A surprise from last year's New York Comic Con was the announcement of the return of the Spice and Wolf anime after 15 years of absence. Based on the manga adaptation of the original light novel written by Isuna Hasekura and illustrated by Jū Ayakura, the Spice and Wolf anime is known for its unique approach to fantasy that highlights the life of a merchant through economics and trade rather than focusing on magic.

The manga was illustrated by Keito Koume, running for 16 volumes over the course of ten years from 2007 to 2017, while the anime series ran for two seasons from 2008 to 2009. Returning to an anime landscape that has completely changed since the original anime ended, the upcoming Spice and Wolf is an exciting entry in the upcoming Spring 2024 season. Here's what to expect from the new perspective on this returning classic, and the trailer shown by Crunchyroll at NYCC 2023 can be seen below.

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What Do We Know?

Staff and Cast Have Been Announced

While many people caught wind of the upcoming Spice and Wolf reboot through news coming from NYCC 2023, the series was actually announced back in 2022, with author Isuna Hasekura confirming on his official website that something "in the works" as far back as February 2022. However, it was initially believed that the series would premiere sometime that year, to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the light novel series. The series is considered by many fans as a classic, and it is regarded as one of the original series that solidified the light novel-to-anime production pipeline that continues to this very day.

The new series is titled Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets Wise Wolf, set to premiere on April 1, and will be a retelling of the original story rather than a continuation from where the original anime left off. Given that the light novel series has been running since 2006, fans are hoping that merchant meets the wise wolf will explore storylines that the 2008 anime could not. The original series' director, Takeo Takahashi returns to the series as chief director, while Hijiri Sanpei; episode director from the second season of the original anime, will direct merchant meets the wise wolf at Studio Passione (animation production, Mieruko-chan), with ENISHIYA responsible for overall production of the series. Kevin Penkin, who composed the soundtracks to Made in Abyss and Tower of God, is behind the music. Jun Fukuyama (Lelouch Lamperouge [vi Britannia], Code Geass) and Ami Koshimizu (Pairin, The Apothecary Diaries) return to voice Kraft Lawrence and Holo once more.

Other Spice and Wolf Media

From Novels To Videogames

As mentioned previously, the Spice and Wolf series began as a light novel written by Isuna Hasekura and illustrated by Jū Ayakura. It is published under ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Bunko imprint, which became incredibly famous for its long list of heavy-hitters like Ryohgo Narita's Baccano! and Durarara!! series, The Devil Is a Part-Timer!; Kino's Journey, and many others. The Spice and Wolf light novel has been published from February 2006 until present, with 24 volumes released at the time of writing. It is published in English by Yen Press.

The manga illustrated by Keito Koume was published from September 2007 to December 2017 under ASCII's Dengeki Maoh seinen magazine, running for 16 volumes. The original Spice and Wolf anime series ran for two seasons with one OVA each. The first season ran for 12 episodes from January to March 2008, while the second ran from July to September 2009. The original anime was produced by multiple studios, with the first season being produced by Imagin before Brain's Base (To Your Eternity) and Marvy Jack (The Seven Deadly Sins: Grudge of Edinburgh) took over for season 2. A number of Spice and Wolf videogames have also been released, with two released on the Nintendo DS in 2008 and 2009, while two VR games were released on various platforms in 2019, and again in 2021.

Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets Wise Wolf premieres on TV Tokyo on April 1, and will be simulcast on Crunchyroll. Crunchyroll describes the series as follows:

Lawrence is a traveling merchant selling various goods from a horse-drawn cart. One day, he arrives at a village and meets a beautiful girl with the ears and tail of an animal! Her name is Holo the Wisewolf, and she brings bountiful harvests. She wishes to return to her homeland, and Lawrence offers to take her. Now, the once-lonely merchant and the once-lonely wisewolf begin their journey north.