Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 11 “Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain” gives some complications to the plan Lawrence and Holo are conspiring together with Remerio and Nora. A lot of complications, actually. Not just of the lupine variety either.

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 11 “Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain”: Details

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF NA key visual.
Alas, it is indeed the darkest before the dawn.

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 11 “Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain” is the 11th episode (you can check out my reviews for Ep. 1, Ep. 2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4, Ep. 5, Ep. 6, Ep. 7, Ep. 8, Ep. 9, and Ep. 10 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.

Junichi Sato, Hiroyoshi Aoyagi, Takahiro Majima, and Yuta Kita all co-directed Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 11 “Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain”, with Yuki Nekoda as the writer, and Takashi Sano 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. 11 “Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain” 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 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. 11 “Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain” made its airing and streaming (aka. simulcast) debut on June 10, 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. 11 “Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain”: Synopsis

It will be a while before Holo is smiling like this again.

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. 11 “Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain” only just premiered a week 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:

Nora leads the way into the dangerous woods, and so their risky plan commences. What dangers truly lurk in the woods? Are a brave shepherd and a Wise Wolf strong enough to overcome what lies ahead?

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 11 “Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain”: The Good

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 11 "Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain" visual by Jū Ayakura.
This time, Jū Ayakura is making sure that the shepherd and the wise wolf are sharing the rainy spotlight.

It’s definitely the story of Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 11 “Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain” that kept me glued to the screen for the duration of this whole episode. All thanks to Isuna Hasekura and the story he wrote for the Spice and Wolf light novels. This particular episode is a masterpiece of that story, all because of the mood-swinging in this episode. The first half of the episode is all sunshine and rainbows medieval fantasy slice of life…that’s all meant to set up the dark dramatic medieval fantasy of the second half of the episode. Oh boy, does it get dark indeed. It’s amazing just how much Hasekura keep one-upping his own dark events. It certainly keeps you riveted to your seat as you watch it all play out.

Complementing that story is the animation. Passione just keep maintaining a very high level of quality animation for this anime, including this episode. The dark colors and details caused by the rain just enhance the dark story this episode is telling.

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 11 “Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain”: The Bad

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 11 "Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain" screenshot showing Holo, Nora, Lawrence, and their Remerio contact as a group with their horses.
You can already tell that there’s something bad happening here.

Alas, even though there’s plenty of action in Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 11 “Forest of Wolves and Frigid Rain” in this episode, it may not meet the demands of action junkies. It’s all basically low fantasy action involving mundane people doing mundane violence, with the exception of Holo, of course. If you’re looking for high-octane, stylish action, then you might want to check out Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Solo Leveling, and/or Kaiju No. 8. Those anime series have more than enough action to satisfy any action junkie.