Holo is a harvest goddess to a small village in what appears to be a fictitious European setting. She made a pact many generations previous with a villager that she would live near the village and ensure that the village had rich wheat harvests if the villagers paid her a proper tribute every year. However, as Holo later explains, once in awhile she had to create periods of poor harvests to give the farmland a chance to rest and regain nutrients to again be able to sustain rich harvests. Over time, as the influence and power of the churches grew, such pagan beliefs as harvest goddesses degenerated into myth and mockery. Lonely and affronted by the villagers’ growing disrespect, Holo sneaks out of the village by using a bail of fresh-cut wheat that a peddler named Craft Lawrence acquired when passing through the village. Soon after, Lawrence promises he will return Holo to her home, Yoitz, in the forests of the north.
That doesn’t much sound like a premise for an economics lesson, does it? But in actuality economics and business politics plays a huge part in this anime. Lawrence is a peddler, he travels the countryside selling various wares such as grains, pelts, spices, etc. to turn a profit on what he paid to acquire the item, be it through currency or barter for something else he can turn a profit on. Holo begins gaining a quick understanding of the dealings his trade requires and, being the wily wolf that she is, often turns such simple things as selling a shipment of marten pelts at a tremendous profit through a bit of cunning fast-talk. Lawrence’s ultimate goal is to open up a permanent shop as a base for his dealings and settle down in one spot, so he has to elevate himself in a highly competitive trade. Sometimes the matter of traders and peddlers can be quite literally cut-throat, as well, which adds even more dimensions to a plot concept that could be boring.
Spice & Wolf actually pulls off making the matter of economics quite interesting, as well as entertaining. I always enjoy confident tsundere characters such as Holo, and Lawrence certainly is no pushover to her big pretty eyes, either. That had been my main concern, given the number of fanart circulating the internet, that this anime would be just one more notch on the headboard of moe fluff and that it would have little substance beyond a cute girl with animal features. I am so beyond glad I was wrong.
Not only is the show great, but so is the animation itself and the voice acting for both tracks. The English dub track had such good acting and translation that I almost forgot to view any of this show in the original Japanese at all. The DVDs don’t have much in the way of extras, but that’s okay because the show more than makes up the slack. And, again, the animation is stellar. It’s above the typical fare found in TV-quality anime, but not quite movie quality.
Spice & Wolf is really impressive. It’s based on a series of light novels (which are now available Stateside) and the story lends itself to being at once fun, educational, and dramatic when translated into animation. (Sometimes light novel translations can be a bit on the dry side.) It’s a wellspring of entertainment and it will sink its fangs in you at the onset of the first episode. Some people might find an economics lesson a turn-off, but I assure that this would be one well worth sitting through.