Tsue to Tsurugi no Wistoria

When humanity was oppressed by mysterious foes known as the Celestial Hosts, five exceptional mages ed forces to defeat them. In fear that these formidable enemies would return, the five most powerful mages, known as the Magia Vander, built a magical dome and a tower to contain them. Since then, the five strongest mages of every generation are tasked with monitoring the dome from the top of the Wizard's Tower.

Inspired by this story, childhood friends Will Serfort and Elfaria Albis Serfort promised each other that they would climb to the top of the Wizard's Tower. However, now a sixth-year student at Regarden Magic Academy, Will's future looks bleak. Although Elfaria managed to the ranks of the Magia Vander five years prior thanks to her unparalleled magical power, Will has no magical abilities whatsoever, attracting the ire of teachers and students alike.

However, blessed with an exceptional physique, Will is able to slay monsters in the labyrinth and prevail against skilled magicians with the only aid of his sword and a few magical items. Determined to climb the Wizard's Tower at all cost, Will is determined to not let anyone or anything prevent him from keeping the promise he made to Elfaria.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Serfort, Will Main

Amasaki, Kouhei Japanese

Serfort, Elfaria Albis Main

Sekine, Akira Japanese

Owenzaus, Lihanna ing

Lynn Japanese

Loire, Colette ing

Amano, Satomi Japanese

Kiki ing

Inase, Aoi Japanese

Nauman, Rosti ing

Ulster, Sion ing

Mizunaka, Masaaki Japanese

Reinbolt, Zeo Torzeus ing

Furukawa, Makoto Japanese

Reinberg, Julius ing

Kakihara, Tetsuya Japanese

Norgram, Workner ing

Seki, Tomokazu Japanese

Morinaga, Chieko Producer

Aoyama, Katsuki Producer

Minegishi, Isao Producer

Sudou, Koutarou Producer

Reviews

Sep 29, 2024

Marinate1016

Recommended

Have you ever imagined what Black Clover with consistently good animation would be like? Well, look no further. Wistoria:Sword and Magic is unapologetically inspired by the popular Jump series and Oomori’s other work Danmachi. It’s an underdog story featuring a protagonist who has all the odds stacked against him and finds a way to persevere, refusing to settle or compromise on his ambitions. Everyone loves a good underdog story and this is one of the best ones you’ll see. If you liked the idea of Black Clover, but maybe couldn’t get into Asta screaming so much at the start or the God awful production values ... from Pierrot for most of the season, Wistoria is a great option. Conversely, if like me you loved Black Clover and Danmachi and just want more of both of those worlds mixed together with great characters and amazing fights, this is the way to go.

Wistoria’s episode 1 is hands down one of the best episodes of anime I’ve ever seen. Directed by Yoshihara Tatsuya who worked on you guessed it, Black Clover, it is truly a feast for the eyes and a visual spectacle that perfectly sets up the magic and wonder of this world and makes you want more. Wistoria takes place in a world where magic is everything and those without it are looked down upon. Will’s journey to follow after his childhood friend and ascend the tower as a magia vander is compelling and you can’t help but root for him in the face of all the discrimination he endures. As usual in these sorts of shows, the MC gets bullied at the start and then ends up saving everyone who doubted him’s asses and that trope will never get old to me. The idea that people treat you poorly and look down on you just for being different and then next thing you know, they need your help. Will and other MC’s are better than I because I’d have left all of them to die in those dungeons, but I digress. Will is an incredibly kind person, at times to his detriment but he’s faithful to his values and determined to get to his friend’s side at the top of the magical world.

There’s the obvious Black Clover and Danmachi shades, but Wistoria also has a lot in common with another of my faves, Nanatsuma or reign of the seven Spellblades. Taking place in a magical school with a dungeon underneath where students often go to explore and push themselves, underdog MC, emphasis on the importance of teamwork, etc. When watching this I couldn’t help but wonder how Nanatsuma would’ve faired with this sort of animation quality. The studio really did bring this magical world alive and make you want to know more and more about it each week.

A big part of the appeal of this show is how good the animation is and it really is great. the action scenes all have film quality, they’re fluid, weighty and convey the sheer scale of power that’s used in this world. Episodes 1, 5 and 11 being my favourites with 11 being on par with 1 if not suring it thanks to the incredible OST. The standard art and designs of the show also look great though. Even when characters are just hanging out and doing mundane stuff it feels like you’re watching a movie. Staff did an incredible job here and I can’t wait for the second season.

Wistoria’s not the most original story, like I said it’s got shades of a few existing shows, but it frankly looks and handles a lot better than them which gives it an advantage. Let’s face it. This is ANIME, so animation quality is just as important as storytelling in this medium. Artistically, this is one of the best shows of the year and pushes the envelope on what we can expect from seasonal adaptations. Even with that though, I like the story as well, generic as it may be. Will, Colette, Sion and the others grew on me a lot as the season went on and by the end I found myself desperately wanting to know more about the antagonists and who was behind certain events in the show. It’s definitely got a lot of story left to tell and I’m looking forward to season 2!

Wistoria gets 9 wands out of 10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Sep 29, 2024

KANLen09

Mixed Feelings

Wistoria: Wand and Sword — An infusion of many battle Shonens that both impresses and disappoints, I'm having a ridiculously hard time trying to mix those elements together.

Ever since the release of mangaka Yuki Tabata's Black Clover onto the anime scene in Fall 2017, that has since become the NEW de facto standard of the once-Weekly Shonen Jump juggernaut that grew into the big franchise as it is today, it was the camel that broke the straw's back to set expectations for new Shonen works from that point forward. And from that point on, the Shonen genre market has been flourishing all the more, for ... better or for worse, with series like Shingeki no Kyojin a.k.a Attack on Titan reaching its conclusion, Jujutsu Kaisen still raking its fame (though at this point is nothing but the butt of jokes on mangaka Gege Akutami), and the lil' ones like mangaka Hajime Komoto's Mashle: Magic and Muscles having its parody take on the Shonen formula.

And if you need any reason to doubt that the Shonen genre is on its way to death and beyond because of its tried-and-true tropes that authors didn't want to reinvent that formula too much, look no further than Tsue to Tsurugi no Wistoria a.k.a Wistoria: Wand and Sword, serialised in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shonen magazine, and written by one of AniManga's most successful authors: Fujino Omori of Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka a.k.a Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? fame. DanMachi, like Black Clover, has cemented its own success as a long-running franchise since the anime came out back in Spring 2015, and is easily one of the best Shonen series that I've ever experienced for the past decade (regardless of its different AniManga mediums from the LN, manga and the anime), and the masses would agree despite its stumbles along the way. So, before the anime series returns this Fall for its long-awaited Season 5, let's take a gander at this side project that he and illustrator Toshi Aoi have cooked for us, that is the bonding of Black Clover and Mashle: Magic and Muscles to become Wistoria: Wand and Sword, which started its serialisation after both series in December 2020.

If you're not one to get invested into its story and world-building too much, all you need to know is that the world of the series is essentially Mashle, with its Divine Visionaries plot being the full authority of its school to protect the peace in the land, and that its world is defined by magic and magic alone; nothing else could replace the system as it is. For if someone has the qualities of Mash Burnedead, who's all strength and no magic, or even Asta, who's got the bad luck of a five-clover magic sword that only imbues masses of evil, that person would be immediately singled out, chastised, tormented, and bullied for all their life. And said person is yet another of VA Kohei Amasaki's MC trifactor maestro mainstay for the Summer season, Will Serfort. His lack of magical aptitude (much like Mash and Asta) made him the butt of all jokes within the magic school that he attends: Rigarden Magical Academy, even going as far as his infamy around the academy for wielding not magic wands, but swords instead. The academy that pretty much functions like Mashle's Easton Magic Academy, serves to train, develop and harness future Divine Visionaries called Magia Vander to succeed those who've gone before them and continue that legacy of prior generations. And Will is one of the many in the myriad of its 6-year-generational students who hope to become the next Magia Vander, more so for the fact that one of his childhood friends, Elfaria Albis Serfort, is one such Divine Visionary for being the youngest Magia Vander who specialises in ice magic and created a dozen original spells that's unheard of, thereby labelling her as a prodigal musician and leading the Ice faction of said group. It's a cliche plot for crying out loud, but at least it's a unique and very good setting, if a touch too safe for its own good.

And what's the goal between the two childhood friends? Will must rise above the ranks to become a Magia Vander, all while Elfaria (or Elfie as nicknamed) just sits at her high throne in the Tower, doing nothing but slack as her responsibilities gets pushed to her subordinates, awaiting the day when she can be reunited together with Will as not just her foster brother, but of a very clear love interest. One thing's for sure, these two characters were certainly made for each other, like DanMachi's inseparable hero-deity-duo of Bell Cranel and goddess Hestia.

Alas, this is where I find most of my problems with the series: it's just stereotypical cliches and tropes done time and time again, that nothing is ever done to feel it being unique outside of the Shonen formula. At first, I thought that Fujino Omori, after gaining the experience to write a compelling MC like Bell Cranel, would do the same for Will Serfort, but it turns out that he, more than the inklings to Mash Burnedead, or more similarly with Asta for that matter, is just written like a stereotypical Shonen character, with nothing that truly makes him stand out other than his "justice righteous" character of note that his hard work precedes even the strongest magic. I was actually hoping that Will would have more of a brethren in comparison to Bell Cranel, but I was completely fooled at that thought as Fujino Omori didn't really leverage anything to show him as the underdog that while could defy expectations, just did not have a hint of personality (other than his awkwardness and strive under pressure that's just like Bell) that could get us to root for him, even in the worst of adversaries, while in his ultimate goal to ascend the Tower and reach Elfie, thus making them a bona-fide power couple. Will's just a flawed character, but a REALLY flawed character, who WILL throw hands if he needs to bring down the people who underestimated him.

And as if this offending easy mistake couldn't get any worse, just look at the ing characters around him, which is just things that you CAN do in a Shonen series, but that you CANNOT remain the status quo in a Shonen series as well. Even series like Black Clover and Mashle had this recurring issue, but at least the sum of their problems isn't this egregious enough to cause a rift in the enjoyment factor of their series. You have the usual characters ranging from the usual love interest of classmate and close friend of Colette Loire who takes care of Will when everyone shuns him; to the various infighting of egoistical, one-dimensional "villany" students the likes of classmates Sion Ulster (specializing in fire magic), Julius Reinberg (specialising in ice magic, just like Elfaria), as well as Wignall Lindor (specialising in wind and illusion magic). I'd argue that Wignall at least has a character standout moment as someone like Will who is shunned by his elf dwarvens because of his weak magic, and he too mirrors his relationship with Elfaria with one of the fellow Magia Vander, so there's that. Even with the teacher professors that both recognised and hated Will's prowess to do the near impossible, they still see a potential to push him and oversee his progress in the magic amalgamation that is not just all about wands, but a lone sword as well that makes Will different from the rest. For sure, Will carries the series along its tug of plot devices in the big picture, and that act of justice and righteousness to accept "the enemy of my enemies" as they are, proves to the masses that Will Serfort is someone not to be underestimated nor trifled with, using the Power of Friendship to rally his cause forward, just like any other Shonen series.

I'd always see the day when the known adage of "animation carries the show" will come to strike many Shonen series that has come and gone, the likes of Jujutsu Kaisen, and Wistoria has done this trope, but to perfection. And you can thank the person who made all of this possible: Tatsuya Yoshihara. The director now famous for his work on Black Clover, he's the reason why this show works in the production department, with slick animation and bombastic Sakuga to boot, even if he hard carries the show both in its directorial input and series composition with his staff team, with the collab between Bandai Namco Pictures alongside one of the many subsidiary studios of Actas. And it wouldn't be a mistake to say that Wistoria definitely needed someone the likes of Tatsuya Yoshihara to even out the playing field with what J.C.Staff has been doing for DanMachi for years now, and what can I say? It's great and shows how the famed director has come thus far since his days directing Black Clover.

If you need a music composer who can execute the Shonen feels, look no further than Yuki Hayashi. The music composer famous for his work on Boku no Hero Academia a.k.a My Hero Academia's OST, and a fair few others the likes of Haikyuu!! to Gundam Build Fighters, he's your go-to when it comes to understanding what makes a Shonen series stand out regardless of their content, and he did Wistoria justice with a captivating OST that just feels oh-so-similar to Black Clover. I have nothing but the biggest praise for Yuki Hayashi, because like animation, music also does help provide the atmosphere for the series they are stemmed upon, and he just nailed the anime like he so does with prior series and franchises under his belt. But what I can't say aptly is the choice of the OP/ED songs. Penguin Research's OP song is just typical Shonen standard fare, and is honestly quite forgettable, as much as TRUE's ED is alright but nothing noteworthy.

In the end, I find myself conflicted at what Tsue to Tsurugi no Wistoria a.k.a Wistoria: Wand and Sword want to achieve being part of the now oversaturated Shonen AniManga playing field. On the one hand, while its animation prowess cannot be denied, everything else is just cookie-cutter standard Shonen things that you've seen time and time again. And honestly, IMO, it just gets boring of new seasonal shows doing the same-in, same-out, and Wistoria is one of the many shows bucking the trend that it ends up being the victim of its own success.

It's either for you if you're the type to like stereotypical Shonen shows, or it's just not for you if the standard Shonen trope isn't to your tastes.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Sep 29, 2024

vonroy-kun

Not Recommended

The animation quality was really good for the first few eps but that was about it. When it comes to the story, it never really does anything new. The best description I could give the series is that it's "baby's first shounen". Any new anime fan would love this series but as someone who has watched his fair share of shounen, it just doesn't hit for me. Not to mention the villains which ittedly don't have a lot of sauce due to some of their actions unfortunately not being as graphic as they could've been. Will himself is a pretty heroic person and he doesn't ... really have a lot of flaws. He has some intrusive thoughts leak out here and there but it's not big enough to make a dent in his character.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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