The official Japanese website of the Spice and Wolf franchise has confirmed that a second television anime season has been green-lit. Director Takeo Takahashi and screenplay writer Naruhisa Arakawa will return for Spice and Wolf II. However, Toshimitsu Kobayashi (El Hazard: The Alternative World, Fate/stay night) will replace Kazuya Kuroda as the character designer and chief animation director. Likewise, the Brain's Base studio (MazinKaiser, The Boy Who Saw the Wind) will be animating instead of IMAGIN. The anime adapts Isuna Hasekura and Jū Ayakura's acclaimed novel series that avoids the usual sword-and-sorcery trappings of fantasy stories and focuses on how business (and religion) gets done in a medieval world — with a wolf girl. Jun Fukuyama and Ami Koshimizu will reprise their roles as the peddler Lawrence and the wolf girl Holo who embark on a journey together.

Although a North American license for the anime has not been announced yet, Yen Press did acquire the original light novels for English translation.

Source: Moon Phase

Image © Isuna Hasekura/ASCII MediaWorks/Spice and Wolf Production Committee

Update: Kadokawa Pictures USA did acquire an in-house license for the first Spice and Wolf anime season in North America, but no distributor has been announced yet. Thanks, Kit-Tsukasa.