There was no other way to get to the end of the story.
Summary:
The original Spice and Wolf series became an iconic anime.
It couldn’t be continued because the adaptation skipped a light novel volume.
The remake is the best way to approach the series.
Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf (Ookami to Koushinryou: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf), aka the Spice and Wolf remake, released its first episode on April 2, 2024, and is currently ongoing.
Remakes are usually a tricky thing for a number of reasons. They’re destined to be compared to the original, they have to be an improvement over it, otherwise there’s no need for them, and there has to be a reason for doing them. So what was the reason with Spice and Wolf?
Original Series Was Good Already
The original Spice and Wolf series first aired in 2008, and while it’s pretty old, not enough time has passed for it to need a remake. The 2008 anime was immensely successful (MyAnimeList score: 8.22) and became an iconic series that almost everyone has heard of.
The quality of Spice and Wolf was not an issue, either. It made viewers fall in love with its stunning style, charming characters and engaging world and story. That’s why it’s natural to suggest that it would be better to continue the series from the moment the anime ended on.
But the anime adaptation did one thing wrong, which made it impossible to go on.
They Skipped a Volume, and It Ruined Everything
The original Spice and Wolf anime made a mistake by skipping Volume 4 of the light novel series. Back then, the novels were still ongoing, so no one knew that the events of the volume would be important later. But they were, which made the adaptation impossible to continue.
Season 2 of the adaptation finished airing in September 2009, and Season 3 never came. There were a couple of ways the animation studio could’ve handled the skipped-volume situation, but they went with the most disappointing one ― to stop the anime entirely.
But Spice and Wolf never stopped being an iconic series, loved by thousands of fans, so they naturally wanted the show to go on. It couldn’t just continue as if nothing had happened, and now that it’s 2024, it’s too late to try adjusting the old content. So there was only one way to deal with Spice and Wolf ― to make a remake.
The remake provides Spice and Wolf newbies with the opportunity to experience the story the way it’s supposed to be experienced. It improves the visuals of the original series and makes the adaptation more faithful to the original source. It’s the perfect way to handle Spice and Wolf in 2024, and the remake’s success proves it.
There was no other way to get to the end of the story.
Summary:
The original Spice and Wolf series became an iconic anime.
It couldn’t be continued because the adaptation skipped a light novel volume.
The remake is the best way to approach the series.
Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf (Ookami to Koushinryou: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf), aka the Spice and Wolf remake, released its first episode on April 2, 2024, and is currently ongoing.
Remakes are usually a tricky thing for a number of reasons. They’re destined to be compared to the original, they have to be an improvement over it, otherwise there’s no need for them, and there has to be a reason for doing them. So what was the reason with Spice and Wolf?
Original Series Was Good Already
The original Spice and Wolf series first aired in 2008, and while it’s pretty old, not enough time has passed for it to need a remake. The 2008 anime was immensely successful (MyAnimeList score: 8.22) and became an iconic series that almost everyone has heard of.
The quality of Spice and Wolf was not an issue, either. It made viewers fall in love with its stunning style, charming characters and engaging world and story. That’s why it’s natural to suggest that it would be better to continue the series from the moment the anime ended on.
But the anime adaptation did one thing wrong, which made it impossible to go on.
They Skipped a Volume, and It Ruined Everything
The original Spice and Wolf anime made a mistake by skipping Volume 4 of the light novel series. Back then, the novels were still ongoing, so no one knew that the events of the volume would be important later. But they were, which made the adaptation impossible to continue.
Season 2 of the adaptation finished airing in September 2009, and Season 3 never came. There were a couple of ways the animation studio could’ve handled the skipped-volume situation, but they went with the most disappointing one ― to stop the anime entirely.
But Spice and Wolf never stopped being an iconic series, loved by thousands of fans, so they naturally wanted the show to go on. It couldn’t just continue as if nothing had happened, and now that it’s 2024, it’s too late to try adjusting the old content. So there was only one way to deal with Spice and Wolf ― to make a remake.
The remake provides Spice and Wolf newbies with the opportunity to experience the story the way it’s supposed to be experienced. It improves the visuals of the original series and makes the adaptation more faithful to the original source. It’s the perfect way to handle Spice and Wolf in 2024, and the remake’s success proves it.
