Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 8 “Fellow Traveler and Foreboding News”: Details

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 8 “Fellow Traveler and Foreboding News” is a nice relaxing episode to groove to. Especially since you’re watching a shepherd girl make Holo jealous for much of the episode. It’s so relaxing that you might forget the latter half of the episode title.

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 8 “Fellow Traveler and Foreboding News” is the eighth episode (you can reviews for Ep. 1, Ep. 2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4, Ep. 5, Ep. 6, and Ep. 7 here) of season 1 (which hopefully won’t be the only one) of this reboot anime series by studio Passione (Citrus, Mieruko-chan, Yuri Is My Job!). Said anime series is the reboot of the 2008 anime Spice and Wolf by studios Imagin (season 1) and the duo of Brain’s Base and Marvy Jack (season 2). Said original anime series (along with this reboot) are the anime adaptations of the light novel series of the same name by Isuna Hasekura (World End Economica, Magdala de Nemure). Crunchyroll is the company licensing this anime for its NA release.

Yūta Kita is the director behind Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 8 “Fellow Traveler and Foreboding News”, with Kizawa Yukito as the writer, and Takeshi Takahashi doing the storyboard. As for the anime as a whole, we do still know that Hijiri Sanpei is the director. Takeo Takahashi is actually returning from the original 2008 anime series as the chief director. Tatsuhiko Urahata is the overall writer, with Kevin Penkin (Made in Abyss, Tower of God, Bye Bye, Earth) as the composer for the music you hear in this reboot anime.

Speaking of music: the opening theme music for this reboot anime is “Tabi no Yukue” by Hana Hope. Meanwhile, “Andante” by ClariS is the ending theme music for the same.

Voice Cast

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 8 “Fellow Traveler and Foreboding News” features the voices of Jun Fukuyama (J. Michael Tatum in English dub) as Kraft Lawrence and Ami Koshimizu (Brina Palencia in English dub) as Holo the Wise Wolf. The other notable voice role in this episode is Mai Nakahara (Leah Clark in English dub) as Nora Arendt.

When and Where to Watch

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 8 “Fellow Traveler and Foreboding News” made its airing and streaming (aka. simulcast) debut on May 20, 2024. You can watch this episode only on Crunchyroll. In fact, you can watch this reboot anime as a whole only on Crunchyroll for now. If you want to watch the original 2008 Spice and Wolf anime for comparison, then you can do that on Crunchyroll as well.

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 8 “Fellow Traveler and Foreboding News”: Synopsis

Alas, Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF is an ongoing anime series. In fact, Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 8 “Fellow Traveler and Foreboding News” only just premiered yesterday at the time of this writing. Thus, you will all get the official synopsis from Crunchyroll instead of a spoiler-filled plot summary. You can read that synopsis below:

Our travelers encounter a shepherd along the road. Can the Wise Wolf hold back against an enemy of wolves long enough for Lawrence to build more contacts?

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 8 “Fellow Traveler and Foreboding News”: The Good

I’ve said it many times before, but I’ll say it again, it’s the story of Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 8 “Fellow Traveler and Foreboding News” that’s the best part of it. Isuna Hasekura’s writing is just…incredibly hilarious. The banter between Lawrence and Holo continues to be the main thing that makes said story great. Especially given how jealous the Wise Wolf is in this episode, and all because of an innocent shepherd girl.

And complimenting that story is the animation. Passione really is determined to achieve a pretty high-quality animation goal for this anime. Granted, it’s not quite on the level of a feature-length anime film like Spy x Family Code: White or even an anime that has that quality like Black Butler -Public School Arc-, but it’s definitely close. Plus, it even achieves its own unique style via making the art look almost medieval painting-esque. Which is quite appropriate, given how the setting of this anime is basically a medieval fantasy.

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 8 “Fellow Traveler and Foreboding News”: The Bad

I love this anime, both this reboot and the original 2008 anime. Alas, I am also fully aware that if you like action and action only, then Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 8 “Fellow Traveler and Foreboding News” is not for you. In fact, much of this anime in general isn’t for you. If you’re one such action junkie, then might I recommend something like Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Solo Leveling, or Kaiju No. 8 as an alternative?

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