Posted: 09/21/2011

Spice and Wolf

by Amber Burnham

Seasons One and Two now available on Blu-ray & DVD from Funimation Entertainment.

Spice and Wolf is a story of a traveling peddler, Kraft Lawrence, who meets up with a deity named Holo, The Wise Wolf. Holo has been living in the wheat field of a small town, Pasloe, where she has promised to help produce fruitful harvests. As time goes by, the people of the town stop relying on Holo as they had in the past thus leading to Holo’s decision to leave in Lawrence’s wagon as he passes through Pasloe. Reluctantly, Lawrence decides to allow Holo to accompany him on his travels. The two work side-by-side to create profitable trading deals as well as foster a burgeoning relationship.

Spice and Wolf was originally based on light novels written by Isuna Hasekura. The anime is a smart, beautiful, unique piece of art. The story being driven by trading deals in a preindustrial world where organized religion is blooming and changing the society. It is different from many other animes available and will give you a whole new way to watch and enjoy the art form. Whether you decide your favorite part is trying to figure out how Lawrence and Holo will make the best trade, the relationships fostered and cut throughout, or enjoying the beautiful animation, you will not be disappointed in this anime.

Season One of Spice and Wolf focuses a lot of it’s time on the ins and outs of being a traveling merchant, trading deals, and learning about the two characters. Much of the conflict is centered on the trading deals the two get themselves mixed up in. At first this seems a little overwhelming in the fact that the character of Lawrence is throwing abundant information out, through dialogue where he is teaching Holo about trading. This can be hard to follow at times. This feeling does not last. Soon you will find yourself caught up in the inner workings of the trading deals and waiting to see how they will work for Lawrence and Holo. Along the way, the two characters become more and more fond of each other’s company and begin forming a bond.

While Season One is fun, Season Two of Spice and Wolf is fantastic. We have spent the time learning about trading and watching the two characters build a relationship and now we get to see what happens when the relationship begins to take center stage. The beginning of the season starts with the characters doing less traveling due to illness, future plan making, and strange contract deals with a young merchant named, Fermi Amati. The early change in focus does not take away from the trading deals, but adds a heightened sense of intensity as the characters now have more at stake than just money. You feel as though you get to know the characters of Lawrence and Holo more and more as the minutes tick by and at the end of the episode you will be glad you can hit the next button.

The blu-ray of Spice and Wolf season two is amazing to watch. You can see the quality work that was put into the animation. The colors used in the anime are realistic, with clothing being colorful yet muted harkening to a time when cloth was hand dyed and bright colors would have been more expensive. The animation of the towns and country-sides are also realistic in color and design. With the blu-ray you feel as if you are seeing the animation as it was originally drawn and painted.

Included in the Season Two blu-ray are 13 episodes along with several special features; “’Studying’ with Holo”, “Stretching with Holo, Yoitz style”, textless songs, and trailers.

Amber Burnham has a BA in Early Childhood Education from Kendall College. She is also a regular panelist on Kichicast, the all-girl, Chicago-based podcast devoted to anime, manga, and Japanese culture. You can listen to Kichicast at kichigi.com.

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