DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ActionTsue to Tsurugi no Wistoria
ANIME ActionTsue to Tsurugi no Wistoria 2nd Season

REVIEWS

• 

  HomuraDesu

  70/100
  A copy of many shows, yet is unmatched in its seasonal execution. Undoubtedly a dark horse of Summer 2024.

  This review contains SPOILERS for Wistoria: Wand and Sword, My Hero Academia, and Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire
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  DARK HORSE OF THE SEASON! (told ya)

  After the finale of Kaijuu No.8, most were likely thinking that the next season was going to be devoid of good action sequences and good shounen material, in general. Boy, how wrong we were. Wistoria took shounen lovers by storm when its first episode aired, showcasing a combination of a simple, yet satisfactory setting and breathtaking combat animation. I kid you not, there was choreography, there were angles and even impact frames. Action-wise, couldn't be better. However, the only flaws came with the writing.

  Mediocrity in writing

  Will Serfort (VA is Kouhei Amasaki who also voices the goat Otto Suwen from Re:Zero) is a student at a magical academy in a magical word where the majority can use magic. The sole problem is that he can't. He's constantly persecuted for being a no-talent and a laggard among his colleagues. His path is a hard one, but he desires to reach the top of the tower, the place where the best of the best reside, in order to reach his gifted childhood love. Remind you of anything? Isn't that the whole premise for Kaijuu No.8? Ain't that Asta's (Black Clover) issue? Now, I might be reaching, but there's more.

  The show took a lot, and I mean A LOT of inspiration from other popular series and implemented some of their aspects into its own. There's really nothing wrong with that, albeit, in this case, it felt annoyingly cheap. It was first obvious during the Grand Magic Festival. I mean, come on. The whole thing was just Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire, infused with some elements of the UA Sports Festival (MHA). A giant dome full of students watching, tiny balls flying around (golden snitch). Then you got a race to the dome and a battle inside it. Not convinced? What if I tell you that Sion and Will's relationship, and Deku and Bakugou's relationship ARE EXACTLY THE SAME. A cheap copy, if you will. Sion hates Will for being a laggard who never gives up, and hates himself for being so pathetic. Will who was born without basic powers, works hard and easily surpasses Sion. It's THE SAME THING. Dwarves are looked down upon, Will is a squib. Hell, Edward is just Severus Snape and Aizawa.

  

  And what's with the designs? Fire users got red hair, ice users got blue hair, elves have green hair? The fiesty teacher has dark hair and black clothes, while the nice one has white hair? A child can create these designs.

  What's the budget?

  Now that I'm done calling out the bs writing, let's praise the production, shall we? Will is a no-talent in terms of magic, but he's a prodigy when it comes to physical combat. This makes for a perfect formula for high-speed, exilerating, close-range action sequences. Incredible work by Actas and Bandai Namco Pictures . Incredibly fluid action sequences week after week, never dissapointing. That, combined with the mystical atmosphere and the satisfying medieval-esque soundtrack did not fail to provide chills. There is actually a plot to follow with the whole barrier and Albis Vina thingie, certain characters to be explored a bit, a setting that attracts fantasy genre or medieval theme lovers, and a love triangle.

  

  Episode 11 was simply gorgeous. The beautiful soundtrack, the sword engulved in flames, the alluring atmosphere, the title drop and the credit roll instantly reminded me of Demon Slayer. Almost as if it was Wistoria's version of KNY Episode 19 (great ep btw), the execution was stunning. Let me know if it reminded you of other episodes. I don't mind if it takes inspiration for execution purposes, but you have to be original in building your world and characters. I just hope that once the barrier breaks, the outside world is worth exploring.

  

  Maybe it's due to the poor pacing or execution by the studious when adapting, but another subpar thing about the show is its inability to effectively explain the concepts. Nobody knows anything about the world of Wistoria, and yet, they persistently slap new information about the magic system and special items directly in our faces without elaborating. Sure, the commercial bumps sometimes specify these questions, but a lot of the times, they don't.

  Soooooo

  A solid 7.5 to 8 anime. Highly recommended for action and battle shounen lovers, but it's definitely not for everybody. You can't expect any depth or organized writing from this, but if you just enjoy it for what it is, then the hype train is bound to roar.

  (btw notice how the number of Will plushies increase with each arc?)

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• 

  ShiaDeLaDoge

  70/100
  Inconsistent at best, generic at worst, Wistoria manages to provide the cheap thrills of the genre.

  From the same author as DanMachi, another story arrives about a teenage boy who uses unconventional means to fight, in a world full of magic that has a dungeon with several floors and monsters. Sound familiar? Wistoria is a combination of various clichés that have been used a thousand and one times before. It's like the unofficial son between Black Clover and DanMachi, which in itself isn't a bad thing, since the most important part is it's execution. Unfortunately, it didn't manage to distinguish itself enough from these two.

  Directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, director of Black Clover (they can't even hide the similarities in the staff) and action director of Chainsaw Man, the first couple episodes deliver incredible animation power, paying particular attention to the climax of episode 1, which demonstrates Yoshihara's raw animation talent as both director and storyboarder, from the frenetic and exciting actions scenes, to the incredible character acting. From the second episode onwards, the whole production starts to fall apart little by little, even in the more static scenes or those with little action, with the characters slightly off-model or with more stiff movements.
  Fortunately, they managed to deliver some good action scenes during the "tournament" arc, around episodes 6 and 7, which although they didn't reach the same level as before, the sheer emotion of the often generic but effective soundtrack during these more intense moments, coupled with good storyboards and direction, made up for the stiff movement of the characters and the disappointing fire effects. In the following arc, the production in general remained consistent at most until the penultimate episode, even though the art direction took a slight step down (I wasn't too fond of the textures on the dungeon walls). The climax of the season exceeded the low expectations I had, but not even Hironori Tanaka's storyboards managed to deliver a consistent episode, with very good action cuts at one point and incredible flaws in all visual aspects in the next, particurlarly in the last strike between Will and the Duke. In short, a highly inconsistent and overly ambitious production.

  So surely the story and characters are way better than the visuals, right? Well, very generic most of the time, stereotypical characters that seem to have been created just to fill the missing slot: character who is in love with the MC, check; character who “hates” the MC, check; character who is initially extremely proud of himself but gets better throughout the story, etc. On paper, the combination of generic story plus generic characters would be boring to say the least. Fortunately, the execution is so good that it's hard to dislike the journey our MC goes through in order to achieve what he so desires. Even so, I can't help but notice the similarities between this story and the same path that both Bell from DanMachi and Asta from Black Clover had and are taking. The similarity between Wistoria and these other two anime is uncanny, even down to the fact that there are characters with the same name and appearance between DanMachi and Wistoria (I'm looking at you Finn). I'm not saying they're the exact same, since they each have certain details in their stories that distinguish them apart (not much, but yes), although the author of the original work could have been more original in his second attempt at creating a fantasy world. I hope that in the next season, which was confirmed immediately after the end of the last episode, the story will be more surprising and separate itself more from it's "parents", expanding it's world in unexpected directions and turning Will into a more interesting MC (it wasn't particularly distinctive, but he had his good moments).

  Overall, Wistoria is incredibly inconsistent, with a generic story that is executed well enough, and an equally confusing production. With some high and low moments, I came out of these 12 episodes pondering whether I really liked it or not, but as soon as the credits rolled for the last time and the announcement of Season 2 came in, I felt excited about the future of this story and how it would unfold.

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• 

  SKERD

  85/100
  A beautifully animated series built on a foundation of Sakuga and sharp teeth.

  Wistoria won't just whet the appatite of any lover of Fantasy or Isekai, it will leave you chomping at the bit for just a taste more.

  Whilst Wistoria does have a fairly generic premise especiially when compared to how good fantasy series have been recently. See Frieren, Dungeon Meshi and the much anticipated Witch Hat Atelier for citations. It no less delivers on it's simple albeit well crafted entry into the summer 2024 anime season.

  The aforementioned premise takes place in a world, which may or may not have a name - if it was mentioned I was was sick that day and didn't catch it, where magic is the dominant force in everything from the most basic spells to help with everyday tasks to the overwhelming power in warfare. The most powerful magic users are a group of 5 individuals known as the Magia Vander and it's this rank that our Protag-kun: Will Serfort, has his heart set on in order to re-unite with his childhood friend and fellow orphan Elfie - who has has already become a Magia Vander.

  The only thing standing in his way however is himself because in a world that is dominated by Magic, Will can't use it - at all.

  One gets tones of 'if Mashle took itself seriously' mixed with a Kaiju No8 style "I'll stand by her side" with this one.

  Will therefore must relay upon his skill with a sword in order to pull through at Magic school, earning enough credit through monster slaying and dungeon crawling to graduate and keep his dream alive.

  This is were the main focus on the series takes place, Will trying to prove himself as capable of becoming a Magia Vander in a school that would rather pretend that he doesn't exist and the subsequent bullying that comes with that. a society that places no value in him save for a few and opponents who, if he slips up even a little, would annihilate him.

  Now for any fan of Isekai (despite this not being an isekai) where say an entire class of students are given abilities and not just the protag, the bullying is a ruthless and vile as you would come to expect. All-most every student partakes in Will's belittlement simple for the crime of his existence in their presence. Maniacal laughter, extreme close ups of VERY sharp teeth curving into a demented smile - emphasis on the VERY and dialogue that sounds make every bully sound so unhinged i'm convinced that every single one of them are moments away from just rampaging in this school.

  Which is both a detractor and a champion of this series because despite the almost cartoonish, 'I can't believe it's not Isekai' flavour of the bullying which gets formulaic and predictable by about episode 4 coupled with the twisted, demon-lord like cackles make these characters very unlikable - which is the point. You're supposed to hate them so that when when Will absolutely wrecks them, it's incredibly satisfying. it's Will's determination and sheer bad-assary with a sword that makes the fight scenes really shine, and BOY DO THEY SHINE.

  Let me ask you a question - Are you a fan of crazy, stupid, sheer f**king awesomeness cranked up to infinity?

  No? Then take comfort in your own company, I doubt you will ever find happiness.

  The fight scenes in this anime absolutely POP OFF! Every detail and every moment is lovingly and beautifully crafted into some of the best sakuga outside of One Piece and it really gets you hooked.

  I cannot recommend this series enough for anyone looking for another fantasy series to really sink their teeth into and given that Wistoria already has a Season 2 announced, it's the perfect time to jump on this train.

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