Lawrence Kraft is a traveling merchant, who in his business travels arrives in a pagan village holding its annual harvest festival. Instead of conforming to the beliefs of the church, this village has always believed in the deity Holo, a wolf god who can choose to give the peasants a good or bad harvest. While their sincere belief in this god has dwindled over time, they still engage in the same rituals they inherited from their ancestors. This year, Yarei harvests the last bit of wheat, which according to age-old custom means he has to play the role of Holo, while the villagers lock him in a barn for a week. This is not so convenient for Lawrence, because this is the very man he was looking to speak to. A week is too long to wait for Lawrence, so he decides to leave the same night. As he’s on the road in the late evening, he finds out that he didn’t leave the village by himself. To his shock, a girl with wolf ears is hiding in his cart. This girl introduces herself as none other than Holo, the god everyone thought only existed in legend. What could a deity like her want from a humble merchant?

As a fan of the old anime from 2008, I was eagerly looking forward to this remake. I’m sure that many would agree with me on what the original anime’s main fault was: it ended too soon! Personally I would have preferred to see a sequel rather than a remake, but after this first episode, I might have to change my mind on that. I can see that the staff knows what the fans liked about the original. The character designs are still very familiar, even though they look more polished and modern. This is a trend I see with other aspects as well, such as the music. I thought the music was very good, and I’d even say it’s better than in the 2008 first episode, which I recently rewatched. This combined with the upgraded animation quality and good pacing, creates an overall improved experience in my opinion. The opening is good, but not as good as the 2008 one—but that opening is hard to beat. I preferred the new ending by ClariS, though. As a nostalgic viewer, seeing the staff do justice to the first episode makes me glad. But I’m especially happy about what this could mean for the rest of the two cours ahead of us. Before getting my hopes up too much, though, I’ll have to wait and see if the next few episodes are of the same quality. But to be honest, I’m pretty sure I’ll be watching this anime to the end!

Spice and Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF is streaming on Crunchyroll.