CotM: Kraft Lawrence and Holo the Wise Wolf

Name: Kraft Lawrence and Holo the Wise Wolf Anime: Spice and Wolf

Background: Kraft Lawrence, who chiefly goes by his surname, is a twenty-five-year-old traveling peddler who goes from town to town buying and selling various things in order to make a living. When he was twelve, he became an apprentice to a merchant relative, and set out on his own at eighteen. His goal in life is to gather enough money to start his own shop, and he has already been traveling for seven years while gaining experience in the trade. He meets Holo one night and eventually agrees to her traveling with him. She helps him by providing her wisdom which helps to increase his profits and get him out of jams.

Holo is a wolf harvest deity originally from a land in the north known as Yoitsu. She made a promise with men from a town called Pasloe where she would ensure the town would have good wheat harvests year after year. However, as time went on, the townspeople slowly started to forsake Holo and did not rely on her as they once did. As such, Holo escapes from town in Lawrence’s wagon and started traveling with him to see how much the world has changed since she has been in Pasloe. Holo has chosen the form of a girl younger than Lawrence, though she still retains her large white-tipped wolf tail, and ears. Her true form is that of a very large wolf which many people revered and feared.

Reason for CotM: I wanted to make this Valentines Character of the Month special by giving it to my favorite couple of all time. You may have thought I would pick someone different because of my post back in 2011 but Lawrence and Holo soon took the number one spot after reading the light novels. If you follow me on twitter you probably have seen me constantly mention how amazing the series is (to an annoyance), but it deserves every bit of praise I’ve given it. The bond between Lawrence and Holo is unmatched and quite a bit more adult than these other anime you see. They express their love through actions rather than words. In fact, they barely say anything so embarrassing because it would give the other a leg up on teasing. Lawrence especially being the butt of jokes will do anything to prevent further mockery from the stubborn, childish, and absolutely brilliant Holo. Lawrence wishes to become something even Holo can respect, to protect her in her time of need. He is a merchant who loves money but will never risk the priceless Holo just as she is a wolf who will not let a shepherdess take her sheep.