Our main characters have an escape plan in Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 24 “Path of the Snake God and Answer of the Wise Wolf”. However, plans can change. This is exactly that case due to some unforeseen circumstances. Mostly in the form of quite a few armed men who have come to return a “defective” product, by force if need be.

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 24 “Path of the Snake God and Answer of the Wise Wolf”: Details

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF NA key art.
Holo is staring off into the future…that will consist of one more episode after this.

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 24 “Path of the Snake God and Answer of the Wise Wolf” is the 24th 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, Ep. 22, and Ep. 23 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

Tatsuya Hagino, Tadano Hito, Miki Sorakubo, Lotus Animation, and Vu Ngoc Tram all collectively claim credit as the director behind Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 24 “Path of the Snake God and Answer of the Wise Wolf”, with Yukito Kizawa as the writer, and Hiroyuki Morita and Sano Takashi as the storyboarders. 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. 24 “Path of the Snake God and Answer of the Wise Wolf” 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. 24 “Path of the Snake God and Answer of the Wise Wolf” made its airing and streaming (aka. simulcast) debut on September 16, 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. 24 “Path of the Snake God and Answer of the Wise Wolf”: Synopsis

Holo still has her silly moments like in this thumb.

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. 24 “Path of the Snake God and Answer of the Wise Wolf” 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, Evan, and Elsa manage to escape from the village on Holo’s back. As they take a rest, they observe men from Enberch heading towards Tereo…

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 24 “Path of the Snake God and Answer of the Wise Wolf”: The Good

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 24 "Path of the Snake God and Answer of the Wise Wolf" episode visual by Jū Ayakura.
And now Jū Ayakura brings us back to our regularly scheduled (and SFW) episode visual.

As with the anime as a whole, it’s the story of Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 24 “Path of the Snake God and Answer of the Wise Wolf” that keeps my eyes glued to the monitor. This is especially true since this is the second-to-last episode before the finale, and oh boy, does Isuna Hasekura deliver. I have to point out again: this entire arc was not covered in the original 2008 anime. Brain’s Base and Marvy Jack skipped this entire arc in favor of the next arc, which left out a lot of context behind Kraft and Holo’s relationship and motivations. Fortunately, we get to see not only that now, but also get to see a delightful pair of side characters in the form of Evan and Elsa, who help Kraft and Holo develop their own relationship.

And even more fortunately, studio Passione have delivered on the promise of quality animation to complement that story. Of particular note in this episode is Holo herself. It’s the first time in a very long, long while since we’ve seen her in her giant wolf form. It’s quite a breath of fresh fur-scented air too, since our pair of new side characters also witness this. It really makes you remember how terrifying that form is to someone who has never seen it before. It’s also a reminder to the audience that this anime is in fact a fantasy story. Especially when you see a building-sized wolf dash across the ground faster than any horse could hope to gallop.

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 24 “Path of the Snake God and Answer of the Wise Wolf”: The Bad

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 24 "Path of the Snake God and Answer of the Wise Wolf" screenshot showing Kraft being pressed down by a wolf claw the size of his torso.
It’s always a bad thing for Kraft when Holo gets emotionally overwhelmed.

Alas, even Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 24 “Path of the Snake God and Answer of the Wise Wolf” isn’t really what I would call an “action-heavy” episode. While it’s certainly the most action this anime has seen in a while, it’s not really combat action. It’s more a fantastical sprint across the countryside. If you want combat-oriented action, then you might want to check out Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Solo Leveling, Kaiju No. 8, The Elusive Samurai, and/or DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDE DESTRUCTION. Those should have more than enough action to satisfy even the most obsessed action junkie.

Tune back in to THS to find out more about Spice and Wolf and other anime when we do.

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