Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 23 “Orchestrated Catastrophe and Appropriate Retribution” puts Kraft and Holo in a bit of a bind, along with two of their new friends as well. Alas, it seems like someone has set them all up to take the fall for a crime. Thus, there’s only one thing left to do: am-scray!

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 23 “Orchestrated Catastrophe and Appropriate Retribution”: Details

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF NA key art.
Soon, we’re going to see the other side of Holo.

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 23 “Orchestrated Catastrophe and Appropriate Retribution” is the 23rd 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, Ep. 21, and Ep. 22 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

Cheng Xingfu is the director behind Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 23 “Orchestrated Catastrophe and Appropriate Retribution”, with Yukito Kizawa as the writer, and Hiroyuki Morita 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. 23 “Orchestrated Catastrophe and Appropriate Retribution” 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. 23 “Orchestrated Catastrophe and Appropriate Retribution” made its airing and streaming (aka. simulcast) debut on September 9, 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. 23 “Orchestrated Catastrophe and Appropriate Retribution”: Synopsis

Holo’s ears are so expressive in this whole arc, even in this episode.

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. 23 “Orchestrated Catastrophe and Appropriate Retribution” only made its debut 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:

Lawrence and Holo are being used as scapegoats because a person in Enberch died from poisoned wheat from the village of Tereo. How can the two get themselves out of this trap?

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 23 “Orchestrated Catastrophe and Appropriate Retribution”: The Good

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF final arc key art.
Used in place of the usual episode visual due to raciness.

The high point of Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 23 “Orchestrated Catastrophe and Appropriate Retribution” is definitely the story. Mostly because this is where the mystery is transitioning into a thriller. We even know who the culprit is…more or less. However, knowing who the culprit is and doing something about it are two entirely different things. Especially when the crime is essentially large-scale fraud combined with possible murder via poisoning, with Kraft, Holo, and two of their new friends being framed for the crime. Honestly, the only way out of this is to flee, and that’s where the thriller comes in.

Speaking of that poisoning though, I’m definitely giving it attention because of its historical authenticity. The “Ridelius’ Hellfire” mentioned in this episode? That’s a direct reference to ergotism, which was known as Saint Anthony’s fire back in medieval times. Ergot is a fungus that infects grain, which contaminates it with a deadly toxin. It’s a fascinating little historical detail there, and shows that Isuna Hasekura really did his research.

Complementing that story is the animation by studio Passione. No skimping out on animation in this episode. It’s HD all the way, complete with the subtle movements of Holo’s ears underneath her hood. I already eagerly await what will happen in the next episode for that animation.

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 23 “Orchestrated Catastrophe and Appropriate Retribution”: The Bad

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 23 "Orchestrated Catastrophe and Appropriate Retribution" screenshot showing Iima, Elsa, and Gyoam staring in shock at Holo's ears, save for Elsa.
They’re just as shocked by the reveal as we are.

Funnily enough, there’s not a whole lot of the usual slice of life fluff this anime has in Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 23 “Orchestrated Catastrophe and Appropriate Retribution”. It’s a logical consequence of the now thriller nature of the story, after all. And yet, there is no actual action in this episode. Only atmospheric tenseness that’s waiting to snap. If you want high-intensity action, then you might want to check out 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 action junkie.

Tune back in to THS to find out more about Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF and other anime when we do.

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