Title: Wistoria: Wand and Sword
Episodes: 12
Streaming: Crunchyroll
I often claim that I have very broad tastes in entertainment. I don’t necessarily think that makes me special or a better consumer, but I think my experiences in sampling a large cross section of anime has allowed me to become comfortable when dabbling in many different genres. My criticisms tend to revolve more around the overuse of storytelling tropes, or the use of tropes that just rub me the wrong way. I’m happy to enjoy a fantasy series, but if many of its story beats revolve around slavery dynamics or its heroes are accessing video game style user interfaces, I tend to lose interest, or worse.
However, even stale tropes when wielded by the right hands can become fresh again. What it boils down to, I think, is being able to avoid cynicism when utilizing those story beats and having some amount of respect toward the audience who appreciates them. That, and being able to subvert expectations in other key ways so that the media doesn’t feel like a complete rehash of something else.
Wistoria: Wand and Sword (hereafter referred to as simply Wistoria) features a protagonist whose background feels very common nowadays. Will Serfort is a teenage boy who aspires to greatness – following in the footsteps of a gifted childhood friend, he hopes to one day rank among the top magical-users, or “Magia Vander” as they’re called. The major roadblock in that regard is that he’s completely devoid of magical ability. His fellow students tease and bully him for it, and even some of the professors at Regarden Magical Academy have started hassling him. There are questions as to why Will was even admitted in the first place, as a school that trains magic ability wouldn’t seem to be the best fit for someone who couldn’t benefit from the instruction.
As we eventually learn, part of the reason why Will ends up at a literal magic school in spite of his limitations has to do with a bargain that was made to attract another very gifted magic user to Regarden. However, though Will possesses zero magical ability he does, in fact, have a talent for indirectly using the magic of others (via tools and such) and his melee ability is leaps and bounds above almost anyone else, for reasons left mostly unexplained at this point. This fighting prowess (which has allowed him to earn points via battling monsters in the schools dungeon), as well as his high test scores, have kept Will afloat into his current school year.
I will admit, a lot of my enjoyment of this series initially had to do with its great animation; like most series, that calms down a bit after the first couple of episodes, but there are still some truly exciting and well-animated battles to enjoy throughout this season of the show. I’m not above letting a few plot issues slide by if a show is entertaining to the eyes. Looking back on the experience as a whole, however (I watched this back in mid-December) I’m finding what has really stuck with me (and the reason why I felt compelled to open with a discussion of tropes) is the way in which it manages to avoid the sort of “bitter, vengeful male protagonist” trope that, while not ubiquitous, is common enough in anime that I find it worthwhile getting bothered by it. Will has every reason to be angry at the world, because it’s a world where he isn’t allowed to fit in (and where everyone is more than happy to let him know this, harshly and repeatedly). And yet, rather than succumb fully to anger, he finds enough ally-ship and opportunities to work toward his ultimate goals that he can maintain a positive attitude. Do I think it’s realistic to expect someone who’s bullied and beaten-down to be that way? Not necessarily. But I like this sort of optimism much better than the alternative.
In my opinion, the series’ biggest weakness at this point (and perhaps this might be addressed when the series returns for its second season), is that Will’s childhood friend, the magically-gifted Magia Vander Elfaria, is kind of a nothing character at this point. Other characters speak of her with awe, since she’s done the rare feat of creating multiple new kinds of magic during her short tenure in her position) and yet we barely get more than a glimpse into her life, and essentially no insight into her character as a person. It’s mostly restricted to sporadic scenes of her gazing down upon Will from atop the tower. It’s difficult for me to have very many feelings about a character who doesn’t really do anything except to serve as an ultimate goal, even if she is supposedly powerful and talented.
Giving the series the benefit of the doubt that some of that will be addressed later on in the story, this initial season of Wistoria is a fun watch. It’s not especially artful or complex, but its magical fantasy setting (that thank goodness is not another “trapped in a game” or isekai fantasy narrative) and its occasionally gorgeous animation is enough to lift it up above the pack. I enjoyed it quite a bit and, assuming I have enough free time to do so, I’ll probably at least check out the second season.
Notable Content: There’s quite a bit of violence – magical violence with physical consequences, as well as monsters getting killed and references to students getting killed. There’s some bullying. Will’s roommate Rosty is very overbearing.
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