures as quite dubious. By the conclusion, It just seemed like he didn't actually learn much from his experience but was more conveniently saved by his mischievous companion and friends. This doesn't champion the idea of "may good be rewarded" either. I personally think there were plenty of other areas they could've used to move the plot such as delving more into the stereotypes about women in that time, confrontation with the Church's values, his relationship with Chloe or perhaps with his family, more about Holo's past ( seriously,...). I understand these were all mentioned but not nearly as I'd hoped. In all major conflicts, betrayal was clearly the poster boy and I found it boring.
SPOILER END
Soundtrack was forgettable, but understandably I guess. I do love the OP though.
In conclusion, the show itself was its own worst enemy because other characters and the world building just didn't' seem as good compared to Holo who I thought was truly impressive. I want to give sincere praise to whoever designed this character because this is a feat that other entertainment industries have a hard time executing as well.
