Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 22 “Church Teachings and Memories of Father” is a very mystery-packed episode. It almost feels like watching National Treasure or playing Uncharted or Tomb Raider in some ways. Let’s just say that this episode will start to make you look for secret passageways in churches.
Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 22 “Church Teachings and Memories of Father”: Details
Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 22 “Church Teachings and Memories of Father” is the 22nd 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, Ep. 10, Ep. 11, Ep. 12, Ep. 13, Ep. 14, Ep. 15, Ep. 16, Ep. 17, Ep. 18, Ep. 19, Ep. 20, and Ep. 21 here) of season 1 (which hopefully won’t be the only one) of this economic fantasy 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.
Production Cast
Hiroki Moritomo, Hito Tadano, Tatsuya Hagino, and Shunichi Kato all co-directed Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 22 “Church Teachings and Memories of Father”, with Yukito Kizawa as the writer, and Takeo Takahashi as the storyboarder. As for the Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF 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 song for this second half of the anime is “Sign” by Aimer. Meanwhile, “Ringo to Kimi” (りんごと君, lit. The Apple and You) by NeRiAme is the ending theme song.
Voice Cast
Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 22 “Church Teachings and Memories of Father” 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. Other notable voices in this episode include Atsushi Abe as Gyoam Evan and Lynn as Elsa Schtingheim.
When and Where to Watch
Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 22 “Church Teachings and Memories of Father” made its airing and streaming (aka. simulcast) debut on September 2, 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. 22 “Church Teachings and Memories of Father”: Synopsis
Alas, Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF is still an ongoing anime series. In fact, Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 22 “Church Teachings and Memories of Father” only made its debut eight 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:
Meeting with Elsa in the church, Lawrence and Holo are able to learn the truth about Father Franz’s studies as Elsa reveals a hidden secret of the church, and the true location of the Abbey.
Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 22 “Church Teachings and Memories of Father”: The Good
Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 22 “Church Teachings and Memories of Father” definitely has a story that keeps my eyes glued to the computer monitor, as well as being the best part of the episode. All because of the mystery aspects of this episode. It’s basically a mystery adventure like Uncharted and Tomb Raider, what with all the secret passageways in this church. As it turns out, Isuna Hasekura is just as good as writing mysteries as he is at writing fluffy romantic fantasies.
All complemented by more great animation from studio Passione. Especially in the ear department. Holo’s ears are so expressive in this episode that you can’t help but admire the animation quality. Not only that, but the food actually looked decently good. I could tell that it was bread with some sort of pilaf with pomegranate seeds on it. Probably not the most glowing review of the food animation, but it’s still a plus in my book.
Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 22 “Church Teachings and Memories of Father”: The Bad
I do have a genuine complaint about Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 22 “Church Teachings and Memories of Father”. That would be the subtitles. There were two very major mistakes in the English subtitles in this episode. It may not seem like much, but for subtitles that had otherwise been perfect thus far, this is noticeable in a bad way. Subtitle makers, what are you doing?
As for the rest, well, this isn’t an episode for action junkies. Other than a very tense moment of action right at the end, this is more a mystery story than an action story. If you want action, then might I suggest Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Solo Leveling, Kaiju No. 8, and/or The Elusive Samurai? Those anime series should have more than enough action to satisfy any junkie.
Tune back in to THS to find out more about Spice and Wolf and other anime when we do.