Rating: B+
What better way to prove to someone that you are not going to turn them into the Church for having a secret cache of pagan lore than to reveal that you are one of the very pagan “gods” talked about in that lore?
That’s the tactic Lawrence and Holo opt for in their second encounter with Elsa, and it works almost too well. Can’t really blame Elsa for fainting on the spot when she’s shocked by a stunt like this at a time when she’s already clearly stressed out (and possibly short on sleep) over a number of other matters, but credit to Lawrence for how smoothly he sets up Holo’s big reveal. I wouldn’t want to be on the opposing side when these two are fully in sync like they are here.
While that’s arguably the highlight scene of the episode, there’s still a lot to like in all of the details here. This episode provides a much better feel for what kind of person Elsa is, and she is quite the appealing character. She’s clearly young – the source novel describes her as being of a similar apparent age to Holo’s human form, which means mid-teens – but very serious-minded and driven, perhaps even to the extent of a Type A personality. The writing and especially performance by Lynn (Miyako in Oshi no Ko, Luminus in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime) both effectively portray her as struggling with the strain of responsibility and being deeply troubled by the seeming contradiction in Father Franz, whom she regards as a familial as well as religious father and respects deeply enough to follow his path exactly despite that not normally being an option for her gender. How can one be devout and yet still accept and study pagan lore, especially without it literally being put in your face, like Holo does here? The explanation that Lawrence mentions to Holo – that Father Franz was studying pagan gods as a means to find a way to justify the existence of his own – has historical parallels, but was also, historically speaking, an angle that one had to be very careful with lest accusations of heresy arise; sensibly, that is a concern here, too. Elsa gets bonus points for declaring that she wants to figure it out on her own, rather than have Lawrence tell her, and doubtless she’ll ultimately be more satisfied with the answer that way.
The relationships on display here are also enjoyable. Elsa is clearly the dominant personality in the Elsa/Evan relationship, coming off as a nagging wife or mother, but Evan, conspicuously, isn’t strenuously complaining. That isn’t lost on either Lawrence or Holo, though how each reacts to it differently is interesting. Lawrence apparently just thinks it’s cute, but Holo reads way too much into his words and gets uptight about how ideal that seems – and this after messing with Elsa a bit by deliberately getting clingy with Lawrence in a way that Elsa will notice. Felt like Holo was getting a bit of comeuppance there, but what is most refreshing to see is that the slight misunderstanding doesn’t build into anything more this time. They understand each other well enough not to be thrown by that at this point, and that’s real relationship progress. Even Lawrence bringing up the subject of what Holo wants to do after she gets home doesn’t start a fuss. It is, indeed, too early to worry about that now, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth pondering in idle moments.
Oh, and kudos to the production crew for getting back on track. Last episode did look a bit on the rough side in places, but the quality control is more consistent this episode. And I must say, this season’s OP has been gradually growing on me, too. Still not quite the equal of the OP for the original second season, but good enough to be worth listening to each episode.
But even though there’s no conflict between Lawrence and Holo, or between them and Elsa, this wouldn’t be an arc in Spice & Wolf without some kind of rising conflict at the end of the arc’s third episode. And it’s a serious one in line with the danger Lawrence suspected last episode, though perhaps from a different angle than expected: someone in Ernbech has died from wheat that came from Tereo Whether this is legitimate or manufactured really doesn’t matter; it’s the excuse Ernbech needed to act, and everyone knows it. This is a different kind of problem than our protagonists have face before, so what tactics will they come up with this time?
USA Anime 