狼と香辛料 Ōkami to Kōshinryō,
Wolf and Spice
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.
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.
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. A visual novel based on the series for the Nintendo DS will be released on June 26, 2008 by ASCII Media Works.
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. 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.
Characters
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 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.
Theme Song :
Ringo biyori
Lyrics for Ringo Biyori
from Spice and Wolf(Ending #1)
O seven apples on a witch’s tree
With seven seeds to plant inside of me
In springtime I grew a magic song
Then skipping along, oh I sang the song to everyone
I looked at the world through apple eyes
And cut myself a slice of sunshine pie
I danced with the peanut butterflies
Till time went and told me to say hello but wave goodbye
A thousand sugar stars
Oh put them in a jar
And then whistle round the world
Oh whistle round the world
I’m a little wolf inside a girl, you say
And off I’ll go from June to May
Oh whistling round the world
I met a golden swan upon the road
Who was a handsome prince, so I was told
I asked it the way to yesterday
Then I was a sailor, and through the day I sailed away
Bluebird seas I sailed
With mermaids riding whales
Oh whistle round the world
Oh whistle round the world
I’m a little wolf inside a girl, you say
And off I’ll go down Wonder Way
Oh whistling round the world
Through apple eyes
Oh there are rose-coloured skylines
Where flying silver spoons
Eat melting marmalade moons
Through apple eyes
I see for millions of miles
The sun’s a diamond shining
In the nighttime of a summer day
A thousand sugar stars
Oh put them in a jar
And then whistle round the world
Oh whistle round the world
I’m a little wolf inside a girl, you say
And off I’ll go (I can not stay)
Oh whistling round the world
Let’s whistle round the world
Whistle round the world
Tabi no tochuu
Lyrics for Tabi no Tochuu
from Spice and Wolf
by Natsumi Kiyoura (Opening #1)
Tada hitori
Mayoikomu tabi no naka de
Kokoro dake samayotte tachitsukushita
Demo ima wa tooku made
Arukidaseru
Sou kimi to kono michi de
Deatte kara
Tabibito-tachi ga utau
Mishiranu uta mo
Natsukashiku kikoete kuru yo
Tada kimi to iru to
Yumemita sekai ga
Dokoka ni aru nara
Sagashi ni yukou ka
Kaze no mukou e
Itetsuku yoake no
Kawaita mahiru no
Furueru yamiyo no
Hate o mi ni yukou
Sabishisa o shitte iru
Kimi no hitomi
Mabataite sono iro o
Utsusu kara
Takaku sora made tonde
Mikazuki ni naru
Hakka-iro no hoshi wa kitto
Namida no kakera
Higashi no kuni no minato nishi no umibe
Kurai mori de minami no machi kin no tou
Kita no oka mizu ni yureteta onaji tsuki ga
Sashidasu sono te o
Tsunaide ii nara
Doko made yukou ka
Kimi to futari de
Doko e mo yukeru yo
Mada minu sekai no
Zawameki kaori o
Dakishime ni yukou
ただひとり
迷い込む旅の中で
心だけ彷徨って立ち尽くした
でも今は 遠くまで
歩き出せる
そう君と この道で
出合ってから
旅人たちが歌う
見知らぬ歌も
懐かしく聴こえてくるよ
ただ君といると
夢見た世界が
どこかに あるなら
探しに 行こうか
風のむこうへ
凍てつく夜明けの
渇いた真昼の
ふるえる闇夜の
