Isuna Hasekura’s supernatural fantasy series entitled Spice & Wolf will revisit the story of lead characters Holo and Lawrence in a brand-new anime set to debut this year. An official announcement trailer has also been released and can be found on YouTube.
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Spice and Wolf tells the tale of Kraft Lawrence, a young merchant accustomed to his mundane routine of traveling alone with his horse and cart. One night, he finds Holo the Wisewolf, a wolf goddess, asleep on his cart. The two strike a deal that sees her lend Lawrence her divine cunning to increase his profits if he takes her on his journeys in return. The novels document their travels together and the oddities of traveling with an ancient being. The story celebrated its fifteenth-anniversary last year, which the trailer acknowledges by inferring a new journey will soon take place.
This is not the first time Hasekura’s Spice & Wolf has been adapted for television. In 2008 and 2009, the series was made into a two-season anime. In 2019, a virtual reality version of the anime was released for Oculus Rift, HTC VIVE, and Oculus Go Edition. Hasekura has stated that he and the Spice & Wolf team are looking forward to working on this story again. The trailer does not indicate the exact plot of the new anime, but fans of the original will surely feel nostalgic for the series upon viewing it.
Spice and Wolf is considered a classic by many anime fans. The revamping of older anime is not new, with Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon most recently having been released as a sequel to 1996s Inuyasha. The 2022 Spice & Wolf may beg the question of who is this anime for. It could very well be aimed towards older fans of the original novel series and anime, or hope to attract a newer audience. If the former is true, nostalgia will definitely bring in views from fans of the original content.
The trailer reminds viewers that this series began fifteen years ago. Younger and newer audiences may not necessarily feel the need to watch this anime because there is a clear history between the characters. It gives the impression that in order to truly appreciate the story, viewers will need to have watched the original series in order to understand the events of the 2022 anime.
Hasekura’s Spice and Wolf light novel runs in ASCII Media Works’ Dengeki Bunko imprint. The series is illustrated by Jū Ayakura and has inspired a variety of manga, light novels, anime and games. Yen Press publishes the Spice and Wolf light novel and manga in English. Funimation licenses the anime series in North America.
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Source: Isuna Hasekura
