Welcome to the weekly review of Spice and Wolf (2024). Here, we will recap what happened in the latest episode, break down some of the economic talk, and discuss the differences between the anime, manga, and light novel. So let’s get started with episode 4 of Spice and Wolf (2024).
Episode 4: "Romantic Merchant and Moonlit Farewell"
Lawrence has pieced together Zheren’s scheme and takes that info to the Milone Trading Company, who launches their own investigation before accepting Lawrence’s proposal. The next morning they meet with Richten Marheit, the head of the Pazzio Branch of Milone Trading, who accepts Lawrence’s proposal and offers 5% of their profits. Lawrence is over the moon with that sum because it means he could afford his shop. But as he celebrates that night, Holo opens up about her loneliness over the years. The two share a tender moment and Lawrence reassures her that his dream can wait until after they’ve reached the north lands.
Just then, three thugs try to break into their room, forcing Lawrence and Holo to run through the streets. Lawrence suspects they were sent by a rival company and makes for Milone Trading, only to find more men on the lookout. Holo offers to act as a decoy allowing Lawrence to make it to safety. After meeting with Richten, they receive a letter stating the pursuers have captured Holo and Lawrence is forced to reveal her identity. Then, in a post credit scene, Holo is cornered, and as a cloaked figure approaches, she seems to recognize them.
Zheren’s proposal affects Lawrence’s deal with Milone Trading. Zheren said the trenni silver coin would increase its silver content so he wants Lawrence to buy up that coin now so they can exchange it later and make a profit. Zheren only asks for ten silver for the info and a share of the profit, if any.
When Lawrence finds out the silver quality will actually decrease, he realizes Zheren had played him. Whether or not Lawrence makes a profit, according to their contract, Zheren shoulders no risk. He may not achieve net gain, but he suffers no net loss either, and Lawrence would be stuck with a deficit. That’s when Lawrence figures out why and how Zheren would propose such a roundabout deal. Zheren must be working on behalf of a larger benefactor.
The silver scheme is as follows; 1.) Zheren convinces merchants, like Lawrence, to buy up a lot of trenni silver with his false information. 2.) The merchants do so, but find out too late that the coin has depreciated in value. Now they’re stuck with a stock of poor investments that they would naturally want to sell off to minimize their losses. 3.) Assuming the benefactor has enough capital, they could easily buy up the coin from the merchants. From there, they could use that vast stock of silver to bargain with even higher powers, say the governing body looking to re-mint the trenni silver.
With all that info in hand, Lawrence appeals to the Milone Trading Company, knowing their size and influence could easily accommodate such a large scale deal. Lawrence is essentially doing the same thing as Zheren, but given the limited time frame, he shoulders the leg work onto Milone Trading in exchange for a cut of the profits.
Look up Gold and Spices by Jean Favier if you’d like to learn more. The author, Isuna Hasekura, drew a lot of inspiration from this book.
Overall Thoughts on Episode 4 of "Spice and Wolf"
It’s exactly as I expected. There’s a nice balance between the economic talk and exploring how it affects the characters’ relationships. It’s nice to see Holo open up about her feelings and Lawrence shows he can be a caring person, not solely driven by money. The animation felt a little choppy at times, especially during the chase scene, and I would have liked a little more tension from the music, but they saved that for Holo’s decoy plan and that worked well.
There’s something I noticed watching this episode and comparing it to the 2008 version. The sequence of events and timing is almost identical between the 2024 and 2008 versions. I got curious and looked through the manga and light novel and I found a lot of extra scenes here and there. That’s when I realized the anime is adapting a single chapter into a single episode. Naturally some things have to be cut, which makes analyzing what they do keep all the more interesting.
Spice and Wolf is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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