Ookami to Koushinryou

Holo is a powerful wolf deity who is revered in the small town of Pasloe for blessing the annual harvest. Yet as years go by and the villagers become more self-sufficient, Holo has been reduced to a mere folktale. When a traveling merchant named Kraft Lawrence stops at the settlement, Holo offers to become his business partner if he takes her to her northern home of Yoitsu. The savvy trader recognizes Holo's unusual ability to evaluate a person's character and accepts her proposition.

Now in the possession of both sharp bargaining skills and a charismatic negotiator, Lawrence inches closer to his goal of opening his own shop. However, as Lawrence travels the countryside with Holo in search of economic opportunities, he begins to realize that his aspirations are slowly morphing into something unexpected.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Holo Main

Koshimizu, Ami Japanese

Lawrence, Kraft Main

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Arendt, Norah Supporting

Nakahara, Mai Japanese

Chloe Supporting

Nazuka, Kaori Japanese

Liechten, Marhait Supporting

Ootsuka, Houchuu Japanese

Remerio, Hans Supporting

Gouda, Hozumi Japanese

Liebert, Marten Supporting

Horiuchi, Kenyuu Japanese

Tarantino, Jacob Supporting

Tsuji, Shinpachi Japanese

Zheren Supporting

Namikawa, Daisuke Japanese

Weiz Supporting

Hanawa, Eiji Japanese

Clinkenbeard, Colleen Producer

Ishiguro, Tatsuya Producer

Tokuda, Naomi Producer

Matsunaga, Yuuichi Producer

Reviews

Sep 21, 2025

Scanerior

Recommended

Spice and Wolf is a medieval fantasy anime that is easy to watch, and which works mainly thanks to the pair of main characters - Craft Lawrence & Horo (Holo). Wandering, trading, quarrels, joys, betrayals - these words describe most of the plot, with the fact that I actually enjoyed the part with the wandering and the ever-present "scuffles" between Lawrence and Horo the most. The plot itself is good, but the situation of failed trade and betrayal is actually too repetitive, which I found almost tiring. At times, one also got lost in the explanation of business matters - but there is the question ... of whether the problem is in the original, the subtitles or me. Anyway, I liked the series and I'm sorry that this original adaptation didn't get the chance to finish the story.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Aug 24, 2024

Destron

Mixed Feelings

I feel like Spice and Wolf is one of those animes that overall is pretty fine, but is overly hyped and over rated. When I saw the high rating from MAL, I had high hopes for this anime and judging based on what I've heard about this anime over the years I expected this to be a really good anime with lots of action. I've never actually seen or heard what this anime is about, however I have been told that Spice and Wolf is definitely worth the watch. My response to that is... it's just ok.

I shall say, whilst watching Spice and Wolf, ... I was debating on dropping it because it started out really really slow. If you're not into anime that is really slow, not much going on and shows no sign of having anything significant going on, then I can't recommend Spice. Not really anything happens until around half way through episode 5 in which some dramatic events occur which to be fair, it was really interesting and seeing how Holo reacts to the situation at hands, it was really cool to see.

A lot of the episodes themselves are very dialogue heavy. In one episode there was a pretty big focus on teaching Holo the different types of coins which isn't super interesting from a watching point of view. Maybe it's different in the manga? I'm not sure as I'm not a manga reader myself.

I watched the series in English Dub and the voice acting was really nice to listen to, especially Holo's. She had a very charming voice and to come from Ceil's voice I expected no less (also found out she voices Mineta in MHA which caught me so off guard)

The final few episodes with Lawrence and his debt and needing Norah's help was pretty interesting to watch and it shows that this anime can be pretty interesting. I'm all for world building and dialogue but I feel as if they spent way too much time talking and not much time actually doing something. I did enjoy Spice overall and will be watching Season 2 eventually. However, I'm not sure when that will be. Spice was a fine watch overall but definitely not as amazing as I keep hearing people say.

7/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jul 4, 2026

RemanTheArchean

Not Recommended

I came to this series looking for another slow-burn anime like Bookworm, Frieren, or Apothecary Diaries. Spice and Wolf is highly rated and in the same vein, but watching it in 2026 feels like playing the original Ocarina of Time right after playing more modern Zelda games. It only sort-of holds up. It was probably excellent for its time but after decades of other shows refining its formula it ends up seeming stilted.

First I should point out how rough the animation looks. Again, it probably was fine for its time, but I had to check when this came out. Released in 2008 it's not *that* ... old, but then again I'm really not all that familiar with how anime has progressed since I've mostly watched shows made after 2010. Anime techniques must have had a glow-up around then, because most of the stuff produced before that look very rough. The characters in this show all look a bit awkward and everything has this gray, washed-out, desaturated color palette. Perhaps that was deliberate to give off medieval vibes? In any case it looks pretty sad compared to the more vibrant worlds anime usually creates these days.

The majority of the show's appeal is Holo, the major female character who's halfway between a manic pixie dream girl and a shonen protagonist. Much of the screentime is devoted to banter between her and the male MC, a Joe Average merchant. This part was only OK for me, and that's probably the main reason why I found this show mediocre overall. It's clear the show's creators were trying to make Holo a waifu-bait character -- she's attractive, witty, teasing, ancient, and lonely. But she also has a lot of bad aspects -- she's pretentious, prickly, manipulative, constantly doles out shit-tests, and drops a ton of casual misandry. Nobody can accuse her of being a Mary Sue. The problem here is she occupies a sour-spot where her negative aspects are a bit *too* realistic while her positive aspects are too formulaic to seem like anything other than pandering. I occasionally enjoyed her character but usually oscillated between finding her mildly grating and subconsciously having my suspension of disbelief broken when the show was trying to make her endearing, e.g. by making her obsessed with apples.

There's not much beyond Holo and the MC's relationship in this show. There's trading, but it mostly takes a backseat compared to e.g. the medicine in Apothecary Diaries or even to the bookmaking tech in Bookworm. It's usually not presented in a particularly interesting way. The show also doesn't really build to anything like Bookworm, Frieren, or Apothecary Diaries do. There's a showdown in the final episode of S1 but it feels more like the conclusion of any other arc.

I did not hate the show as it has enough storytelling chops to at least pass the time. But at the end of S1 I felt very little inclination to watch S2.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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