Ookami to Koushinryou: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf

With a cartload of fur pelts in tow, traveling merchant Kraft Lawrence stops by the village of Pasloe. According to local folklore, centuries ago, one of the villagers made a promise with the wolf deity Holo, who swore to bless Pasloe with bountiful harvests of wheat. Yet, as time passed, such stories became little more than relics of the past.

After quickly finishing his business in the village, Lawrence sets out to his next destination. His journey, however, takes an unexpected turn when he discovers a nude, animal-eared girl sleeping among his pelts. Even more surprisingly, the youthful-looking woman claims to be Holo—the wolf of legend.

Holo wishes to return to her hometown in the north, and though their first encounter is rocky, she convinces Lawrence to accompany her on her travels. In return, she vows to earn her keep, using her quick wits and lifetime of experience to help her newfound companion in his dealings. As they continue their journey, Lawrence and Holo take advantage of whatever economic opportunities they come across, often landing in situations that put both their business skills and their relationship to the test.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Holo Main

Koshimizu, Ami Japanese

Lawrence, Kraft Main

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Arendt, Norah Supporting

Nakahara, Mai Japanese

Myuuri Supporting

Tanaka, Aimi Japanese

Rubens, Dian Supporting

Watanabe, Akeno Japanese

Liechten, Marhait Supporting

Ootsuka, Houchuu Japanese

Cole, Marc Supporting

Koyama, Rikiya Japanese

Amati, Fermi Supporting

Chiba, Saeko Japanese

Tarantino, Jacob Supporting

Tsuji, Shinpachi Japanese

Remerio, Hans Supporting

Gouda, Hozumi Japanese

Sotokawa, Akihiro Producer

Hosoi, Shunsuke Producer

Fujita, Mikito Producer

Kondou, Tomohisa Producer

Reviews

Apr 15, 2024

Ellenwitch

Recommended

Preliminary (3/25 eps)

SPICE AND WOLF IS BACK BAAAABBBBYYY.

This series is near and dear to my heart, and more likely the same to most of you. For a number of reasons. It's more likely one of your first animes that you've finished. Or read for that matter. Or at the very least, one of the few series you remember seeing around as a kid. As for new faces, they'll be welcomed to the gem that is this series. Spice and Wolf deserves not only a watch, but deserves to be red, to be appreciated, and so much more.

Story and characters: 9
You might look at the premise, and how ... it's presented, and sure, a thought might be that with 'so many action packed anime, why does an anime centered around harvest, and merchant business tricks, the church practices, get so much rave reviews?' To put it simple, it's down to the world itself, but also Lawrence and Holo themselves. Holo is a treat herself, wise as her name suggests. But Lawrence really comes off as a solid character, that only gets greater as the show goes along. But most of all, the pairing between them, is stand alone such an excellent pairing, that sure, will have bumps in the road, but experiencing every inch of it's story and contents, not only makes for such a well written story, but such deep and well written characters to boot.

The story will have many hooks, twists and turns, that'll be quite a watch from start to finish. It'll be one of the stand outs of the season for a reason, and a large part of that is the story.

Art and sound: 8
Any time I think of this series in terms of the Art and Sound. I always have flashbacks to that opening, which I'd honestly rank so highly, as that OP will always be one of my favorites, hell might be my favorite opening of all time. This adaptation's version is stellar in itself. As you can tell there has been a lot of effort and detail has gone into the product of the whole entire musical aspect. Really capturing the vibe of this show. But not only that, there is a certain charm about it. A charm that really gets you hooked on Spice and Wolf as a concept, and the show itself. Presentation is very key after all. They have to hit it out the part, as making a new adaption, will bring to joy to long term fans, but also put it on a spotlight for new fans who'll get into this series. While it's not breath taking by any chance, but it's quality of production has really done the business. To actually finish it from start to finish, which this series so rightly deserves. It's art, producing, and sound are making a solid start, which will only grow and grow over time. A great job all round.


So, so so glad that Spice and Wolf has returned, I couldn't be happier, and many will enjoy this gem all over again, and get even more love that it so rightly deserves. Watch it now!

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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May 5, 2024

blizar

Mixed Feelings

Preliminary (3/25 eps)

Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf is a remake of a 2008 adaptation of the same title. However, this is my first experience viewing any sort of Spice and Wolf media, so this review will be based solely on the first three episodes and won't be influenced by any knowledge of future events in the storyline.

The premise of Spice and Wolf is quite simple. Much like Frieren, which aired last season, it focuses on slow, tensionless adventures as the main characters travel from place to place. Given the protagonist's role as a merchant, a significant portion of each episode delves into explaining various ... economic concepts. This might not appeal to viewers who aren't interested in learning topics such as the reason behind why the amount of silver in a coin changes and how to tell if a coin has a higher or lower purity. Problems arise with the execution of the exposition as there is a lack of visual storytelling used. The economics are explained in the form of a straight back and forth between the main two characters which is a visually uninteresting way to present the topic.

Character development is still in its early stages, but there are subtle hints dropped regarding character backstories which are likely to get fleshed out later on. Both of the main characters have likeable personalities and have an entertaining character dynamic which is the standout aspect thus far.

Animation production has been slightly above average, with character designs having a shiny modern yet simplistic appeal. The character animations are basic but serviceable for the type of scenes that are being displayed, though nothing visually groundbreaking has been showcased yet. The soundtrack so far excels in capturing the essence of the medieval European-esque setting.

Overall, Spice and Wolf is a visually average anime with a good soundtrack. Its unique economic premise and enjoyable character dynamics are strengths, though it leans too heavily on dialogue to explain its economic aspects rather than presenting them visually.

Current Scoring: (Subject to change)
Animation: 6/10 (Average)
Sound: 7/10 (Good soundtrack)
Story: 4/10 (Slow paced, not yet fully developed)
Characters: 6/10 (Basic but charismatic and entertaining)
Value : 7/10 (Remake of a classic with a unique premise)
Enjoyment: 6/10 (Entertaining character dynamics)
Overall: 6/10 (Fine)

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jun 12, 2024

CodeCypheur

Not Recommended

Preliminary (9/25 eps)

Forced myself through 9 episodes of this poorly written drivel before realising it was currently airing and would have a total of 25 episodes, not the 11 I assumed - so yes this goes onto my *extremely* short dropped list. Coming from a person who despises dropping watching anything...I think it goes to show just how bad this show is.

I have two main gripes; 1 being that it is just plain boring - which I know is entirely subjective but may make sense throughout this review, 2 being the absolutely horrible writing.

To avoid spoilers I won't go into the plot but I found it an ... absolute snoozefest, this show seems to be driving off of two main things to keep people interested: Holo and the economic plot. They both suck.

Holo is just made to cater towards boys. Which was extremely disappointing to me as going in blind, I expected Holo to take the more passive viewer insert role and the merchant main character guy (Lawrence?) to be this nurturing character for the viewer to then pine for. Yeah this was not made for the girlies. It was made for the boys. You're meant to believe that Holo is this super old and cunning deity, but this is only played for the sake of sexual appeal - which is disturbing considering she's described *multiple times* as looking like a teenager, and she does genuinely look like a child. Her maturity is dropped when convenient to instead pander to the male gaze by making her your typical innocent damsel in distress who needs to be saved, the creator clearly wanted to fit all of his fantasies into Holo regardless of how contrasting they are. You can't have your cake and eat it, as a result Holo's character just feels...hollow. She only exists for men to project what they want to see in her.

Main character merchant guy Lawrence is just the viewer insert, he has the personality of a wet paper towel. Other than his questionable tastes for...children and child-like looking women there is nothing to say about him because he is just an insert.

This obviously creates a problem where your two main characters in a show that's primary theme seems to be about these two characters growing together, just don't have any agency nor interesting traits? It just feels like Holo is dragging Lawrence along for the ride and he's too enamored with her to give a damn and think for himself. Then the plot is just contrived drama to force them into situations that call for some drama. It's just not entertaining or believable.

Overall this is an objectively poorly written and animated show - but it has half fox waifu whos both seductive and innocent so of course the typical boys are going to be eating it tf up. If you don't care for fox-waifus then I see absolutely no reason to waste your time watching this.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	About Amanti vs Lawrence Dan_ALves - Aug 13	3 replies	by DragyG »» 4 hours ago
	Poll: Ookami to Koushinryou: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf Episode 19 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Aug 12	57 replies	by HotRodster »» 7 hours ago
	Poll: Ookami to Koushinryou: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Jun 10	61 replies	by phantom346 »» 9 hours ago
	Poll: Ookami to Koushinryou: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf Episode 18 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Jul 29	58 replies	by Estoy_Gordo »» Yesterday, 5:30 PM
	Does not air on August 5 nirererin - Jul 29	36 replies	by Rakiko »» Yesterday, 2:28 PM