Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 9 “Sweet Honey and Bitter Armor” gives us quite a bit of anguish for our Lawrence and Holo. All because of a business deal that has gone horribly wrong without him even realizing it. Alas, it will get worse before it gets any better.

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 9 “Sweet Honey and Bitter Armor”: Details

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF NA key visual.
That morning looks even more distant now.

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 9 “Sweet Honey and Bitter Armor” is the ninth episode (you can check out my reviews for Ep. 1, Ep. 2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4, Ep. 5, Ep. 6, Ep. 7, and Ep. 8 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.

Morimoto Hiroki is the director behind Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 9 “Sweet Honey and Bitter Armor”, with Yuki Nekoda as the writer, and Shinji Itadaki 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. 9 “Sweet Honey and Bitter Armor” 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.

When and Where to Watch

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 9 “Sweet Honey and Bitter Armor” made its airing and streaming (aka. simulcast) debut on May 27, 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. 9 “Sweet Honey and Bitter Armor”: Synopsis

There ain’t much smiling going on in this episode, whether for Holo or for Lawrence.

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. 9 “Sweet Honey and Bitter Armor” only just premiered three days ago as 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:

Lawrence is ready to sell the armor for a great profit and Holo wants her peaches. But when things don’t go to plan, will either get what they want?

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 9 “Sweet Honey and Bitter Armor”: The Good

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 9 "Sweet Honey and Bitter Armor" visual by Jū Ayakura.
Oh no, even Jū Ayakura drew Holo as sad.

Without a doubt, it’s the story of Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 9 “Sweet Honey and Bitter Armor” that’s the best part about it. However, it’s for entirely different reasons than in most previous episodes. Namely: it’s the darkest story arc of the anime yet. Even the arc involving the devalued silver coins didn’t get as dark as this arc. This arc is definitely dark economic drama, which is quite the niche genre there. However, it works for this episode, and the anime by extension. Of course, all thanks to Isuna Hasekura, who penned the original light novel story.

A big part of why it works is due to the cognitive dissonance most viewers would feel upon reaching the end of this episode. Without going into spoilers, it takes advantage of how misogynistic/chauvinistic a lot of medieval cultures were in a way that implies that it shocks even Lawrence. Honestly, that shock is also fascinating, because it implies that the level of misogyny/chauvinism is alien even to him. Thus, it shows how differing cultures around women can result in trade difficulties. The result is an extremely fascinating economic story here.

Oh, and as usual, the animation contributes greatly to that story. Passione continues to do a wonderful job with the animation quality of this episode. It’s not quite feature-length anime film levels of quality the way Black Butler -Public School Arc- is, but it’s nearly as good. Again, this anime feels as though a medieval painting has sprung to life as an anime. It certainly adds another welcome layer to this amazing anime series.

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 9 “Sweet Honey and Bitter Armor”: The Bad

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 9 "Sweet Honey and Bitter Armor" screenshot showing a very depressed Holo.
The depression continues even in this thumbnail image.

Honestly, the sheer depressing nature of this episode might be a turn-off if you’re sensitive about that kind of stuff. Fortunately, you can anticipate the eventual happy ending being much more satisfying because of it. However, if you’re an action junkie, then this is nowhere near enough action. In fact, there isn’t any. All of the drama is coming from economics. If you want action, then you might want to check out Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Solo Leveling, or Kaiju No. 8.