Wistoria: Wand and Sword Season 2 ‒ Episode 6

It's funny: I'm so used to anime living within the realm of traditional high-school coming of age stories that I genuinely wasn't sure where Wistoria would even go now that Will and his friends have graduated. You'd think that it would be obvious to me that the next step would be “Basically the Wistoria equivalent of freshman year at university.” I am, after all, an actual teacher who is at this very moment preparing to attend his school's own graduation ceremony. Still, anime so rarely explores the transition to post-secondary education with any depth or seriousness that I found myself genuinely surprised when I realized that, yeah, Will still has plenty of schooling left to finish, except now his academic (and also very physical) battleground will be that fabled Sorcerer's Tower where Elfaria and the other Magia Vander await.

On the one hand, narratively speaking, I can see how it would be disappointing for Will to suddenly find himself back in the position of proving himself and fighting for recognition, seeing as we just got done celebrating the kid's paradigm-shifting victory and triumphant graduation. Emotionally, though, I totally get it. I'm young enough that I can still remember the strange mix of trepidation, anxiety, and excitement that accompanied that shift from high school to college. On the one hand, society was telling me that I had finally become an adult and was being thrust into a wide world of unknown discoveries and responsibilities. On the other hand, I was also being told that I still needed a few more years of structured, systemic education and assessment before I could actually be trusted to, you know, be a real person and live my life.

So, personally, I think I dig where Wistoria is taking Will and all of his friends, even if their adventures might feel more confined and linear than the optimistic note of that graduation would have us believe. I'm honestly just glad that the shift to the Sorcerer's Tower puts us into closer proximity to Elfaria and the Magia Vanders, as those characters would all benefit from being a bit more connected to the drama at hand. Elfaria, especially, is a character who is literally begging to be more involved in Will's inevitable ascent to legendary hero status, and I think this show would really improve if she and Will could have interactions outside the confines of flashbacks and city-destroying cataclysms.

Granted, it's not like it's Elfaria's fault that her hundreds of love letter–ahem-scouting offers have failed to reach her dearest Will. As Wistoria makes very evident this week, the kid may have unlocked his Super Saiyan transformation, but society's prejudices run deep, and the system isn't just going to transform itself overnight and welcome him into the magic-users' club with open arms. Now, is it just a little bit ridiculous that this “extreme meritocracy” wouldn't at least show some interest in exploiting Will's powers after that incredible display during the monster siege? Yes, absolutely. I get that the show is trying to comment on the rigid and unfair structures that deny people the chance to prove themselves truly, but I feel like Wistoria is trying to have its cake and also eat it with how dramatic the Tower is being about refusing to accept this kid who is very clearly the overpowered main character of a traditional hero's journey.

Still, so long as Will is being forced to prove his skills to the Powers-That-Be, we will at least have some decently fun magical adventures and battles to enjoy as entertainment. I'm a little concerned about the show's consistently inconsistent production values, since I'm not sure if this show will be able to hold viewers' attention without all of the spectacle that defined its first season. We'll just have to see if this ascent to the top of the Sorcerer's Tower can recapture some of that old Wistoria magic.

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James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on BlueSky, his blog, and his podcast.