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Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 05 – Quick Summary
In Wistoria: Want and Sword episode 05, “Raise the Starting Pistol,” Will entered the competition with the intention of teaching Julius Reinberg a lesson in humility. But to do so, he needed a three person team. Colette was happy to help, and she had an idea of how to get their third person – Sion. Was that really a good idea? Is Professor Workner Norgram right – should will have just stayed out of the tournament?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 05
He wasn’t happy about it, but Serfence was honest in his assessment. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
The spectators reacted with shock as Will and his team took the lead. Oh, who am I kidding? They were shocked that Will was doing well at all. Reactions ran the gamut from shock to disbelief. Now, the show’s not been terribly subtle with its themes or character motivations. But it’s working, and I get to see Colette in action, so I’m not going to complain.
The announcer, Mike Maius, seems like he’s having a blast. It turns out that his color commentator was Edward Serfence, who, you probably remember, tried to eradicate Will back in episode 2. Turns out the professor still doesn’t like Will, but he can be honest about Will’s skills.
As the crowd wrestled with their reactions to seeing that Will actually had skills, the announcer asked what Serfence thought about the situation.
“The moves of someone who spends all their time in the dungeon,” Serfence said (14:57). “His knowledge and experience have purged him of any inefficiency.”
That’s practically a glowing review, coming from Serfence!
Favorite Moment from Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 05
Workner seemed to know all along how this would play out. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Workner wasn’t in the least bit happy when he saw Will was about to participate in the Crown Attack. He got right in Will’s face and said he’d told him repeatedly to stay away from competitions. He took a step back when, though, when he saw Will’s expression.
Will apologized, then said (09:20), “Even if it makes me a laughingstock, this is one bout that I want to win.”
The implication here seemed clear – Workner didn’t want Will to be embarrassed, and Will understood that. But in my favorite moment, the show managed to turn that understanding on its head. In a show where the character’s motivations are so simple and straight-forward (they are fourteen and fifteen year-olds, after all – which is not an insult but a recognition of the clarity of motivations some of us feel at that age, even if those motivations aren’t entirely rational), I appreciated the inversion.
Colette’s contribution cannot be overstated. She and will demonstrate what can happen when a “no-talent’s” skills are combined with a powerful mage. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Shortly after it became clear that Will and Colette were pretty much racing through the course at a dead spring, Workner heard the crowd and the announcer’s reactions. Then he said something that changed how I interpreted the scene where he had tried to warn Will.
He sighed, then said (11:22), “I was afraid this would happen.”
Putting aside the question of why isn’t it a good thing for the academy to know Will’s skilled, I like how this statement changed me from “oh, he’s protecting Will from the tournament” to “oh, he’s protecting the tournament from Will!”
I’d like to know why it’s bad for everyone to know Will’s a proficient fighter. I mean, in a world where they’re all fighting to improve the capability of the mages in the tower, wouldn’t a diversity of skills and perspectives be a benefit?
Or did I just answer my own question, based on trends in modern politics – where a multiplicity of skills and perspectives is viewed as a weakness?
What did you think of Sion’s attack at the end? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 05: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 01 – Like a Lone Sword
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 02 – As Though Undaunted
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 03 – Order & Watcher
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 04: The Eve of the Grand Festival
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 05: Raise the Starting Pistol
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 06: Between Pride and Passion
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 07: Twelve Secret Ice Magics, El Glace Frosse
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 08: Shall We Date?
- Wistoria: Wand and Sword Episode 09: Praxis Begins
When in last weeks preview I saw Sion on their team, I thought they’d unite against a common “enemy” somehow. I certainly didn’t expect… this. Seriously, I’m having more and more trouble rooting for our protagonists. I like them, but they need to learn a lesson. Or maybe the writer? I’m not going to route for the underdog by default, even though that’s where my default sympathies lie.
I mean, they basically tricked Sion into joining, then told him they really only needed his credits, and then don’t involve him in the team; making all the audience watch the duo take care of everything while he’s running behind them like a little puppy. But my main problem isn’t actually that it’s a scummy move. Sion’s pretty scummy himself, so I’ll just sit by and let them figure it out. My sympathies here are actually with Sion: he’s in an existential crisis – he thought his magic made him superior and he had a first-hand demonstration that that’s not the case. I suspect he has family expectations and peer pressure to take into account, too. And he’s really, really proud. I like Will much better, but frankly in this situation Sion deserves more consideration, as his psychologocical state is more fragile, and there’s a chance that he learns a good lesson from this.
And this is my main problem here: the Will-and-Collette strategy left him in a position even more desperate to prove himself. And then his scoped-out rival only has eyes for Will… Yeah, their scummy move negatively impacted his growth. And, finally, why are they surprised Sion would backstab his team, when they didn’t even ever pretend to value him as a team member. When he’s just a walking pile of credits to them?
Frankly, they deserv what they have coming. No sympathy from me.
Make no mistake, I still like both of them better than Sion, but I want to whack them over the back of their heads for being scummy and stupid. (I don’t think the show’s with me on this, but we’ll see how this will play out.)
After I read your commend and reconsidered the episode, I think the writer Fujino Ōmori knew what he doing, and he intended for Colette and Will to be seen as being callous to Sion. At least, I suspect that — I think your analysis of his character was spot on.
And if you’ve seen episode 6, you see what direction the character took.
I really did feel badly for Sion during this episode. Yeah, he’d been a jerk. But Colette tricked him, then she and Will excluded him from all planning and activity. Not cool!
If I were Will. I’d suggest that perhaps that other mage is a more immediate concern. But I expect Julius will take the opportunity to attack Sion while he’s preoccupied.
That’s what I expected to happen, too. Plus, I kind of expected Sion to switch sides when Julius attacked! But, well, if you say episode 6, you know what happened!
Haven’t seen it yet. I have been out of it with significant medical issues for a few days.
Oh, no! I hope all’s well!
LOL! Fever, nausea, vomiting, unbelievable pain, IV antibiotics, hospital stay. But now all is well.
Dang! That sounds dreadful. Very glad you’ve recovered!
Not quite yet. I’m still sore. I have another week of cipro antibiotic ahead of me. This had the potential to end me. Recovery will be slow.