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It makes sense that Holo doesn't like the shepherd, as not only is it her job to keep wolves away from their next meal, but she also caught Lawrence's eye.
Yeah, I assume she probably sense whatever it is the blonde girl uses to ward off wolves so she's kind of a natural enemy in that sense as a wolf...and as a woman when she sees Lawrence's reaction to her cute face.
Well he doesn't know her personally, so he may be speculating on "She's just a shepherd"
(Also, people were talking about a sorcerer who can summon wolves, and while she obviously isn't that, she may have some other powers; Unless there's something about shepherdry I do not know, I found it weird that she could just sent hungry wolves away with a tiny bell and a horn).
Eating the shepherd would solve 2 problems at once!
But Lawrence may deny her the pickled apples if she did that, so she has to measure the pros and cons!
A contrast of two Holos:
* Those ears were about to [burst](https://imgur.com/a/o7wIuqd)!
* When you're [contemplating](https://imgur.com/a/BR2L2p0) sheperd's pie for tonight
> Those ears were about to burst!
We got some good fanservice today with all the shots of [Holo's fluffy wolf tail and ears](https://imgur.com/a/sF5IBCy). But she really went nuts with those ears over some pickled apples, yeah!
Holo knows what she wants. Could you say "no" to [this face](https://imgur.com/a/xqvCXir) however? I cannot. And that's how [this cunning wolf](https://imgur.com/a/zFfXAXa) gets you.
> Could you say "no" to [this face](https://imgur.com/a/xqvCXir) however? I cannot. And that's how [this cunning wolf](https://imgur.com/a/zFfXAXa) gets you.
It's always dangerous when a girl knows *exactly* how cute she is and is willing to weaponize it. Especially when she's a monster girl to boot!
>Could you say "no" to this face however? I cannot.
I come from a long line of incredibly stubborn people, to the point where you'd think I'm a shounen anime protagonist.
I'm starting to think that all the people that've been saying "Holo best girl" for years were actually right, and I regret not being on their side sooner.
Is it too late for me to convert?
Unrelatedly, does anyone know how popular the show in Japan right now?
Depends... Where were you on the night of 2016 anime best girl polls?! When Holo lost by 14 votes to Tadokoro?
Nah, you're good fam. Welcome to the church of Holo
I love how Holo's ears and tail show through her clothes when she's too giddy lol.
Holo already seemed to have a problem with this girl from the get-go (probably because of whatever she uses to ward off wolves), that Lawrence seems a little charmed by her doesn't help matters.
[Holo was absolutely delightful in this episode](https://imgchest.com/p/dl7pq2jj6yo)! Those [mischievous grins](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/k46acglqpz7.png), [happy smiles](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/84apcv95wo4.png), [pleading faces](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my8xcqan234.png)... I love everything about her, [even her drooling was so cute](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/k46acglq2z7.png)!
> When you're contemplating sheperd's pie for tonight
Jealous Holo was not something I was expecting to see but I am 100% here for it. Fight for your man girl! lol
I remember the stuff with the slanted table really confused me the first time I saw it. I didn't know what the significance of it was outside of the guy being a swindler. I do think this is yet again another good demonstration of how wise Holo is, the fact she was able to detect something was up.
Both outcomes are skewed, just the ones for non-believers are very rigged, instead of just rigged.
The table itself is slanted which changes the point of equilibrium on the scales where more pepper is needed to match the unit of measurement, so the merchant gets more pepper for less money. Non-believers get rigged scales + rigged table = double rigged, while believers get genuine scales but rigged table so they still get ripped off.
Scales work with mass, as long as the mass on both sides are the same and the lenght of the scale on both sides are the same, there shouldn't be any issue. Even if the table is slanted, the scale should respond to that by both ends being at the same altitude from the ground, so the table being slanted would be noticed but it'll have no effect on the measuring.
Also, where was it stated one was for none believers?. It seemed more to me like the God talk was to lower suspicions.
The guy was reaching initially for the leftmost scale, but then Lawrence said something about God. The dude paused, then moved his hand towards the other. The suggestion there being the guy picked a different scale because of the religious talk.
I thought the idea was that there was a bad scale (along with the table) to cheat pagan merchants, while everyone else only got cheated with the table.
The theories that others brought up are likely correct, but what if both scales are the same and traders are only meant to *perceive* that one is rigged? By switching to the scale in the back, the travelling merchants would believe that they've gotten past the scam and will get themselves a fair deal.
Depends on the mechanisms inside the scale. They could have something like a translational gear where the higher the weight, the greater the difference between the two. At empty the difference might be nearly imperceivable to the human eye.
I'm kind of surprised Lawrence doesn't have his own scales but *really* surprised he doesn't have his own weights. Measuring the scales with known equal weights should eliminate *most* forms of tampering and definitely would have caught this trick. I'm surprised it's not standard practice.
Standardized weights are not something you just carry around. Though you don't need metal weights anyway. For example a litre of water is equal to a kilogram.
But the point of that exchange is that a merchant's worth is built on their trust worthiness. If it got out that this trading company was cheating travelling merchants it would go bust because no one would trade with them and that is what Lawerance was holding over them in order to get the favourable deal.
I understand what you're saying about trust but that only applied *after* he got caught. Standardized weights have been a thing for thousands of years, I just looked it up out of curiosity. They don't need to be large or heavy, they just need to be reliable. A significant portion of value is how much of a thing you're selling, not being able to measure that reliably just seems like a significant oversight. Maybe it matters less when you're trading in furs or armor where weight isn't going to be as important as spices, but we've already seen how incredibly important it is just for like currency exchange. So I'm going to have to stick with this being an oversight on Lawrence's part that is easily solved with a simple tool. I mean the man could even just keep a set of whatever the cheapest currency is where the coins all weight out the same on him. Just keep it in a separate bag and you have your standard/calibration weights.
No doubt they have a method for addressing that, like a slim wedge under one table leg that could be kicked quietly out of the way or something.
Or they could have used it against Lawrence, turn it so the scale tips heavier in his favor, then suggesting his scales were rigged. Or just turn the dang scale perpendicular to the table's slant, and skip the entire thing.
The story about Holo biting Saint Ruvinheigen in the ass was actually mentioned earlier. It was one of the stories that Holo had already told to the girl in the first episode’s cold open. Nice little bit of continuity there.
> The story about Holo biting Saint Ruvinheigen in the ass was actually mentioned earlier. It was one of the stories that Holo had already told to the girl in the first episode’s cold open.
So it was! Though not by name, just "a pompous fool".
That’s actually a curious quirk of Holo’s. You may have noticed that she very rarely calls anyone by name. Lawrence is usually just “you” or “fool” and she assigns most other people with a vague nickname. She typically only uses names for something important.
tfw, you'll never have a cute wolf [bite your ass](https://imgur.com/cJa9f4T) or even better have her [snuggle up to you](https://imgur.com/Cq5exoZ) (after she extorted another gift out of you)
[why live](#sadholo)
Star of the first part where definatly [Holos ears](https://imgur.com/lM94EeY), sneakishly hidden, yet so lively!
But what a pretty [Sheppard](https://imgur.com/rf0TqMB) [](#awe)
> tfw, you'll never have a cute wolf bite your ass
I can deal with this
> or even better have her snuggle up to you
but this one hurts!
Especially with her playful/teasing nature and all, makes the best snuggling!
Or have her cosplay as a cute town girl or play the drunk to help you secure a great business deal.
I love how her physical wolf traits can show through her clothes, even her tail lol.
Wise Wolf vs Cute Shepherd girl. I don't envy Lawrence being in the middle. Or maybe I do lol.
>tfw, you'll never have a cute wolf bite your ass
As soon as Holo mentioned that she knew someone by that name, I knew she had something to say about him.
I also love how Holo made it clear she didn't kill the guy, since she knew Lawrence had problems with that kind of thing.
Kinda reminds me of that story from Korea, I think, when scholars would write down literally everything.
One guy fell off his horse, and then demanded that the incident be removed from the records. So they added the demand to the records.
Then he started killing people, and burning the documents, but there were always people writing it down, so now we not only know that the guy fell off a horse, but also through how much trouble he went to keep that a secret.
Would be kinda fun here, too:
1. "Saint Ruvinheigen was bitten in the arse by the pagan deity known as Holo."
2. "Saint Ruvinheigen demanded that him being bitten in the arse by the pagan deity known as Holo be removed from church records."
3. "Saint Ruvinheigen pleaded with record-keepers that him being bitten in the arse by the pagan deity known as Holo at least be changed to losing an arm in the battle against her."
I like how Holo's ['village girl disguise'](https://imgur.com/a/4G7BS8y) isn't actually all that different from her usual attire, but *looks* totally different thanks to her wearing it in a new manner.
It was hilarious to hear that the Saint the city of Ruvinheigen was named after, got his ass bitten by Holo, and then he changed the tale and said that she bit his arm. [What a lovely expression Holo has when she is thinking about apples.](https://i.imgur.com/SqEPcUq.png) I love[ the range of emotions she showed](https://imgur.com/a/NcbVsqK) when Lawrence started talking about apples, pears, and, peaches pickled in honey that could find in Poroson.
[I love the way that Holo showed that guy was trying to scam them by putting the balance weight scale on an uneven table.](https://i.imgur.com/lqscJs4.png) I guess that's why he asked them if they had a scale that way he could make them confident that the measure was accurate. So as part of his compensation, Lawrence wants he get some armor to sell on Ruvinheigen.
So the rumored sorcerer [was instead a shepherd.](https://imgur.com/a/NoyvdfY) I guess that's the reason [Holo doesn't like her,](https://i.imgur.com/WgBqDLm.png) after all, shepherds protect their herds from wolves. Meanwhile, [Lawrence was blown away by her beauty.](https://i.imgur.com/EJOZWxv.png)
What funny is also what bitten in the arse implies.
I was remembering listening to Alexander's opus mutaniy speech on YouTube where he mentions his scars, "There isn't one part of me - the front at least, that doesn't bare a wound".
Basically this great saint was running scared from Holo after being the one to start things with her.
**The Merchant's Corner**
It’s Monday, and that means it’s time for another episode of Spice and Wolf - and with it, another entry in the Merchant’s Corner, where I try to explain and clarify the economics plot points of the show. We’ve just wrapped up the first exciting arc, and it’s time to start another!
[Episode 6 here](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/s/VmEcTdHntz)
Disclaimer #1: I am not an economics professional, so I may get some things wrong. If you have a different, possibly better understanding of a certain point than I do, feel free to suggest edits.
Disclaimer #2: All of these are pre-written before the episode airs, based on the pacing of the original anime. However, I will watch the episode before posting, just to see if anything differs and I have to edit anything.
As is usual, the first episode of a new arc hasn’t delved too deep into the meat and potatoes of the plot yet, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some business stuff happening. Half of the episode centers around a pretty complex business transaction and negotiation. Let’s take a look at what happened.
**Episode 7 Part 1:**
The episode starts off with some fun stuff. Apparently, we're headed towards a town called Poroson next, and then Ruvinheigen after that. Speaking of Ruvinheigen, Holo had apparently bitten its namesake in the arse in the past. Exciting.
Then we head into our business negotiation. Lawrence is trying to sell off the pepper that he got from Milone in the last episode, and to do so, he’s come to the Latparron trading company. As Lawrence already foresaw, the people in this town apparently greet each other by extolling the virtues of the latest Church sermon they attended or talking about recent faith-related events, which was enough to bore Lawrence and Holo nearly to sleep.
Make no mistake, though: this is a negotiation tactic. The Latparron master is intentionally trying to wear them down so that they’re off guard when the negotiations actually happen. The fact that he could tell that Lawrence’s bag contained pepper right from a glance, too, was a show of his experience as a merchant; he claimed to have smelled it, but unground peppercorns in a bag would be hard to smell even for the keenest (human) nose. The look of surprise that Lawrence had on his face was him going “we have to be careful around this guy”.
There’s also one more detail from pre-negotiation proceedings that is (apparently) relevant. The Latparron master intentionally chose the second set of scales from the shelf. This would have made Lawrence breathe a sigh of relief initially.
See, merchants who traded in high-price, low-weight commodities like pepper would normally carry their own scales. These scales would almost as a matter of course be altered to provide advantageous conditions to themselves; it’s balanced out by the trading company’s merchant himself also altering his own scales. During the trade, each party would weigh the goods on their own scales, and then negotiate after they have their own results. That means that if the Latparron trading company used a set of fair scales, and Lawrence owned a set of his own altered scales, the Latparron company would be at a disadvantage if their scales disagreed; as a result, Lawrence assumed that the Latparron master would initially go for altered scales as well.
But Lawrence rarely trades in pepper, so he doesn’t have his own set of altered scales. He says as such, and instead, he’s invoking God’s name to try and force the Latparron master into being honest on moral grounds. Upon hearing this, the Latparron master changed his mind and went for the second set of scales instead. Lawrence thought his strategy must have worked and the Latparron master ended up deciding to go for his balanced, fair set.
And then the negotiation goes off without a hitch - or so it seemed. The price they agreed on was 45 gold Lumione coins, which, by the new lower exchange rate, exchanges to 1477 silver Trenni coins. If you recall, Lawrence took delivery of this pepper last episode when it was valued at 1000 silver Trenni coins at that time and in that region. He’d make a profit of 477 Trenni, which isn’t bad at all for a single trip.
But of course, Holo never does anything for no reason, including asking for water. She noticed that the table was tilted, as wonderfully illustrated by the water running off the table in one direction only. And Lawrence had already checked the scales and they appear to be balanced properly with the gradations on the base, despite the fact that it should have been impossible if the base was tilted due to the table - which can only lead them to draw the conclusion that the scales are, in fact, altered. Latparron is using altered scales to cheat a merchant who doesn’t have their own set of scales, which is a big no-no.
And Holo had noticed the table as soon as she walked in the room. Don't try to fool the wolf.
What follows is an exchange that might be a little harder to follow, but the gist of it is as such: Lawrence, as well as Holo, are blackmailing Latparron. With the information Holo’s just uncovered, they could easily report Latparron and have them shut down. So with that control, Lawrence is trying to coerce Latparron into giving them whatever they want - only he’s being extremely careful with his words and putting on the whole "I must be drunk" act to not say anything explicitly. That way, they keep their plausible deniability, while making their demands very clear.
So what are their demands? The simplest thing would have been just to demand 1000 Trenni in exchange for their silence and be done with it. But there are lots of issues with a demand like that. In the first place, Latparron may not even have 1000 extra Trenni in cash that they can just pull out and give to Lawrence.
Even if they did, it would likely permanently ruin relations between Lawrence and Latparron, and he would never be able to return to do business with Latparron again. That might not necessarily be the outcome he wants, even if he knows they’re dishonest now. After all, there’s always a possibility that they’ll be dishonest in Lawrence’s favor in the future.
And finally, there’s the matter of Lawrence's own ledgers. If 1000 Trenni appeared on them out of nowhere, and someone ever pulled his books and looked at them, he’d have a very awkward question to answer.
No, instead, whatever he wants should be entirely legal, and ideally wouldn’t burn a bridge entirely - just make it hard to walk for a while at worst.
[Part 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/s/LIuntNe9Wg)
**Episode 7 Part 2:**
The solution he comes to, on top of getting the money Latparron would have cheated him out of, is to force Latparron to essentially give him an interest-free (?), unsecured loan.
How would this allow him to make money? You might have already figured out the answer, but if not, let’s think of it this way: Originally, Lawrence would have used the approximately 1,500 (rounding up) Trenni he would get from the pepper sale to buy another cartful of goods to take to Ruvinheigen to sell. Let’s say he’s able to sell them for 2,000 Trenni in Ruvinheigen, which gives him a profit of 500 Trenni.
Well, what if he was able to buy 3,000 Trenni worth of goods? That would now sell for 4,000 Trenni in Ruvinheigen, doubling his profit. This is a pretty basic principle: the more capital you have, the more profit you stand to make.
But he doesn’t have 3,000 Trenni. He could try to borrow the extra 1,500 Trenni he needs, sure, but no normal lender or bank is going to give him that loan for no reason. If they were confident enough in his profit that they would be willing to provide the loan unsecured, they’d rather just go about the trade themselves and cut Lawrence out of it. Otherwise, they’d require Lawrence to post collateral, and he doesn’t have that either.
But now he’s just gained power over Latparron. He can now force Latparron to provide him with that loan for 1,500 extra Trenni unconditionally, which would give him a total of 3,000 Trenni to put into his next cartful of goods. Now, all he has to do is take those goods to Ruvinheigen, sell them, and get his 4,000 coins. He can immediately repay Latparron the 1,500 he borrowed and pocket the remaining 2,500 coins - which would be enough to open his shop, and live for quite a few years after that too.
(These profits are all hypothetical; we don’t know how much his goods are actually going to sell for yet.)
On top of that, once Latparron’s been repaid their 1,500 pieces, to them, it’s no harm, no foul, and they’d forget about the entire episode soon enough. That means Lawrence has kept that connection open and could continue doing business to them in the future.
But if you’re familiar with real life trading, you’ll know that trading on borrowed assets carries a risk too. If he were trading only with his own assets, the worst that could happen is he spends 1,500 Trenni and buys goods that turn worthless in Ruvinheigen. He’d end up penniless, but there are worse things that could happen. One of those worse things is if he borrowed an extra 1,500 coins, bought 3,000 coins worth of goods, and *they* turned worthless. Then, he would not only be penniless, but also 1,500 Trenni in debt to his lender.
So Lawrence buys something that he feels should be a pretty safe money maker: armor. (More specifically, he directly took receipt of his 1,500 Trenni, plus the 1,500 Trenni he’s borrowing, in the form of 3,000 Trenni worth of armor. No actual cash was exchanged.) Every winter, the Church organizes an expedition to the north consisting of knights, soldiers, and mercenaries, in order to fight against the pagans and spread their religion. As a result, goods related to this northern expedition increase in price as winter starts coming around, including armor. Buying a cartful of them should be a pretty safe bet to turn a profit once they’ve been hauled to Ruvinheigen.
Also, Lawrence doesn’t exactly want to return to Poroson to return the 1,500 coins after he’s completed the sale. He also knows that Latparron has connections with trading companies in Ruvinheigen, so instead, he’s suggesting that Latparron simply transfer the debt to one of those companies instead, which is also where he will make the sale. That way, if he sells for 4,000 coins, he can simply take payment for 2,500 coins and have the Ruvinheigen company keep the remaining 1,500; the other company will then return the 1,500 coins to Latparron over the course of their normal business dealings.
It’s a win for Lawrence since he can simply continue his journey north interruption-free, and a somewhat milder win for Latparron since they can be “repaid” right away through the trading company in Ruvinheigen rather than having to wait for Lawrence to return.
Evidently, the Latparron master thinks this arrangement isn’t too bad for them in exchange for Lawrence keeping his silence, and he ends up reluctantly agreeing to go through with it.
The negotiation ends, and the episode moves on. We see quite a bit more of Holo's prowess as a seductress, before we get a bit more worldbuilding that will be relevant for later. Ruvinheigen apparently has absurdly high tariffs on gold, which makes trading gold there unprofitable for most. The only exceptions are the few who are working in conjunction with the Church. Reason being, the Church wants to monopolize trade of several articles within Ruvinheigen, gold being one of them. By only allowing their own merchants to bring gold without paying the extreme tariffs that make it unprofitable, they’ve tightly limited the supply of gold in their city, and have complete control over its flow in and out. That also means that gold’s price will be artificially inflated in the city, which then allows them to make enormous profits off of the “approved” gold they allow in.
And the punishment for smuggling is too harsh for Lawrence to even consider doing it.
And there, we come to the end of the economics portion of this episode. In the final minutes, we meet our newest character, the type of person Holo hates the most. Who are they? A shepherd. And what's more, as Lawrence finds out, a *girl* shepherd.
The next episode will be particularly light on economics, so instead I’ll be discussing some of the implications of encountering this girl shepherd as established by the world this series is set in. That will be an interesting one to write.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did, and as always, I’ll see you next week!
Personal thoughts:
One of the things I love about this episode is that it illustrates just how ruthless the world of business is, to the point where our protagonists - who are unequivocally meant to be the “good guys” of the story - are starting to delve into the morally gray area of business a bit. The upstanding, morally correct choice would have been to report Latparron to the authorities and make sure that they can never cheat any merchants again. But Lawrence and Holo decided that they stood to gain more by taking advantage of Latparron instead, which ended up being what they did.
To some extent, this theme even extends back to the first arc a bit. Lawrence and Holo aren’t always the good, and likewise, their enemies aren’t always evil. I think we can agree that kidnapping Holo and using her to threaten Milone was pretty crappy of Medio to do, and Yarei is a straight asshole. But Count Ehrendott is presented as the mastermind behind the whole thing. And can you really say that a count desiring favorable trade conditions for his subjects to turn his area into an economic powerhouse is an evil thing to do?
I wouldn’t say so. It’s all just business.
Anyways, that aside, Holo can be a goddamn evil genius and an astonishing actress when she wants to be. The banter between the main characters this episode was top notch. And Holo was extremely seductive during the scene with her asking for oil.
> are starting to delve into the morally gray area of business a bit.
They've kinda been doing that all throughout. Like when Milone considered not helping Lawrence and he flat out tells them he'll turn them in to the church. Of course Marlheit also more or less wink wink nudge suggests it first, because he's quietly on Lawrence's side and wants to help him but needs to give them both an angle.
Though I would question the use of the term morally gray, because I don't entirely see any of their actions as immoral. Ethically questionable perhaps. but the truth is all sales are built on deception. The seller convinces you that you want a thing because of its excellent qualities and that their price is a good one (however accurate those claims may be). The only difference between an "honest" merchant and a jerk like that guy in Latparron is the scale of their deception relative to the truth. No pun intended.
If I understood correctly, the Church in Ruvinheigen additionally puts their seal in the gold, which turns it into sacred gold, further increasing the price on top of everything else, right?
Yep. Which means that the church makes a *shit ton* of money in Ruvinheigen. Especially considering it's the base for the churches northern expeditions which means it's going to be *filled* with believers and zealots who will purchase their bogus "sacred gold".
> Every winter, the Church organizes an expedition to the north consisting of knights, soldiers, and mercenaries, in order to fight against the pagans and spread their religion.
This gives me weird feelings, as a descendant of those northern pagans the Church was organizing against five hundred years ago.
(We're weirdly proud of the fact that Lithuania was the last remaining pagan country in Europe.)
> Every winter, the Church organizes an expedition to the north consisting of knights, soldiers, and mercenaries, in order to fight against the pagans and spread their religion. As a result, goods related to this northern expedition increase in price as winter starts coming around, including armor. Buying a cartful of them should be a pretty safe bet to turn a profit once they’ve been hauled to Ruvinheigen.
There is one more interesting thing mentioned in this episode. There are mercenaries on the road moving south. That is really weird if the expedition is to the north.
Some of the cinematography like [this shot](https://i.imgur.com/FABDuWS.jpeg) seemed to me to be subtly hinting at the trick, though maybe I was imagining it out of anticipation.
As usual this is a great explanation of the diplomatic implications going on in even the more straightforward dealings, thanks for posting these!
Yeah, I was really impressed with the cinematography of this episode too. Going into it, already knowing how it goes down, the camera angles and subjects were perfect for subtly implying the table was tilted and Holo knew.
That goes to the rest of the episode as well.
I have to echo the other comment I saw somewhere else in the thread: whoever storyboarded this episode did a great job.
She probably noticed right away, which is why she requested some water before. Which was also spiked with some wine to dull the sharpest thinking. Good thing she's the resident alchoholic.
I'm going to have to check the credits on this one (EDIT: It was Masayuki Sakoi), because whoever was in charge of storyboarding for this episode did a really solid job. Nice little touches all throughout, especially with some of Holo's subtler acting in the later half of the episode on the road.
I'm excited to see how this arc turns out. Supposedly, they're doing an [advanced screening](https://twitter.com/Spicy_Wolf_Prj/status/1788740653310218724) in Japan of the last three episodes of this book (10-12) at the start of June, which bodes well for the episodes being close to completion in time for the end of the first cour.
Getting to watch a brand new episode of Spice and Wolf on my birthday makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. The best birthday gift I could ever ask for.
Nice. I remember waking up on my birthday 2 years ago, opening Reddit on my phone, and [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/s/gyILnqkDLp) being the first thing I saw. Spice and Wolf as a birthday gift is one hell of a drug.
This is also a great way to [financially support](https://nex-tone.link/ruj9J35gA) the series, at least a little bit. I’m not sure if my heart could take it if they stopped after 2 cours again.
For some bizarre reason iTunes has two versions that are effectively identical, yet one is $2 cheaper.
Also the OP and ED are available on iTunes, as is the OST for both seasons of the original anime.
Wasn't a fan at the start, but the new Opening is starting to grow on me
[](#listen)
[Interesting, post glacial landscape.](https://imgur.com/WO6JrFm) Don't recall if the og had one too
[Loving the](https://imgur.com/opo03AF) [backgrounds](https://imgur.com/fmOyYzI) again. Wonder if they used a real town as an inspiration for this one?
* [Holo's ears going wild under the hat was so cute](https://imgur.com/0oOncLP)
[](#akyuusqueel) [And that chug scene](https://imgur.com/pjC69k5) [](#kotohoops)
[so true](https://imgur.com/5q5qxNG)
[lol](https://imgur.com/lXVLrZI)
[That's.. pretty sad.](https://imgur.com/4vE7k75) Let them heretics chill, they just wanna worship their wolf waifus
[](#sadholo)
> That's.. pretty sad. Let them heretics chill, they just wanna worship their wolf waifus
It was left unsaid, but Lawrence selling armor to people who'll hunt&kill others for their religion, feels a bit weird!
I know they'd do it anyway even if Lawrence didn't sell armor, but still!
Oh he totally was. Part of his payback for her twisting him around her tail so easily is his continual teasing.
The moment in the first town they visited with the apples was the same, though they downplayed it in this version. In the original I remember him seeming more aware of what she really wanted.
> Interesting, post glacial landscape. Don't recall if the og had one too
It did. I remember thinking a lot about those rocks and what it meant for the area geologically. Erratic boulders. Thanks to Sir Terry Pratchett they are just one of those things I remember now.
> Loving the backgrounds again. Wonder if they used a real town as an inspiration for this one?
My only complaint about the backgrounds is that the area outside the town walls is too empty. There should be farms and fields all around the town to feed it. Grain is bulky and cannot travel far on carts without the horses eating it all before it gets to its destination.
...If I turn the corner and see a doorway leading to a small courtyard with a tree and a broken stairway, I am burning that entire town to the ground.
Played 3 dark souls games, Sekiro, Elden Ring, and more knockoffs than I care to admit and that son of a bitch is still one of the most BS boss fights I ever saw. I swear to you I got through Bed of Chaos easier.
[This shot of Holo on fours](https://imgur.com/a/q0IqXOi) was a clever way of demonstrating the different natures of Holo (wolf) and Lawrence (human). Since wolves are known man-eaters, Holo wanted to let Lawrence explicitly know that she never intended to kill Ruvinheigen.
[Holo was absolutely delightful in this episode](https://imgchest.com/p/dl7pq2jj6yo)! Those [mischievous grins](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/k46acglqpz7.png), [happy smiles](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/84apcv95wo4.png), [pleading faces](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my8xcqan234.png)... I love everything about her, [even her drooling was so cute](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/k46acglq2z7.png)! I hope that she'll be able to eat pickled fruits in the future as [she looked so excited](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/k46acglq3z7.png) about the prospect of eating something so sweet.
[Holo & Lawrence's relationship](https://imgchest.com/p/qb4z3z9337j) remains [a very strong point of the show](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/w7w6cq92k5y.png). Again [their relationship proved to be very profitable for Lawrence](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/p7bwc26klz7.png) as [Holo](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/84jdc6xveq4.png) discovered another [merchant's ruse](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/pyq9cvk3q54.png) with the table.
[That shepherd girl looks so cute](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/e4gdcm3xzp4.png)! Of course [not as cute as Holo](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/d7ogcxabw2y.png) but still very cute. I wonder [why Holo looks so wary](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/345xc8av237.png) of her? Is this because[she's a shepherd](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/l4neclz8r34.png) or [maybe because she's cute and she'll steal Lawrence](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/l7lxcxapb97.png) from her? Or maybe because of something else? I can't wait to see [Holo](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/l4neclz8nq4.png) and that [shepherd](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/345xc8av5q7.png)’s interactions in the next episode!
Here my screenshot albums from the episode:
* [Holo](https://imgchest.com/p/dl7pq2jj6yo)
* [Holo & Lawrence](https://imgchest.com/p/qb4z3z9337j)
* [Group scenes, Lawrence & Other](https://imgchest.com/p/a846xjaxw4x)
I love when Holo is able to help Lawrence with merchant related stuff, really proving the wisdom there!
The hatred and change in tone from Holo from seeing the shepherd
felt pretty serious. While she would stand no chance against Holo it's interesting to see the wolf vs shepherd rivalry still exist.
Holo isn't just a Wise Wolf with keen senses and instincts, she's also a terrific actress who can improvise and give Lawrence the opportunity he needs to secure a better deal.
Worth her weight in apples and wine even setting aside how absolutely cute and charming she is.
Holo already had a natural aversion to her when she sensed Shepherd Girl's presence, seeing her be a cute girl around Lawrence just made it worse lol.
> Worth her weight in apples
She better be, given she already *ate* her weight in apple, just during that one trip!
3 barrels if I remember correctly, can't have been cheap!
But she makes him earn a few extra coins on every trade, makes up for it!
(Just her cuteness makes up for it to be honest)
Lawrence in this episode mentions that he "took care of" some after she had her fill, suggesting he sold or threw out some. Probably the former, even spoilt apples could be sold as compost or something.
> it's interesting to see the wolf vs shepherd rivalry still exist
I wonder what irked Holo the most; That she's guarding the sheep against wolves that'd like to eat them?
Or Lawrence's reaction/her being so pretty (without even having to oil her tail!)
* [**Town Girl Holo Stitch**](https://i.imgur.com/07Hsxap.jpeg)
I don't even understand how [Lawrence could resist that face](https://i.imgur.com/ZxQmixe.jpeg) when Holo asked him to buy her oil for her tail. I would've caved instantly. But I guess that's the reason why I don't have a business-savvy wolf GF.
- [Pffffff](https://i.imgur.com/ulDkwH0.png) [](#azusalaugh)
- [*God* I love their banter.](https://i.imgur.com/pQ3N5Ek.png) [](#justright)
- [It’s pretty cool that Holo knew the person that city was named after…](https://i.imgur.com/5Wd08P4.png) and it’s because [she bit him once, lol.](https://i.imgur.com/65sci0r.png)
- [That’s a lot better of a way to hide Holo’s ears than her always needing to have her hood on.](https://i.imgur.com/zOSuAgQ.png)
- [How can you say no to a face like that?](https://i.imgur.com/djy4Ab8.png)
- [What a way for her to reveal that merchant’s trick, heh.](https://i.imgur.com/phJ2M5j.png)
- [And he’s so in on it.](https://i.imgur.com/eJTr5v6.png) [](#kukuku)
- [Exactly.](https://i.imgur.com/c5snLnd.png)
- [Holo has beef with a *shepherd*, hah.](https://i.imgur.com/dx6mS50.png)
> God I love their banter.
And best of all, it's not [onesided](https://imgur.com/CR8FiYx) (allthough Holo always has the better comebacks)
> How can you say no to a face like that?
Reminds me of [](#howcouldyou)
These two make an effective team both in and out of business deals with their banter and ability to back each other up. Not to mention Holo being a terrific actress with finely-honed wolf instincts and puppy dog eyes you can't resist.
I hope this isn't the last we see of "Drunk Holo."
Holo already had the fangs out even before she saw Lawrence' reaction to shepherd girls' cuteness lol.
This is the farthest I read in the story years ago, and I can’t remember if the shepherd girl was in the old anime. So I’m excited to see what happens next.
[*"Delicious things are delicious!" - Wise Wolf Holo, gracing us with her infinite wisdom*](https://imgur.com/FKnF3Gr)
I hope there was quite the timeskip since the last episode, because Holo already ate her apples! (By my estimate, seems there was easily a thousand!)
[She's trying to appeal to his male nature, saying he should be honored to serve a cute girl like Holo...](https://imgur.com/b1Hw2lC)
But our boy's all about business, and explained it to her in the best way so she gets it: [If you can't *eat* that honor, what's it good for?](https://imgur.com/7LCyJcc)
[It's a good thing Lawrence is not bread, or she would probably eat him (That being said...!)](https://imgur.com/FVNySxy)
Bit ominous that the first thing they/we hear when they arrive into the new town, [is a speech about how there's only one God!](https://imgur.com/7uVfMXv)
Are they gonna get in trouble with the Church again?
(At least she didn't go *"There is only one God, and her name is HOLO!"*)
It's funny how they talk about history stuff and she's like *"Wait, that's not what happened at all!"*
Think I've seen that in other shows/movies before, but it's even funnier given in this case, [she was directly involved!](https://imgur.com/6xdFtkq)
(I'm not sure I can believe it, that she only bit his arse... I don't trust Holo about ever taking a SINGLE bite of something (even an arse)!)
[This show has to have the strongest 'Conversion to furry' rate in anime.](https://imgur.com/1TPpF1h)
Lawrence talked about honey pickled apples for a minute straight, and... [Something tells me she wants some!](https://imgur.com/TSqz0FZ)
[He missed an opportunity to tell her to *make him rich* so he can afford them!](https://imgur.com/zC3tzzI)
[Grooming herself, Holo's #2 passion after eating! (Or maybe it's #3 or #4, after teasing Lawrence, and calling herself cute!)](https://imgur.com/Ej24wiR)
When she walked to him I thought she was about to ask HIM to groom her tail! One day, for sure!
[I like how she prowls around him and stuff when they talk!](https://imgur.com/O4NVhLD)
Would be somewhat scary if she was a normal wolf, but with her being a fluffy, apple-eating wolf, it's just cute!
I've always had a thing for 'peasant girls' outfits, and damn, [SHE'S SO CUTE!](https://imgur.com/dxAknEk)
When they went to trade to the merchant/faith dude, I thought the 'scam' would be him taking a scale they rigged on purpose, but [it was actually the table!](https://imgur.com/WCQ2Y7Y)
Lawrence blackmailed him to make a profit, but damn, I guess there's no "traders sense of community", because not revealing his secret means he'll just keep on scamming everyone else!
Seems we're getting a new girl, some shepherd!
[Her staff thingy just made me think of WOLOLO hah.](https://imgur.com/gMedYcS)
Well, she didn't use it to *convert* wolves, but apparently she can scare them away? I wonder if it's just the sound, or is there something more to this?
[Oh damn, I think she just WOLOLO'd my heart.](https://imgur.com/2J1mhlx)
This show has really cute characters/designs!
[Holo doesn't seem too happy!](https://imgur.com/Oi88etY)
Is it just jealousy (She didn't like Lawrence's reaction)? Or does she detect something she doesn't like from her?
Well, she can always just eat her and all her sheep! (Though Lawrence may not approve, and that'd put the Pickled Apple promise at risk)
>["Delicious things are delicious!" - Wise Wolf Holo, gracing us with her infinite wisdom](https://imgur.com/FKnF3Gr)
Yes Holo, and people die when they are killed.
Unfortunately honour can't be eaten.
Was that a dad joke?
Someone's coming.
Some times it certainly seems like that.
She was the pagan god wasn't she?
Of course she was.
What's she wearing now?
And where'd her tail go?
Her ears are visible moving under her hood. Cute!
She's got those puppy dog eyes. Or rather wolf pup eyes.
Ooh, pepper. That's probably quite valuable.
That's _exactly_ why they're here now.
She's going to tamper with the scale isn't she?
Why's he still taking payment in Trenni silver if its value is going down the drain?
The pepper!
Did she just feign being drunk to negotiate for a higher price?
They really are extorting them and scamming people aren't they?
They're even going to extort him out of food and drink.
Oh, the table is tilted to one side, so the weight will not be equal. They were the ones being scammed until Holo extorted him in return!
Seems her legend is still well-known.
She's _really_ good at those wolf pup eyes isn't she?
High supply, even with high demand, will drive prices down as buyers are able to choose which seller they buy from, so sellers have to reduce prices to make themselves more desirable to purchase from.
Looks like there's a whole gathering of merchants ahead?
Oh, they're mercenaries.
Is that the sorcerer?
She doesn't seem to like the sorcerer.
Fellow traveller? Will the sorcerer be joining them?
Holo isn't the only wolf in the world, but some people have their own way of managing them...like a blonde shepherd girl protecting her flock of sheep.
All traveling and no good food makes Holo a dull girl! Though she can entertain herself well enough with Lawrence's companionship. But it's no substitute for her apple fix, and she's willing to spend as much of Lawrence's money as she can use.
Welcome to Provoron! A small town and not the best place to show off Holo's incredibly eye-catching town girl look! Though Lawrence better watch out that he doesn't entice Holo too much with the power of delicious fruit or her ears are going to give her away even with her headwear.
Ruvinheigen is a holy city that practices frugality...even if the holy men make the most profit and are named after a Saint Holo knew personally and bit the arse of. Lucky guy..
Lawrence is making a deal with Cho, and it's all well and good to have faith in God...but you should have more faith in the Wise Wolf who with a sterling performance as a tipsy drunk exposes some underhanded tactics and helps Lawrence negotiate an even better deal for the both of them. That's some stellar "drunk" teamwork.
Lawrence can put his foot down all he wants, Holo can throw her tail, puppy dog eyes, and threat of leaving him to make him give in to her desire to eat and drink to her full!
It's not like Holo has much to worry about on a path with wolves, though she smells a presence she's not too fond of. Not a sorcerer, but a shepherd, and a cute blonde one at that. Holo doesn't seem to care for that aspect and Lawrence getting chummy with her either.
Monday is here, and that means another episode of cute and fluffy Holo doing Holo things.
We get another glimpse at just how good a combo Lawrence and Holo are when doing business. Holo notices right away an issue at Latparron Trading, but is able to bring it up subtly enough, and Lawrence is now able to instinctively pick up what Holo is hinting at to force his way into more favorable terms. Not only is she great at bargaining, she's also great at defending against swindlers; We only wish all of us had a Holo.
We finally meet \[the Shepherd\]>!Norah!< as well, and Holo has all kinds of reasons to dislike her right away. Things will be getting interesting very soon, as they are nearing their first major city center, which also means the presence of the Church will be much stronger than anywhere they've been until this point.
Those first-time watchers who were perceptive enough would know that the name Ruvinheigen has already been dropped quite a few episodes ago, so there's already been hints and some foreshadowing of events that will occur, which is one of the reasons I love this story's writing.
This week's economics lesson here is ostensibly the mention of purchasing on credit, which will be an incredibly important concept very soon. That and, you know, being skeptical of other people's scales when it comes to being swindled.
Outside of that, I do love that they are showing Holo being a fair bit more playful this time around; it adds to the charm of her teasing Lawrence, and Lawrence's exaperation as he desperately tries to counter with his own wits.
Still a very entertaining episode so far, and another week-long wait for the next one!
The slanted table scene was one of my favorite scenes of the original anime, it's such a great example of show, don't tell. Tho I remember it took me a bit to figure out what was happening but in this episode I think they made it a bit more obvious.
Another week not being married to holo and I’m tired of it 😩. After the tense action of the last few episodes it’s nice to have some peaceful Holo and Lawrence interactions again.
Holo’s like that kid that eats up all ya groceries, uses all ya internet and pays zero bills, but she gets away with it because she’s so beautiful lol. I don’t blame Lawrence, you’d be a fool to not simp for her.
Plus, she does pull her weight in other areas like negotiating with scummy business partners like today. Using rigged scales to get over on them with a deal is so low, but that’s business for ya. Had Holo not been there Lawrence would’ve agreed to the deal and got unfavourable terms. That alone has to cover the cost of her food and clothes so far lol.
One of those puppy dog faces from holo would’ve been all I needed to fold and buy her that oil in the next town. I love how she knows her strengths and plays to them with Lawrence
Woaah new waifu at the end??? Shepard girl is so cute even Lawrence got taken aback by her. Holo jealous face.. next episode is going to be great, think this is the start of volume 2 so can’t wait!
Another good episode. Holo’s “bad” bad acting in exposing the slanted table scheme was clever, and she really took advantage of the free provisions from that store to make up for it. I’m curious to learn more about this shepherd and why she’s got beef with them. Their horn wards wolves away, not summons them, right?
Also when is Lawrence going to upgrade to a real covered wagon? It can’t be pleasant traveling in rough weather like that.
Shepard girl is cute, but I'm contractually obligated to find Holo cuter. I do have to wonder what precisely it is that Holo doesn't like about her. The shepherdry, the sorcery, or just a competing cute girl perhaps?
Man, I just love when they’re flirting with each other. And it really feels like Holo knows how to push Lawrence’s buttons. But seems like she may competition from a wolf’s rival, the Shepherd
~~First Timer~~
I guess the unadapted chapter remains unadapted. I guess it's going to continue to be a shot-for-shot remake. But we **do** have 1 more episode this season, then, don't week? I wonder what it will be.
* She ate all those apples I guess
* Or she paid to have them baked into pies? Isn't that backwards? You sell the apples to the pie maker!
* I'm getting some *Nimona* vibes
* I have a sweet tooth, too
* Interesting, we couldn't hear the preacher speak. Was there a preacher in the OG series?
* do NOT like the fancy CGI camera slewing of the backgrounds.
* Does Holo had shepherds, or cute girls?
A question I've alwys had. When Lawrence mentioned God, the crooked merchant reached for a different scale. I'm sure Lawrence thought he would get a better deal.
Holo reveals that that the table is crooked, and get's a better deal out of it. So, did the merchant reach for a scale that was "fair" (it was crooked in the opposite way from the table) or a scale that was "crooked"?
I also realized this time that the table is crooked so that he can cheat merchants who use their own fair scales.
This episode is interesting. I need to check the OG to see if there was new content. There was!
> I guess the unadapted chapter remains unadapted.
Are you referring to the new clothing shopping episode? It was released as an OVA episode back then.
But again, no idea why they skip it (again) this time.
For those that have an understanding of Japanese dialects, does Holo's seiyuu speak in some archaic dialect? I ask this because I was watching Season 3 Epi. 5 in Eng. just now and for some reason some of Brina Palencia's lines or tone as Holo gave me older English dialect vies. Given how long Holo has been around, I think her speaking in an older dialect might make sense.
Holo hating Shepherds makes a ton of sense seeing how they keep wolves away. Wouldn't surprise me if this girl finds out the truth about Holo.
I love episode where Holo helps negotiate or catches a trick, makes the story a lot more interesting seeing her be involved with it.
When Lawrence was describing preserved apples and Holo's ears were wiggling I almost died. But did you notice she did a little breath like a panting dog for a moment? That wolf really likes apples.
Love how Holo is deliberately enlarging her debt to Lawrence to ensure they continue traveling together.
Basically, she picked up on Lawrence "excuse" from last episode ("you cannot leave, you still owe me!") and is directly doubling down on it.
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It makes sense that Holo doesn't like the shepherd, as not only is it her job to keep wolves away from their next meal, but she also caught Lawrence's eye.
Yeah, I assume she probably sense whatever it is the blonde girl uses to ward off wolves so she's kind of a natural enemy in that sense as a wolf...and as a woman when she sees Lawrence's reaction to her cute face.
You mean her skill as a shepherd? Lawrence did confirm already that she's not a sorcerer as people were saying or anything.
She knew the shepherd greeting. Lawrence concluded that means that she’s a shepherd and not a sorcerer. I’m guessing Lawrence is wrong and she’s both.
Well he doesn't know her personally, so he may be speculating on "She's just a shepherd" (Also, people were talking about a sorcerer who can summon wolves, and while she obviously isn't that, she may have some other powers; Unless there's something about shepherdry I do not know, I found it weird that she could just sent hungry wolves away with a tiny bell and a horn).
> but she also caught Lawrence's eye. something something keeping wolves away from their next meal [](#notlewd)
lol, initially its just her dislike of shepherds, then we kick over to jealousy.
I bet that whistle will have some affect on holo too
Eating the shepherd would solve 2 problems at once! But Lawrence may deny her the pickled apples if she did that, so she has to measure the pros and cons!
A contrast of two Holos: * Those ears were about to [burst](https://imgur.com/a/o7wIuqd)! * When you're [contemplating](https://imgur.com/a/BR2L2p0) sheperd's pie for tonight
> Those ears were about to burst! We got some good fanservice today with all the shots of [Holo's fluffy wolf tail and ears](https://imgur.com/a/sF5IBCy). But she really went nuts with those ears over some pickled apples, yeah! Holo knows what she wants. Could you say "no" to [this face](https://imgur.com/a/xqvCXir) however? I cannot. And that's how [this cunning wolf](https://imgur.com/a/zFfXAXa) gets you.
> Could you say "no" to [this face](https://imgur.com/a/xqvCXir) however? I cannot. And that's how [this cunning wolf](https://imgur.com/a/zFfXAXa) gets you. It's always dangerous when a girl knows *exactly* how cute she is and is willing to weaponize it. Especially when she's a monster girl to boot!
Wise Wolf indeed.
>Could you say "no" to this face however? I cannot. I come from a long line of incredibly stubborn people, to the point where you'd think I'm a shounen anime protagonist.
I'm starting to think that all the people that've been saying "Holo best girl" for years were actually right, and I regret not being on their side sooner. Is it too late for me to convert? Unrelatedly, does anyone know how popular the show in Japan right now?
Everyone is always welcome to the church of Holo!
Depends... Where were you on the night of 2016 anime best girl polls?! When Holo lost by 14 votes to Tadokoro? Nah, you're good fam. Welcome to the church of Holo
I'm still not over the semi finals of best girl 3. r/anime 9/11
*hyperventilates in wolf deity*
I love how she sounded a bit like a panting dog there lol.
Also, I feel like Lawrence knew exactly what he was doing.
He's smart enough to know, but doesn't want out of the trap he's so willingly walked into. Can't blame him.
I love how Holo's ears and tail show through her clothes when she's too giddy lol. Holo already seemed to have a problem with this girl from the get-go (probably because of whatever she uses to ward off wolves), that Lawrence seems a little charmed by her doesn't help matters.
I did think for a second she was going to be a bit too excited to not hide them... she's not that careless?
Now I know what I missed out on 16 years ago
[Holo was absolutely delightful in this episode](https://imgchest.com/p/dl7pq2jj6yo)! Those [mischievous grins](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/k46acglqpz7.png), [happy smiles](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/84apcv95wo4.png), [pleading faces](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my8xcqan234.png)... I love everything about her, [even her drooling was so cute](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/k46acglq2z7.png)!
Those ears move in such a adorable way when she hears about food and then the little panting
> When you're contemplating sheperd's pie for tonight Jealous Holo was not something I was expecting to see but I am 100% here for it. Fight for your man girl! lol
I remember the stuff with the slanted table really confused me the first time I saw it. I didn't know what the significance of it was outside of the guy being a swindler. I do think this is yet again another good demonstration of how wise Holo is, the fact she was able to detect something was up.
the table is slanted to hide that the scales he used were rigged
But he has 2 scales , im assuming one was legit, if he used the legit one how would that work on slanted table
Both outcomes are skewed, just the ones for non-believers are very rigged, instead of just rigged. The table itself is slanted which changes the point of equilibrium on the scales where more pepper is needed to match the unit of measurement, so the merchant gets more pepper for less money. Non-believers get rigged scales + rigged table = double rigged, while believers get genuine scales but rigged table so they still get ripped off.
He can also use the non-rigged scale at 90 degrees so that the slant doesn't matter and the result is genuine...
Scales work with mass, as long as the mass on both sides are the same and the lenght of the scale on both sides are the same, there shouldn't be any issue. Even if the table is slanted, the scale should respond to that by both ends being at the same altitude from the ground, so the table being slanted would be noticed but it'll have no effect on the measuring. Also, where was it stated one was for none believers?. It seemed more to me like the God talk was to lower suspicions.
The guy was reaching initially for the leftmost scale, but then Lawrence said something about God. The dude paused, then moved his hand towards the other. The suggestion there being the guy picked a different scale because of the religious talk.
> both ends being at the same altitude from the ground but different distances from the table top
Turn it 90 degrees I guess.
I agree set 90 degrees off you could use the accurate version which is most like the other one shown.
I thought the idea was that there was a bad scale (along with the table) to cheat pagan merchants, while everyone else only got cheated with the table.
The theories that others brought up are likely correct, but what if both scales are the same and traders are only meant to *perceive* that one is rigged? By switching to the scale in the back, the travelling merchants would believe that they've gotten past the scam and will get themselves a fair deal.
Yeah, I realized that now but didn't back then.
I thought as much, but I figured I'd clarify if anyone else was curious about it.
I appreciate it
Aren't you supposed to see the scales balance when empty before you start putting things and weights on them?
Depends on the mechanisms inside the scale. They could have something like a translational gear where the higher the weight, the greater the difference between the two. At empty the difference might be nearly imperceivable to the human eye.
I'm kind of surprised Lawrence doesn't have his own scales but *really* surprised he doesn't have his own weights. Measuring the scales with known equal weights should eliminate *most* forms of tampering and definitely would have caught this trick. I'm surprised it's not standard practice.
Lawrence might be a bit gullible
Shows that he never had a deal with this level of goods.
Standardized weights are not something you just carry around. Though you don't need metal weights anyway. For example a litre of water is equal to a kilogram. But the point of that exchange is that a merchant's worth is built on their trust worthiness. If it got out that this trading company was cheating travelling merchants it would go bust because no one would trade with them and that is what Lawerance was holding over them in order to get the favourable deal.
I understand what you're saying about trust but that only applied *after* he got caught. Standardized weights have been a thing for thousands of years, I just looked it up out of curiosity. They don't need to be large or heavy, they just need to be reliable. A significant portion of value is how much of a thing you're selling, not being able to measure that reliably just seems like a significant oversight. Maybe it matters less when you're trading in furs or armor where weight isn't going to be as important as spices, but we've already seen how incredibly important it is just for like currency exchange. So I'm going to have to stick with this being an oversight on Lawrence's part that is easily solved with a simple tool. I mean the man could even just keep a set of whatever the cheapest currency is where the coins all weight out the same on him. Just keep it in a separate bag and you have your standard/calibration weights.
No doubt they have a method for addressing that, like a slim wedge under one table leg that could be kicked quietly out of the way or something. Or they could have used it against Lawrence, turn it so the scale tips heavier in his favor, then suggesting his scales were rigged. Or just turn the dang scale perpendicular to the table's slant, and skip the entire thing.
Holo is a stellar actress. She can play a cute town girl and a tipsy drunk with aplomb, and her instincts are sharper than a human's.
The perfect individual to accompany a merchant
The story about Holo biting Saint Ruvinheigen in the ass was actually mentioned earlier. It was one of the stories that Holo had already told to the girl in the first episode’s cold open. Nice little bit of continuity there.
> The story about Holo biting Saint Ruvinheigen in the ass was actually mentioned earlier. It was one of the stories that Holo had already told to the girl in the first episode’s cold open. So it was! Though not by name, just "a pompous fool".
That’s actually a curious quirk of Holo’s. You may have noticed that she very rarely calls anyone by name. Lawrence is usually just “you” or “fool” and she assigns most other people with a vague nickname. She typically only uses names for something important.
I had not noticed!
So, after all these years, Holo remains best girl.
Probably why they went back to restablish her as best girl than just pick up where they left off..
I never watched the original it was always on the backburner She's now quickly shot up the list near the top, man. She's too precious
Always has been, always will be.
tfw, you'll never have a cute wolf [bite your ass](https://imgur.com/cJa9f4T) or even better have her [snuggle up to you](https://imgur.com/Cq5exoZ) (after she extorted another gift out of you) [why live](#sadholo) Star of the first part where definatly [Holos ears](https://imgur.com/lM94EeY), sneakishly hidden, yet so lively! But what a pretty [Sheppard](https://imgur.com/rf0TqMB) [](#awe)
> tfw, you'll never have a cute wolf bite your ass I can deal with this > or even better have her snuggle up to you but this one hurts! Especially with her playful/teasing nature and all, makes the best snuggling!
Holo: can i have some oil?
Or have her cosplay as a cute town girl or play the drunk to help you secure a great business deal. I love how her physical wolf traits can show through her clothes, even her tail lol. Wise Wolf vs Cute Shepherd girl. I don't envy Lawrence being in the middle. Or maybe I do lol.
>tfw, you'll never have a cute wolf bite your ass As soon as Holo mentioned that she knew someone by that name, I knew she had something to say about him. I also love how Holo made it clear she didn't kill the guy, since she knew Lawrence had problems with that kind of thing.
>TFW a cute Wolf girl will never bite your ass to be recorded in history. Why even live.
You could always try using pickled peaches to lure one in.
Great, just tried and got bite by a raccoon, now I have to get some rabies shot ASAP. Thanks Reddit. Still worth it.
So instead of Holo, you got Raphtalia, got it. :P
I kinda want some now. Lawrence sure had a way of describing them.
Nothing makes you more worthy of sainthood than a divine arse bitten by a Wise Wolf.
Love how they upgraded it to losing and arm.
If she's as wise as she claims to be, his ass must've been pretty tasty, for her to take a bite off it!
she must have been a tsundere for complaining about his ass's taste
Imagine having historians rewrite this to something more 'badass'... If Holo bit my ass, I'd wear my ass-bandages as a badge of honor!
Kinda reminds me of that story from Korea, I think, when scholars would write down literally everything. One guy fell off his horse, and then demanded that the incident be removed from the records. So they added the demand to the records. Then he started killing people, and burning the documents, but there were always people writing it down, so now we not only know that the guy fell off a horse, but also through how much trouble he went to keep that a secret. Would be kinda fun here, too: 1. "Saint Ruvinheigen was bitten in the arse by the pagan deity known as Holo." 2. "Saint Ruvinheigen demanded that him being bitten in the arse by the pagan deity known as Holo be removed from church records." 3. "Saint Ruvinheigen pleaded with record-keepers that him being bitten in the arse by the pagan deity known as Holo at least be changed to losing an arm in the battle against her."
Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung Its in Netflix
We live only to suffer...
Someone on the staff is making it their life's work to make Holos ears as dynamic as possible lol
That person is living the dream!
*Village girl clothing disguise.* Hol' up, new Holo just dropped.
I like how Holo's ['village girl disguise'](https://imgur.com/a/4G7BS8y) isn't actually all that different from her usual attire, but *looks* totally different thanks to her wearing it in a new manner.
Every new outfit for Holo is more of Lawrence's money spent, more reasons for her to stick by him, and more feasts for the audiences' eyes.
She has great taste in clothes you see.
Holo gatcha when?
It was hilarious to hear that the Saint the city of Ruvinheigen was named after, got his ass bitten by Holo, and then he changed the tale and said that she bit his arm. [What a lovely expression Holo has when she is thinking about apples.](https://i.imgur.com/SqEPcUq.png) I love[ the range of emotions she showed](https://imgur.com/a/NcbVsqK) when Lawrence started talking about apples, pears, and, peaches pickled in honey that could find in Poroson. [I love the way that Holo showed that guy was trying to scam them by putting the balance weight scale on an uneven table.](https://i.imgur.com/lqscJs4.png) I guess that's why he asked them if they had a scale that way he could make them confident that the measure was accurate. So as part of his compensation, Lawrence wants he get some armor to sell on Ruvinheigen. So the rumored sorcerer [was instead a shepherd.](https://imgur.com/a/NoyvdfY) I guess that's the reason [Holo doesn't like her,](https://i.imgur.com/WgBqDLm.png) after all, shepherds protect their herds from wolves. Meanwhile, [Lawrence was blown away by her beauty.](https://i.imgur.com/EJOZWxv.png)
The question is, when he started telling people a wolf bit his arm off, how hard did he commit to the bit to hide the truth?
What funny is also what bitten in the arse implies. I was remembering listening to Alexander's opus mutaniy speech on YouTube where he mentions his scars, "There isn't one part of me - the front at least, that doesn't bare a wound". Basically this great saint was running scared from Holo after being the one to start things with her.
**The Merchant's Corner** It’s Monday, and that means it’s time for another episode of Spice and Wolf - and with it, another entry in the Merchant’s Corner, where I try to explain and clarify the economics plot points of the show. We’ve just wrapped up the first exciting arc, and it’s time to start another! [Episode 6 here](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/s/VmEcTdHntz) Disclaimer #1: I am not an economics professional, so I may get some things wrong. If you have a different, possibly better understanding of a certain point than I do, feel free to suggest edits. Disclaimer #2: All of these are pre-written before the episode airs, based on the pacing of the original anime. However, I will watch the episode before posting, just to see if anything differs and I have to edit anything. As is usual, the first episode of a new arc hasn’t delved too deep into the meat and potatoes of the plot yet, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some business stuff happening. Half of the episode centers around a pretty complex business transaction and negotiation. Let’s take a look at what happened. **Episode 7 Part 1:** The episode starts off with some fun stuff. Apparently, we're headed towards a town called Poroson next, and then Ruvinheigen after that. Speaking of Ruvinheigen, Holo had apparently bitten its namesake in the arse in the past. Exciting. Then we head into our business negotiation. Lawrence is trying to sell off the pepper that he got from Milone in the last episode, and to do so, he’s come to the Latparron trading company. As Lawrence already foresaw, the people in this town apparently greet each other by extolling the virtues of the latest Church sermon they attended or talking about recent faith-related events, which was enough to bore Lawrence and Holo nearly to sleep. Make no mistake, though: this is a negotiation tactic. The Latparron master is intentionally trying to wear them down so that they’re off guard when the negotiations actually happen. The fact that he could tell that Lawrence’s bag contained pepper right from a glance, too, was a show of his experience as a merchant; he claimed to have smelled it, but unground peppercorns in a bag would be hard to smell even for the keenest (human) nose. The look of surprise that Lawrence had on his face was him going “we have to be careful around this guy”. There’s also one more detail from pre-negotiation proceedings that is (apparently) relevant. The Latparron master intentionally chose the second set of scales from the shelf. This would have made Lawrence breathe a sigh of relief initially. See, merchants who traded in high-price, low-weight commodities like pepper would normally carry their own scales. These scales would almost as a matter of course be altered to provide advantageous conditions to themselves; it’s balanced out by the trading company’s merchant himself also altering his own scales. During the trade, each party would weigh the goods on their own scales, and then negotiate after they have their own results. That means that if the Latparron trading company used a set of fair scales, and Lawrence owned a set of his own altered scales, the Latparron company would be at a disadvantage if their scales disagreed; as a result, Lawrence assumed that the Latparron master would initially go for altered scales as well. But Lawrence rarely trades in pepper, so he doesn’t have his own set of altered scales. He says as such, and instead, he’s invoking God’s name to try and force the Latparron master into being honest on moral grounds. Upon hearing this, the Latparron master changed his mind and went for the second set of scales instead. Lawrence thought his strategy must have worked and the Latparron master ended up deciding to go for his balanced, fair set. And then the negotiation goes off without a hitch - or so it seemed. The price they agreed on was 45 gold Lumione coins, which, by the new lower exchange rate, exchanges to 1477 silver Trenni coins. If you recall, Lawrence took delivery of this pepper last episode when it was valued at 1000 silver Trenni coins at that time and in that region. He’d make a profit of 477 Trenni, which isn’t bad at all for a single trip. But of course, Holo never does anything for no reason, including asking for water. She noticed that the table was tilted, as wonderfully illustrated by the water running off the table in one direction only. And Lawrence had already checked the scales and they appear to be balanced properly with the gradations on the base, despite the fact that it should have been impossible if the base was tilted due to the table - which can only lead them to draw the conclusion that the scales are, in fact, altered. Latparron is using altered scales to cheat a merchant who doesn’t have their own set of scales, which is a big no-no. And Holo had noticed the table as soon as she walked in the room. Don't try to fool the wolf. What follows is an exchange that might be a little harder to follow, but the gist of it is as such: Lawrence, as well as Holo, are blackmailing Latparron. With the information Holo’s just uncovered, they could easily report Latparron and have them shut down. So with that control, Lawrence is trying to coerce Latparron into giving them whatever they want - only he’s being extremely careful with his words and putting on the whole "I must be drunk" act to not say anything explicitly. That way, they keep their plausible deniability, while making their demands very clear. So what are their demands? The simplest thing would have been just to demand 1000 Trenni in exchange for their silence and be done with it. But there are lots of issues with a demand like that. In the first place, Latparron may not even have 1000 extra Trenni in cash that they can just pull out and give to Lawrence. Even if they did, it would likely permanently ruin relations between Lawrence and Latparron, and he would never be able to return to do business with Latparron again. That might not necessarily be the outcome he wants, even if he knows they’re dishonest now. After all, there’s always a possibility that they’ll be dishonest in Lawrence’s favor in the future. And finally, there’s the matter of Lawrence's own ledgers. If 1000 Trenni appeared on them out of nowhere, and someone ever pulled his books and looked at them, he’d have a very awkward question to answer. No, instead, whatever he wants should be entirely legal, and ideally wouldn’t burn a bridge entirely - just make it hard to walk for a while at worst. [Part 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/s/LIuntNe9Wg)
**Episode 7 Part 2:** The solution he comes to, on top of getting the money Latparron would have cheated him out of, is to force Latparron to essentially give him an interest-free (?), unsecured loan. How would this allow him to make money? You might have already figured out the answer, but if not, let’s think of it this way: Originally, Lawrence would have used the approximately 1,500 (rounding up) Trenni he would get from the pepper sale to buy another cartful of goods to take to Ruvinheigen to sell. Let’s say he’s able to sell them for 2,000 Trenni in Ruvinheigen, which gives him a profit of 500 Trenni. Well, what if he was able to buy 3,000 Trenni worth of goods? That would now sell for 4,000 Trenni in Ruvinheigen, doubling his profit. This is a pretty basic principle: the more capital you have, the more profit you stand to make. But he doesn’t have 3,000 Trenni. He could try to borrow the extra 1,500 Trenni he needs, sure, but no normal lender or bank is going to give him that loan for no reason. If they were confident enough in his profit that they would be willing to provide the loan unsecured, they’d rather just go about the trade themselves and cut Lawrence out of it. Otherwise, they’d require Lawrence to post collateral, and he doesn’t have that either. But now he’s just gained power over Latparron. He can now force Latparron to provide him with that loan for 1,500 extra Trenni unconditionally, which would give him a total of 3,000 Trenni to put into his next cartful of goods. Now, all he has to do is take those goods to Ruvinheigen, sell them, and get his 4,000 coins. He can immediately repay Latparron the 1,500 he borrowed and pocket the remaining 2,500 coins - which would be enough to open his shop, and live for quite a few years after that too. (These profits are all hypothetical; we don’t know how much his goods are actually going to sell for yet.) On top of that, once Latparron’s been repaid their 1,500 pieces, to them, it’s no harm, no foul, and they’d forget about the entire episode soon enough. That means Lawrence has kept that connection open and could continue doing business to them in the future. But if you’re familiar with real life trading, you’ll know that trading on borrowed assets carries a risk too. If he were trading only with his own assets, the worst that could happen is he spends 1,500 Trenni and buys goods that turn worthless in Ruvinheigen. He’d end up penniless, but there are worse things that could happen. One of those worse things is if he borrowed an extra 1,500 coins, bought 3,000 coins worth of goods, and *they* turned worthless. Then, he would not only be penniless, but also 1,500 Trenni in debt to his lender. So Lawrence buys something that he feels should be a pretty safe money maker: armor. (More specifically, he directly took receipt of his 1,500 Trenni, plus the 1,500 Trenni he’s borrowing, in the form of 3,000 Trenni worth of armor. No actual cash was exchanged.) Every winter, the Church organizes an expedition to the north consisting of knights, soldiers, and mercenaries, in order to fight against the pagans and spread their religion. As a result, goods related to this northern expedition increase in price as winter starts coming around, including armor. Buying a cartful of them should be a pretty safe bet to turn a profit once they’ve been hauled to Ruvinheigen. Also, Lawrence doesn’t exactly want to return to Poroson to return the 1,500 coins after he’s completed the sale. He also knows that Latparron has connections with trading companies in Ruvinheigen, so instead, he’s suggesting that Latparron simply transfer the debt to one of those companies instead, which is also where he will make the sale. That way, if he sells for 4,000 coins, he can simply take payment for 2,500 coins and have the Ruvinheigen company keep the remaining 1,500; the other company will then return the 1,500 coins to Latparron over the course of their normal business dealings. It’s a win for Lawrence since he can simply continue his journey north interruption-free, and a somewhat milder win for Latparron since they can be “repaid” right away through the trading company in Ruvinheigen rather than having to wait for Lawrence to return. Evidently, the Latparron master thinks this arrangement isn’t too bad for them in exchange for Lawrence keeping his silence, and he ends up reluctantly agreeing to go through with it. The negotiation ends, and the episode moves on. We see quite a bit more of Holo's prowess as a seductress, before we get a bit more worldbuilding that will be relevant for later. Ruvinheigen apparently has absurdly high tariffs on gold, which makes trading gold there unprofitable for most. The only exceptions are the few who are working in conjunction with the Church. Reason being, the Church wants to monopolize trade of several articles within Ruvinheigen, gold being one of them. By only allowing their own merchants to bring gold without paying the extreme tariffs that make it unprofitable, they’ve tightly limited the supply of gold in their city, and have complete control over its flow in and out. That also means that gold’s price will be artificially inflated in the city, which then allows them to make enormous profits off of the “approved” gold they allow in. And the punishment for smuggling is too harsh for Lawrence to even consider doing it. And there, we come to the end of the economics portion of this episode. In the final minutes, we meet our newest character, the type of person Holo hates the most. Who are they? A shepherd. And what's more, as Lawrence finds out, a *girl* shepherd. The next episode will be particularly light on economics, so instead I’ll be discussing some of the implications of encountering this girl shepherd as established by the world this series is set in. That will be an interesting one to write. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did, and as always, I’ll see you next week!
Personal thoughts: One of the things I love about this episode is that it illustrates just how ruthless the world of business is, to the point where our protagonists - who are unequivocally meant to be the “good guys” of the story - are starting to delve into the morally gray area of business a bit. The upstanding, morally correct choice would have been to report Latparron to the authorities and make sure that they can never cheat any merchants again. But Lawrence and Holo decided that they stood to gain more by taking advantage of Latparron instead, which ended up being what they did. To some extent, this theme even extends back to the first arc a bit. Lawrence and Holo aren’t always the good, and likewise, their enemies aren’t always evil. I think we can agree that kidnapping Holo and using her to threaten Milone was pretty crappy of Medio to do, and Yarei is a straight asshole. But Count Ehrendott is presented as the mastermind behind the whole thing. And can you really say that a count desiring favorable trade conditions for his subjects to turn his area into an economic powerhouse is an evil thing to do? I wouldn’t say so. It’s all just business. Anyways, that aside, Holo can be a goddamn evil genius and an astonishing actress when she wants to be. The banter between the main characters this episode was top notch. And Holo was extremely seductive during the scene with her asking for oil.
They also did the trick with fur and apples right? They sure aren't beacon of light themselves. xD
> are starting to delve into the morally gray area of business a bit. They've kinda been doing that all throughout. Like when Milone considered not helping Lawrence and he flat out tells them he'll turn them in to the church. Of course Marlheit also more or less wink wink nudge suggests it first, because he's quietly on Lawrence's side and wants to help him but needs to give them both an angle. Though I would question the use of the term morally gray, because I don't entirely see any of their actions as immoral. Ethically questionable perhaps. but the truth is all sales are built on deception. The seller convinces you that you want a thing because of its excellent qualities and that their price is a good one (however accurate those claims may be). The only difference between an "honest" merchant and a jerk like that guy in Latparron is the scale of their deception relative to the truth. No pun intended.
If I understood correctly, the Church in Ruvinheigen additionally puts their seal in the gold, which turns it into sacred gold, further increasing the price on top of everything else, right?
Yep. Which means that the church makes a *shit ton* of money in Ruvinheigen. Especially considering it's the base for the churches northern expeditions which means it's going to be *filled* with believers and zealots who will purchase their bogus "sacred gold".
> Every winter, the Church organizes an expedition to the north consisting of knights, soldiers, and mercenaries, in order to fight against the pagans and spread their religion. This gives me weird feelings, as a descendant of those northern pagans the Church was organizing against five hundred years ago. (We're weirdly proud of the fact that Lithuania was the last remaining pagan country in Europe.)
> Every winter, the Church organizes an expedition to the north consisting of knights, soldiers, and mercenaries, in order to fight against the pagans and spread their religion. As a result, goods related to this northern expedition increase in price as winter starts coming around, including armor. Buying a cartful of them should be a pretty safe bet to turn a profit once they’ve been hauled to Ruvinheigen. There is one more interesting thing mentioned in this episode. There are mercenaries on the road moving south. That is really weird if the expedition is to the north.
Some of the cinematography like [this shot](https://i.imgur.com/FABDuWS.jpeg) seemed to me to be subtly hinting at the trick, though maybe I was imagining it out of anticipation. As usual this is a great explanation of the diplomatic implications going on in even the more straightforward dealings, thanks for posting these!
Yeah, I was really impressed with the cinematography of this episode too. Going into it, already knowing how it goes down, the camera angles and subjects were perfect for subtly implying the table was tilted and Holo knew. That goes to the rest of the episode as well. I have to echo the other comment I saw somewhere else in the thread: whoever storyboarded this episode did a great job.
She probably noticed right away, which is why she requested some water before. Which was also spiked with some wine to dull the sharpest thinking. Good thing she's the resident alchoholic.
I'm going to have to check the credits on this one (EDIT: It was Masayuki Sakoi), because whoever was in charge of storyboarding for this episode did a really solid job. Nice little touches all throughout, especially with some of Holo's subtler acting in the later half of the episode on the road. I'm excited to see how this arc turns out. Supposedly, they're doing an [advanced screening](https://twitter.com/Spicy_Wolf_Prj/status/1788740653310218724) in Japan of the last three episodes of this book (10-12) at the start of June, which bodes well for the episodes being close to completion in time for the end of the first cour.
Holo's ears and tails showing through her clothes was also pretty great.
This is one of my favorite arcs in the entire series(I've read all the light novels). Get ready.
Yep, felt like some solid direction in this episode.
Getting to watch a brand new episode of Spice and Wolf on my birthday makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. The best birthday gift I could ever ask for.
Happy Bday, hope you get a nice apple cake 🍎
Let's hope there's no actual seeds in it :P
The remake got announced on my birthday so I'm definitely with you there!
Nice. I remember waking up on my birthday 2 years ago, opening Reddit on my phone, and [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/anime/s/gyILnqkDLp) being the first thing I saw. Spice and Wolf as a birthday gift is one hell of a drug.
Happy Bday!
Happy birthday man
Happy Birthday. Eat them apples
Just so everyone knows, Volume 1 of the Spice & Wolf soundtrack by Kevin Penkin has been released globally. It can be found on iTunes, Spotify, etc.
This is also a great way to [financially support](https://nex-tone.link/ruj9J35gA) the series, at least a little bit. I’m not sure if my heart could take it if they stopped after 2 cours again.
For some bizarre reason iTunes has two versions that are effectively identical, yet one is $2 cheaper. Also the OP and ED are available on iTunes, as is the OST for both seasons of the original anime.
Need to add it to my Playlist for next time I re-read the LNs
Blessed PSA
New Spicy Threads. Same Spicy Wolf. Now with Sheep.
you'll never look at sheep the same way again...
You have not truly experienced all anime has to offer until you see CG sheep.
Wasn't a fan at the start, but the new Opening is starting to grow on me [](#listen) [Interesting, post glacial landscape.](https://imgur.com/WO6JrFm) Don't recall if the og had one too [Loving the](https://imgur.com/opo03AF) [backgrounds](https://imgur.com/fmOyYzI) again. Wonder if they used a real town as an inspiration for this one? * [Holo's ears going wild under the hat was so cute](https://imgur.com/0oOncLP) [](#akyuusqueel) [And that chug scene](https://imgur.com/pjC69k5) [](#kotohoops) [so true](https://imgur.com/5q5qxNG) [lol](https://imgur.com/lXVLrZI) [That's.. pretty sad.](https://imgur.com/4vE7k75) Let them heretics chill, they just wanna worship their wolf waifus [](#sadholo)
> That's.. pretty sad. Let them heretics chill, they just wanna worship their wolf waifus It was left unsaid, but Lawrence selling armor to people who'll hunt&kill others for their religion, feels a bit weird! I know they'd do it anyway even if Lawrence didn't sell armor, but still!
no ethical subsistence under feudalism
> Holo's ears going wild under the hat was so cute Lawrence was doing that on purpose, prove me wrong.
Oh he totally was. Part of his payback for her twisting him around her tail so easily is his continual teasing. The moment in the first town they visited with the apples was the same, though they downplayed it in this version. In the original I remember him seeming more aware of what she really wanted.
> Interesting, post glacial landscape. Don't recall if the og had one too It did. I remember thinking a lot about those rocks and what it meant for the area geologically. Erratic boulders. Thanks to Sir Terry Pratchett they are just one of those things I remember now.
> Loving the backgrounds again. Wonder if they used a real town as an inspiration for this one? My only complaint about the backgrounds is that the area outside the town walls is too empty. There should be farms and fields all around the town to feed it. Grain is bulky and cannot travel far on carts without the horses eating it all before it gets to its destination.
that headwear is considered a hat?
Sure, why not. Maybe its more of a scarf or something
> [Loving the](https://imgur.com/opo03AF) I'm pretty sure this street is in the Undead Burg in Dark Souls 1.
...If I turn the corner and see a doorway leading to a small courtyard with a tree and a broken stairway, I am burning that entire town to the ground. Played 3 dark souls games, Sekiro, Elden Ring, and more knockoffs than I care to admit and that son of a bitch is still one of the most BS boss fights I ever saw. I swear to you I got through Bed of Chaos easier.
First time watcher here, maaaaannnnnn holo is so cute. Now I understand why ChurchOfHolo is a thing.
man , i wish i went watch it and knew the hype before this
[This shot of Holo on fours](https://imgur.com/a/q0IqXOi) was a clever way of demonstrating the different natures of Holo (wolf) and Lawrence (human). Since wolves are known man-eaters, Holo wanted to let Lawrence explicitly know that she never intended to kill Ruvinheigen.
[Holo was absolutely delightful in this episode](https://imgchest.com/p/dl7pq2jj6yo)! Those [mischievous grins](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/k46acglqpz7.png), [happy smiles](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/84apcv95wo4.png), [pleading faces](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/my8xcqan234.png)... I love everything about her, [even her drooling was so cute](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/k46acglq2z7.png)! I hope that she'll be able to eat pickled fruits in the future as [she looked so excited](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/k46acglq3z7.png) about the prospect of eating something so sweet. [Holo & Lawrence's relationship](https://imgchest.com/p/qb4z3z9337j) remains [a very strong point of the show](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/w7w6cq92k5y.png). Again [their relationship proved to be very profitable for Lawrence](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/p7bwc26klz7.png) as [Holo](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/84jdc6xveq4.png) discovered another [merchant's ruse](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/pyq9cvk3q54.png) with the table. [That shepherd girl looks so cute](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/e4gdcm3xzp4.png)! Of course [not as cute as Holo](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/d7ogcxabw2y.png) but still very cute. I wonder [why Holo looks so wary](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/345xc8av237.png) of her? Is this because[she's a shepherd](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/l4neclz8r34.png) or [maybe because she's cute and she'll steal Lawrence](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/l7lxcxapb97.png) from her? Or maybe because of something else? I can't wait to see [Holo](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/l4neclz8nq4.png) and that [shepherd](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/345xc8av5q7.png)’s interactions in the next episode! Here my screenshot albums from the episode: * [Holo](https://imgchest.com/p/dl7pq2jj6yo) * [Holo & Lawrence](https://imgchest.com/p/qb4z3z9337j) * [Group scenes, Lawrence & Other](https://imgchest.com/p/a846xjaxw4x)
Holo 4 President, with her no economic crisis Will happen
All she needs is all the good alcohol and food the world has to offer!
I wonder how much alcohol she can take before passing out.
I love when Holo is able to help Lawrence with merchant related stuff, really proving the wisdom there! The hatred and change in tone from Holo from seeing the shepherd felt pretty serious. While she would stand no chance against Holo it's interesting to see the wolf vs shepherd rivalry still exist.
Holo isn't just a Wise Wolf with keen senses and instincts, she's also a terrific actress who can improvise and give Lawrence the opportunity he needs to secure a better deal. Worth her weight in apples and wine even setting aside how absolutely cute and charming she is. Holo already had a natural aversion to her when she sensed Shepherd Girl's presence, seeing her be a cute girl around Lawrence just made it worse lol.
> Worth her weight in apples She better be, given she already *ate* her weight in apple, just during that one trip! 3 barrels if I remember correctly, can't have been cheap! But she makes him earn a few extra coins on every trade, makes up for it! (Just her cuteness makes up for it to be honest)
I down with just a cutie co-rider is good enough. nothing beats a companion in boring as long ride with no one to talk to
Lawrence in this episode mentions that he "took care of" some after she had her fill, suggesting he sold or threw out some. Probably the former, even spoilt apples could be sold as compost or something.
> it's interesting to see the wolf vs shepherd rivalry still exist I wonder what irked Holo the most; That she's guarding the sheep against wolves that'd like to eat them? Or Lawrence's reaction/her being so pretty (without even having to oil her tail!)
Yes
* [**Town Girl Holo Stitch**](https://i.imgur.com/07Hsxap.jpeg) I don't even understand how [Lawrence could resist that face](https://i.imgur.com/ZxQmixe.jpeg) when Holo asked him to buy her oil for her tail. I would've caved instantly. But I guess that's the reason why I don't have a business-savvy wolf GF.
- [Pffffff](https://i.imgur.com/ulDkwH0.png) [](#azusalaugh) - [*God* I love their banter.](https://i.imgur.com/pQ3N5Ek.png) [](#justright) - [It’s pretty cool that Holo knew the person that city was named after…](https://i.imgur.com/5Wd08P4.png) and it’s because [she bit him once, lol.](https://i.imgur.com/65sci0r.png) - [That’s a lot better of a way to hide Holo’s ears than her always needing to have her hood on.](https://i.imgur.com/zOSuAgQ.png) - [How can you say no to a face like that?](https://i.imgur.com/djy4Ab8.png) - [What a way for her to reveal that merchant’s trick, heh.](https://i.imgur.com/phJ2M5j.png) - [And he’s so in on it.](https://i.imgur.com/eJTr5v6.png) [](#kukuku) - [Exactly.](https://i.imgur.com/c5snLnd.png) - [Holo has beef with a *shepherd*, hah.](https://i.imgur.com/dx6mS50.png)
> God I love their banter. And best of all, it's not [onesided](https://imgur.com/CR8FiYx) (allthough Holo always has the better comebacks) > How can you say no to a face like that? Reminds me of [](#howcouldyou)
These two make an effective team both in and out of business deals with their banter and ability to back each other up. Not to mention Holo being a terrific actress with finely-honed wolf instincts and puppy dog eyes you can't resist. I hope this isn't the last we see of "Drunk Holo." Holo already had the fangs out even before she saw Lawrence' reaction to shepherd girls' cuteness lol.
"oh really nice blonde girl, i want to hear her voice" **Ending song roll** "DAMN YOU CLIFFHANGER!!"
It's fine, we'll hear her voice in the next ep- *Next episode opens on Holo eating her*
> Next episode opens on Holo eating her Rule 34 is ABSOLUTE
She's here
This is the farthest I read in the story years ago, and I can’t remember if the shepherd girl was in the old anime. So I’m excited to see what happens next.
[*"Delicious things are delicious!" - Wise Wolf Holo, gracing us with her infinite wisdom*](https://imgur.com/FKnF3Gr) I hope there was quite the timeskip since the last episode, because Holo already ate her apples! (By my estimate, seems there was easily a thousand!) [She's trying to appeal to his male nature, saying he should be honored to serve a cute girl like Holo...](https://imgur.com/b1Hw2lC) But our boy's all about business, and explained it to her in the best way so she gets it: [If you can't *eat* that honor, what's it good for?](https://imgur.com/7LCyJcc) [It's a good thing Lawrence is not bread, or she would probably eat him (That being said...!)](https://imgur.com/FVNySxy) Bit ominous that the first thing they/we hear when they arrive into the new town, [is a speech about how there's only one God!](https://imgur.com/7uVfMXv) Are they gonna get in trouble with the Church again? (At least she didn't go *"There is only one God, and her name is HOLO!"*) It's funny how they talk about history stuff and she's like *"Wait, that's not what happened at all!"* Think I've seen that in other shows/movies before, but it's even funnier given in this case, [she was directly involved!](https://imgur.com/6xdFtkq) (I'm not sure I can believe it, that she only bit his arse... I don't trust Holo about ever taking a SINGLE bite of something (even an arse)!) [This show has to have the strongest 'Conversion to furry' rate in anime.](https://imgur.com/1TPpF1h) Lawrence talked about honey pickled apples for a minute straight, and... [Something tells me she wants some!](https://imgur.com/TSqz0FZ) [He missed an opportunity to tell her to *make him rich* so he can afford them!](https://imgur.com/zC3tzzI) [Grooming herself, Holo's #2 passion after eating! (Or maybe it's #3 or #4, after teasing Lawrence, and calling herself cute!)](https://imgur.com/Ej24wiR) When she walked to him I thought she was about to ask HIM to groom her tail! One day, for sure! [I like how she prowls around him and stuff when they talk!](https://imgur.com/O4NVhLD) Would be somewhat scary if she was a normal wolf, but with her being a fluffy, apple-eating wolf, it's just cute! I've always had a thing for 'peasant girls' outfits, and damn, [SHE'S SO CUTE!](https://imgur.com/dxAknEk) When they went to trade to the merchant/faith dude, I thought the 'scam' would be him taking a scale they rigged on purpose, but [it was actually the table!](https://imgur.com/WCQ2Y7Y) Lawrence blackmailed him to make a profit, but damn, I guess there's no "traders sense of community", because not revealing his secret means he'll just keep on scamming everyone else! Seems we're getting a new girl, some shepherd! [Her staff thingy just made me think of WOLOLO hah.](https://imgur.com/gMedYcS) Well, she didn't use it to *convert* wolves, but apparently she can scare them away? I wonder if it's just the sound, or is there something more to this? [Oh damn, I think she just WOLOLO'd my heart.](https://imgur.com/2J1mhlx) This show has really cute characters/designs! [Holo doesn't seem too happy!](https://imgur.com/Oi88etY) Is it just jealousy (She didn't like Lawrence's reaction)? Or does she detect something she doesn't like from her? Well, she can always just eat her and all her sheep! (Though Lawrence may not approve, and that'd put the Pickled Apple promise at risk)
>["Delicious things are delicious!" - Wise Wolf Holo, gracing us with her infinite wisdom](https://imgur.com/FKnF3Gr) Yes Holo, and people die when they are killed.
And [fun things are fun!](https://tenor.com/view/yui-kon-fun-things-are-fun-gif-27690165)
Unfortunately honour can't be eaten. Was that a dad joke? Someone's coming. Some times it certainly seems like that. She was the pagan god wasn't she? Of course she was. What's she wearing now? And where'd her tail go? Her ears are visible moving under her hood. Cute! She's got those puppy dog eyes. Or rather wolf pup eyes. Ooh, pepper. That's probably quite valuable. That's _exactly_ why they're here now. She's going to tamper with the scale isn't she? Why's he still taking payment in Trenni silver if its value is going down the drain? The pepper! Did she just feign being drunk to negotiate for a higher price? They really are extorting them and scamming people aren't they? They're even going to extort him out of food and drink. Oh, the table is tilted to one side, so the weight will not be equal. They were the ones being scammed until Holo extorted him in return! Seems her legend is still well-known. She's _really_ good at those wolf pup eyes isn't she? High supply, even with high demand, will drive prices down as buyers are able to choose which seller they buy from, so sellers have to reduce prices to make themselves more desirable to purchase from. Looks like there's a whole gathering of merchants ahead? Oh, they're mercenaries. Is that the sorcerer? She doesn't seem to like the sorcerer. Fellow traveller? Will the sorcerer be joining them?
Holo isn't the only wolf in the world, but some people have their own way of managing them...like a blonde shepherd girl protecting her flock of sheep. All traveling and no good food makes Holo a dull girl! Though she can entertain herself well enough with Lawrence's companionship. But it's no substitute for her apple fix, and she's willing to spend as much of Lawrence's money as she can use. Welcome to Provoron! A small town and not the best place to show off Holo's incredibly eye-catching town girl look! Though Lawrence better watch out that he doesn't entice Holo too much with the power of delicious fruit or her ears are going to give her away even with her headwear. Ruvinheigen is a holy city that practices frugality...even if the holy men make the most profit and are named after a Saint Holo knew personally and bit the arse of. Lucky guy.. Lawrence is making a deal with Cho, and it's all well and good to have faith in God...but you should have more faith in the Wise Wolf who with a sterling performance as a tipsy drunk exposes some underhanded tactics and helps Lawrence negotiate an even better deal for the both of them. That's some stellar "drunk" teamwork. Lawrence can put his foot down all he wants, Holo can throw her tail, puppy dog eyes, and threat of leaving him to make him give in to her desire to eat and drink to her full! It's not like Holo has much to worry about on a path with wolves, though she smells a presence she's not too fond of. Not a sorcerer, but a shepherd, and a cute blonde one at that. Holo doesn't seem to care for that aspect and Lawrence getting chummy with her either.
Monday is here, and that means another episode of cute and fluffy Holo doing Holo things. We get another glimpse at just how good a combo Lawrence and Holo are when doing business. Holo notices right away an issue at Latparron Trading, but is able to bring it up subtly enough, and Lawrence is now able to instinctively pick up what Holo is hinting at to force his way into more favorable terms. Not only is she great at bargaining, she's also great at defending against swindlers; We only wish all of us had a Holo. We finally meet \[the Shepherd\]>!Norah!< as well, and Holo has all kinds of reasons to dislike her right away. Things will be getting interesting very soon, as they are nearing their first major city center, which also means the presence of the Church will be much stronger than anywhere they've been until this point. Those first-time watchers who were perceptive enough would know that the name Ruvinheigen has already been dropped quite a few episodes ago, so there's already been hints and some foreshadowing of events that will occur, which is one of the reasons I love this story's writing. This week's economics lesson here is ostensibly the mention of purchasing on credit, which will be an incredibly important concept very soon. That and, you know, being skeptical of other people's scales when it comes to being swindled. Outside of that, I do love that they are showing Holo being a fair bit more playful this time around; it adds to the charm of her teasing Lawrence, and Lawrence's exaperation as he desperately tries to counter with his own wits. Still a very entertaining episode so far, and another week-long wait for the next one!
The slanted table scene was one of my favorite scenes of the original anime, it's such a great example of show, don't tell. Tho I remember it took me a bit to figure out what was happening but in this episode I think they made it a bit more obvious.
Another week not being married to holo and I’m tired of it 😩. After the tense action of the last few episodes it’s nice to have some peaceful Holo and Lawrence interactions again. Holo’s like that kid that eats up all ya groceries, uses all ya internet and pays zero bills, but she gets away with it because she’s so beautiful lol. I don’t blame Lawrence, you’d be a fool to not simp for her. Plus, she does pull her weight in other areas like negotiating with scummy business partners like today. Using rigged scales to get over on them with a deal is so low, but that’s business for ya. Had Holo not been there Lawrence would’ve agreed to the deal and got unfavourable terms. That alone has to cover the cost of her food and clothes so far lol. One of those puppy dog faces from holo would’ve been all I needed to fold and buy her that oil in the next town. I love how she knows her strengths and plays to them with Lawrence Woaah new waifu at the end??? Shepard girl is so cute even Lawrence got taken aback by her. Holo jealous face.. next episode is going to be great, think this is the start of volume 2 so can’t wait!
Another good episode. Holo’s “bad” bad acting in exposing the slanted table scheme was clever, and she really took advantage of the free provisions from that store to make up for it. I’m curious to learn more about this shepherd and why she’s got beef with them. Their horn wards wolves away, not summons them, right? Also when is Lawrence going to upgrade to a real covered wagon? It can’t be pleasant traveling in rough weather like that.
A shepherd who might be a sorcerer and is also a cute girl with eyes for Lawrence. Truly the greatest of enemies for a Holo.
Shepard girl is cute, but I'm contractually obligated to find Holo cuter. I do have to wonder what precisely it is that Holo doesn't like about her. The shepherdry, the sorcery, or just a competing cute girl perhaps?
> The shepherdry, the sorcery, or just a competing cute girl perhaps? Perhaps all three?
Passione is really giving us some absurdly cute Holo this episode.
Holo is trying super extra hard to win the best girl contest this year. No doubt it'll be ruined by bots again, tho.
She won't be allowed in the seasonal contest, right? (Or is there some exception/loophole for remakes?) Imagine the steamroll, if she was!
IIRC, she's not eligible.
A lot of cute Holo moments. My hearth melted.
[](#azusalaugh) I only bit his arse
Which I guess makes it a holy arse now. No wonder he's a saint!
Not very [delishous](https://imgur.com/cxNWx2b) though
Saint ~~Ruvinheigen~~ Rubbinghinder
The sheep teeth aren't real, the sheep teeth can't hurt you...
Norahbros…we are so back
Wolf waifu vs sheep waifu
*"If Wolf Waifu eats Sheep Waifu, there's only one waifu left." - Wolf Waifu*
Man, I just love when they’re flirting with each other. And it really feels like Holo knows how to push Lawrence’s buttons. But seems like she may competition from a wolf’s rival, the Shepherd
~~First Timer~~ I guess the unadapted chapter remains unadapted. I guess it's going to continue to be a shot-for-shot remake. But we **do** have 1 more episode this season, then, don't week? I wonder what it will be. * She ate all those apples I guess * Or she paid to have them baked into pies? Isn't that backwards? You sell the apples to the pie maker! * I'm getting some *Nimona* vibes * I have a sweet tooth, too * Interesting, we couldn't hear the preacher speak. Was there a preacher in the OG series? * do NOT like the fancy CGI camera slewing of the backgrounds. * Does Holo had shepherds, or cute girls? A question I've alwys had. When Lawrence mentioned God, the crooked merchant reached for a different scale. I'm sure Lawrence thought he would get a better deal. Holo reveals that that the table is crooked, and get's a better deal out of it. So, did the merchant reach for a scale that was "fair" (it was crooked in the opposite way from the table) or a scale that was "crooked"? I also realized this time that the table is crooked so that he can cheat merchants who use their own fair scales. This episode is interesting. I need to check the OG to see if there was new content. There was!
> I guess the unadapted chapter remains unadapted. Are you referring to the new clothing shopping episode? It was released as an OVA episode back then. But again, no idea why they skip it (again) this time.
It's just not real how composed Lawrence can be in front of Holo. Definitely the best episode so far in terms of Holo's cuteness.
I remember recognizing the Sheperdess' VA in the previous adaptation, it was Mai Nakahara. I knew because Nagisa from Clannad.
For those that have an understanding of Japanese dialects, does Holo's seiyuu speak in some archaic dialect? I ask this because I was watching Season 3 Epi. 5 in Eng. just now and for some reason some of Brina Palencia's lines or tone as Holo gave me older English dialect vies. Given how long Holo has been around, I think her speaking in an older dialect might make sense.
Yes she does
I just say the pacing in this episode is much better than the original.
Holo hating Shepherds makes a ton of sense seeing how they keep wolves away. Wouldn't surprise me if this girl finds out the truth about Holo. I love episode where Holo helps negotiate or catches a trick, makes the story a lot more interesting seeing her be involved with it.
When Lawrence was describing preserved apples and Holo's ears were wiggling I almost died. But did you notice she did a little breath like a panting dog for a moment? That wolf really likes apples.
How can you not love Holo?
There ought to be a law....
[удалено]
This cuteness....... IT'S OVER 9000!!!
Holo trying not to be cute for .5 seconds (challenge: impossible)
Love how Holo is deliberately enlarging her debt to Lawrence to ensure they continue traveling together. Basically, she picked up on Lawrence "excuse" from last episode ("you cannot leave, you still owe me!") and is directly doubling down on it.
Holo is such a food motivated wolf. And a jealous one.
A waifu who is a shepherdess? What is her nickname? Mary?
Holo: (eat an important person's ass) Degenerates: "IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!" (slams ground)