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Lawrence better hope God doesn’t exist or he’ll have a lot of questions to answer this week. He lies to a woman of the cloth, he emotionally manipulates her into feeding him heretical texts, he cavorts with pagan gods within the confines of the church. It would take a few more “Hail Marys” to get his soul out of it all.
Truth be told, though, Lawrence subtly reminded us this week that he can be a small talk expert when the situation calls for it (when he doesn’t have to compete one-on-one with Herlo’s own formidable wit). The way he guides Elsa exactly where he needs to be is a beauty of dialogue, and in this scene, wolf and spiceThe writing is really sparkling. Using his intuition and observation, he is able to use Father Franz’s memory to get Elsa to let her guard down before he resorts to faith to deliver the fatal blow. Holo gave me the coup de grace, and to be honest, if she had let me touch her ears, I probably would have fainted too. It’s a very funny scene, and the world is lucky that Hero and Lawrence use their silver tongue (mostly) for good. If they fully embraced the con man’s life, they would be a terrifying combination (although I’d definitely read or watch that version of the series as well).
Franz, even in an indirect way, proves to be an interesting character. One would think that a collector of pagan stories—especially a priest—would have a strained relationship with the church. Elsa confirms that he is suspected of being a heretic, but she also reaffirms his commitment to his normal duties as a priest. It’s easy to think she might be naive about his inner workings, but I also loved Lawrence’s response. Faith is rarely as rigid as organized religion would like it to be, and progressive-minded pastors like Franz can be trusted to seek answers using their own moral code rather than that of the church. I think it’s also reasonable to assume that Franz had a crisis of faith that pushed him in this direction. A central tenet of Catholic doctrine is belief without evidence, so a truly devout priest would not be concerned with proving the existence of God through these unconventional means. Still, it could also be an expression of his personal beliefs. See what I mean? wolf and spice Paints a fascinating portrait of the man.
And from a certain perspective, the existence of beings with supernatural abilities does make omnipotent gods like God more likely to exist. However, I appreciate that Hero still denies his existence out of hand. This fits both her character and her role as a harvest goddess. She ultimately works within the confines of the natural world. She was (and is) a part of it, nothing more. God, as defined by the Church, is a being who completely recontextualizes and reconstructs the world around those who believe in Him. Holo sounds like she’s unhappy with this, and as a former Catholic and current atheist, I’m definitely more in tune with her beliefs. I don’t just like her tail (but don’t tell her that).
Anyway, that’s enough for one review. Let’s take a closer look at how cute Hollo and Lawrence are. They’re more physical than ever, which is an appropriately spicy development. Granted, Hollow initially upped the ante by spoofing Lawrence (and blessing Elsa to take it all in stride), but spoofing is indeed their love language. It’s all still pretty chaste, though, so their increased emotional availability may be a bigger sign of their growing intimacy. Holo completely lets her guard down when Lawrence makes off-the-cuff comments about Evan and Elsa, and it’s cute to see her act genuinely flustered without any ulterior motives. Meanwhile, Lawrence takes the opportunity to express his reservations about Holo’s search for a home. He echoed an insecurity about loneliness that she had expressed in the past. This may be the first time they simultaneously and unabashedly recognize that their relationship may be fleeting. It’s a bittersweet moment, but I would say there’s a sweet side to it because they’re committed to continuing to communicate openly like this. Because then Holo was obsessed with Lawrence knee pillows.
The episode ends on a couple of exciting notes. Lawrence discovers a book about the bear god who is said to have destroyed Yoichi, and a messenger heightens tensions between Embechi and Treo. We didn’t have enough time to process these developments, but they worked well as a double cliffhanger to round out another solid chapter. There is no doubt that the story surrounding Nbesi’s death is more disturbing than it appears. The timing is so convenient. Looks like this will be another job for the clever wolf and her spicy sidekick.
grade:
Wolf and Spice: Businessman Meets Clever Wolf Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
Steve is online twitter While it lasts. He still knows “Wolf Whistle Song” by heart. You can also see him talking about trash and treasure in Anime of the Week.
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the majority shareholder of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
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