It was even difficult to notice.
Summary:
- Holo’s wolf form was revealed in Episode 6.
- Most fans didn’t even notice any CGI.
- Those who did think it was done perfectly.
From the first episode of Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf (Ookami to Koushinryou: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf), viewers were anxiously waiting to see Holo’s wolf form. They just knew she had to be stunning and perhaps even a little bit frightening.
Holo’s Wolf Form Is Finally Here
The remake made us wait for six episodes to finally see Holo’s true beauty. Lawrence and Holo were attacked and put into a corner. Lawrence was injured, there was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, so Holo had to take action.
The girl turned into a wolf to deal with the criminals and save Lawrence. The scene was just the right amount of fascinating and terrifying. But most importantly, it was executed well.
When big creatures or heated action appear in anime, CGI often comes in handy, and fans have mixed feelings about it. Such huge series as Attack on Titan or Chainsaw Man have received their fair share of CGI criticism in the past, and there were worries that Holo’s wolf form would follow suit and become another upsetting example.
No CGI Complaints
But it turns out, we needn’t have worried, the wolf looks great. A lot of fans didn’t even notice any CGI during their first time watching. One of the most popular Reddit fan comments to the episode was a happy “Wolf is not CGI,” and viewers cheered.
The wolf does look like it was mostly done without any computer graphics indeed. If you don’t usually notice such things as CGI in anime, you won’t even think that something is different.
However, upon the proper examination, some fans noticed that there were slivers of CGI in the scene after all, but they were done so sneakily that it was difficult to even notice.
There were about five seconds of it when Holo turned her head, but that’s it. Hiding CGI is also a valuable skill, so fans were naturally excited to see such wonderful quality in the series.
It feels like it’s not the last time we see Holo’s wolf form, and there’s hope that the execution of such scenes will remain masterful. Fans are praising Passione for their exceptional work and attention to details and believe that the studio will surprise them a lot in the future.