Rating: B+
As I surmised last review, the episode “Supper of Three and Afternoon of Two” covers the exact same content as “Wolf and the Amber Melancholy,” the OVA episode which served as the effective episode 0 for season 2 of the 2009 adaptation. Both are adaptations of a short story of the same name as the latter, which appeared in volume 7 of the main novel series but which fits chronologically between novel 2 and novel 3 – in other words, the exact point where the series is now.
While this story’s presence delays the start of the next story arc by one week, it is still a welcome inclusion because it provides a fitting epilogue to the Ruvinheigen arc. Though Holo has seemed to weather the crises so far just fine, she is spending time in (a hardly-robust) human form at length for the first time in centuries, so travel fatigue eventually catching up to her is perfectly natural. Undoubtedly, her emotions being in flux is also contributing to this. At least partly because she’s been alone for so long, she’s become more possessive and needy towards Lawrence than she cares to acknowledge, which is leaving her conflicted over how much she craves Lawrence’s undivided attention. That’s fueling jealousy towards Nora. She knows, as the Wisewolf, that Nora isn’t a romantic threat; Lawrence has more than proved his devotion and Nora is as guileless as they come. However, she’s still envious of the attention he gives her and can’t help but notice that Nora has decided physical similarities: she and Nora both appear to be in their mid-teens, are slight of build, and have pretty faces, which seems to be Lawrence’s preferred type. Moreover, Lawrence seems mostly oblivious on this point. She’s not used to this, either, so she could be as much emotionally as physically worn out.
Some of this insight comes from what’s transpired to this point, but the episode also benefits from focusing exclusively on Holo’s viewpoint for the first time. That makes for the deepest dive into what makes Holo tick that we’ve seen to date. Much of what she expresses in her dream sequences and ruminations while rolling around in bed here has come up before, but here her feelings about her past and present situations are more clearly and directly articulated: the weight of self-imposed responsibility that kept her in place for so long, the nostalgia for times long past, and (most interestingly) her unease about how thoroughly she is enjoying her current dynamic. The original adaptation strongly implied that at least some of that unease is because she knows that her period of joy is finite, since she she will far outlive Lawrence, but this adaptation seems content to dwell only on her feelings in the moment.
This certainly doesn’t make for the most exciting of episodes, but it emphasizes further how character-driven the series is. It also gives the original writer a bit of opportunity to show off his research about how people in medieval times viewed illnesses; what Lawrence espouses to Holo about balancing the aspects of the body was a fairly common understanding of medicine several hundred years ago in our world, and while it’s not totally accurate, elements of more modern medicine can be seen in it. The other interesting tidbit that will fly by most viewers is that one of the painting-like dream sequences (the one shown below) is a clear reference to another of the short stories in original volume 7:
The episode also allows Nora and Enek to get their last little bit of screen time and an additional “girl talk” moment with Holo – again at Lawrence’s expense. Sadly, this is Nora and Enek’s last appearances in the series (except possibly for a brief cameo at the beginning of next episode) unless the current adaptation continues through to the completion of the main storyline; Nora only appears again at the end and in a couple of side stories which explore where her life goes after this, and I don’t expect the latter to be animated.
There’s no indication that the series is taking a break, so it will continue next week by beginning the adaptation of the third original novel. These episode reviews will continue as well, even while the Summer 2024 Preview Guide begins. Also watch for a Spring ’24 Wrap-Up due out this coming weekend.
USA Anime 