More crazy wolf and merchant anime is always a welcome thing and I finished the second season of Spice and Wolf last night well after it had finished airing in Japan. It's actually surprisingly good timing as I can also mention some other great news for those Spice and Wolf fans out there. The biggest question though is whether or not the second season lived up to the quality and originality of the first season.

In a word YES it did very much so. There is still a ton of old world economics with the mingling of the church to make it refreshingly different and this time around Lawrence our intrepid traveling Merchant ditches the cart for the most part. Horo keeps mostly to her self this time around and does more tit for tat with Lawrence than anything else. But for the most part it's that tit for tat that makes you like this series so much. The two have an interesting relationship and finally the man steps up to the plate and tells Holo that he loves her at the end. HELL YA! He even kisses her.

This time around there are two main plots in the middle of Lawrence and Holo's travels to her home land. The first obstacle in the way is a young boy looking to buy Holo's Freedom but he ends up getting beaten since Holo being the wise one beats out the two guys even though Lawrence was able to make his plan work in the end of course that leads us to Holo giving him a lecture.

The second obstacle is an apparent chance for Lawrence to get that store front that he's always wanted but that would mean leaving Holo to her own adventures but Holo shares the same loneliness since she is falling in love and is thinking about how rough it will be to out live Lawrence even though she's done it many times before. The chance is that Lawrence goes into business with another female trader to purchase Furs with a large amount of cash using Holo as collateral. The business is a schame and Lawrence finds out about it in the most round about way and confronts his partner who knocks him flat on his ass and takes the money leaving him high and dry. Well minus the dead to the Hotel place that they have all been staying and it allows Lawrence to buy Holo back and tell her how he truly feels. That leaves us kind of wanting and waiting for a third season and more adventures of Holo and Lawrence on their travels to her home land.

I don't think it was nearly as good as the first season only because it wasn't so new at the time and by this time you know Lawrence will figure his way out of any troubles so there is no worries also Holo was considerably more clothed than in the first season. Anyways on to that other good news. The first season is being released soon in a complete collection all 13 episodes dubbed by FUNimation and if you haven't heard the uproar else where the Lite Novels that the anime is based on is being published by Yen Press although there is some resentment about the covers being non anime related. It's still a great way to find out what new adventures await Holo and Lawrence however so might be worth it anyways.

Check out a preview of the second season here.

About time I got to this considering June is now just right around the corner. So far there is only this first version of the Summer Season chart (updates can be found here). And after taking a look at it this is what I'll more than likely be watching.

Spice & Wolf: Of course I'll be watching this. I liked the first season and this one seems like it will be right on target to follow in it's footsteps.

Canaan: I've been waiting for this one since it was mentioned in previous seasons.

What's not on that list so far that I'm also interested in watching is the new OVA season of Aika which I've already mentioned before and Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-chan!! which was scheduled for last season but I believe got pushed back to a June release instead. You can watch a fanservice rich preview of Fight Ippatsu at Sankaku Complex and here is a preview of Canaan.

Also known as Spice and Wolf II OVA "Wolf and Amber-colored Melancholy. This preview episode of the forth coming new season of Spice and Wolf finds Horo sick in bed suffering from fatigue it would seem (although it also seems to be a touch of the HEAT if you ask me) leaving poor Lawrence to take care of her while she gets better.

Of course Nola the young Shepherdess wants to see how Horo is fairing as well and stops by to see her. This of course leads to tension in the room which probably gives Spice and Wolf it's more interesting sideline story and might lead to some interesting development in the new season perhaps. There's a bit of humor in it with the tension and how it plays out and there is a bit of fanservice while Horo dreams some weird dreams while she's sick. No Nipples which honestly is a bit weird but hey it's no doubt that the fans will fix that right away with even more and new fanservice.

It was a pretty simple episode with nothing to dramatic and it brings you right back to where we left off with the last season and leaves you wanting the next season right now dangit. While the anime looked a little bit different it wasn't any better or worse than I can remember the first season being.