Kicking things off shortly after the end of Spice and Wolf first season, Spice and Wolf
II continues the tale of Kraft Lawrence, a traveling merchant who happened
upon the most unlikely of companions, the wolf goddess Horo.
After narrowly escaping death at the end of their last misadventure, Lawrence
and Horo have resumed their steady march northwards in search of her long lost
homeland. Neither one of them is in a particular hurry to get there though,
especially since it will spell the end of their journey together.
So they’re just enjoying being with one another while they explore the legends
of Horo’s homeland and Lawrence tries to do a little deal making on the side.
He is a merchant after all, and even though he’s escorting Horo north he still
has to make some money. But when it comes to Lawrence and his dealings,
nothing ever seems to go as planned, especially with the ever feisty Horo now
in the picture.
Between a merchant duel for Horo’s hand in marriage and Lawrence selling her
off as part of a fur trading scheme, emotions have never run higher, for
better or for worse.
Where the first season introduced us to our main duo and developed their
budding friendship, the second season delves much deeper as Lawrence and Horo
are once again tested with a never ending barrage of unfortunate
circumstances.
As the story starts to unfold, Lawrence and Horo have arrived at yet another
new city on their journey, a place where they hope to mix business with
pleasure as they look forward to a coming festival. At least, that was the
plan until they met Amarty, a fellow merchant and member of Lawrence’s guild,
who was so struck by Horo’s beauty that he fell in love with her at first
sight.
Believing she is traveling with Lawrence in order to pay off her debt, Amarty
takes it upon himself to setup a contract where, if he can raise enough money
in time, he will be able to buy Horo’s freedom. Of course he hopes that she
will agree marry him after this show of affection, but there’s no obligation
to do so.
That being the case, there’s no real downside for Lawrence, so he eagerly
accepts secure in the knowledge that he can’t lose. But his best laid plans
always seem to run into problems, and when Horo discovers a secret about her
homeland that Lawrence was keeping from her, his once foolproof plan is about
to go up in flames.
As the interpersonal relationship between Lawrence and Horo starts to come to
the fore, it’s clear the direction this season is going to take. This time
it’s all about the two of them, their actions and feelings as it relates to
one another more than anything else.
This dynamic in the first half greatly shapes the second and final story arc
as they continue on to a rather cold and dreary city where they hope to dabble
in the local fur trade. But what awaits them is another situation fraught with
problems as they find the city in a power struggle with the Church and all fur
trade forbidden until the “fifty man meeting” comes to a decision about
the terms of trade.
With so many problems afoot there isn’t much for them to do but to spend some
time researching her homeland. That is, until they meet Abe, a merchant
trading in statues who’s got a plan to corner the fur market and be the first
ones to bring the goods to the market down south. That’s all well and good,
until the part about using Horo as collateral so they can get enough money to
successfully pull off their scheme.
This time it isn’t Horo who minds being sold off as a young noblewoman but
Lawrence who’s having serious reservations about the whole plan, especially
after Horo voices her desire for the two of them to part ways.
As one would expect, the whole plan goes pear-shaped as Lawrence does
everything he can to salvage the deal from falling apart in the face of riots
and people with murderous intents. His judgment is a tad cloudy though, for
all he can think about is Horo and how his life will be if he loses her…
It’s true that with all the Lawrence and Horo mumbo-jumbo going on that it
gives us a much more meaningful look into and development of our main pair,
which also results in a couple of very sweet scenes between the two of them.
The downside is that too much of the focus is on the characters, giving us an
overabundance of emotional drama without sufficient time being put back on the
stories. I mean, I’m as big a Horo fan as the next red-blooded male, but at a
certain point the balance between the story and characters became too
off-kilter and just couldn’t keep itself as intriguing as it otherwise could
have been.
That’s something the first season excelled at which ultimately resulted in it
being slightly more enjoyable, though I must say the end of this season almost
makes up for the shortfall. Plus, it leaves room open for a continuation of
the series as the source material extends beyond what we have seen in the
anime adaptation. We can only hope that comes to fruition.
One of the things about Spice and Wolf II is that, while it may not be filled
with loads of action, it has some spectacular backgrounds to go along with its
quality animation work, especially when viewed in 1080p.
This was a big worry with a new animation studio coming in to handle the
second season and the OVA prequel, but they seem to have pulled it off fairly
well. The only sad part is that they did not fix the problem of moderately
distant characters not getting the attention to detail they should.
It’s really only noticeable if you’re looking for it or if you’re watching it
in high def and all those minute details suddenly become much clearer. That
being the case it isn’t a terribly noteworthy problem, but it’s unfortunate
nonetheless. Regardless, between the luscious backgrounds and beautiful
character designs
(especially the alchemist Dian, who’s trying to give Horo a run for her
money), you shouldn’t have many misgivings about the quality of the visuals as the
smooth animation pulls it all together.
While Spice and Wolf is now licensed by Funimation, Spice and Wolf II has not
yet had the pleasure. So for now you will only have the Japanese language
track, which is certainly a pleasure to hear, but hopefully it will get
licensed and dubbed as well.
Despite a few disappointing aspects, Spice and Wolf II is a superb
continuation of the first season with a wonderful cast of characters and the
technicals to go with it. With a focus on just two story arcs, we get
not only more depth and complexity in terms of the individual storylines, but
even more-so with regards to the characters and their relationships.
Those who love the ever witty and comical interactions between Lawrence and
Horo should enjoy this season even more, but for those of us looking for a
more balanced mix between story and drama, it falls just a tad flat.
Miscellaneous: Spice and Wolf II
There was also a one episode OVA prequel released about a month before Spice
and Wolf II came out which features Horo getting sick and Lawrence having to
take care of her. It’s a completely standalone episode that does not need to
be seen to know what’s going on in this season. It is also rather pointless /
useless in an overall sense.
Horo’s tail gets absolutely enormous when she gets angry!
Fan Art: Spice and Wolf II
Spice and Wolf II (Ookami to Koushinryou II) | |
| Genre | Adventure, Fantasy, Romance |
|---|---|
| Episodes | 12 |
| Status | Finished Airing |
| Aired | Jul 9, 2009 to Sep 24, 2009 |
| Producers | Imagin, flying DOG |
| Studio | Brain's Base, Marvy Jack |
| Rating | PG-13 - Teens 13 or older |
| Themes | Adult Cast, Historical |
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