It’s a good sign when an episode begins with Holo drinking a mug of beer. The lively tavern is just one of the locations featured this week. Spice & Wolf Chapter – which focuses primarily on the setting of the current story arc. Tereo’s unique story and arrangements are most relevant to Holos and Lawrence’s current predicament, but we also learn more juicy details about the wider world – a world that is unfortunately not yet large enough to cover Yoitsu. Still, the additional information and context is welcome, as it moves this story arc forward and somewhat distracts the audience from the fact that this episode looks like a bummer.

I’ve complained about the look and feel of the new adaptation before, but I honestly thought the anime was doing quite well for a while. While it’s never going to be a virtuoso production, the simple and workmanlike approach was competently executed throughout the Amati story. Or so it seemed to me. Looking back at the show’s credits, I now see five different directors credited for episodes 19 and 20 (one director is the norm). That suggests some behind-the-scenes wrangling that may have finally caught up with the team this week, as there’s a significant increase in off-model, stiff, or otherwise shoddy animation. It’s possible they “sacrificed” that for the previous two – and a good argument can be made that getting the end and beginning of a story arc right is more important than an unremarkable chapter in the middle. I certainly hope that’s the case, because the other possibility is that production has completely stalled, meaning this final batch of episodes is only going to be more painful.

However, relieving some of these pains is Kevin Penkins soundtrack. It took a while, but I’m fully convinced of its power and right now I think it can stand side by side with Yuji Yoshino’s music for the old series. The tavern scene is a great example. Penkin’s composition bounces with the drunken merriment of the candlelit tables. The arrangement seems diegetic, as if there could be a band of troubadours just off-screen. Given the returning voice actors and the head director, the music is probably the best new Part of the new series.

The new story arc is still entertaining, too. At the end of the episode, Lawrence and Holo haven’t learned anything about Yoitsu, but they think they have enough other information to get it from Elsa. The big picture revolves around the relationship between Tereo and Enberch. Enberch is a bustling town propped up by the Church, and Tereo is a small pagan town content with its underhanded heresies. While Father Franz fostered a trade agreement that kept their inter-city interactions frosty but stable, his death threw things into turmoil. Despite the tax breaks both sides enjoy, Enberch by all appearances holds greater influence and more power, and if they wanted to subjugate a pagan town in the name of the one true God, there’s little that could stop them. So Franz clearly knew something that kept them at bay, and the big question is whether that secret died with him.

Lawrence’s description of the church is analogous to the real Catholic Church of yore. As a former Catholic, I welcome any opportunity to use all my years of elementary school religion classes, so you’ll have to bear with me. The Vatican tested miracles and saints in a similar way to what Lawrence describes. It, too, had large and magnificent churches built that served as liturgical liaisons throughout Europe. And while I can’t remember if the Catholic Church specifically taxed pagans in the way Lawrence describes, it certainly extorted money from the population through donations, indulgences, and the like. In any case, the church was an extraordinarily powerful economic force, and that shaped its cultural influence as much as its teachings, if not more. I think it’s nice that Spice & Wolf draws these references to the history of Christianity. Sure, most people (myself included) will point to the romance or the economics as the show’s real selling point, but the solid world-building makes the whole thing that much stronger.

This context is also the reason for the uncertainty surrounding Elsa. In fewer words, the townspeople confirm that a young girl who becomes a priestess is not exactly Spice & Wolf‘s church (women are still not allowed to become Catholic priests). Father Franz’s position in the church may have given him some leeway for his interest in pagan beliefs, but Elsa would never be given that leeway. At least, that’s how it looks from the outside. However, the opening scene introduces tavern owner Iima as another woman who is going against “traditional” ideas of femininity, and she is a pillar of the community. There may still be a way forward for Elsa, and our heroes could show her that way.

I’m sorry to have to squeeze this in at the end, but I Really I love Holo and Lawrence’s flirting sessions this week. They’re also particularly saucy. I mean, Lawrence’s talk of “eating” Holo doesn’t have to be interpreted as particularly saucy, but I know she takes it that way – and she should.

Evaluation:

Spice & Wolf: Merchant meets wise wolf is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is on Þjórsárden while it lasts. He still knows “The Wolf Whistling Song” by heart. You can also catch him on This Week in Anime, chatting about trash and treasure.

Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.

insert_ip_tracking ibae ucd eor icoa, i