Spice & Wolf's Anime Has Returned With a Big Reboot, But Is It Better Than the Original?

Summary 2024 Spice & Wolf has superior visuals, lush outdoor scenes, and improved character designs.

The voice acting in both series is strong, but the 2024 anime has better music choices for a fantasy setting.

The pacing and depiction of Holo and Lawrence's dynamic set the 2024 adaptation apart from the 2008 version.

For the discerning anime viewer who wants a medieval romance adventure infused with a brilliant dose of economics, Spice & Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf is a standard recommendation. This anime is among the more relaxed viewing experiences of the Spring 2024 anime season, yet it's surprisingly deep and endearingly written. But as many already know, it is not the first anime adaptation of Isuna Hasekura's 2006 light-novel-turned-manga series, Spice and Wolf.

Spice & Wolf had an original anime adaptation, which aired between 2008 and 2009, animated in parts by Imagin, Brain's Base, and Marvy Jack studios. To many, it holds special significance as a heartwarming, cerebral adventure prioritizing merchants over medieval warfare. In Sid Meier's terms, its protagonists, Kraft Lawrence and Holo, are aiming for an economic victory, not one of conquest. However, the new 2024 Spice & Wolf anime reboot is inevitably weighed against the original, so observing the crucial differences between where they appear is essential.

Related Critically Acclaimed Crunchyroll Fantasy Anime Returns With New Season Crunchyroll's classic fantasy romance anime Spice and Wolf just announced a new season, and fans couldn't be more excited.

Comparing the 2024 Spice & Wolf Anime to the Original

Visual Hangups for Old Vs. New Shows Make a Comparison Easy Yet Layered

In terms of visual fidelity, accuracy of characters depicted, and overall color pallet, the 2024 Spice & Wolf anime reboot has an easy lead over the 2008 adaptation. While both feature the same story and principal characters, the remake does a better job thanks to a generous and lush feel to outdoor scenes, although early scenes with the golden wheat fields can be blinding. The visual designs are also significantly improved in the new Spice & Wolf, such as by making its main cast look less sickly thin this time, a puzzling choice from the 2008 original.

However, the most significant visual aspect that improved in the 2024 Spice & Wolf anime and general animation is how Holo and Lawrence are designed. Holo looked far more generic in the original, but in the new show, the wolf spirit is brave, mischievous, and haughty, yet surprisingly delicate, as conveyed in her body language. The merchant Lawrence, meanwhile, is rendered fairly well throughout both shows but more consistently looks drawn like an adult man, and his shock upon initially discovering Holo is appropriate.

Holo looked far more generic in the original, but in the new show, the wolf spirit is brave, mischievous, and haughty, yet surprisingly delicate, as conveyed in her body language.

One key difference between the two shows is the lighting. The original 2008 Spice & Wolf is certainly more dimly lit throughout, although its daylit scenes, such as the market in Episode 3, are vibrant, and scenes of the pair traveling along the green countryside are lovely. However, even in darker scenes, the 2024 Spice & Wolf anime is more accessible to watch and follow, owing to the era's improved production values.

Spice & Wolf Looks Good on Parchment, But How Did Either Series Sound?

From Voice Acting to Music, Which Show Fares Better?

Comparing the audio quality between both shows is a more subtle experience, mainly because both are pleasing to the ear. The voice acting of the main cast is strong in both series, although supporting characters and background voices are rough in the 2008 English dub. As usual, the critical voices to follow are those of Holo and Lawrence, who are heard predominantly throughout the show. The 2008 original is a pleasant highlight in this regard, with Brina Palencia portraying Holo well. She and J. Michael Tatum's Lawrence were so well-received that they returned for the 2024 remake.

However, the music of both series is also vital, and the only difference is felt between the 2008 and 2024 anime's opening and ending title music selections. The 2008 original was ostensibly fine, but so far, the 2024 Spice & Wolf anime does a better job selling viewers in the fantasy setting while promising a relaxed yet exciting journey. The 2024 anime's ending title song, "Andante," especially evokes a medieval fantasy setting on the cusp of the Early Modern Era, complete with woodwinds, accordion, and joyful percussion.

Evaluating Both Series Against the Original Light Novels

Subtle Differences Begin to Show Between 2008 and 2024 Spice & Wolf Anime

While both anime adapt the original Spice & Wolf light novel and manga well, their overall pace and story focus seem more on par with the books in the 2024 series. However, both shows do a marvelous job of expanding on the world Hasekura creates, such as in both instances featuring in-depth identification of varying in-world currencies not found in their corresponding light novel, Volume #1. While the books mention Trenni silver coins early on, both anime show impressive detail and intricacy to an economy constantly adjusting and minting new coins to reflect the current kingdom in power.

This results in both anime rattling off a list of currencies for Holo to remember, including the following:

Trenni silver coins

Mitzfing Sacred Birthday Festival silver coins

Philing silver coins

Illaid silver coins

Fake Marinne silver coins

Farum silver coins

Calvous King Lambardo silver coins

Mitzfing Cathedral silver coins

Fake Mitzfing Cathedral silver coins

Holy Mitzfing silver coins

Bald King Ranbalt silver coins

Lute silver coins

It's less critical that each is a silver coin and more important that each anime conveys the ludicrous array of currencies that are both in circulation and accepted. Based on the purity of their silver, the countries they represent, and their density, these coins are an important early example of the series' intricate economic gimmick. While it won't matter to the average viewer what these coins are, it matters to Hasekura that they exist and help convey a changing world, according to an interview translated on The-O Network. It's absurd that these scenes are identical between shows, yet both are expansions on the source material, not mere adaptations.

Pacing and the Three Episode Rule: How Spice & Wolf 2008 and 2024 Compare

For New Viewers, This Classic Rule of Thumb May Make a Difference

The 2008 and 2024 anime reach the same conclusions in Episode 3 of their respective adaptations for Spice & Wolf passing the Three Episode Rule test, namely with Holo swindling a trader with Lawrence's furs and some clever apple placement. However, the two shows pace themselves differently in how they handle subplots. One notable instance of this comes in the 2008 show's Chloe scene, an unnecessarily long interaction between her and Lawrence, which is absent in the 2024 show and for good reason: it slows the story to a halt. It pulls focus from Lawrence's discovery of Holo.

However grating the side character interactions may be, the shows remain similarly paced so far, although the new series has the potential to flesh out more stories as Spice & Wolf 2024 continues. The new series is set for two consecutive cours, unlike the 2008 original, which has twenty-five episodes split across two seasons; the new series will unlikely rush to the 2008 show's conclusion. As the original Spice & Wolf anime progressed, the pace started quickening severely, sometimes resulting in roughly three volumes of content being covered in six episodes. The 2024 remake shouldn't do the same.

Holo and Lawrence's Dynamic Remains the Most Important Metric

In Spice & Wolf, the Ultimate Draw is This Pair's Chemistry

Whether readers and viewers got into the series through the light novels, manga, or anime series, the most significant point of discussion for Spice & Wolf is about Holo and Lawrence. The two are an unlikely pair, a traveling merchant and the stowaway wolf god who blesses the local village's crops for a bountiful harvest. The pair go through a lot together, which is conveyed reasonably well in both series, although with subtle caveats giving each show an edge at different times.

While both shows do an excellent job bringing this pair together, moments like Episode 3 are rendered differently. The revelation about Holo's apple-scented deception was more overtly spelled out in the 2024 remake. Still, the reveal in the 2008 original is more organic and has a fascinating twist that viewers can observe as it unfolds. However, the more interesting difference is in Episode 4 when Holo lets her vulnerable side show, her loneliness and longing for old friends prompting Lawrence to embrace her.

In the original anime, Lawrence grabs Holo and clasps her against his chest, but in the remake, he sits next to her and gives her a shoulder to lean on. Here, a key difference is how Lawrence is characterized as an empathetic character looking to give Holo space to trust him in the 2024 remake, whereas the 2008 show seems more of a romantic cliche. It's subtle but wins viewers over not only Lawrence but Holo as she sees this moment as a way to deepen her bond with Lawrence.

Holo and Lawrence are vital to one another, and each show communicates well, but Spice & Wolf 2024 does it better. While the new show overall has a better appeal to modern audiences, nostalgia and curiosity are still excellent justifications to check out the 2008 original. But for those wondering where to go after Spice & Wolf, don't forget, there's always the sequel Wolf and Parchment next.

Watch on Crunchyroll (2008)

Watch on Crunchyroll (2024)

Read on Yen On

Source: The-O Network