Thanks for visiting Anime Rants today! Spice and Wolf (2008) was a classic anime of the 2000s and had a huge impact on the otaku community. It was one of the first big series to showcase a cute and interesting anime girl with animal features like wolf ears and a fluffy tail. In 2024, the new reboot of Spice and Wolf was released. Since so many years had passed, this version was able to follow the manga’s plot farther than the original anime. I was both delighted and initially skeptical of the reboot. I ended up loving it. Without further delay, I present my brief review of the series.
Note: I will refer to this anime as Wise Wolf herein to avoid confusing it with Spice and Wolf and so I don’t have to keep typing the long full title.
Contents
Story
Score: 8/10
Wise Wolf follows the merchant Kraft Lawrence and his travels with a magical companion, Holo the Wolf God. It isn’t the most thrilling tale, but it doesn’t have to be in order to showcase excellent storytelling. The setting is supposed to be medieval Europe. There is a lot of emphasis on historical background and economics rather than typical fantasy world-building. As for story themes, they are lowkey and never in your face. Themes include companionship, communication, enjoying the small things, managing expectations, and remaining faithful to oneself with the changing of the times.
The story is divided into several arcs focusing on specific business ventures or locations where Lawrence and Holo stay for some time. Usually, the arcs are about six or seven episodes long and build upon each other in subtle ways. Wise Wolf contains a lot of dialogue and little action, but that makes the action all the more powerful and intense when it happens. There is a good content balance of humorous banter, economic discussion, and brief but exhilarating adventures.
Interestingly, Wise Wolf comments a little on history and religion. It was almost unavoidable by virtue of the show being about a Pagan god. Later in the series, one of the characters wrestles with the question that if Pagan gods exist, does that mean the Christian God is false? No definite answer is given. However, the narrative attitude definitely holds criticisms against the Church as they rise to power in Europe. At one point, Holo boldly proclaims that no one could have created nature. If you enjoy discussions about gods, this dimension of the story may appeal to you.
Visuals
Score: 8/10
The visuals were brilliant overall. The character design for Holo is classic and iconic. Lawrence has a rather unusual design as well, looking far older than most anime protagonists. I’m a big fan of the older look of the 2008 version, but the newer version looks a bit more polished. There’s a small style difference and some of the colors were changed slightly. For example, Holo’s eyes are bright red now instead of the more muted reddish-brown from the older version. I grew to like it this way.
I wasn’t always impressed with the lighting in this series. It often seemed too dim and muted. Even though that was more realistic, it made it a bit less visually engaging. A great example is when Holo is in her wolf form in the sewers, protecting Lawrence in episode 6. It was difficult to get a screenshot that I liked due to the murky lighting. That’s my main complaint about the visuals and it’s not a big deal.
The occasional bit of crude 3D appears in Wise Wolf like in virtually every other modern anime. The horse that pulls the cart, for example, never looks quite right. Nevertheless, overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the art and animation for this production.
Audio
Score: 9/10
The music, songs, and voice-acting in this series were all immaculate. Wise Wolf has 25 episodes, so there are two openings and two endings. The first opening song was “Destination of the Journey” by Hana Hope. While it’s a pretty little song that fits well with the anime, it didn’t compare to the opening for the 2008 series, in my humble opinion. The first ending song was “Adante” by ClariS, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Despite being sung in Japanese, it sounds like a medieval European folk-dance, which was exactly the point of the musical design. Brilliant!
The second opening was a vast improvement on the first for my personal taste. I love every song I’ve ever heard by Aimer, and she performed the second opening, “Sign.” The second ending song was “Apples and You” by Neriame. This song uses a little too much autotune and/or Vocaloid for my taste, but it also has a cute and catchy melody, so I ended up liking it after all. The instrumental music for Wise Wolf was composed by Kevin Penkin, who made a great name for himself in anime after composing the stunning OST for Made in Abyss. The soundtrack for Wise Wolf was, unsurprisingly, gorgeous.
As for voice-acting, I was delighted that the original main cast came back for Wise Wolf. Even most of the side characters have the same voices. Jun Fukuyama played Kraft Lawrence, and now sounds significantly more like an older man than he did 17 years ago. This helped with the role. Ami Koshimizu played Holo, and did an even better job in this version with performing the character and her mannerisms. It’s good to hear the stars of the 2000s back in action, not that they ever left the picture entirely.
Characters
Score: 9/10
The main characters in Wise Wolf are unforgettable. Holo in particular is one of the most iconic anime characters of the last few decades, inspiring a generation of people who love anime girls with animal features. The character development for the central duo is extremely well-written, though often subtle. They have so much chemistry as they banter and argue. The sexual tension between them is also tangible at times. Someone definitely knew what they were doing when they wrote Lawrence and Holo.
For the most part, the supporting characters were also intriguing and well-developed. Even characters that only appear a few times can have a huge impact on the story. One of my favorite examples from early in the series is Yarei. He was a friend of Lawrence and a merchant who wanted to be free of the old Pagan gods. Yarei would have been much more relatable to me personally if he didn’t suck up to the new Church, but he was still a very compelling character and good surprise antagonist.
In the second half of the series, there are a few characters that were entirely new to me, since the story continues following the manga past the point where the 2008 version stopped. One of the best characters from late in the series was Elsa. She was a faithful follower of the Church and wanted more than anything to become a minister, despite being a young woman. Elsa’s struggles with her faith and worldview were poignant. I was glad for another strong-willed female character, too. Clearly, the character category for Wise Wolf deserves a high score.
Personal Enjoyment
Score: 9/10
There was so much to appreciate in this wonderful reboot of Spice and Wolf. I love the lively character of Holo as well as the more measured and pragmatic Lawrence. Everyone knows Holo is adorable by just existing, but Lawrence is also cute in his moments of feeling awkward or being flabbergasted by his companion. Audio-visually, this series was excellent. I can’t wait to make a playlist of the songs and OSTs I like. Watching Wise Wolf was for me like eating a delicious feast after a long day of travel. I savored it and will definitely come back for more.
Overall Score
Score: 8.6 out of 10.0 Trenni Silver Coins
I’m very happy to give Wise Wolf such a high score. The series was not widely known about, but those who saw it generally liked it. Wise Wolf currently sits with a score of 8.11 on MAL (as of June 27, 2025). You should definitely check out this anime if you like fantasy, history, economics, complex storytelling, and stunning character writing. I will almost certainly have more to say about this series in the future, but for now, Sayonara!
~Thanks for reading~
Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants
Anime Rants 
I really thought the anime was really good sentimental love the art style and the storyline
LikeLiked by 1 person