I've been thinking about whether or not I should start getting the Spice and Wolf manga, or to wait to see if there is a season 3 to the anime. So I am wondering, does the anime closely follow the events in the manga or does it diverge at some point and become more original?

EDIT: Logan M has stated that the anime is sourced from the light novels rather than the manga, so now the initial question is slightly different, I want to know how much difference there is between the manga and the anime.

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    I'm not able to answer this question, but I will note that the original source is actually the light novels, not the manga. The light novels stopped in 2011 so while we can't know for sure it seems unlikely that another anime season would be made now. – Logan M Oct 16 '13 at 15:24
  • @LoganM most Light Novels don't get translated into English anyway so i'm not worried botu them however since the source of the anime is the light novels i'll alter my question – Memor-X Oct 16 '13 at 21:49
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    The light novels are being translated by YenPress. – Vaughan Hilts Mar 18 '14 at 17:24

Both manga and anime generally follow the novels well, but there are differences between them:

  • The two seasons of the anime adapt volumes 1,2,3 and 5 of the novels, skipping volume 4.
  • The manga does not skip volume 4, but has yet to catch up with the anime.

Personally, I would suggest you to take a look at everything, it's all awesome :P


SingerOfTheFall's answer has covered the relation between anime and light novel: volume 1-3 & 5, skipping 4. For the detail, according to Japanese Wikipedia:

  • Season 1 adapts volume 1 & 2 of the light novel almost faithfully (+ volume 7's "The Red of the Apple, the Blue of the Sky" on the DVD-exclusive episode 7)
  • Season 2 adapts volume 3 & 5, skipping 4 (+ volume 7's "The Wolf and the Amber Melancholy" on the OVA episode 0)

Given the above fact, the anime covers volume 1-8 of the manga with quite heavy modification. According to Japanese Wikipedia:

  1. Beginning of light novel (LN) 1
  2. Middle of LN 1
  3. End of LN 1 - Beginning of LN 2
  4. Beginning - mid of LN 2
  5. Middle - end of LN 2
  6. End of LN 2 + LN 7's "The Wolf and the Amber Melancholy" (anime season 2's OVA episode 0)

  1. Part of LN 3 + Beginning - mid of LN 4
  2. End of LN 4 - Beginning of LN 8 (LN 5-6 are simplified)

For the manga, you might start from volume 7 instead, for the skipped volume 4 of the light novel.

Note: as of July 2017, the manga is still on-going and consists of more than 8 volumes. The above list ends at volume 8 which covers volume 5 of the light novel because that's the last volume that got adapted into the anime.

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