Spice and Wolf: 2008 vs 2024 anime

Now that I'm lv6 with this amino it looks like I can finally write my very first post!

I suppose what better way then to talk about my favorite anime at the moment and that is Spice and wolf!

Possible Spoilers ahead, you have been warned!

What is Spice and Wolf?

Spice and Wolf is a light novel series that first got an anime adaptation in 2008 and then in 2024. The story of Spice and Wolf is about a traveling merchant named Kraft Lawrence, who encounters Holo, the wolf deity in human form. The two embark on a journey together. Their adventures focus on economics, trade, and their growing relationship as they travel to bring Holo back to her hometown, of Yoitsu.

This series is known for its intelligent dialogue and intricate plot involving the human world and mythology. The anime adaptations have been well-received for its character development and storytelling.

2008 Series:

The 2008 adaption, has a few difference I will discuss about. I'm not going into all, but at least a few key differences.

Sharper animation:

Firstly, this adaptation follows the light novel pretty decently, however they did change the art style to be a bit more sharp. Now this could be due to limitations during that time, but considering a few other animes who had smoother line work were out, it's might be unlikely.

2008 left 2024 right

Introduction of Chloe:

The other noticable difference comes with changing one of Lawrence's friends Yarei, to a female named Chloe. Now, I believe this change was to give Lawrence another love interest to impact a particular situation more. She isn't a bad character and personally I did like her a bit more then Yarei, who is in the light novel, as well as in the 2024 version.

Skipping a book:

The biggest thing about the 2008 version compared to the 2024 to me is the skipping around. Now anime usually does this with light novels. They will focus on what they feel are important parts and skip the rest. However, this version completely skipped over an entire book. Which yes, was fine, the story wasn't destroyed by this, but as someone who loves the light novels I was quite sadden.

What I liked:

Besides some differences this series is absolutely stunning to me. The music is beautiful and fits well within the time period which this takes places, and it follows the light novel very well. Even with it straying away here and there, it's a great series and I do recommend a watch. Especially because the 2024 skips a bit as well, so watching both you'll get the entire novel eventually. :joy_cat:

2024 series:

Just last year, Spice and Wolf got a reboot anime! I was so thrilled as I was constantly wishing for a season 3, but restarting works for me too!

Smoother Animation:

Off the bat, the animation to me is absolutely stunning. They some how captured the style of the light novel art into anime, and I couldn't be more happier by this!

Light novel art:

2024 art:

Yarei:

As mentioned above, this series bring the light novel character Yarei back, and gets rid of Chloe. Yarei is known to be Lawrence's good friend, and though he was the original, I prefer Chloe a little bit more than Yarei. Still, I'm very happy to change it regardless, as it's more true to the light novel!

Skipping:

Now, anime has to skip certain things for time reason when it comes to adaptations. Doesn't matter if it started out as a Manga, or a novel if they can skip parts that won't really affect the story they will.

I personally feel, that the 2024 version handles the skips a lot better then the 2008 version. Though the finish books a bit quicker in this series then the 2008 one, they did not skip an entire book! They actually kept book 4 in the anime! I couldn't be happier! However the 2008 is slower in pace giving you more details then the newer.

What I liked:

If I had to be honest, there really anythinh I dislike about this anime series. It's one of the few that dies amazing in both Japanese and English dub, and you can tell the English voice actors really enjoy what they do, as the even voice acted for the light novels audio books. Truly stunning!And because they have been doing there voices for so long, they are extremely comfortable right off the bat and it makes Holos and Lawrence's interaction that much greater!

Like the 2008 series, the music is stunning and the story is very captivating to me. I also encourage a watch on this version! If not a tad bit more. However as stated, this version does take liberty to skip things, that the 2008 version did not.

Conclusion:

Both anime adaptations are quite enjoyable to watch, and I encourage anyone interested to give them both a try. The one I recommend a tad bit more would be the 2024 version, but this is only my opinion as I enjoy the light novels a lot, and you get the best experience of the light novels that way. ^^ However, if you wish for a little more of an economic lesson, I say watch the 2008 one first. It has a slower pace making the novel it's covering more episodes then the 2024 one that only focuses on key points to cover more ground.

But at the end of the day your choice which to start with first, but I do recommend this anime to anyone who is interested in this sort of genre. ^^

Bonus:

Spice and Wolf also has a Manga series, two switch games that are VR, and mentioned before you can enjoy listening to the light novel series in Audible read by both J Michael Tatum and Brina Palencia. For the light novel the voice actors sort of take turns on the books they read. Tatum does most of them.

Manga:

Game:

Example of audible on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/xh6aatDIHps?si=Hbx5OmBuDOiEtNGd