Spice and Wolf

Today’s post is a little different, for the topic of this post isn’t exactly about werewolves. Gasp! But you see, occasionally I come across something that, while not about werewolves, is something I can see many werewolf fans enjoying. While scanning anime on Amazon I came across such a thing – Spice and Wolf. The wolf in this popular series isn’t a werewolf, but I think many werewolf fans will like her in spite of that. Have a look and let me know what you guys think.

Spice and Wolf originally started off as a series of light novels by Hasekura Isuna, and eventually was adapted into two anime seasons. The show, which has quite the fanbase, is about a young travelling merchant, Kraft Lawrence, who while stopping in at a wheat growing town during their harvest celebration, finds a girl with wolf ears and a tail hiding naked in his cart. This strange girl is Horo, who is a 600 year old wolf goddess that controls the harvest in this village. Unfortunately, times have changed and thanks to new harvesting machinery the people of the town no longer need Horo to aid them with their crops. So, Horo tags along with Kraft in order to go back north where she originally came from. On their way to her homeland, the plot follows Lawrence’s business, and how Horo’s wolf senses helps Lawrence’s trading. The two travelling companions then become an odd pair of business partners.

Check out the trailer below:

I know that there are no werewolves in this show, but Horo is a wolf goddess and that’s something any werewolf fan can sink their fangs into. While I have yet to check the show out, I definitely plan on it.

What do you guys think of Spice and Wolf? Yay or nay? Not enough wolf for you? Have any of you already seen it, if so, what did you think?

– Moonlight

By moonlight

One of the writers for werewolves.com, as well as vampires.com.

5 comments

  1. Hi, you may have already done so or perhaps like this, it is more wolf than werewolf, but has there been a post on wolves in Japanese culture? I think it would be of interest. This is not the first japanese anime I have seen with wolves and/or wolf/people/spirits. So I am thinking there could be more interesting japanese wolf lore out there. Just curious and perhaps it may be of interest to other readers and to yourself.

  2. it looks like a good story, but the fact that she is naked for 60% of the trailer grossed me out a bit…

  3. Just saying–you don’t see anything other than contours when she’s naked. You’d have to have delicate sensibilities such that a 19th Century lady would have to be overly offended by her.

    That being said, I found Spice and Wolf very…boring. The concept is interesting (it’s actually a Japanese eye translated into a European-esque culture in the Anime itself), but the first four episodes or so weren’t interesting enough to hook me in. That being said, perhaps others will like it–it just didn’t amuse me in the least.

    On the topic of wolves in Japan, you won’t find all that much. What you do find is fascinating, but it’s still scanty. However, about the only good book in English on the subject is The Lost Wolves of Japan by Brett L. Walker. It’s an in-depth look at the wolves from both a scientific and a cultural perspective. What’s even better is that it also delves into Ainu beliefs about wolves (for those not in the know, those are one of the indigenous groups of Japan). I must say, very little shapeshifting, though. It seems to happen more in Ainu stories than in Japanese–only one or two instances come up in the latter group, as foxes, cats, and badgers seem to monopolize (probably because of how common they were–wolves in Japan, if I’m not mistaken, were mountain dwellers).

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.