Spice and Wolf

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Spice and Wolf

Light novel volume 1.
狼と香辛料
(Ōkami to Kōshinryō)
Genre Fantasy, Romance, Thriller
Light novel
Author Isuna Hasekura
Illustrator Jū Ayakura
Publisher Flag of Japan ASCII Media Works
Demographic Male
Publishing label Dengeki Bunko
Published February 10, 2006 – ongoing
Volumes 8
Manga
Author Isuna Hasekura (story), Keito Kōme (art)
Publisher Flag of Japan ASCII Media Works
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Dengeki Maoh
Original run September 27, 2007 – ongoing
Volumes 1
TV anime
Director Takeo Takahashi
Studio Imagin
Network Flag of Japan Chiba TV
Original run January 9, 2008 – March 26, 2008
Episodes 13 (12 aired; episode 7 is an OVA)
Game: Spice and Wolf: Holo's and My One Year
Developer ASCII Media Works
Publisher ASCII Media Works
Genre Dating sim
Platform Nintendo DS
Released June 26, 2008
OVA
Director Takeo Takahashi
Studio Imagin
Episodes 1
Released May 30, 2008
Runtime 24 minutes

Spice and Wolf (狼と香辛料 Ōkami to Kōshinryō?, lit. Wolf and Spice) is a Japanese light novel series written by Isuna Hasekura, with illustrations by Jū Ayakura. The first novel was released on February 10, 2006, and as of May 10, 2008, eight volumes have been published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko label. The Mainichi Shimbun reported that as of August 2007, over 500,000 copies of the novels have been sold.[1] The series has been called a "unique fantasy" by Mainichi Shimbun due to the plot focusing on economics, trade, and peddling rather than the typical staples of fantasy such as swords and magic.[2]

A manga adaptation illustrated by Keito Kōme began serialization in the Japanese seinen magazine Dengeki Maoh on September 27, 2007, published by ASCII Media Works. The obi strip on the fifth novel announced the anime adaptation which aired between January 9, 2008 and March 26, 2008, containing twelve aired episodes, plus a single original video animation episode.[3][4] A visual novel based on the series for the Nintendo DS will be released on June 26, 2008 by ASCII Media Works.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spice and Wolf's story revolves around Craft Lawrence, a twenty-five-year-old peddler traveling from town to town buying and selling various things to make a living in a stylized historical setting with European influences.[5] His main goal in life is to gather enough money to start his own shop, and he already has been traveling for seven years while gaining experience in the trade. One night when stopped at the town of Pasroe, he finds in his wagon a pagan wolf-deity girl named Holo who is over 600-years-old. She appears to be that of a fifteen-year-old girl, except for a wolf's tail and ears. She introduces herself as the town's goddess of harvest who has kept it blessed with good harvests of wheat for many years. Despite having the responsibility to watch over the town, she wants to go back to her homeland in the north called Yoitsu; she believes the people have already forsaken her anyway and that she has kept her promise to maintain the good harvests. Holo wants also to travel to see how the world has changed while she has remained in one place for years. She manages to bargain her way out of the village by making a deal with Lawrence to take her with him. As they travel, her wisdom helps increase his profits, but at the same time, her true nature draws unwanted attention from the church.

[edit] Characters

Craft Lawrence (left) and Holo (right).
Craft Lawrence (left) and Holo (right).
Craft Lawrence (クラフト・ロレンス Kurafuto Rorensu?)
Voiced by: Jun Fukuyama
Craft Lawrence, who chiefly goes by his surname, is a twenty-five-year-old traveling peddler who goes from town to town buying and selling various things in order to make a living. When he was twelve, he became an apprentice to a merchant relative, and set out on his own at eighteen. His goal in life is to gather enough money to start his own shop, and he has already been traveling for seven years while gaining experience in the trade. He meets Holo one night and eventually agrees to her traveling with him. She helps him by providing her wisdom which helps to increase his profits and get him out of jams. At the end of the anime, she does show feelings for Lawrence; and Lawrence seems to have some inclination towards Holo too.
Holo (ホロ Horo?)
Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu
Holo[6][7] or Horo, is a wolf harvest deity originally from a land in the north known as Yoitsu. She made a promise with men from a town called Pasroe where she would ensure the town would have good wheat harvests year after year. However, as time went on, the townspeople slowly started to forsake Holo and did not rely on her as they once did. As such, Holo escapes from town in Lawrence's wagon and started traveling with him to see how much the world has changed since she has been in Pasroe. Holo has chosen the form of a girl younger than Lawrence, though she still retains her large white-tipped wolf tail, and ears. Her true form is that of a very large wolf which many people revered and feared.
She refers to herself as the "Wise Wolf of Yoitsu" (ヨイツの賢狼 Yoitsu no Kenrō?). She is typically very haughty and self-sufficient, though due to her isolation for hundreds of years in Pasroe, she came to feel very lonely, and sometimes shows a more fragile side of her. She has a peculiar way of speaking, modeled after that of the oiran high-class courtesans. She is fond of delicious food and alcohol, though especially loves apples. She takes pride in her tail and takes special care of it, constantly combing and maintaining it.
Chloe (クロエ Kuroe?)
Voiced by: Kaori Nazuka
Chloe is an anime-original character. She is a villager of Pasroe and has known Lawrence for a long time. In fact, Lawrence taught her how to be a merchant. Despite still not knowing how she should feel about him, she respects him as her teacher and a good friend. They later break up their friendship when she allies with the church to capture and kill Holo.
Nora Arendt (ノーラ・アレント Nōra Arento?)
Voiced by: Mai Nakahara
Nora makes her first appearance in volume two of the novels. She is a skilled shepherdess from a church-town named Rubinhaigen. Her companion in this profession is a well-trained sheep dog named Enekk. She entrusts Lawrence with a task after they meet.
Fermi Amati (フェルミ・アマーティ Ferumi Amāti?)
Fermi makes his first appearance in volume three of the novels. He is a young man who works as a fish broker.
Dian Rubens (ディアン・ルーベンス Dian Rūbensu?)
Dian, who first appears in volume three of the novels, is an alchemist. She is in the process of chronicling pagan tales and beliefs so as to print them in books. She carries information about Holo's birthplace Yoitsu.

[edit] Media

[edit] Light novels

Spice and Wolf began as a light novel series written by Isuna Hasekura, with illustrations by Jū Ayakura. Originally, Hasekura entered the first novel in the series into ASCII Media Works' twelfth Dengeki Novel Prize in 2005 and the novel won the Silver Prize.[8] Afterwards, the first novel was published on February 10, 2006, and as of May 10, 2008, eight volumes have been published under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko label. The tagline for the novels is "Merchant meats spicy wolf.", an example of Engrish. The author of the novels has commented that what "meats" in the tagline really means is kept a secret, alluding to a possible intentional misspelling of "meets".[9]

[edit] Manga

A manga adaptation illustrated by Keito Kōme began serialization in the Japanese seinen magazine Dengeki Maoh on September 27, 2007, published by ASCII Media Works.[10] The last four pages of chapter one were in full color. The first bound volume containing the first six chapters was released by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Comics label on March 27, 2008.

[edit] Internet radio show

An Internet radio show hosted by Animate called Ōkamikku Radio (オオカミックラジオ?) began airing on December 7, 2007.[11] One episode is broadcast every other week on Friday, and the show is meant to mainly promote the anime series. The show is hosted by Jun Fukuyama who plays Craft Lawrence in the anime, and Ami Koshimizu who plays Holo.[12] The show contains eight corners, or parts to each broadcast which includes news about the series, comments and submissions from listeners, and a radio drama.

[edit] Anime

See also: List of Spice and Wolf episodes

An anime adaptation produced by the animation studio Imagin aired in Japan between January 9, 2008 and March 26, 2008 on the Chiba TV Japanese television network; twelve of the thirteen episodes were broadcast, with episode seven being a DVD exclusive.[13] The episodes are being released in six DVD compilation volumes; volume one contains three episodes while the subsequent volumes contain two episodes each.[4] The volumes are being released between April 2, 2008 and August 29, 2008 by Pony Canyon; volume three contains an original video animation episode in addition to episode six of the television broadcast.[4] The series is directed by Takeo Takahashi, written by Naruhisa Arakawa, and character designs are provided by Kazuya Kuroda. Takahashi was quoted as being a big fan of the novels.[14] The opening theme is "Tabi no Tochū" (旅の途中?) by Natsumi Kiyoura, and the ending theme is "Ringo Biyori" (リンゴ日和?) by Rocky Chack; both maxi singles were released on February 6, 2008.[15] The anime's original soundtrack was released on March 12, 2008.

[edit] Visual novel

A dating and peddler simulation visual novel based on the series will be released on June 26, 2008 under the title Spice and Wolf: Holo's and My One Year (狼と香辛料 ボクとホロの一年 Ōkami to Kōshinryō Boku to Holo no Ichinen?).[16] The game is made by ASCII Media Works playable on the Nintendo DS.[17] The player assumes the role of Craft Lawrence as he travels around with Holo for a period of one year in the game. The story will differ from that of the original novels or anime and is being presented as an additional Spice and Wolf world.[18] Ami Koshimizu provides the voice of Holo in the game.[17] The game will be released on the same day in limited and regular editions; the limited edition will be sold at a higher price, but comes with a life-sized poster of Holo.[17][19]

[edit] Reception

The Mainichi Shimbun reported that as of August 2007, over 500,000 copies of the novels have been sold.[1] The light novel series has ranked twice in Takarajimasha's light novel guide book Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! published yearly: first in 2007, and fifth in 2008; in the 2007 issue, Holo won Best Female Character.[20] In April 2008, the maid café Cafe with Cat in Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan will host a specially themed event called Cafe with Wolf for a period of three days between April 4 and April 6.[21] The event will include three new items on the menu and will tie in with the sale of the first anime DVD volume which will go on sale on April 2, 2008. People who buy the DVD from the Comic Toranoana Akihabara Honten store (which is on the first floor below Cafe with Cat) and bring the receipt with them into Cafe with Wolf will be entered into a lottery to win rare Spice and Wolf goods.[22]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Spice and Wolf: The Dengeki Novel Prize Winner is Getting an Anime and a Manga Too", Mainichi Shimbun, August 10, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-06. (Japanese) 
  2. ^ "Book Review: Spice and Wolf", Mainichi Shimbun, November 30, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-06. (Japanese) 
  3. ^ Wolf and Spice Television Anime in the Works. Anime News Network (August 6, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
  4. ^ a b c DVD section at Spice and Wolf's official website (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
  5. ^ Outline of Spice and Wolf's world at the series' official website (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
  6. ^ Image file from the official website, name spelled as Holo (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2008-02-26.
  7. ^ Tokyo MX's official Spice and Wolf website. Tokyo MX. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
  8. ^ Spice and Wolf wins the Silver Prize in the twelfth Dengeki Novel Prize (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
  9. ^ Official blog entry for Spice and Wolf by the author of the novels, Isuna Hasekura (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2008-01-20.
  10. ^ Dengeki Maoh November 2007 issue (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2008-01-26.
  11. ^ Animate's official website for the Internet radio show (Japanese). Animate. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
  12. ^ Information on the Internet radio show at Spice and Wolf's official website (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
  13. ^ Spice and Wolf official episode listing (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
  14. ^ Interview of the two main cast, original writer, illustrator, and anime director at Spice and Wolf's official website (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
  15. ^ CD section at Spice and Wolf's official website (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
  16. ^ Spice and Wolf: Holo's and My One Year official website (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
  17. ^ a b c Nintendo DS game information at Spice and Wolf's official website (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
  18. ^ Official ASCII Media Works blog entry on the DS game (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2007-12-08.
  19. ^ Life-Sized Poster of Holo Goes on Sale (Japanese). ASCII Media Works (April 8, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
  20. ^ Introduction section at Spice and Wolf's official website (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2008-01-26.
  21. ^ Cafe with Wolf official event website (Japanese). Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
  22. ^ Spice and Wolf Cafe Open! (Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved on 2008-03-13.

[edit] External links