Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF

Earlier in 2024 I watched the original Spice and Wolf show, which ran for 25 episodes. It is really good, and even in light of the new anime I can still recommend it. The main difference is the new show is more faithful to the novels, as the original adaptation replaced a character with effectively a gender swap, but it did change the dynamic. Additionally the original skipped over the fourth arc, which is covered in this new adaptation. Beyond these changes I feel there were some more subtle things, but I couldn’t point out exactly what. Regardless, they each have their merits as things stand right now.

What does set them apart is that the remake has been confirmed to be getting a second season. Now it stands to reason if you’re going to go for a remake that the plan is to do a full adaptation, or at least go further than the original. Indeed, my primary complaint that made it hard to rate the original higher was its lack of an ending, plus at that point the remake was already announced. For anyone who hasn’t watched the original, traveling merchant Lawrence picks up Holo, a land goddess who longs to return to her home in the north as the people who previously worshipped her abandon her. While being a fantasy setting, the merchant lifestyle puts most of the plot focus on economic and moneymaking exploits as our duo goes town to town. Along the way there is a lot of teasing from Holo, and slowly their dynamic develops as they move towards being a couple. It’s very unique compared to the numerous other romance anime I’ve watched. There is a good amount of danger and adventure to be had during the series, though violence is kept to a minimum and usually not depicted extensively, so for anyone who might be worried about gore there’s none of that here.

For those who did watch the original, I think that this remake is just as good, but given the lack of anything new you could consider just watching the last 5 or 6 episodes or waiting for season 2 to release. I still recommend this anime, but until we have a more complete show I can’t move it up to my highest tier.