I'm struck by the fact that I've spent exactly half of my life, a full 15 years, waiting on a new anime adaptation for Spice and Wolf, and now it's finally airing next month via Crunchyroll.
As Anime News Network reports, the long-awaited anime, based on the novel series by Isuna Hasekura, will begin April 2. The anime is in the works at studio Passione, known for the likes of Mieruko-chan and Rail Wars, and has been positioned as a from-scratch reboot of the original anime, which ended in 2009 after barely exploring a third of the series' core storyline. The main story consists of a whopping 17 novels published in English by Yen Press, and there are also now seven epilogue novels, to say nothing of a sequel book series and manga versions of both.
Spice and Wolf is set in what feels like a Crusade-era fantasy Europe and stars traveling merchant Kraft Lawrence, who stumbles into a partnership with the human incarnation of a wolf goddess named Holo, renowned for her wisdom and known in some regions as a deity of good harvest. Though at least hundreds of years old and functionally immortal, Holo assumes the form of a late-teens girl, human apart from her wolf's ears and tail, and talks Lawrence into bringing her on his travels so that she can head north to her homeland.
It's a refreshingly laid-back and character-driven fantasy story propelled primarily by the witty interactions between Lawrence and Holo, as well as the mercantile adventures they get into. Holo lends Lawrence her wit – and, on occasion, bestial strength – to negotiate a colorful range of deals and dangers as he pursues his dream of making enough money to open his own store. Lawrence, in turn, is a companion to Holo and her guide through the human realm, sharing in accommodations and conversations as needed. Equal parts enamored and irritated, the two start to grow closer, but both are too stubborn to admit it.
Spice and Wolf has remained embedded in the global anime community since its initial
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