Holo in Spice and Wolf is a wolf deity who never really thought about love. Her main purpose in life was to bless the harvests of the people in Pasloe, but as time went by, so did their love, admiration, and dependence on her. With nothing left to do in Pasloe and having stayed there for so long, it is time for her to leave.

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Cue her knight in shining armor, Lawrence, who makes a deal with her and takes her away from Pasloe to explore the world and see how much it has changed. As they travel the cities together, Holo helps him realize his dreams of being a trader by increasing his profits and making the most of all business opportunities that come their way, and soon enough, sparks begin to fly, making fans smitten by them. While all good things must come to an end, in the world of anime, there are a variety of good shows that showcase the type of heartwarming romance that fans love in Spice and Wolf.

6 Maoyu

Love Between Two Different Species

Non-humans are also capable and deserving of love, regardless of their morals and beliefs. Hero, just as his name implies, is the hero of the world of Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, fighting against the demons with the hopes of advancing and taking control of the demon realm. The battle has been going on for too long, and Hero is out of patience. He leaves his comrades and advances to the demon realm alone, where he meets the demon king, or rather, the beautiful and magnificent Demon Queen.

Struck by her beauty, he abandons the fight to be with her, just like Holo left her duties as the harvest deity to explore the cities with Lawrence. Holo is a wolf in the form of a young girl who falls in love with Lawrence, a human being, and Hero falls in love with the Demon Queen, which by her name implies that she is a demon, completely different from Hero, a human.

5 Gosick

Both Female Leads Use Their Wisdom To Help Their Male Leads

• Release Date: Jan 8, 2011
• Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance
• Studio: Bones
• Streaming Service: Crunchyroll, Prime Video

Gosick revolves around the relationship between Kazuya, an exchange student at the Saint Marguerite Academy, and Victorique, a student of the school, as mentioned earlier, with incredibly deductive skills that she uses to help solve mysteries. Victorique’s beauty cannot be missed by anyone who looks at her. She is petite and has long, beautiful, blond hair, but despite her cute and doll-like appearance, she is smart, articulate, and a skilled investigator. Kazuya meets this beauty with brains, and at first, he writes her off as arrogant, but after solving mysteries with her, he soon realizes the multi-layer that makes up Victorique.

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With Holo and Kraft setting off on their new vagrant adventure, the duo has already met its first business ordeal — the first of many to come.

Holo and Victorique are both extremely smart, and they use their wisdom to help the men in their lives, Lawrence and Kazuya. These relationships started unconventionally: Holo and Lawrence had a business arrangement that blossomed into heartwarming love, and Victorique and Kazuya started not liking each other, but after solving mysteries together, it led to a deeply emotional and trusting relationship.

4 Zakuro

Love Between A Human And A Spirit

• Release Date: Oct 5, 2010
• Genre: Romance, Supernatural
• Studio: J.C.Staff
• Streaming Service: Crunchyroll

In the world of Otome Youkai Zakuro, humans and spirits must coexist, and in order to ensure a peaceful existence, the ministry of spirits is established with representatives from both sides to ensure harmony. Unavoidably, some individuals do not see this as a good idea and believe they don’t need to coexist with the other race. Zakuro, a spirit, and Kei, a human, are opposed to this idea, with Zakuro wanting to keep the ways of a spirit sacred and Kei terrified of the spirits.

These two find themselves as representatives, and at first, they dislike each other, but as they work together, love starts brewing, and Kei overcomes his fear of spirits. What makes this anime similar to Spice and Wolf is the race of the characters. Holo is a supernatural entity, just like Zakuro, and Kei is a human, just like Lawrence.

3 Katanagatari

Strategic Relationships That Turn Into Something More Real And Romantic

• Release Date: Jan 26, 2010
• Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance
• Studio: White Fox
• Streaming Service: N/A

Togame is quite the go-getter, and once she sets her mind to something, she is sure to achieve it. Togame has her mind set on collecting the twelve swords for the shogunate, and knowing she needs help, she forms a partnership with Shichika to help her with her quest. As they journey together through the world of Katanagatari to complete her quest, they face countless obstacles, and soon enough, they begin to get closer.

These two couples never envisioned themselves falling in love with each other, as they had mutually beneficial reasons for forming a strategic relationship. Holo wanted to leave the city of Pasloe and explore the world, while Lawrence, the traveling merchant, wanted to gain enough economic experience to become a trader. He knew how smart Holo was, plus her supernatural powers, so he agreed to take her away from the village, knowing how useful she would be for him to achieve his dreams. On the other hand, Togame wants to be in possession of the twelve ancient swords, and Shichika has been trained to be a weapon. She asks him to escort her on her journey because of his incredible combat skills and he agrees to help Togame because he finds her intriguing, and soon after getting to know her, he falls in love with her.

2 Bakemonogatari

From Helpers To Lovers

It is almost impossible for a human to be weightless, and this is what attracts Koyomi Araragi to Hitagi Senjougahara. Intrigued by the fact that Senjougahara is weightless, Araragi tries to get closer to her to offer a solution, but she is not forthcoming. As someone with supernatural abilities and connections, he is determined, and after several means of convincing, Senjougahara accepts his help, and he takes her to Oshino, a supernatural specialist who helps him by stopping him from turning into a vampire. Oshini tells them what to do, and as they complete it, Senjougahara befriends Araragi. As the plot of the anime advances, Senjougahara finds herself falling for Araragi, and she admits it to him.

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Araragi saw a problem that Senjougahara had and solved it for her because he had the means to do so, just like Lawrence could solve the problem Holo was facing. Holo was ready to leave the city of Pasloe, and Lawrence took her on his journey to gain experience. After helping each other, they began to depend on themselves, and in the process, they formed an emotional connection.

1 The Ancient Magus' Bride

Female Lead In Search Of A Home

Chise is an orphan who has no one and no place to call home because society has alienated her. In search of a home, she decides to sell herself at an auction, and Elias buys her. Her new master, Elias, is a humanoid with an animal skull, but this does not scare Chise, as she is deeply grateful that at least someone wants her, and she submits completely to Elias. As the subject of all his experiments and trials, they get to know each other, and Elias makes Chise his wife.

Holo, just like Chise, was looking for a place to call home after realizing that where they currently reside does not favor them. Their respective men, Lawrence and Elias, show up and offer them what they are looking for. Elias takes Chise to his home after buying her, and she helps him understand his human emotions. Lawrence travels with Holo, as she has nothing else to do for Paloe.

Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf

Fantasy

Romance

Studio

Passione

Creator

Isuna Hasekura

Number of Episodes

25

Streaming Service(s)

Crunchyroll