An upcoming Spice and Wolf novel has reignited the age old question — is it Holo or Horo? Both sides fervently cling to their viewpoint and no amount of official material, English dubs, or even the author’s own word can sedate this conflict.

The Horo interpretation arises the olden days of fansubs. Many of the sweaty neckbeards subtitling the series decided that “Horo the Wise Worf” was an accurate translation of the character’s name. On the other hand, Holo has been used in official dub of the anime, light novel translations, and even written within the show itself.

Sal Mandela, a fansub hobbyist, weighed in on why Horo is the more accurate translation, “Names are opinions. It’s up to the translator to romanize them as they see fit, not bend to the whims of what the original author thinks. Names like Irrya, Rerouch Ramperouge, Right Yagami, and R have been bastardized for too long. Anime is Japanese, and there’s no ‘L’ in Japanese! Duh! It’s up otaku, who have a superior knowledge of Japanese than official translators, to correct these names.”

Spice and Wolf’s original creator, Isuna Hasekura, also gave his opinion on the matter in a brief tweet; “Fuck westerners, it’s fucking Holo.”

Hasekura’s tweet has been under much scrutiny from long time fans. Few can seem to decipher exactly what Hasekura meant by “Fuck westerners” or “it’s fucking Holo”. If anything is clear, it’s that the Holo vs Horo debate will be going on for a very long time.

Share this: Facebook

Reddit

Twitter

Email

