Spice and Wolf – Episode 19 Review

「見えざる神の手と見えざる狼の心」 (Miezareru Kami no Te to Miezareru Ōkami no Kokoro)
“God’s Unseen Hand and Wolf’s Unseen Heart”

Now that the Olympics are safely concluded for another two years it’s right back to anime, and what better place to resume than with Spice and Wolf. I did promise a grand resolution after all with happy endings for all, and while it may not be entirely accurate in hindsight, I dare say I got most of it right. After all, everything is back on the cute and wholesome relationship train.

Probably the big thing which comes out this arc is the full understanding that neither Kraft nor Holo is prepared to give up on the other. It may have taken some beating around the bush – multiple times at that – but this was the week which showed these two are permanently tied at the hip and love every moment of it. Holo after all revealed her true colours by being the one who Kraft was competing with to secure Diana’s pyrite: she wanted Kraft to prevail against Amati and after pushing him towards seeking victory desired giving him one last helping hand if so required. As mentioned some probably could’ve gleaned this from the last episode (if not the full details), but it still remains a fairly big leg up from what Holo has done in the past in remaining behind the scenes. The only disappointment for me is the girl not describing exactly what put her off Amati. Let’s just say in the source material his intention of marrying was not as pure and innocent and blessed with Holo’s approval as he may have thought.

As for the mechanics of Kraft’s victory, yeah, not much needs to be said. The nature of speculative markets ensures there will be a collapse at some point, and Kraft simply lucked out by having him and Holo sell an appropriate amount of the gilded stuff at the right time. If Holo wasn’t on Kraft’s side, if Diana didn’t have the pyrite, or Kraft simply lacked the resources to kickstart the process there was no guarantee of the market inverting at the time it did. It starkly highlights how such investing is a gamble in of itself, and just how much risk Kraft implicitly takes on when making such trades – and more importantly, why Holo in part wound up fancying him so much. Kraft’s calculated gambles and ownership over them mesh with his honest nature, aspects which appeal to Holo’s fear of isolation and desire of companionship. Kraft quite literally betting on Holo was all the evidence she needed of his true intentions as scenes like this/a> wouldn’t have arisen any other way. It doesn’t mean there won’t remain bumps in the road, but this pairing through voice of action has demonstrated their commitment far more than the usual romantic platitudes ever could.

Mind you it will take a while yet before proper love blossoms here, but any doubt as to where this relationship is heading should now have been sufficiently answered. It’s just a question of what future events will test the strength of its bond.

Preview