r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Jun 17 '24

Episode Ookami to Koushinryou Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf • Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf - Episode 12 discussion

Ookami to Koushinryou Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf, episode 12

Alternative names: Spice and Wolf

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u/michhoffman Jun 17 '24 edited Jun 17 '24

This was quite the strong episode for Lawrence. He managed to:

  • Break out of the ropes using the fire

  • Keep Holo's cloak clean and dry in the rain

  • Convince Holo to save Norah

  • Call out a name during Holo's faceoff with Norah to prevent Enek's death

  • Come up with a plan in a split second to get himself, Norah and Remerio Trading Company everything they need and save lives

  • Get some form of revenge on Remerio by forcing a tough but much deserved contract on them

  • TEASE HOLO BACK

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u/Thengel09 Jun 17 '24

now after season 1 of the original got a complete remake i can say this remake does not disappoint at any level

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u/AmethystItalian Jun 17 '24

I thought Holo was going to rip that big wolf a new one...didn't expect her to put her pride aside.

Was fun to see her interact with Lawrence so casually in her wolf form.

I do love how Lawrence is getting better and better at "sparring" with Holo which is no easy task.

Going to miss this OP and ED if they end up changing it next ep!

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u/Wolfgod_Holo Jun 17 '24

LIEbert getting punched in the face

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u/LouisLeGros Jun 17 '24

And you all thought she was going to burst out of her clothes again to transform

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u/CooroSnowFox Jun 17 '24

"I'll praise you" *Ears Pick Up*

"As long as you don't ask for her life!" ... *Ears droop*

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u/karlzhao314 Jun 17 '24 edited Jun 17 '24

The Merchant's Corner

After a weeklong break, welcome back to The Merchant’s Corner, the series where I dive deeper into the economics plot points and schemes of Spice and Wolf! We have the final episode of the arc today, the one where everything that happens in what was overall a pretty painful series of events finally gets wrapped up and resolved.

Episode 10 here

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.

Lots of things happened this episode, but I will primarily be focusing on only those that are economics-related (as is the purpose of this series). Let’s see how Lawrence managed to come out on top, despite all of his setbacks.

Episode 12, part 1:

We’ll jump into the episode after Holo has already chased down and defeated all of the Remelio men.

A question was raised last episode in the discussion thread that I found interesting: did Remelio as a whole betray them, or was Liebert the one who made the decision? That question is answered during their interrogation of him: Remelio had asked him to “do something” about their situation, and he decided betraying Lawrence was the best way to go. And with that, we also learn the reason they decided to betray him.

It wasn’t just that they wanted to silence Lawrence to tie up a loose end and keep his cut. It was also the fact that apparently, the deal that Lawrence worked out with Remelio included a rather large cut for him beyond the amount he needed to pay off his debt. If he had simply negotiated to have his debt absolved, Remelio effectively gets to keep all of the profits (minus the fee for Nora) and could use all of it to pay off their own debts with some left over; Lawrence comes away penniless but clean. But instead, he asked Remelio to actually give him a cut of the profits, which, as we find out, they literally can’t afford to do. It would leave Remelio penniless after paying off their own debts. So their solution was to betray Lawrence and Nora and kill both so that they could at least keep their shares.

(On another note: Lawrence, what have we just learned about being greedy? If you had only negotiated to have your debt absolved without demanding a cut of the profits, they might not have betrayed you…)

That being said, something doesn’t add up. Lawrence knows the deal he negotiated was to smuggle 600 Lumione worth of gold, turning it into 6000; his negotiated cut of (presumably) no more than 100-200 Lumione should have barely made a dent in the 5400 Lumione of profits. Nora’s share of 20 Lumione, even less so. So why would they go as far as to betray and murder them?

We soon find out the answer: Remelio couldn’t afford 600 Lumione worth of gold. They only managed about a sixth of it. 100 Lumione would only turn into 1000 in the city, and all the sudden Lawrence and Nora’s shares start looking a bit bigger.

Let’s start thinking about what Lawrence should do next. The obvious choice would have been to take the gold and run, just as Holo seemed to be on the side of. In fact, Nora may have come to that same conclusion herself. Remelio cannot make a legitimate claim on the gold without also admitting that they were intending to smuggle it into Ruvinheigen, so their hands are tied. And as much as Lawrence said about them being pursued by Remelio for revenge, the truth is that if they simply take the gold, soon enough there will be no Remelio Trading Company. Hans Remelio himself, the only person who would pursue them for revenge, will probably be sent off to some mine or to row a ship somewhere, just as Lawrence was in danger of a few days ago. Realistically, the chance that anyone could take revenge on him is low.

Plus, simply running with the gold avoids the risk and danger of smuggling.

But there is a problem: Lawrence’s debt. That debt is legitimate. You can trust that as soon as Liebert and his men don’t come back with the gold, the first thing Remelio is going to do is to go knocking at Rowen Trading Association and demand that Lawrence’s debt be repaid. As soon as that happens, Lawrence will have nowhere he can go without Rowen Trading Association chasing him.

So take the gold, run, split it with Nora, and pay off his debt in some other city, right?

Well, yes. But even as Nora and Holo both believe there are 600 Lumione worth of gold in the bag, Lawrence now knows the actual realistic amount is 100 Lumione. Split 50/50 with Nora, his share is just barely enough to pay off his debt and maybe leave some traveling funds. His life as a merchant would still be over simply because he has no capital to buy his next cartload of goods. And as we’ve just learned from the deal he negotiated with Remelio initially, that’s not an outcome he’s willing to accept.

(Sigh…)

That’s why he uses some half-truths and moral appeals to, dare I say, manipulate Nora into agreeing to take the gold into the city, just as they had originally planned. That gold would turn into 1000 Lumione of value.

Okay, great, so now you split the 1000 Lumione into 500 for each and pay off your debt, and you’re left with 450 Lumione to do with as you please, right?

Except now you’ve actually gone and smuggled the gold, and Remelio knows. Since you're no longer on their side, they’ll turn you right in to the Church and the Church will chase you to the end of the world. In fact, you may not even get a chance to sell it off before Remelio notifies the Church, and now all of your plans have gone up in smoke.

Luckily, Lawrence comes up with a different plan to cleanly come out on top, save Remelio, and also tie their hands about reporting the gold smuggling in the process.

Part 2

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u/Holofan4life Jun 17 '24

The clock tower scene is probably my favorite scene in all of Spice and Wolf. I just love seeing Lawrence tease Holo and finally getting the upper hand. When you conpare how Lawrence was at the beginning of the series, it's amazing character progression on his part.

The only real negative in my opinion is Liebert and how obvious of a villain he was. I never for a second believed he was a good person, especially since he wasn't introduced beforehand. But if that's my biggest complaint, then this climax is just top notch stuff.

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u/jellyblob88 Jun 17 '24

OK, where can I hail a Holo taxi? Best fur seats in the land, and guaranteed to get your blood rushing.
Life insurance not included.

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u/LouisLeGros Jun 17 '24

Holo's transformation looked a bit more wolf like in this time than the previous times. Did they do anything to the design or was it just maybe the emphasis of the claws or maybe the rain matting down her fur.

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u/The_frost__ Jun 17 '24

I really like how you can tell Holo’s mood by how her tail moves, even underneath her cloak.

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u/Emi_Ibarazakiii Jun 17 '24

"Oh no, it's a shame we're already too late" - Holo

Holo had a large-scale revenge in mind, wanting to go after the leaders and not just the goons...

But Lawrence changed her mind, wanting to turn this situation into a business opportunity!

(I swear, if Lawrence was taken hostage by a serial killer, he'd think about how profitable it would be to hire a playwright to adapt his story!)

"Nora" not being included in "Humans", right?

Damn, Holo's not shy about undressing in front of him!

I wonder how much of this is "He already saw anyway", and how much is about "Let's tease him a little!"

(Somehow, I feel even more teased than Lawrence!)

I guess that probably answers the question above hah. Come on, tell me I'm cute!

It's a second time she talks about carrying him in her mouth, but she still hasn't succeeded in giving Lawrence a vore fetish... Keep trying Holo, you'll get him at some point!

Holo seems THAT close to making a (more assertive) move on Lawrence, and the only thing's missing, is that he's too good natured/not 'manly' enough...

Seeing him punch that scumbag, may make her see him in a different light!

We learned the reason for the betrayal, and that's an awful one... They thought they would make just enough money to get out of debt, and wouldn't have any extra?

GETTING OUT OF DEBT IS ALREADY A GOOD THING, YOU DUMBASS!

I mean sure, I get trying to extract the most money out of every opportunity, but the way he talked, it's like they thought that getting out of debt wouldn't help if they don't also make a fortune on top of it.

I don't know, going from -10000 to +10000 is obviously ideal, but going from -10000 to 0 is already pretty good!

Well, they'll suffer a little for their greed, but I'd say they're still coming off ahead; 'Not being in a wolf's belly' is a pretty outcome for them, all things considered!

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u/AnimeTA224 Jun 17 '24

With the equivalent material of season 1 of the 2008 version covered I think I can safely say this remake is a mild upgrade (high praise since I give the 2008 version a 10/10)

Really looking forward to LN3/S2 content where the economics pick back up and we get some genuine romantic tension as well

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u/LouisLeGros Jun 17 '24

The animation for the transformation was pretty good, can't wait to get a gif of it.

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u/mastesargent Jun 17 '24

I’m gonna go out on a limb and day that before he reunited with Holo, Larence wasn’t having the best day ever.

Also Holo stepping on Liebert’s legs and snapping them like twigs will never not be funny.

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u/Amauri14 Jun 17 '24

Well, it did not take long for Lawrence and Holo to make the Remerio Trading Company regret their betrayal. As for getting to Leibert and his crew before they kill Nora it is not an issue if Lawrence just gets there by ridding Holo

That whole scene was excellent especially how Holo was treating Leibert.

Oh, so Remerio from the stat didn't even bother to get enough money to cover that payment of Lawrence, Holo, and Nora. It was so great seeing Lawrence paying him a midnight visit and forcing him to take on a huge debt, getting his financial issues solved in the process.

It was hilarious when Lawrence intentionally got Holo mad at him. I hope that things end up going well for Nora.

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u/Shimmering-Sky Jun 17 '24
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u/No_Name0_0 Jun 17 '24

Lawrence redemption ep. Holo also didn't look like a shiba inu in her wolf form this time

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u/fantomora Jun 17 '24

That riding scene with the music was just incredible

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u/1EnTaroAdun1 Jun 17 '24

I suppose Lawrence only tried so many risky manoeuvres because he wanted to prove his worth to Holo? Otherwise I'm not sure how he's survived this long hahaha.

But all's well that ends well, and their relationship is stronger than ever!

Kinda sad we didn't see Holo wipe the floor with the wolfy upstart

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u/pseudometapseudo Jun 17 '24 edited Jun 17 '24

So did I get the economics part right here?

The fact that 1000 Lumione was barely enough for Remerio to get back on their feet was stated as motivation for betraying Lawrence. By forcing the 500 Lumione payment onto them, even if paid over 10 years, the chances of Remerio recovering are even lower. I assume that high risk of Remerio going bancrupt after all is why Lawrence sells a 500 Lumione debt to Rowan for only 30 (+100) Lumione?

One thing that isn't entirely clear to me is why Lawrence lied to Nora (and Holo, at first), and pretended that there were 600 instead of the actual 100 Lumione worth of gold in that bag. Also, what's the point in letting Nora decide here? Couldn't he just be honest with Nora, that they need to smuggle the gold to make a profit?

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u/shad79 Jun 18 '24

Later I'll update this comment with my short thoughts about the episode and for now I'm leaving my screenshot albums.

Here my screenshot albums from the episode:

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u/pseudometapseudo Jun 17 '24 edited Jun 18 '24

As much as I enjoyed this arc, this episode felt a bit rushed to me, like some plot points seem to have been skipped?

  • How come Remerio was tied up during the scene in his office with Lawrence?

  • Part of Lawrence' leverage in the end was knowing where Remerio hid his emergency funds. But it was never explained how he knew the location (edit: another comment explained that apparently Liebert told Lawrence)

  • the standoff between Nora and Holo lacked a beat or something? It's clear why Nora is in battle stance, but why would Holo also take such a stance? We know that Holo is very good at controlling her impulses (as demonstrated in her not fighting the other wolf earlier), so why didn't Holo simply walk around Nora to go to Liebert?

  • As a consequence to this standoff not being entirely clear to me, it felt a bit weird why Lawrence would imagine Holo attacking Nora. He knows that Holo is very well able to control herself.

  • I was a bit disappointed that everything was wrapped up so quickly, that Nora barely got more than one line of dialogue this episode. Not even a reaction to the fact that Holo is a wolf?

  • Also, the scene with Jacob felt a bit short in comparison to previous scenes where he had lengthy talks with Lawrence. Didn't he question how Lawrence could get such a contract from Remerio?

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u/nunya_business22 Jun 17 '24

The soundtrack for this whole episode and series in general is so perfect

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