Summary:

As she travels with Lawrence, Horo brags about her ears and tail, though she ends up finding a flea. The two are then caught in a rainstorm and are forced to take refuge at a church where Lawrence claims that Horo is his wife, and she covers her face under the pretense that it’s been burned. Horo goes up to their room first, and by the time Lawrence arrives, she’s already naked and in the process of wringing her wet clothes. As they both dry off, Lawrence wonders if he should thresh the wheat that he has or leave it as it is, so Horo tells him that it won’t rot as long as she’s alive. However, since she might disappear if it gets eaten or burned, Lawrence decides to thresh the wheat later and put the grain in a pouch for her, and Horo also requests that she be able to wear it hanging around her neck. After she teases him about his smell and his facial hair, the two head to the main hall where they meet a rich husband and wife couple. Lawrence ends up describing the details of his merchant work with the husband, and the man invites Lawrence to visit his home sometime.

Afterwards, Lawrence is approached by a different man who introduces himself as Zeren, and he’s interested in both Lawrence and Horo. He wants to see Horo’s face, but she wisely points out how a woman is most beautiful from behind and that he should be careful about his dreams vanishing. This leaves Zeren speechless, and once he regains his composure, he makes a proposal to Lawrence. A little later, Lawrence returns to his room with some potatoes covered in goat cheese, but before he lets Horo eat, he gives her the pouch of wheat grain. Since Horo can supposedly distinguish between lies and truth, Lawrence asks her about what Zeren had said. Zeren had earlier talked about a rumor of a new silver coin with a higher silver content, and he had a scheme to make money by collecting the current coins and exchanging them for the new ones and other currency. He was willing to teach Lawrence about which coins are which if Lawrence gives him a cut of the eventual profits. Horo confirms that this was a lie, but what bothers Lawrence is that he doesn’t know why Zeren lied – what’s important about a lie isn’t the content of the lie but rather why the lie was told.

When Horo asks what he would decide to do if she weren’t here, Lawrence admits that he’d reserve judgment and act like he accepted the lie. That way, he’d profit if it were true, and if it were false, then there’s someone scheming. If he could get at what’s behind it, then he could still make a profit. This leads to Horo wondering what he’s going to do since she is here and is telling him that it’s a lie. This catches Lawrence a little by surprise, so Horo points out that he hasn’t been one to hesitate since the beginning of when she’s known him. The next morning, Lawrence wakes up to find Horo already out of bed, and he’s shocked to see her talking with the priest. It turns out to be a harmless chat, and Horo later comments on how powerful the church has become compared to when she first came. She notes that at the very least, they hadn’t been preaching that one god created this world, and she feels that the world isn’t something someone could create. Seeing that Horo is a little depressed about the changing times, Lawrence pats her on the head and asks if she’s personally changed. When Horo shakes her head no, Lawrence tells her that her home hasn’t changed either.

Lawrence then talks with Zeren about going forward with the deal, but he stipulates that he won’t pay anything in advance. They agree to meet in the southern town of Pattsio, and after watching Zeren leave the church on foot, Lawrence explains to Horo that time is money. He tries to use the peasants that Horo had been with as an example, however she feels that those people weren’t precise with time but rather with the days and the seasons around them. Citing his lack of age and experience, Horo goes on to challenge if Lawrence knows why wolves attack people in the mountains. Since Lawrence doesn’t know, she tells him that it’s to eat human heads to try to gain their power. When she questions if he’s been attacked by wolves before, Lawrence reveals that he has, and those memories cause him to tell Horo to stop talking about it. She feels bad that he got angry, and Lawrence eventually just asks her never to talk about it again. Nevertheless, Horo reveals that wolves only know how to hunt humans because of how humans are subjects of fear. Hearing Horo mention that wolves wonder how to act when humans come to the forest, Lawrence realizes that she went after humans too, but Horo doesn’t want to talk about it. Later that night, as they’re lying in the wagon trying to sleep, Horo quietly comments on how the two of them have lived in different worlds.

 
 
 

How much do you want to bet that Horo’s going to be naked in every episode…. That aside, I’m seeing more and more why she’s such a popular character. She’s usually very playful and fun, yet she has that vulnerable side of her that occasionally appears. Along those lines, the talk about wolves was probably the most interesting part of the episode, and compared to that, the getting-rich-by-playing-the-silver-coin-exchange-system was much less so. Actually, even that wasn’t so bad because it involved some kind of scheme and a suspicious character – it was the earlier bartering talk that really put me to sleep. I’m not too keen on it right now, but I wonder if the Middle Ages economics aspect will play a bigger part in the story later on. For now, I’d rather see more development about Horo’s or Lawrence’s past, particularly in relation to wolves, however the title for next episode (Ookami to Shousai – Wolf and Business Acumen) seems to imply that it’ll be more about the merchant trading side of things.

43 Comments

  1. *alucard071*

    Yeah this serie is very nice….i love animes like this …simple with a warm story and nice relationships with the main characters….just like ARIA the origination….or tsubasa chronicles….or AH!megami sama…or potemayo….or binchou tan…..or …you know ano atatakai no kanjiteiru!!!

    Sometimes animes like this are very well needed, so we can relax and enjoy the momment just like a marihuana….Zzzzz…to….en….jo…Yyyyyyy….( @_@ )(LOL)

    Tensai Otaku
  2. A very nice episode. Horo really is a likable character. Can throw out so many sides to her personality. Can be pretty playful, but also has times when she is hit by sadness. Has a lot of experience and knowledge, but is energetic.

    Looks like an interesting past from Lawrence. Should be a good series to follow along and enjoy.

    Flaris
  3. Horos playfulness reminds me of C.C char from Code Geass. On an unrelated note is it me or do all if not most Male voice actors have one or 2 voices for acting whereas female ones have a wide selection of voices cos i thought it was Jun (Leleouch) before this blog told me so and thats not my only example (cant be bothered to tell rest)

    WingZero zxt
  4. Did anyone else notice that some of the clothes and especially the main character’s jacket seem too “modern” looking for an anime that has a fantasy (medieval-ish) setting?

    Otherwise it looks like its going to be a fun show 🙂

    Kalessin
  5. beastiality anyone?? RIGHT HERE BROTHER!!! hahaha but seriously ..she aint naked! she’s furry, sand colored fur!! furry booty! she wont be naked till she reveals her true form.

    BROOKLYN otaku
  6. About the coin exchange…

    I obviously haven’t watched the episode, but I DO think I know what kind of Scheme is happening with the coin exchange (because I read another story similar to it long ago.) Show Spoiler ▼

    Vallen Chaos Valiant
  7. I think its amusing when people yell “bestiality” when someone with perky ears and a tail appears in a romance…. but no one seems to yell such odd ideas when, say, Vulcans and Humans frolic in bed (or any other alien/human combo). This is fantasy/science-fiction — but crying bestiality really doesn’t make sense when neither party is a “lesser creature”.

    vexx
  8. At first I thought this anime will be boring, even worst than GunslingerGirl. But, it turns out to be one of my favourite anime now! It’s good for refreshing. Is this anime famous in Japan too?

    KGFJ
  9. Episode 2 was just fabulous… exactly what I was looking for. Slice of medieval life spiced with wolf goddess. The fact she’s a “young” goddess (600 or so years) makes her attachment to “wise wolf Horo” a bit humorous. Great leisurely paced character-driven episode.

    vexx
  10. This thing with wolfs attacking humans at the end was very interesting. Seems our merchant went through some really tough situations.
    Moreover I think that Horo hides something behind her cheerful character and her smile.
    Also when he asked her about if she ever attacked humans – “there are some things you just can’t know”
    Ayashi..

  11. Agree that the wolf attack situation is something to think about. Horo has been around a very long time and who knows what happened before she even arrived in the village we started the journey in.

    She can be very cheerful, but with age comes experience and some sadness too. She probably has attacked humans in the past and doesn’t want to talk about it. After journeying to the south and meeting people she probably has gotten more complex feelings for people. Which could only make whatever happened in the past a greater burden on her.

    Overall really enjoying the series and this should be a good one.

    FlareKnight
  12. Here is the lyrics of the EP
    Seven apple on the witch’s tree
    With seven seeds to plant inside of me
    In spring time i grew a magic song
    Then skipping along, i sang the song to everyone
    I look at the world through apple eyes
    And cut myself a slice of sunshine pie
    I danced with the peanut for the flies
    Till someone had told me
    To say hello for every good bye
    Saw some sugar stars
    I’ll put them in a jar
    And we’ll wish around the world
    Oh~ we’ll wish around the world
    I’m a little wolf inside a cart,
    you say
    and off i go from June to May
    oh~ we’ll wish around the world
    let’s wish around the world!!

    187
  13. Excellent script writing. The dialogs and the plot are so interesting that I was totally absorbed in the story. It is smart to “foretell” a dark, secret past of Horo early in the series to build up the drama. I am looking forward to more secrets revealed later on.

    Also, Ep. 2 answers a very important question: Why does Lawrence, a calculating and pragmatic merchant, let Horo join the journey when 1) she is obviously using him for something; 2) he puts himself at risk of being declared heretic if Horo’s identity is discovered; and 3) she may intervene with his trading. Lawrence probably does that for the same reason why he plays along with Zeren, who talked Lawrence into the silver coin scheme– he wants to get closer to the truth to earn a bigger profit. I think this is a very subtle and clever arrangement in the script.

    Matroid
  14. The OP had me hooked with its sadly uplifting tune. It’s a quieter show, sure, but the two main characters are cute together. Horo, while mischievous and teasing, still has a mystery about her that hints that she has more than a few things in common with the ancient and vengeful animal spirits from Princess Mononoke (the wolf goddess in that one was called Moro; probably not a coincidence considering the brief flashes of the angry wolves and the giant wolf “god” in the OP).

    The background aspects with the pagan wolf festival (a wolf of the harvest that likes eating vegetables is a bit strange; but myths often are) and growing power of the local church are nice touches, and makes the world feel alive and believable along with the medieval-themed music. How the economics fit into everything remains to be seen, like Omni said. I for one like the ED; it’s meant to be light-hearted and silly to go along with the chibi images.

    KaminaLives

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