Is the Spice and Wolf Season 3 release date finally on the horizon after so many diligent years of waiting? A recently released Spice and Wolf anime trailer has ignited hopes that Ookami to Koushinryou Season 3 could be animated, but while a new anime project is confirmed it’s uncertain what story it will tell.
The Spice and Wolf 2022 announcement only stated, “Special report!!!!! Spice and a Wolf A completely new anime will be produced!” The Japanese language announcement adds, “No, I’m sorry. Our journey’s starting again, isn’t it?”
Unfortunately, the Spice and Wolf release date or even time frame was announced yet. Neither the studio nor the main staff making the new animation project has been confirmed.
The new Spice and Wolf anime project was announced as part of plans for celebrating the overall series’ 15th anniversary. But with the exception of the final scene, most of the animation in the new Spice and Wolf trailer was from illustrations in the books.
But is it a direct Spice and Wolf sequel, a reboot or remake, or an original work like a Spice and Wolf movie? Spice and Wolf Season 3 is definitely still a possibility since the video also includes the tagline, “Holo the Wisewolf and Lawrence the Merchant’s story continues.”
On the other hand, a Spice and Wolf remake also seems possible since the key visual clearly says, “Merchant meets the wise wolf,” which occurs at the very beginning of the story.
A Spice and Wolf reboot similar to Fruits Basket would also be desirable since the first two seasons of the anime TV series skipped over certain story arcs. For example, in order to condense the plot, the story arc of Volume 4 was skipped entirely by the original anime.
Based on that information focusing on Holo and Lawrence, we can probably safely discount the possibility of a Wolf And Parchment anime adaptation… at least for now.
Spice and Wolf sequel is called Wolf and Parchment
If you didn’t know already, author Isuna Hasekura finished the main part of the original light novel series back in 2011 with Volume 17. This book was simply titled Epilogue and it brought Holo and Kraft Lawrence’s journey to a close but didn’t completely finish their story.
After a multi-year hiatus, the author began releasing a continuation called Spring Log starting in September 2016. As of September 10, 2021, Spice and Wolf Spring Log was up to Part 6 (or, Volume 23 of the entire series).
At the same time, the sequel, Spice And Wolf New Theory: Wolf And Parchment, revived the story for a new generation. Without getting into major spoilers for anime-only fans, the Spice and Wolf sequel focused on a new wolf character named Myuri and a bathhouse employee/religious student named Tote Col. As of December 10, 2021, the Wolf and Parchment light novel series were up to Volume 7.
North American publisher Yen Press has been handling the official English translation. As of November 2, 2021, the English version of the main series was up to Volume 22/Spring Log 5, while the English Wolf and Parchment release was up to Volume 6 as of March 22, 2022.
There is also an omnibus Spice And Wolf 10th year anniversary edition that provides the entire story in hardcover format, but the price starts at around $699.99 USD… for a used copy! (That’s economics for you since when it was first published it was only $200 USD.)
The Spice and Wolf anime wasn’t intended as a love story
Warning: The following contains minor spoilers for the Spice and Wolf anime.
The ending of the Spice and Wolf story was actually a bit of a surprise even to the author. While Lawrence likes Holo from the beginning, he did not anticipate that Holo would start to like Lawrence back by the end.
The reason the author was surprised by his own creation was that he initially started with an economics story only to add a fantasy character. He didn’t believe he could write slice-of-life stories, but he did not want his economics story to be typical.
Otherwise, it was harder starting the story than finishing it. The first 17 volumes were written from 2006 through 2011, but it took him 10 years just to get the first volume published.
In fact, Hasekura almost ran out of mental energy during those years when he was publishing volumes quickly, and there were times he wanted to simply give up. He kept his attitude from sinking by “praying to any god who would listen,” and by Volume 14, he decided that Volume 17 would be the actual ending.
“I would say that the story pretty much went the way I wanted it to from the beginning to the end,” he said. “For example, it didn’t suddenly turn into a battle manga.”
After finishing the third volume, the writer planned out the ending.
“I did have an idea of what I wanted the ending to be,” Hasekura said, according to Barnes & Noble. “I knew the conclusion, but the intervening arcs I thought of along the way.”
Spice and Wolf Season 3 anime spoilers
The ending of Spice and Wolf Season 2 was based on light novel Volume 5. Lawrence has confessed his love for Holo, and the pair took a boat in pursuit of Eve.
While the anime’s ending provided some sort of plot resolution to their relationship, the following books detailed how Lawrence and Holo met a young boy named Col (yes, the very same boy who is featured in Wold and Parchment) as they continued their journey to Yoitsu, Holo’s homeland.
(Spice and Wolf Volume 7: Side Colors was a series of vignettes focused on different characters so it’s unlikely to be animated except maybe as OVA episodes.)
Their fate becomes entangled with young Col, who helps them investigate rumors about legendary wolf bones being held as powerful artifacts by the Church. But when the travelers reach the town of Kerube they discover that everyone is embroiled in a giant trade dispute.
Col will learn some lessons in economics as Lawrence finds himself caught in the middle of a power struggle between the northern and southern districts… even as the Wise Wolf of Yoitsu Holo begins to rage at what they discover!
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the Spice and Wolf Season 3 release date (or the reboot) to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!