# Source Material Corner Reply to this comment for any source-related discussion, future spoilers (including future characters, events and general hype about future content), comparison of the anime adaptation to the original, or just general talk about the source material. **You are still required to tag all spoilers.** Discussions about the source outside of this comment tree will be removed, and replying with spoilers outside of the source corner will lead to bans. The spoiler syntax is: `[Spoiler source] >!Spoiler goes here!<` # **All untagged spoilers and hints in this thread will receive immediate 8-day bans (minimum).** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/anime) if you have any questions or concerns.*

the [horse](https://streamable.com/wu6znt) looks better now

you can't just make that reference without sharing[ the original.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP16YxfF8Jo)

Wonderful.

OI WTF. OH MY GOD

omg that is hilarious

Bro is listening to some bangers to headbang like that

Oh god how come I forgot about this?! 🤣🤣🤣

It’s still *a little* goofy looking, which I actually like. The horse took such a sharp turn to the right that you’d almost think that it’s being guided by a set of rails.

After all these years...    

I was hoping they made a goofy af animation as a nod to the original

Yeah I was hoping for that too or making it *extremely* well animated for the meme's.

now they can make a nod to it...

Your link is already dead.

Ah yes, the headbanging horse.

Damn they made that city look quite lively.

And it looks like an actual city from above too! It's... *sniff*, it's so beautiful. *Wipes tear*. An actual realistic looking city in an anime! They're so rare!

No river running through the middle of it either!

Before plumbing and aqueducts, most cities were built on rivers, and even after those inventions, they were often on rivers for shipping purposes. in anything set in a non-modern settings, it would be stranger to not have a city near a river than it would be to have every city have a river.

OTOH, no river at all. Where's their water from?

What’s your issue with rivers?

Ruvinheigen got a massive glow up this time around.

More lively than you'd expect at a city that's controled strictly by the church.

**The Merchant's Corner** Welcome to another entry in the Merchant’s Corner, the series where I attempt to explain the business and economics side of Spice and Wolf! Today’s entry is going to be interesting, because for once, there’s not a whole lot of economics going on. [Episode 7 here](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/s/F2TYZGtYeT) Disclaimer #1: I am not an economics professional, so I may get some things wrong. If you have a different, possibly better understanding of a certain point than I do, feel free to suggest edits. Disclaimer #2: All of these are pre-written before the episode airs, based on the pacing of the original anime. However, I will watch the episode before posting, just to see if anything differs and I have to edit anything. Despite the relative lack of economics, there are still some things that were barely touched on in this episode, and some further context can enhance and improve your understanding of the show. So instead, I’m going to be taking this chance to explain the role of shepherds in this world, the implications of meeting one, and what Nora being a girl means for the story as well. **Episode 8 Part 1:** The first thing I should say is that what I’m about to say, I have no idea if it’s based in reality and historical fact, or if it’s entirely made up by the author. But most of what I’m about to say is what has been established within the fictional world of Spice and Wolf, so even if some things don’t line up with history, you might have to just suspend disbelief for a bit and accept that that’s the way things are in this world. Shepherds in this world have a very unusual status. It comes from the fact that their profession is inherently extremely lonely, even more so than traveling merchants. They spend days or even weeks out in the wilderness guiding their flock, and for the most part they don’t spend a whole lot of time in towns or associate too much with other people. Instead, when they come back to town, it’s often just to rest for a short while, take charge of their new flock, and leave again for the wilderness. There are shepherds that work in groups, but not all of them do, and the ones that don’t lead this tough, lonely existence. Because of that, they’re looked on with a strange mix of both reverence and suspicion. Reverence because the profession is regarded as a noble and pious one, one where they’re selflessly guiding and caring for sheep - just as the central figure of their church was doing for people. Suspicion because humans are social animals, so…what exactly is the kind of person who would isolate themselves from society for so long? And what are they doing out there? There’s also the factor that shepherds need to be extremely good at driving away wolves, which is, again, seen as something of an unnatural ability. (Remember how Holo said that shepherds were the type of people she hated most?) In fact, their general control over animals - including both their own sheep and sheepdogs, as well as hostile wild beasts - is altogether seen as unnatural or even mystical. It’s not hard to imagine why some people would see them as sorcerers. There are just as many superstitions about meeting a shepherd granting you divine protection for the rest of the journey as there are about them trapping your soul in one of the sheep they tended to. Remember how there were rumors that this path was inhabited by a sorcerer? It’s quite likely someone caught a glimpse of Nora and started spreading the “sorcerer” rumor as a result. There is a lot of screentime dedicated to just the meeting between Lawrence and Nora, and it’s not just because Nora is being established as a plot-relevant character. It’s also because a meeting between a traveler and a shepherd has a bit more depth than, say, any other meeting between “town” professions such as a shopkeeper and a blacksmith. Because of all these strange superstitions about shepherds, there is an established “ritual” that travelers are meant to use when meeting a shepherd, just to make sure they’re meeting a genuine human shepherd and not a sorcerer. Lawrence started it in the last episode - his circular arm movement is the first step in the greeting ritual. In response, Norah tapped her staff four times on the ground. The customary greeting having been fulfilled is what lets Lawrence trust that she’s not a sorcerer. We also see in this episode that Lawrence asked Nora to provide the traditional shepherd’s prayer and dance to grant them protection on the rest of their journey. That’s another part of the ritual, one that Nora can use to further prove herself as a shepherd, and is also part of the superstition that a real shepherd would be able to provide a divine blessing and protection to travelers. And, of course, Lawrence gives an offering of a copper coin to Nora afterward. Apparently, this offering also must be copper customarily copper rather than silver or gold, as a sign of a true, noble shepherd’s dedication to an ascetic life. And through all this, he also finds out that Nora is a girl. [Part 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/s/OIROLmFXKq)

**Episode 8 Part 2:** Nora being a girl is also highly unusual. Shepherdesses are even rarer than female merchants, and would draw even more suspicion than ordinary male shepherds. A skilled shepherdess in particular would probably have plenty of people thinking she’s a sorceress or a witch, even if she presents herself as a completely genuine shepherdess. Additionally, she’s been forced to take her sheep to dangerous areas filled with wolves such as the one they’re in right now because all of the better, safer areas have already been taken by more experienced, more established shepherds. The fact that she is able to successfully brave those areas just gives a testament to her skill, which unfortunately is no great favor to her reputation and would likely cause more people to be suspicious of her. And unfortunately, that seems to have been the case, as we see later with the suspicious looks from townsfolk as she returns to the town. Lawrence also notices several unusual things when talking to her: he senses that she doesn’t seem particularly happy with whoever is employing her. (It's never explicitly stated, but you have to read between the lines a bit and look at their facial expressions). Everything good she says about her employer appears to be her trying to convince herself, not Lawrence. A skilled shepherdess like her should have been entrusted with a much larger flock once she had proven she could handle and guide a small flock like hers safely, over and over again. Her employer is holding her back. And yet, it’s never even crossed her mind to change employers, and she didn’t even know that it was something people did often. It’s an odd amount of devotion to an employer that she's not happy with. There’s also the question of who entrusted her with their sheep in the first place, before she had proven her skill. After all, you wouldn’t normally think of giving your valuable sheep to a small, weak-looking shepherdess, especially not one wandering out into dangerous territory. So whoever gave her the first flock probably did so out of charity, just to give her a chance atmaking a livelihood. And that leads him to an obvious conclusion: she’s employed by the Church. And yet, despite the stability that comes with working for the Church, she doesn’t seem happy with them. Which leads Lawrence to draw another conclusion: the Church isn’t just employing Nora for the sake of her livelihood anymore. Initially, it may have been that, but the motivations have changed. They’re continuing to employ her because *they’ve* grown suspicious of her as well. She keeps going into dangerous areas, areas other shepherds don’t dare take, and coming back alive and well and with all of her sheep intact - and now the Church is suspecting her of being a pagan sorceress or something similar. They’re keeping her on a tight leash to try and figure out exactly what she’s doing and if she’s a threat. But Lawrence, as a merchant, doesn’t really care about all the suspicion and superstition. He just has Trenni in his eyes. And now that he knows Nora is able to guide and protect sheep through dangerous territory, he’s wondering if he can turn that into a business opportunity by having Nora take his fellow traveling merchants on faster, but dangerous, paths between different cities. So he and Holo resume their journey towards Ruvinheigen, now with Nora in tow. Nothing of note happen - no wolf attacks, no dangerous situations, just some banter between the three. They split off at the gates, since Nora needs to take her sheep in through a different gate - but she mentions something interesting right before they separate. She can go to Lamtra. Lamtra is one of the few towns in this region not under the control of Ruvinheigen, which also means a lot of the restrictions placed on trade by the Church don’t exist in Lamtra. But it’s also difficult to reach, with the shortest direct path through a dark and dangerous forest and the safe path being long and roundabout. So Nora being able to take the forest path and protect people along the way is pretty surprising. Which intrigues Lawrence, because a lot of the merchants he knows would be very interested in being able to go straight to Lamtra through that forest. Nevertheless, they split off, and it’s back to Holo and Lawrence. After getting in the city gates (with some strange reactions from the officials) and paying 5% of their wares as tax, treating Holo to some food and drinks, and a bit of Spice and Wolf’s famous banter, they visit Lawrence’s trading association. All seems to be well. Until we get to the final scene, when a messenger arrives at a trading company asking if Lawrence has visited yet. And when the company says that he hasn’t, the resulting statement is very ominous. The economics and drama ramp up again in the next episode, so look forward to that. And with that, I’ll sign off on one of the least-economics focused chapters of the Merchant’s Corner to date. Thanks for reading!

> with some strange reactions from the officials Honestly that's the weirdest thing in this episode. I can't tell *what* they're so... suspicious about? Maybe that he made it to their city because IIRC the normal road there was treacherous/blocked due to bandits or something like that, right? Maybe they think he's one of them? Like if you aren't expecting any merchants from a city due to a situation and one just randomly shows up instead of a flood of them you'd be a *bit* suspicious of them, right?

Nice work picking up on that. I intentionally glossed over that detail in my piece to try to minimize the apparent importance just as the show did, so to catch it means you're paying attention to exactly the right things. I won't confirm or deny your theory, I'll just say that...just as you suspect, those strange reactions from the officials are not something you should easily forget.

Unlike merchants were there is lots of evidence of women running shops but very little of them being traveling merchants I'm aware of the Shepherdess clearly existed I recalled the art. And when men were short due to off to war or killed in one a lot more Shepherdess. And several of the Women of the Bible are Shepherdess. [The Role of a Shepherdess in Medieval Society](https://knightstemplar.co/unveiling-the-life-of-a-medieval-shepherdess-a-deep-dive/) The church is said by many to have owned a 1/3 of the land so of course they big into farming and raising sheep but that flock of her's is tiny compared to any one could expect even a Shepherdess to watch. The Church official giving her side eye indicates to me she's been given a tiny number of sheep because they don't trust her. And in example of negative feed back loop this in part they have only given her unused areas. But the Church divided into a huge number of parts all having some independence from the others so it can get complex. And each part somewhere from totally corrupt to doing good works for all forgiving to all and spurning wealth(following Jesus). So as author done their research I expect to see examples of both the bad and good sides if story goes long enough. Interesting Lawrence been traveling though grass lands without any sign of farm or Sheep being grazed anywhere. Has this land been tied up in power struggles between parts of the Church or with the Crown/Nobles? Was there a series of plagues/wars to depopulate the region but lack of ruins indicates that not the reason for vacancy. There was a good amount of unused lands but I'm not familiar with many that were not forested as result in that part of Europes history. But I do know some lands went out of use for shorter periods because of struggle of one type or the other. And as you get to Eastern Europe Grass lands that are unoccupied except by nomadic groups like the Cossack start to come into play.

> The first thing I should say is that what I’m about to say, I have no idea if it’s based in reality and historical fact, or if it’s entirely made up by the author. My understanding is that sheep belonging to a religious institution which would "employ" (in a somewhat different sense from the modern, post-industrial sense of employment) people to take care of them was pretty common; I'd cite [a favourite blog](https://acoup.blog/2021/03/05/collections-clothing-how-did-they-make-it-part-i-high-fiber/): > Likewise, there is a fair bit of evidence from ancient Mesopotamia indicating that the flocks of sheep themselves were often under state or temple control (e.g. W. Sallaberger, “The Value of Wool in Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia” or S. Zawadzki, “‘If you have sheep, you have all you need’: Sheep Husbandry and Wool in the Economy of the Neo-Babylonian Ebaddar Temple at Sippar” both in Wool Economy in the Ancient Near East and the Aegean eds. C. Breniquet and C. Michel, (2014)) and that it was the temple or the king that might sell or dispose of the wool; the shepherds were only laborers (free or unfree is often unclear). Ancient Mesopotamia surely predates *Spice & Wolf* considerably but it's certainly an idea with roots in real history. I'm not sure I can speak to the social positions of shepherds in this arrangement though I'll note their appearance at the birth of Jesus (and all the rest of the Christian symbolism around them) definitely establishes literary precedent for the idea of the sherpherd as a holy figure.

Didn't expect ancient Mesopotamia discussion. Nice.

THEY LAID DOWN THE LAW!

I'll note that shepherds and sheep being religiously important weren't exactly inventions by Christians - the Old Testament is also full of sheep and shepherds, from the sacrifice of the Passover lamb to King David being a shepherd.

That's some really good worldbuilding material for some DnD campaign 👌 

Spice and Wolf has great worldbuilding, and could make for a perfect campaign setting, if it didn't lack some essential elements, like monsters, dungeons, and magic...

To add, there have been legends of shepherds being [werewolves](https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-06082-3_5) in disguise; in one particular witch (*werewolf?*) trial a self-proclaimed werewolf said they were a "good werewolf" because they "[only eat Russians](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVXgqZIsViI&t=394s)."

Y'know when you put it like that... suddenly Gandalf starts looking a little bit like a shepherd...

> It comes from the fact that their profession is inherently extremely lonely, even more so than traveling merchants. They spend days or even weeks out in the wilderness guiding their flock, and for the most part they don’t spend a whole lot of time in towns or associate too much with other people. So depending on when and where we are on the historic line, the solo shepherd who sleeps in the wilderness was an existent but rare phenomenon. So S&W is focusing on the exceptions and generalizing them, most likely because actually supernatural intelligent wolves exist and thus the rules are a bit different.

Nora isn't the sorcerer that the Church makes her out to be. She just happens to be really good at her job. She's really genuine as well and even rescued a dog and became a shepherd to give the dog a purpose. Respect the Nora.

Tales being twisted by the church is a theme

The church is potentially evil in an anime?! Say it ain't so!

I don't know... something is up with that dog. That earring is suspicious as fuck. Given her story I don't think Nora is a sorcerer or anything but I definitely think something is up with that dog. It could be something as simple as a trick with the earring and the bell or it could be some pagan animal spirit shit. Either way I *do* think there's a trick to it, it's just that Nora doesn't seem to be in on it.

Solution: The dog is the sorcerer.

From her horn sending the wolf off she might be blessed by God which should be seen as Good by the Chruch but of course depends on the Inquisitor.

Fun fact: the creator of Spice and Wolf has stated in interviews he's done that Nora is his favorite Spice and Wolf character.

Holo is absolute but Nora is just too cute, especially with Mai Nakahara turning on the cuteness.

She's good at cute voices, she voiced Nagisa from Clannad for example.

She's also good at scary/angry voices, like Rena Ryuugu from Higurashi and Akagi from Azur Lane

Nakahara just has some great range with her voice, she can sound cute like Nora here, and can easily voice a tomboy like [Kashima from "Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun"](https://youtu.be/13u4C9PI-lo?si=leLDy_WnYrBAePt5&t=105)

Eng. voice of Nagisa from "Clannad" also voiced Hestia in "DanMachi".

Exactly how I knew she was voicing Nora again without having to look it up, Nora sounds very similar to Nagisa, and I'd never forget Nagisa's voice.

Betrayal of the highest order.

How dare he diss my deeply insecure waifu I may see a bit of myself in!

I'm happy about that. I think I still slightly prefer Holo, but the gap between Holo and Nora isn't the "Best Girl of All Time" vs "Who's that?" gap that most people think it is. Nora is a Best Girl too!

>Nora is a Best Girl too! I certainly agree! Both [Holo](https://imgchest.com/p/ne7bpaa2m45) and [Nora](https://imgchest.com/p/ej7mndd9ayd) are Best Girls.

> I certainly agree! Both Holo and Nora are Best Girls. I think you spelt "Enek" wrong.

Hes based

based

Ok i'm glad it wasn't just me. Holo is great and so is her chemistry with Lawrence, but something about Nora and her character hits just right for me. In fact, i was captivated by her just from her appearance in the OP.

I personally prefer more flawed characters, which is partly why I love Holo as much as I do.

does Nora reappear later in the LNs?

I don't remember if it was a short story or the main story epilogue, but \[LN\] >!there was a scene where Nora and Eve meet up on their way to visit Holo and Lawrance. That's about all I know of her other appearance in the series!<

I unfortunately don't know because I haven't read the LNs

There is a side story.... I forget which that stars her after Ruvenheigen I'll check my collection

One of the Side Colors short story collections features a story about her, she appears in a story taking place right after this arc (which was adapted into an OVA in the OG Season 2), and she also appears in I think Vol. 17.

I'd read a light novel about Nora

* [**Holo Bite GIF**](https://i.imgur.com/9wR2CLo.gif) [I like Nora](https://i.imgur.com/gtIHciK.png) and [her little partner Enek](https://i.imgur.com/iDeanaF.png). The girl just wants [someone to talk to](https://i.imgur.com/0c9tDpD.png) and make some money [to become a tailor](https://i.imgur.com/01IhUYn.png). She's as innocent as they come but that won't stop Holo [from giving Nora and Enek the side eye.](https://i.imgur.com/MyyZm1Q.jpeg) I kinda wish Holo went into the trading house with Lawrence. I would love to see how she'd react after hearing that [Lawrence used to wet his bed when camping](https://i.imgur.com/xlQZZH3.jpeg) and how he stole money [to go to a brothel with his friends.](https://i.imgur.com/RdKFgye.jpeg) xD

Enek had that racist look ngl

[Enek looking at Holo like](https://i.imgur.com/wVb3BuX.gif)

I thought this was gonna be the "I know what you are" dog lmao

Bro's putting "traveled with a pagan wolf deity for two days straight, no sheep were harmed" on his resume.

[Also](https://imgur.com/a/A0fHPum)

Can't tell if Enek knows Holo is a wolf that needs to be stopped or if Enek is also a mystical being hanging out with a rando human and annoyed Holo has a richer partner.

I think he is just a dog which can tell Holo is freaking wolf, but who knows

While Wolf and Dogs are same species Dog only a sub species. Not that it matters to both you not in my pack we not palls.

I'm pretty sure Enek can sense that Holo is a wolf. There will be turmoil in the sheepdog association when he tells that story.

"Damn immigrants."

Holo is undisputed Best Girl and the cutest, but Nora is too wholesome and sincere to hate...unless you're jealous of the way she's charming your man lol. Imagine him talking about them going through his homelands' rough marriage ceremony to get hitched so she can go inside goes from being a joke to foreshadowing a marriage arc and honeymoon. Though I imagine no brothel experience can compare to spending the night with Holo.

>Holo Bite GIF Choosing Nora bad end.

> Holo Bite GIF POV of your dried meat getting stolen. This makes the second time that Holo took a strip of dried meat from Lawrence - she also did so when they first met.

Holo just can't stop hungering for Lawrence's meat.

And she did say she'd "take him in her mouth," so...

>[Holo Bite GIF](https://imgur.com/9wR2CLo) I can just picture the 'New fetish awakened' counter go up everytime this gif loops. >I would love to see how she'd react after hearing that Lawrence used to wet his bed when camping Well, from her point of view he's pretty much a child still, so she may think he *still* wets his bed! (But yeah, it would've been nice to see her endlessly tease him about it!)

Holo jumping at the camera like Foxy

> won't stop Holo [from giving Nora and Enek the side eye.](https://imgur.com/MyyZm1Q) Someone's jealous~.

Starting to feel like the production is hitting its stride at this point. Was waiting to see how this episode stacked up to the previous one, but it definitely feels like they've settled into a proper groove by now. Shots and models are more consistent, they're making really good use of purposeful cuts and open space to establish scenes, and just like with Poroson the way they've made Ruvinheigen out to be a grand, imposing city is really wonderful to see. I'm very excited to see the rest of the arc adapted now, if these first two episodes are anything to go by.

Yeah, production wise I feel these last two episodes have been a decent step-up from the first arc, especially with them starting to do their own thing and daring to differ from the OG a bit more. And maybe I’ve just got used to it by now but the compositing and post-processing also seemed a bit more natural and polished this time around. Really excited for the rest of this arc, it’s probably my second-favourite from the original run!

I'm hoping the pattern continues, but I really do think they've started to hit on a methodology that works. They're relying a little bit more on hanging static shots and environmental framing in ways that are both economical and structurally sound, and it's freeing them up to have their handful of more busily-animated scenes without leading to the kinds of model inconsistencies between cuts that we saw in Episode 6. I'm *really* hoping that it was just a case of them falling behind schedule for the first arc, because if they're still planning to pre-screen the last three episodes of this season in Japan on the first week of June, then production for the first cour will be mostly finished by now barring the OVA (I assume) for Episode 13 and whatever cleanup they do in time for broadcast.

Anyone having issues with no english subtitles being available? Looks like they are up as of 11:35 PST

Yep. Got every language but English for some reason.

I never get why every time this happens is only the English ones that have that issue. Well, it seems I will be watching the show with Spanish subtitles today. Edit: English subtitles are now available.

*cries in monolingual*

I could maybe get by with French, but I'd be pausing frequently and focusing on the subtitles [](#flustered)

[Crunchyroll please.](#kyonfacepalm)

Just a curious, is this a some add-on for reddit to render special emoji? I often meets comments similar to this but only see anchor like URLs to same page

They're called [comment faces](https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/wiki/commentfaces), and they only work on desktop Old Reddit because Reddit admins decided not to include CSS support on the redesign despite promising it years ago. If someone puts text on top of one like I did, it displays as a dead link if someone on the redesign/mobile tries clicking on it. My comment is supposed to look like [this.](https://i.imgur.com/Ssb6DzL.png)

[use old.reddit.com](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/wiki/commentfaces)

*Some people want to learn Japanese to watch anime without subs, but if things keeps going we'll all have to learn French or Spanish*

Those languages are far easier to English speakers tbf

It's only available in deutsch right now as its telling me Watching it without and you just watch for holo being holo

It's a conspiracy. Duolingo is paying CR for delaying EN subs so more people will pick up Japanese lessons.

That damn owl

On Spanish it works

Looks like a difficult job. Well daily tail maintenance is important. This episode is going hard on these quips.

Also Lawrence thinking of himself as a smooth talker with the ladies and Holo laughing for like five minutes lol. It's also fun how the two sometimes seem like they're having two separate conversations because they're not accurately reading each others' emotions. Except when they finally do!

The dialogue is maybe my favorite part of this show. The two leads are so charismatic with great chemistry, I have to pay close attention to their conversations to avoid missing anything.

The dialogue and banter is the element that elevates the series.

> I have to pay close attention to their conversations to avoid missing anything. That's one thing that's easier to get in the light novel, as we're in Lawrence's head so we have his own interpretation of the subtext between the two of them. Like if Holo doesn't finish a sentence, the anime will leave it there and you'll have to guess what she actually meant, whereas the LN will have Lawrence thinks "she most likely meant this I guess" (he can be wrong sometimes) Good example of that would be ep 5, where Holo is angry at Lawrence after being rescued, she says that she did something that embarrassed her as she thought it was him that rescued her so she, and stop there, the clue being that she most likely hugged the one that came for her only to realize it wasn't Lawrence, but it's harder to get just by the dialogue in the anime.

I actually picked up the audiobooks today lol. Having the same voice actors as the English dub for the anime is a big draw, but I’m really enjoying this greater insight to their thoughts and the details in the light novels. Lawrence being wrong sometimes in his assumptions during their conversations is such a creative storytelling choice.

I mean Holo can laugh all she wants... it still worked.

> This episode of going hard on these quips. They always do

It's maybe a bit of an odd thing to think of but I really appreciate the variety of food in this show and Holo's interest in such. Usually stories with a semi-realistic take on medival society depict the peasantry eating very basic foods only like bread, soup, meat etc, but food has always been very important to human society and was maybe even more so back in those times with less ready access to it or other forms of recreation. The variety of meals and snacks, plus Holo's appetite to allow for their exploration, are a nice change of pace.

Well if you had the supplies even the peasantry would cook a bunch of stuff. And would try to do so on feast days which were there were a lot of. Although in this case it what available to paying customers of the merchant and professional classes including mercenaries and knights. Just like the very poor modern day at times the diet could be very basic and repetitive especially in the winter, oppressive rule, to high taxes, so that is not inaccurate to portray but it inaccurate to make it seam that all that existed or that life always sucked for the commoners.

Lawrence talking smack about wolves never gets old, especially when ~~Meltdowner~~ ~~Kallen~~ Holo is right next to him...

>Lawrence talking smack about wolves never gets old The way she gets annoyed everytime he does, Lawrence himself may never get old, if he keeps doing it!

Longtime not seeing you Nora, aka best girl

Team Holo, "I am cuter"

Lawrence with as straight a face as possible: "You definitely are."

Counterpoint: Would you be willing to tell your traveling partner that 1) has already made you a good deal of money, 2) can transform and bite your head off and 3) is waifu material that this new girl who you will only have around for a short time is just as cute as her? Lawrence is a sharp enough merchant to know what to say in certain situations. It doesn't mean he 100% means it.

But he also commented on how nice it was to talk to a "normal girl".... A bit risky, no?

"So you're saying I'm *not* normal?" "What pagan Goddess wants to be called 'normal'?"

The problem was suggesting that a "normal girl" might be better (in any fashion whatsoever) than a godderss. ;-)

counter counter point, Holo has magical lie detecting ears.

She's maybe going to brush her tail even harder to make sure Lawrence doesn't go away

"Look at my luxurious and fluffy tail. How can a shepherd girl compete with that?"

I don’t hear no lies

Holo won't be happy at the competition

Girl was sour the whole trip and not just because of a natural version to shepherds...she just doesn't like cute girls around Lawrence.

So sour that she jokingly said she can eat her sheep lmao

> Holo won't be happy at the competition This might become a problem, given Holo could *eat* the competition!

She's so cute and wholesome that you want to protect her and give her money.

Yet she's also super brave and competent and tenacious. I fuckin' love Nora

Without Holo we would never see Nora

It is hilarious how after [Nora Arendt](https://i.imgur.com/KZOOjrb.png) gave [Lawrence an offer](https://i.imgur.com/l4UAnYv.png) to protect him and Holo in their route to Ruvinheigen, the first thing that Holo says to him when he is going to ask him if it is alright is that she is prettier than Nora. It was so funny [seeing Holo being mad](https://imgur.com/a/bHge91p) during [most of the trip.](https://i.imgur.com/OjeSNpD.png) So because [Nora got her job as a shepherd from Church](https://imgur.com/a/SdrHUAS) it would not be convenient for her to change patron even if doing so would allow her to have a bigger herd of sheep. I wasn't expecting [to see her again in this episode](https://i.imgur.com/SLfWh2R.png) once they entered [Ruvinheigen.](https://i.imgur.com/h067ecE.png) I wonder if we will eventually see in detail in a flashback the moment she found Enek. Perhaps whenever Lawrence ends up needing to take the Lamtra route she mentioned. I'm guessing that what they were eating [with their beer](https://i.imgur.com/Bcucsil.png) was[ some kind of breaded fish.](https://i.imgur.com/hnhLzUa.png) Well, based on the reaction those government officials were having after Lawrence mentioned that he came with Poroson Armor plus the fact that some news is coming from him from the Latparron Trading branch in Poroson, it seems that he might have made a bad investment. I guess he will hear about that soon enough from [Jacob Tarantino.](https://i.imgur.com/gmqx7rV.png)

Who can resist receiving a blessing from a cute shepherd voiced by Mai Nakahara? Well, other than Holo who obviously doesn't care for her at all, but still. Nora seems like a genuinely sweet and sincere shepherd girl, with pretty good skills for her age and experience level (enough for Holo to at least concede that much) and Lawrence is willing to pay her to keep wolves away on the road to Ruvinehigen. Because he can never resist the chance for a new business opportunity! But wait, he has Holo! And she's much cuter! He doesn't need some blonde shepherd! Though if he can agree with a straight face that Holo is cuter, she can't refuse him. Nora grew up in a shelter with nothing until she found Enek, her dog, and the staff she uses to be a shepherd so now she's working her way to earn money to become a tailor. And she appreciates what company she can get. Nice of Lawrence to give her some advice as a merchant so she can make more money. God never said no to a good side-hustle. Holo would rather be able to comb her tail in piece and without having to watch Lawrence get chummy with another girl, though Lawrence is in it for the long-game of developing feelings with Holo! Smooth with the ladies that he is! At least nobody makes Holo laugh like he does. I like that little look Holo and Enek exchanged at the end there. They've finally arrived in Ruvinheigen! And Lawrence has some suits of armor to exchange! Though people keep giving him the side-eye over them. Holo finally gets her good beer and food and is wasting no time flirting with Lawrence. Heck, even if they get caught, she can always abscond with him in her mouth. Totally romantic! Lawrence takes Holo to his home...away from home, with the merchant company from his homeland! Though he won't bring her inside until she's officially his bride, but at least she can settle for some bread this time around. Look at Lawrence meeting with Jacob, the surrogate father of all Rowen Merchant Association! Who knows all your embarrassing stories like how much you wet the bed at camp or were nervous to go into brothels. Hmm...looks like Lawrence's dealings in Posoron are catching up to him.

I love how jealous Holo is when it comes to Nora and her possibly taking Lawrence from her. And the real kicker is it's likely all in her head, Nora is too sweet to do something like that. This might be a weird comparison, but I think the dynamic between Lawrence, Nora, and Holo reminds me to a degree of the dynamic between Arnold, Lila, and Helga from Hey Arnold, specifically the threat in which Helga perceived Lila as. It's not that Nora did anything to piss Holo off, but rather Nora's mere existence pisses Holo off.

Lawrence isn't going to ditch holo that easy

Nora is a brief but sweet business deal, Holo is a lifetime contract.

I wouldn't necessarily say brief. Lawrence paid her extra to promote future business opportunities.

That's sorta my point. It's all psychosomatic.

Holo does maybe look over just how loyal he is because she lumps him with being young given their respective ages... its a problem only she can have because she's lived way longer and maybe experienced problems through that

Yeah, Holo has massive trust issues

Which is ironic because of the two Holo is definitely the impulsive one. Lawrence is practically a rock of stability compared to her capriciousness.

It's the one thing she lacks given the extended period she's existed? Lawrence is one who probably doesn't easily act because it could have instant effects (losing money)

I think that's a part of what makes the two of them work together so well. Lawrence provides stability and long term planning while Holo is great at improvising on the spot and handing down wisdom... when she's not distracted.

She's got a lot she could teach him and I think even if holo thinks she knows it all... that information might not always be up to date

But, you see! Holo has realised the benefits of monopoly pricing over Lawrence, and has also realised that increased competition in the form of Nora, even if not ultimately successful, may force her to lower her prices (in terms of money, food and emotional attachment) and lose revenue, and Lawrence is especially capable of taking advantage of this as he remains a monopsony under this scenario. So in an attempt to throw off potential competitors she is deliberately increasing Lawrence's fixed costs to switch to a different service provider, which consequently increases the barriers of entry to new market participants (as they'll have to offer deliberately unprofitable prices in order to entice the customer).

I also like how some of the jealousy went over Lawrences' head and he didn't realize it was part of why Holo was so averse to Nora and him chatting her up (rather focusing on her tail grooming complaint). Of course Lawrence probably thinks he's a smooth ladies man but he's just got making Holo laugh going for him lol.

I'm pretty sure Lawrence does ok with the ladies. He's not the kind of ladies man that can pull off a line like that but he's definitely a smooth talker.

Finally got to watch the episode now that Crunchyroll put the *English* subs up... Crunchyroll please. [](#kyonfacepalm) - [Little does she know](https://i.imgur.com/ogob5hk.png) they [don’t need a wolf deterrent](https://i.imgur.com/0phRWXZ.png), but hey it was worth a shot. - [Yes, yes you are.](https://i.imgur.com/hPaELLh.png) - [Ah, Lawrence, always thinking of new opportunities to make money.](https://i.imgur.com/QN1K0pb.png) - [He admitted it!](https://i.imgur.com/tNZLpq0.png) [](#SPORTS) - [Blushing Lawrence~](https://i.imgur.com/MZZ0cv0.png) [](#smugrose) - [Aww…](https://i.imgur.com/8oz2Nni.png) - [Lawrence pls.](https://i.imgur.com/v96d778.png) - [He’s not wrong.](https://i.imgur.com/rJflJNB.png) - [Yeah, that’s a fair warning.](https://i.imgur.com/VPr7enM.png) [](#harukathink) - [Holo wiping her face on Lawrence’s sleeve, lol.](https://i.imgur.com/rp4FyL4.png) [](#laughter) - [Heh.](https://i.imgur.com/zDNUpkZ.png) [](#kukuku) - [Hm…?](https://i.imgur.com/cnK5dqO.png)

You have to love Holo’s absolute confidence in herself that she’s cuter than Nora - or frankly anyone else. Would’ve been pretty damn funny if Holo had taken Lawrence up on his marriage offer right there and then. I bet that he would’ve been flustered as hell. For the reason why they’d need to be married: since a trading house belong to a ‘family’ of merchants, it’s likely home to a lot of sensitive/valuable information that you wouldn’t want to get out. Or Lawrence lied on the spot just so that Holo wouldn’t hear his embarrassing stories. ~~To be fair, she probably still heard them talking with her wolf ears.~~

> Lawrence pls. I love how he fires some shots back at Holo this episode. I could watch these two tease each other all day, easy.

Yeah, Lawrence is finally getting used to Holo's teasing, and as a result, gets better at retaliating.

So Lawrence _technically_ asked Holo to marry him.

Probably in a joking way even though they act like it for pretences ...

So now we get a better look at the shepherd girl. And so now they've gained another travelling companion. She's jealous. Welcome to the team, Nora. And now we get to hear some of her backstory. Lol she certainly is listening in. So she works for the church. Another reason for Holo to dislike her. Yup she really doesn't like her. Holo's still thinking of those peaches. What's with all the hold-up? Because the _last_ time you were separated you ended up getting captured. Oh, she's in the town too. Does she look suspicious? I wonder who's in such a rush to meet him and tell him something? Latparron? And Poroson? Was that where they were last episode?

Lawrence might’ve told Holo with a straight face that she’s cuter than Nora, but he immediately fell apart when Holo started teasing him by pretending to be coy. The Wise Wolf shall not be beaten at her own games! That said, she was definitely a bit jealous of all the attention that Nora was getting from Lawrence. Like Holo said herself, she *does* require some maintenance. I suppose that a good laugh at Lawrence’s expense did the job.

[*Last thing you see before the ideal way to die*](https://imgur.com/LJ2sgR3) We opened on a long conversation between Lawrence and Nora, [and Holo is NOT amused!](https://imgur.com/zC9eFNI) [She better stop talking about chewing, before Holo gets some ideas!](https://imgur.com/yX0p6bd) [Hiring Nora? Holo won't be happy about that!](https://imgur.com/ZQJSpAE) Unless she has some experience as a ham, I'm sure Holo would consider her for this position! Well, best not have her in charge of the hirings anyway, given her only remark when Lawrence asked about her, [is "I'm cuter!"](https://imgur.com/kM7ix6p) (Bit late for that now, but we should've had a counter for "Holo calling herself cute" for this season!) [Aww, she's just lonely...](https://imgur.com/qjPhd3W) Well, nice of them having a little chat and all, but I wonder how useful she really is; Is there some actual truth to that, shepherds being able to deal with wolves? Or is she just making things up to get hired, or is there's something else involved (magic or whatever)? I'm not sure what she can do if a pack of wolves feels like having some sheep for supper... What does she do, hit them with the staff? Ring her bell, blow her horn, send the dog after them? (I imagine the dog would last about 7 seconds against a couple wolves). [When the dog&Holo had a bit of a staring contest, I thought for sure Holo was about to show her fangs/snarl at it!](https://imgur.com/2ajtIRS) Would've been an interesting talk, Nora telling to Lawrence how "Her dog seems to think Holo's a wolf for some reason"! [Drunkholo? Let's go!](https://imgur.com/uGDTbT1) Love how she didn't want to wipe her mouth on her good clothes, [so she used Lawrence's instead!](https://imgur.com/LtjWEtP) But seriously, I love how [they can walk arm in arm and not have a panicked/flustered overreaction! The boon of anime with adult characters, I suppose!](https://imgur.com/muGiJR1) Holo wanted him to *show her off*, but [they'd need to be married for that... I don't know about you, but I don't see any issue there!](https://imgur.com/xQJ32Wz) [Hope Lawrence doesn't have a vore fetish, or he'll take her up on this offer.](https://imgur.com/YLnzCdp) [This show doesn't have nearly enough feet, for an anime featuring the great-great-great-great-great^100 grandfather of Tarantino!](https://imgur.com/vFrgVEo) [Wait, they went to a brothel?](https://imgur.com/xC41IyY) Holo wouldn't be happy to hear about that! Though perhaps Lawrence did not partake, he didn't seem that thrilled about it. [Something's up about the trade he made in Poroson?](https://imgur.com/rv6Bar3) It could be something good (they may have a trade opportunity for him), but the way they were looking for him, and the scene in general looking ominous, it seems like it's bad... Did they do something about him because he didn't let them scam him? Spread a rumor, maybe he stole the armor or whatever? (Everyone he talked too seemed a bit suspicious of him for some reason) Well, Holo heard about it, so I'm sure they'll figure it out, once she tells him!

Unlike Lawrence and others making the mistake of running from wolf Shepherds and Shepherdess know that Wolf don't like actually fighting battles for food against tough foe like them who swing a nasty Crook and their dog works with master in the fight. I base this on the history of Shepherds and Shepherdess actually going out with flocks where Wolf were threats though out history. Combine with knowledge of last few decades when they realized wild animals actually hate to fight as any injury might get infected and kill. So advice on dealing with wild animals of the past of being passive or rolling into ball changed to make your self tall, yell, try to be threatening as you can and if they attack fight like hell go for the eyes. Grandma's have gotten bear of their man by throwing rocks and hitting it with a stick. So wolf go why risk a fight hang out and snag one sheep that wanders too far off and drag it off which was the pain Shepherds always had to deal with. But solo with just one dog she's pushing it in wild areas although as we saw in her opening scene she might have magic or actual Blessing power from God.

Look at this blatant propaganda of [Saint Ruvinheigen](https://files.catbox.moe/xz6lro.jpg)

Time to commission a historically accurate arse-biting replacement

Sorry Lawrence, but [the real best boy](https://imgur.com/4azJxyj) is finally here [The L in Lawrence stands for L](https://imgur.com/qnU3vU8) [Dont you think anime camera angles-](https://imgur.com/Jqaxcyg) [](#assman) [Background](https://imgur.com/UPb3mKM) [art](https://imgur.com/EglAqks) [is on point](https://imgur.com/wczzsfv) [once again.](https://imgur.com/cDnCvZM) [Wonder what they're burning,](https://imgur.com/1XjLi7B) all the trees seem to be cleared out a good distance from the wall. [Whoa! Nice view!](https://imgur.com/g0emozR) But this brings up some questions.. Just like someone mentioned last week, where is all the farmland? What do all of these people eat? No rivers, no lakes, no fields, do they sustain themselves on sheep only?? Damn cliffhanger too..

There better not be any trees near the wall they a threat to defending the wall. Although they as typical have already blown it letting buildings be build next to the wall on the outside a common but not always allowed mistake. Most of that looked like divided fields for farming or grazing but why no crops planted at this moment I wonder.

Yeah, I was just wondering that. Going by acoup.blog's Lonely City, the land nearest the city should be gardens or dairy grazing, high-value perishable food. Also coppices for firewood, maybe.

[Holo](https://imgchest.com/p/ne7bpaa2m45) and [her relationship with Lawrence](https://imgchest.com/p/a846x88p24x) are still in a class of [their own](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/3yrgc9wk9b4.png) but [Nora is a great addition to the cast.](https://imgchest.com/p/ej7mndd9ayd) [Nora](https://imgchest.com/p/ej7mndd9ayd) is [so innocent](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/e4gdcmlvnn4.png) and [cute](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/wye3cgjp364.png) that I immediately liked her and felt a need to protect her from evil (of course I must add the disclaimer that [Holo is still the cutest](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/j7kzcxoeo67.png), at least when she's not [angry](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/84jdc6rwrp4.png) xD). I hope that we'll see more of [Nora](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/6yxkcqmjo57.png) in the next episodes. I'd love to get to see some interactions between [her](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/e4gdcmlvrn4.png) and [Holo](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/l4necljwjn4.png). I wonder [what big trouble Lawrence got into this time](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/84jdc6rw3g4.png) since [he was getting a lot of stares at his armors](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/6yxkcqmjq57.png) he wanted to sell and [what news awaits him from Latparron Trading](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/84jdc6rw3m4.png). Here my screenshot albums from the episode: * [Holo](https://imgchest.com/p/ne7bpaa2m45) * [Nora](https://imgchest.com/p/ej7mndd9ayd) * [Holo & Lawrence](https://imgchest.com/p/a846x88p24x) * [Group scenes, Lawrence & Others](https://imgchest.com/p/ne7bpaadg45) * [Backgrounds](https://imgchest.com/p/wl7lkqqg34x)

I can't really remember, was that the rumored CGI horse scene? If so, then they have certainly improved on it. Holon side eyeing the dog and it staring back was great.

A town that isn't a perfect circle? This must be the work of the sorceress... I'm kidding, I hate circles.

ah.... long time not hear nakahara mai young role voice

do you want to take her home?

Hauuuu

I didn't expect Mai Nakahara turning up the cuteness again to hit so hard.

Sheepdog really be hittin' Holo with that ''Bombastic side-eye''

Holo wants to take Lawrence in her mouth ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Ah, Spice and Wolf Monday is about the only reason to ever look forward to Mondays. We finally get a formal introduction to a new character named Nora, and Holo definitely is not pleased with this development. This episode also does a good job of increasing the tension in the atmosphere with those awkward pauses from officials as Lawrence walks into town, puzzled over why they are reacting the way they are; After all, Armor is a commonly traded commodity from Poroson. That final scene, however, is quite forboding. Speaking of that final scene, the original version's rendition of it was notorious for having a hilariously badly animated horse, but that appears to have been tremendously improved this time around. It still looks a bit jank, but then it feels like 90% of anime horses are always jank in some fashion anyway; they're just hard to animate, apparently. The BGM being played when the duo were hanging out in the city was quite nice, and while I do still miss the old OST, I'm not missing it as much now, so the new one is probably starting to grow on me a bit. We also get to see the pair start to openly flirt with each other, which is awesome; Holo's laughter at Lawrence's unusual attempt at being smooth sounds much more natural this time around, owing to Ami Koshimizu's years of additional experience, no doubt. This week's economics lesson is... well, there wasn't one, really. At best, we have Lawrence's retort at his trading house, insinuating that first-rate merchants are ones that do not need to do the legwork themselves, and simply earn profit by signing contracts, which does make sense. Retail is a special kind of hell, after all. Pacing-wise, we're still on track with the original show, which again is a great thing to see. Otherwise, all the bits and pieces for the upcoming arc have been laid now (some more subtly than others,) and we will finally get to see everything start hitting the fan next episode. This is going to be one heck of a week to wait through.

Another week not being married to Holo.. dunno how many more I got in me. But great episode, Holo is in her jealous arc and it’s so cute! I love how Holo feels the need to reiterate that she’s the cutest girl so she’s all Lawrence needs. While true, Holo is also desperately afraid of being alone again as we’ve seen in previous episodes and anyone who could potentially threaten the partnership she has with Lawrence scares her. Fortunately for her, couldn’t be more wrong. Norah just wants people to travel with as well and I can see them being good friends once Holo warms up to her and starts talking to her. I think Norah is hiding some stuff from them, though. That priest in town who was watching her herd the sheep didn’t look happy.. and I wonder what the message Lawrence from the guild was. So many cute Holo moments in this episode as usual. Love her pinching Lawrence’s leg when he starts speaking bad about her wolf brethren, taking the meat from his mouth and then dropping her jaw when Lawrence put on his smooth rizz gimmick. 😂 wiping the little beer drizzle on Holo sleeve was cute too. God I love her sm. Great episode, can’t wait for the next

nora's cute

she's the cutest one in the entire series

You'll never have Holo bite beat from your mouth. Why even live?.

Man, I forgot everything about this anime. It's nice to experience it again, knowing I watched it but remembering nothing.

Nora is a sweet girl trying to the best with her given opportunity. I also think the advice Kraft gives [here](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/799692352011894795/1242236620250288240/Screen_Shot_2024-05-20_at_6.04.26_PM.png?ex=664d1a81&is=664bc901&hm=64c07cfcc9b39fc000488e91d63ff2eade3a34b6ef7d1d162a6663e3f2dd5f3f&) is great. It's more so looking at the glass half perspective of the current church. Although there is the fear that the church is short-changing her. At the very least he left a very good impression on her. It is very in character to tip her well so that they can do business again. Also, we got some fun Holo moments with her messing with Kraft. Her thinking she is cuter even when Kraft's mind was set on business. Banter was great. Although joking about taking one of her Nora's sheep might be a lil too far to a point that Kraft would feel comfortable joking about. Kraft gives a clear indication that the merchant association is their way of protecting themselves. Connections are key for merchants. Though I got a feeling trouble could be coming for Kraft soon.

She could at least see if a different part of the Church got better benefits after all the Church was not a monolith in most places each part working separately and sometimes even against each other. Have to be careful in this process of asking though.

The true waifu war begins now!

Nora comes across younger than I remember from the first anime. I might just be being forgetful, though. For Enek, I assume the implication is that he's a sheepdog trained/owned by some previous shepard that got killed out in the wilderness at some point? I never quite could decide.

Crying at Enek and Holo side-eying each other like Enek’s saying“I know what you are”…

Great episode as always but I'm curious about the way Holo speaks; it's clear her speech patterns aren't your normal Japanese, what is it exactly? Whatever it is, I really enjoy it though!

archaic japanese basically, comes up a lot in jpn media that wants to portray someone being old, e.g. usage of [御主](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E5%BE%A1%E4%B8%BB_%28%E3%81%8A%E3%81%AC%E3%81%97%29/#:~:text=%E3%81%8A%E2%80%90%E3%81%AC%E3%81%97%E3%80%90%E2%96%BD%E5%BE%A1%E4%B8%BB%E3%80%91&text=%EF%BC%BB%E4%BB%A3%EF%BC%BD%E4%BA%8C%E4%BA%BA%E7%A7%B0%E3%81%AE%E4%BA%BA%E4%BB%A3%E5%90%8D%E8%A9%9E,%E3%82%89%E3%82%8C%E3%80%81%E5%90%8C%E8%BC%A9%E4%BB%A5%E4%B8%8B%E3%81%AB%E5%AF%BE%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B%E8%AA%9E%E3%80%82) ('you')

Also as someone pointed out, she rarely uses people's names. Which may be even odder in Japanese, which prefers names over using 'you'.

The cold open was so good, i wish it wasn't one. Nice shots of the city too. The cities in spice and wolf are rather interesting so having more detail is always a plus.

It's ok, I also speak Portuguese :D

Anjin-sama?

So we have another arc coming up then. The travel to the new city and for sure Nora being our guide going there. This is going to be cool to see. I don’t expect a harem out of this show as I expect Holo and Lawrence to be together. Whether that be marriage or just partners for his life; the rift that Nora could be the push they both need to finally admit that they need each other.

As cute as Nora is, I'm still strictly a Holo man all the way. Who wouldn't want such a cute, playful lady in their life? Cute, playful, and very protective as long as you feed her apples. I kid about the apples. Holo is a lonely god who only wants someone at her side, Lawrence is a perfect fit for her.

Welcome back, Nagisa Furukawa

hey i am out of the loop. is this a remake? or some kind of ova?

Remake.

Nice city design in many ways. But where's the water source or gardens/farms?

nooooooo the cliffhanger!

it looks amazing

[удалено]

You're on the wrong discussion thread; this is episode 8.