[Spoilers] 2008 Spice and Wolf II Rewatch (2024) — Episode 12 (Series Finale)

Hello, guys. Holofan4life here.

Welcome to the 2024 Spice and Wolf Rewatch.

But you knew that already 😛

This is the first official rewatch of the show since the premiere of the remake. In fact, it’s still currently airing as this rewatch is underway. And while we can compare and contrast what the remake did as opposed to the original, I feel it’s still pretty important to remember what the original adaptation was like seeing as how that’s really what got me into the franchise. And what ultimately made me fall in love with one wise wolf.

For the purposes of this rewatch, I will be watching it subbed since that’s what I’ve been watching the remake in. I will be comparing somewhat the two series, and when I do that, I will be using spoilers. I guess I should say for transparency sake that I am writing this in late July/early August, a full month before the rewatch actually happens. That’s because of time constraints and me having four other rewatches I’m participating in planned. I also waited until the first three volumes got adapted in the remake just so I can have more stuff to talk about.

These reviews won’t be as detailed as some of the other ones, as I don’t really want to spend two or three hours dissecting every episode. I’ll save that for when I do it in my questions :]

With that out of the way, let’s begin.

I’m watching the sub, by the way.

Went and saw Everything Everywhere All At Once in IMAX today. Still really holds up.

And for anyone curious, I got the deposit stuff taken cared of.

I can’t believe we’re already at the final episode. Feels like I just started 40 days ago.

Intro in the final episode, which lets you know this is an old anime.

Riot still in effect

I mean, I’m upset JJK ended as well, but this seems a bit much.

Publicized the outcome of the meeting too quickly.

Damn you Thomas Dewey and the Chicago Tribune!

Eve trying to quail the nun’s nerves

Eve telling Lawrence they can still make the trade.

Gotta go the Derrink company and bring back the cash.

That is a lot of people

Eve wants to regroup at the inn

By the way, if we don’t see Rigoro any, are we to presume he got killed by the mob? You know, since he was the scribe of the 50 Man Meeting?

Holo thinks Lawrence is hiding something.

‘Course, she doesn’t know about the salt statues.

Lawrence pointing out that the only way he can continue traveling with her is to throw away this chance.

And Holo slaps Lawrence for his troubles.

Feisty little one, isn’t she?

Lawrence asked if this is what she wished for, and Holo seems at a loss for words.

“There’s definitely no God in this world.”

Very sad piece of dialogue

Holo suffering so much, you’d thought her name was Subaru.

Whelp, they’ve got the gold

Lawrence tells Holo that the next time she meets him, he’ll be a successful merchant.

Lawrence low-key calling himself a loser.

Man, thr sight of Lawrence walking by himself is extremely depressing. The camera being zoomed out really adds to the loneliness of the situation.

Now Lawrence is wondering if he made the right choice.

A crisis of conscience if ever there was one.

Lawrence with Eve now

And Eve has a bag of money herself

Huh…

Lawrence putting two and two together now.

And Eve now talks about how scared she is, which is an interesting parallel to Holo talking about how scared she is.

Eventually, Eve shows her true colors and tries to attack Lawrence with a knife.

As I’ve made known numerous times in the past, the highlight of this episode for me is the Lawrence and Eve stuff. Specifically, the complexity surrounding Eve’s character. I love, love, love the performance by Eve’s English actress in this episode. When Lawrence confronts Eve about backstabbing him and Holo, her English VA gives a tour de force performance. It is such a magnificent sight to see. And really, the Japanese performance here isn’t bad either; it’s quite good as well. I maintain that of all the side characters in this show that get stuck to one arc, Eve is the one character who should be in multiple arcs. There’s just so many legs to her character that you really can fit her in a variety of situations. She is so interesting and so cool and God, I love her so much.

A big bulk of the episode barely has any Holo in it. In fact, it’s mostly about the interactions between Lawrence and Eve. And while I feel episodes 4 and 5 of season 2 had a better built-in excuse as to why we are not seeing Holo, this episode feels far better paced than those two episodes. The problem with episodes 4 and 5 of season 2 is that they were both slower paced episodes, which made Holo not being there all the more aggravating. Intentionally aggravating, but aggravating nonetheless. This episode benefits from the hyped up tension, which makes the absence of Holo less glaring.

Would I still like for Holo to be on screen? Of course. She’s my favorite anime character of all time. But the scenes between Lawrence and Eve are so gripping that it more than makes up for it.

It should be noted that Eve does come back in the LNs. And had this anime continued, I’m sure she would’ve been a big focal point in season 3. I’m kinda whatever on it now that the remake exists, but for a long time I didn’t like the lack of resolution to Eve’s character in this episode. I thought leaving it open-handed the way they did was such a tease. However, I guess you can explain it by saying she isn’t the type of person who ever gets her comeuppance. She always finds a way to slip through the cracks.

To copy what u/vieene wrote in 2022’s thread, the secret of the statue was that Eve was using them to smuggle rock salt into the city to avoid tax. She was going to use the money she earned from that and the gold that Lawrence borrowed to beat the church to buying furs and smuggle them out of the city. Even had the army blockaded the port, she’ll run the blockade.

Basically, what she was doing was one big suicide mission that could’ve resulted in Lawrence being dead. However, she didn’t seem to care all too much as long as it benefitted her.

I think much like how Rigoro is meant to be a reflection on Lawrence if he chooses to follow his dream, Eve represents chasing your dreams and going too far. The opposite end of the spectrum, if you will. All Eve wants to do is make enough money so that she can live off of it. However, the ways in which she tries to achieve that goal are too dangerous and life-threatening. As much as Lawrence’s dream is important to him, it isn’t to the point of sacrificing others. No amount of self-worth is worth that.

Sorry for repeating so much from last year, by the way. At this point of the rewatch, I’m kinda on autopilot.

Woah, that blow to the head was gnarly.

Noe it’s snowing

Good thing this random stranger helped Lawrence.

He’s to this show what the guy in the bear suit is to Toradora.

Oh, this is Korka Coose

No relation to Imogene Coca, I believe.

I like Lawrence calling himself a failure because it plays off him telling Holo that he’d be a successful merchant the next time she saw him.

And we find out that what Eve told him is that she’s hoping.

**Ran out of space. Part two in the replies.**

Last year, I wrote this analysis comparing the Lawrence debt scene to the Holo can read scene and the scene where Holo questions God. I don’t think many people have seen it, so I’d thought I’d include it here. I think it’s actually some of my best writing. .

For me personally, I like the Lawrence debt scene more than the Holo can read scene. I think I’d probably put Lawrence asking for loans as my second favorite moment in all of Spice and Wolf whereas I’d put the read scene third. The thing I really appreciate about the debt scene is that it shows a man on the brink of collapse. Lawrence for so long was trying to run away from his problems and here he was unable to do so. It was a reflection on what made the arc so compelling, which was a tale of man Vs self. As emotional as the Holo can read scene was– and I think it’s one of the most emotional scenes in all of anime, I think debt scene is the key pivotal moment of the entire arc in terms of what it does for the characters. The key moment of the pyrite arc is Lawrence realizing he loves Holo, and even though the Holo can read scene was the catalyst to that scene, the debt scene I feel IS the moment. It’s not only the catalyst for the gold smuggling arc, it’s the basis of the whole entire arc.

I know I say this and yet the clocktower scene is my favorite moment, which comes from the very same arc as the debt scene, but being the key pivotal moment for the characters and being entertaining are two different things. Not that the debt scene wasn’t entertaining, but Lawrence saying Holo’s name was not only so much fun, it was a perfect moment for their dynamic, and played off an entire season of Holo teasing and busting Lawrence’s balls. He finally got one over on her.

As for comparing the Holo can read scene to the scene where Holo questions God, you can argue that the God scene is much sadder than that scene. Whereas Holo when she asks to have Lawrence’s children is at her breaking point in regards to her relationship with Lawrence, the God scene she’s at her breaking point with God itself. She seems borderline suicidal during that scene. I think what ultimately makes me feel the Holo can read scene is sadder is the fact that the God scene plays such a small piece in the jigsaw that is the overarching story, where Holo confronting Lawrence about not being totally honest had far more implications for what was to come going forward. Without that scene, Lawrence might not have realized his feelings for Holo and that she is at the end of the day his guide in life.

>What did you think of the ending? Are you happy with what we got, or were you hoping for something more?

I was definitely hoping for more. I thought Holo and Lawrence would at least confess that they wanted to stay together and put to bed any thoughts about separating but instead we only got a confession from Lawrence. Thank goodness we are going to see the story after all this when the next season comes out.

>Now that all is said and done, what are your thoughts on Eve as a character?

I feel second hand embarrassment for Lawrence. She was so obviously deceitful and planning something behind his back, that combined with her obvious bloodlust and thirst for revenge, It’s a no-brainer that she shouldn’t have been trusted. Also, I’m like 99.9% sure she killed her husband

>What is your favorite episode of Spice and Wolf and why?

Picking a favorite is hard because most of the episodes with the cutest moments balance it out with depressing moments in the beginning or end. But I think the first (maybe second?) episode of this arc would have to be my favorite. When Holo and Lawrence were role playing Lawrence being under a spell and there were a couple more intimate moments, I thought it had a lot of cuteness and if there was a whole show where it was nothing but that I’d be satisfied watching it.

**First Timer**

I’m watching the **Dub**

So they did start rioting when the decision was announced

Lawrence wants to let this deal fall through so he can continue to travel with Holo

So Eve was undercover? For the Church?

She **was** smuggling salt! How was she turning a profit though if she was selling it as statues?

Eve was planning on turning on Lawrence the whole time!

Looks like she knocked him out and took the money

Lawrence used the deed to the Inn as repayment for Holo’s contract. So he’s left with a net 0 right?

Tsundere punch

CONFESSION!

So that was the ending

I feel like the ending was a little rushed but I don’t know if that was the intent. Holo and Lawrence once again expressed their desire to continue their journey together but now with Lawrence’s feelings out in the open. I saw some talk when the second season of the remake was announced that some people were excited that it would get a full adaptation but I figured they would have wrapped up the original series nicer. It ended the same as every other arc, as they were finished with this town they looked towards their next destination but since it was the last arc of the season they could’ve wrapped it up with a nicer bow on top.

I think there was a kiss in there at the end but I’m not sure where it was exactly. I hope the remake puts more emphasis on that scene next season because I feel like it could’ve been so much more and given more emotion. I did like what the confession scene implied, that Lawrence wasn’t giving up on his dream, he just found a new dream that he wanted to chase after more.

Lawrence dodged a bullet anyways because that town would’ve been the worst to set up shop in. If I’m not wrong I think this is the first town we have been to where they didn’t make any kind of profit correct?

I’m glad we will get a continuation of the story because I want to see how their journey ends up and how their relationship evolves.

**First Timer**

Things are off to a very stressful start this episode.

I like the darker color palette with reds and purples used at the start here.

I’m a bit surprised that Lawrence and Holo are still going through with the deal (less surprised with Eve). If I were them I’d be more focused on getting out of the city as fast as possible instead.

Okay I’m a little suspicious of Eve breaking off from Lawrence and Holo here. Definitely feels like she’s gonna double cross them now.

The scene with Lawrence slowly watching the door close is really heartbreaking.

I feel like a lot of this could be avoided if anyone asked Lawrence if owning a shop is truly what he wants anymore.

Even in the middle of all of this, Eve is still focused on the profits they’ll be making.

Yeah I figured Eve was gonna try to kill Lawrence.

I like the scene where Lawrence reveals he’s figured out what Eve’s grand plan was. Reminds me of the scene where the culprit is revealed in detective shows like Monk.

I think this is the most violent we’ve seen Lawrence get with someone.

The scene where Eve whispers something unheard to Lawrence kind of feels like a callback to Lawrence and Holo’s conversation being drowned out by the bell.

I like the look of this big bearded man. He looks trustworthy at a glance anyway.

“Because I still have hope” was not the words I thought Eve would have said.

Lawrence is back for Holo!

I love the way Holo’s tail puffs up here.

Lawrence embracing Holo like that is really sweet.

It’s really good hearing Lawrence finally tell Holo he loves her.

This whole scene of Lawrence and Holo talking is really good. Feels like a really good way to resolve things.

I had to rewind it a few times but I’m pretty sure Holo and Lawrence just kissed. It was framed kind of strangely, almost like actors pretending to kiss in a play. But regardless I’m very happy that we got this moment.

I like the montage of what’s going on throughout the city, especially seeing the barmaid helping out the foreign merchants.

It looks like Lawrence and Holo are heading off on a ship somewhere. I’m assuming that’s followed up on in the light novels. And presumably in the upcoming second season of the remake.

Very happy to have taken part in this rewatch! Spice and Wolf was something I knew little about before going in and it surprised me in a lot of ways.

Looking forward to the upcoming Bocchi the Rock rewatch as well. I also noticed several other rewatch announcements on the sidebar that are intriguing although I’m not sure if I’ll take part in them just cause I’m gonna be busy this month. Still, I’ll be keeping an eye on any upcoming rewatches.

**Questions of the Day:**

**What did you think of the ending? Are you happy with what we got, or were you hoping for something more?**

Overall I think I’m happy. The confrontation between Lawrence and Eve as well as Holo and Lawrence reuniting served as a really good climax.

**Now that all is said and done, what are your thoughts on Eve as a character?**

I think Eve is a really interesting character and probably the most complex antagonist we’ve gotten in this series.

**What is your favorite episode of Spice and Wolf and why?**

Season 1 episode 13, it was just a really good finale to that first season and helped solidify Lawrence and Holo’s relationship going forward. Plus it was the end of Norah’s character arc too and I liked her a lot.