Spice & Wolf - The Solitude of Immortality
What is time for an immortal being? What does it mean for said being to fall in love with a mortal? Holo the wise wolf of Yoitsu is a pagan goddess of harvest and she has seen humans come and go for countless years. Her journey to the north with the help of the merchant Lawrence is a simply stunning tale of gentle beauty. Two people growing closer over the simple joy of travelling to new places and of course making money within a percisely crafted medieval world.
Spice & Wolf is now at it’s ten year anniversary and it is time to look at back at this quiet masterpiece (full review that is mostly free of spoilers underneath the ratings and pretty picture).
Story: 10/10 Characters: 9/10 Animation: 7/10 Enjoyment: 10/10 Overall: Season 1: 10/10 Season 2: 9/10
Classical Mythology often tells stories of immortal and mortal beings falling in love with one another. But it is always tragedy that strikes within these stories. Those relationships are generally plagued by misfortune and suffering (not least because the mortality of mankind is a burden for immortal beings). Wether it’s Aphrodite desperately trying to hinder Adonis from leaving her because she already knows about Ares’ plot to kill him or Zeus transforming his beloved Io into a cow to hide her from his wife Hera; the theme stays strong within the canon of old tales. Spice & Wolf, in that fashion, tries to spin its own mythos and give it a twist.
Holo the wise wolf of Yoitsu is a part of old pagan folklore within the world Spice & Wolf immerses the viewer in. Right from the get go the narration tells old myths about her blessing harvests and residing within the fields of wheat that her faithful cultivate. The paganistic villages down south are part of a change: The portrayed society is overtaken by the church. A historical evaluation of medieval Europe it seems, allthough the world itself is fictional. But is this religious powerstruggle a main focus of the show? No, it is only one of many subtle themes. The focus of Spice & Wolf rests more on the various transactions and interactions of medieval economy aswell as the relationship between Lawrence and Holo.
Speaking of this relationship: these two remarkably well written characters form a dynamic that is just exceptional. The writing of this show is -at some points- out of this world with witty banter, clever metaphors and emotional slow conversations. It is almost hypnotizing how well Spice & Wolf handles the hurdle of having mostly dialogue rather than action (Especially since there is much talk about oddly specific economy). But the dynamic shifts a lot between the two seasons since the two become somewhat of a couple. Sadly the Anime was canceled after two seasons and nearly ten years later I think it is safe to say that there is no hope for the rest of the novels to get adapted.
One of the driving themes this show deals with is solitude in multiple facettes as it is experienced by different persons. Lawrence as an ambitious peddler focuses on economic endeavours and often loses sight of his acquaintances and social connections on a private basis. Holo on the other hand knows a different kind of loneliness that is more derived from her being somewhat of a goddess and with that immortal as long as there is wheat blessed by her divine presence. This aspect of her character is the most pronounced within the drama aspects of the show and is dealt with quite intensely. Holo can be seen as the personification of the fleeting pagan beliefs of the world that are driven out by new religion. This theme already starts in episode 1 when the village elder tells Lawrence about how he wants to change vassalage to a new Lord who worships the new god. The village is shown to be in the process of abandoning the old rites and the festival for Holo turns more and more into just an old festival that has no longer any religious meaning for the people conducting it. Peculiar how Holo reincarnates into human form at the evening of the festival when the freshly reaped wheat is being stored. The god whos faithful stop worshipping them starts a journey back to their origin. Holo is driven back to the far north where she can find her old home where she belongs.
The clash of immortal loneliness versus selfinflicted solitude of a mortal drives the chemistry of the main characters. Holo tries to keep her distance to Lawrence since she’s seen so many men whom she loved die or be broken by the idea of her being a goddess. But Lawrence as the goodnatured man with the heart of gold does not try to win her affection. It is always a balanced back and forth between the two full of flirting, teasing and understanding each other on deeper level than pure physical attraction.
Holo and Lawrence as two beings who meet each other and learn how to end their solitude with each other, even if it is just for the moment, is a strong symbol the show uses from start to finish (even the OPs focus on this aspect) and it is excecuted in perfection.
Back in 2008-2009 the animation of Spice & Wolf must’ve turned some heads because it looks very good for the time but by modern standards it has aged visibly. The movements often seem a little janky and the backgrounds sometimes seem a little washed out and they are so unanimated that big sweeping shots look more like slideshows of people rather than a look around in a big city. Also the overall style of the designs seems outdated and quite rustic. However this is not something that distracts from the outstanding editing. The scene compositions, the direction and the framing in general and how they play of the well used soundtrack makes the show such a blast to watch. Even the english dub is actually very good, it could even be called on par with the original in some places.
The setting and its integration within the story works perfectly since the medieval world is crafted with utmost care and precision. One of many examples for this is the cathedral of Lenos which resembles the cathedral of the german town Speyer in an earlier state without the chorus being finished. To even see the attempt of creating an historically accurate depiction of a Romanic church in an Anime is such a rare sight and here it is done to perfection (The arthistorian inside me is more than just pleased with this show).
Spice & Wolf became one of my favourite shows effortlessly. It blew me away and actually moved me to tears with some of the more somber moments. The strong narrative with its many facettes grips the viewer tightly and immerses them into this wonderful world and its (rather humble) wonders. A fantasy show that has no dragons and big heroes but economics and merchants sounds boring on paper but Spice & Wolf can easily keep its head high within the genre as truly one hell of an underrated masterpiece that is far too often forgotten for louder, faster or even dumber shows. I do love it to death and I would STRONGLY recommend anyone who hasn’t at least tried to get into it to watch it. It is just that good. The only parts I would see as a little weak are the rather dated animation, the lack of development for some of the sidecharacters and the weakpoints in the somewhat forced drama narrative of the second season (which sounds worse than it actually is).
Boy oh boy this review took some time. I know I announced it quite a while ago but University had me rather busy and in total I wrote this review like 4 times. Two tries were just utter garbage and the third, finished verion got deleted by accident. I truly apologize for the delay but these things simply take a lot of time to come up with (especially since I am german and my english skills are not the best as you might’ve noticed while reading my shit).
If you have any suggestions as to which Anime I should review next, hit me up! Maybe I have seen the show you suggest or even plan to watch it in the near future. Also if there are any question regarding the review or my ideas stated in it please let me know. Also I am always open for a discussion so put some comments under this post please!
