15 years ago Spice & Wolf, originally written as a lite novel series by Isuna Hasekura starting in 2006, and adapted into a manga in 2007 with illustrations by Keito Koume, debuted as an anime in January of 2008. On its face the story of the anime’s first season could be boiled down to a light show about a Wolf deity, Holo, and a young (yet grey-haired) man, Kraft Lawrence, who is really into the free market, going on a trip of convenience together in the pre-industrial era of a lookalike Europe. Despite its fairly simple conceit, and its relatively low stakes, Spice & Wolf really took hold in the zeitgeist, and with a second season, OVAs, plenty of anime figures (of Holo primarily), games, the original manga and light novels, the latter of which helped the light novel market in America take hold, Spice & Wolf commands a surprisingly large presence in the fandom.
Though I do not have any precise answers why, I want to attempt to breakdown some reasons why I think it especially has resonated over the years.
Meet Cute
Lawrence Kraft and Holo in Spice & Wolf
In a world now where the term ‘meet cute’ exists, to basically be a synonym for the classic plot of many rom coms, Holo and Lawrence’s relationship is very much a meet cute. True a very unique meet cute, but it’s one so many of us can get behind. It certainly doesn’t hurt that not only are they the OTP, but with so few other characters of note I don’t know if there truly are any other ships in the Spice & Wolf world (at least just considering the anime), though feel free to prove me wrong internet.
Historic European Setting
Though it’s certainly not always true, Western fans and Japanese fans alike seem to be enamored by historic European, or European adjacent, settings and places, as in Full Metal Alchemist, Attack on Titan, Vinland, and of course Spice & Wolf’s own world. My thinking is that it’s perhaps a lot like enjoyable fan fiction, which is familiar, but also can be quite unique in its own way – i.e. Game of Thrones. This to me is also half the reason for the success of the isekai fandom perhaps, though that’s an entire separate article to consider I won’t get into here.
Older Characters
Now I know it’s crazy to say that someone as young as Kraft Lawrence, who is 25 years old at the start of the series, is old (thus I won’t), but compared to most anime protagonists he certainly is older, and for me when this series first ran I was 23 and I was starting to look for characters whose experiences were closer to my own at the time.
Holo
“Spice and Wolf” by Xubaet is licensed under CC BY 2.0 
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Lawrence can at times be a bit of a fuddy duddy, albeit a lovable one, as he but when his energy dips Holo is there to provide levity and spirit that really provides many of the show’s highlights. Clearly Holo struck a vibe too just beyond the show as her presence has become a mainstay in cosplay culture and in figures. Perhaps she has become in the parlance of old songs and films, “the girl guys want to be with, and the girl that other girls want to be.”
Light Novels
L to R: Yen Press’s Original Cover for Spice and Wolf Vol. 1 (Lite Novel) besides Classic Cover for Spice and Wolf Vol. 1 (Lite Novel)
Yen Press, a subsidiary co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Company, is now closely tied to the success of light novels in the U.S. And though it’s true they’ve had success now with many light novels, and it’s fair to say they largely created the thriving market for light novels we now have in the U.S., Yen Press took a risk releasing Spice and Wolf’s light novels in the U.S. Thank goodness it worked out for publishers and fans alike! (Their attempt at releasing the first volume with a “pretty strikingly non-manga” cover however was not a success, and led to at least two blog posts from the company reacting to and hoping to rectify this controversial choice.) Spice and Wolf lite novels, which along with the manga adaptation are still being written, continue to be a mainstay of Yen Press’s offerings.
What does the future hold for Spice and Wolf?
Isuna Hasekura has now written 24 lite novels in the Spice and Wolf world, with no sign of slowing down, so for the foreseeable future the lite novels and the manga series will continue. Much anticipation however has been focused on the hope for an anime continuation, or reboot, and in February of 2022, Anime News Network reported that Hasekura’s own website teased a new Spice and Wolf anime would be forthcoming with the tagline: “Shall we embark on this journey again?”
Since then we’ve waited with anticipation for further news, but have yet to receive any. So though there appears to be promise of a future series, as of yet we do not have it available to watch. Instead we can continue to celebrate this series that punched more than its weight, and continues to leave an impact on fans and the industry itself.
