Anime
Episode 4 – Wistoria: Wand and Sword Season 2
©Fujino Omori, Toshi Aoi, Kodansha/Wistoria: Wand and Sword Production Committee
Man, for a moment there I thought that I somehow missed that this second season of Wistoria was a mini-series, or maybe a movie that got chopped up for broadcast, or something like whatever the hell Netflix is doing with the latest JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure anime. Even though this episode is called “And So the Story Begins,” it damn sure feels like an ending. If nothing else, I would bet money that this run of episodes was meant to be the finale of the last season when it was originally planned out. How else do you explain it?
The thing that makes this a somewhat frustrating chapter of Wistoria to cover as a critic is that it really doesn’t offer that much to comment on other than its rather bizarre placement in the first half of a second season. Last week, we got an episode that existed entirely to hype up Will’s badass transformation, which gives him the power to shut down this attack on the Academy once and for all. This week, we spend another major chunk of the episode hyping up Will’s big moment, which eventually leads to him hitting the monster-thing really hard, and then he teams up with Elfaria to do a fancy ice-spell/magic sword combo. That’s really all there is to this thing. It’s cool enough, once we finally get to Will’s showstopping special moves, but nothing is happening in the story or character development to give this climax any real weight.
The beginning of the episode is maybe the most frustrating part, which sees Finn chewing the scenery and dumping more exposition about Will’s mysterious (and almost certainly magical, after all) origins and his interest in the unfolding events. It’s literally all this guy has done in every single appearance he’s made, and the repetition is made worse by the show’s weird pacing. We met Finn exactly one time at the end of last season, and then after years of waiting for this new season, Finn has just randomly dropped into the story to play the same old shtick of “Ooh, aren’t I so mysterious and knowledgeable about important lore?”
Once we resume the climax that was already in progress last week, the show continues to take its sweet-ass time getting to the point. After repeating the slow-motion cliffhanger from the previous episode, the show makes sure that literally every single character we just spent half of an episode checking in with gets to squeeze in another line of shock and awe at Will’s reappearance. Then, as Will ever so slowly makes his way toward the baddie of the ordeal, the show indulges in its cheesiest instincts and has the entire city cheering Will on, including random civilians he has never even met before. I get it, we’re giving Will his flowers after a lifetime of being put down, but none of this feels particularly earned or resonant.
Still, when Will finally swings his sword, it’s pretty cool. The animation of this season still has not managed to catch up to the heights of the first, and given how many obvious animation shortcuts we’re still seeing in practically every scene, I’m getting worried that the production is going to have a hard time even making it across the finish line. For goodness’ sake, when you factor in the seven minutes of opening and closing credits that we get, Wistoria couldn’t even turn out a full-length episode for this supposed grand finale of its prologue. I haven’t completely lost hope in Wistoria, but these last two episodes have been incredibly uneven. Hopefully, once the “real story” starts in the next chapters, the show will have a chance to recuperate and return to the narrative fundamentals.
Episode Rating:
Wistoria: Wand and Sword is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.
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.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of Anime News Network, its employees, owners, or sponsors.
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Anime
‘Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated. A Magic: The Gathering Manga’ Gets Miniseries in October – News
Original series based on card game ended in April 2025
The November issue of Kadokawa‘s Monthly Shōnen Ace magazine announced on Saturday Katsura Ise and Takuma Yokota will launch a new miniseries for their Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated. A Magic: The Gathering Manga (Subete no Jinrui o Hakai suru. Sorera wa Saisei Dekinai.) manga, based on the Magic: The Gathering trading card game, beginning in the December issue on October 26. The series will be titled Subete no Jinrui o Hakai suru. Sorera wa Saisei Dekinai. -Timeshift- (Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated. -Timeshift-).
© Wizards of the Coast LLC.
Ise confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) the new manga will be a short limited series that will run for four chapters irregularly in the magazine.
Viz Media releases the main manga in English and describes the story:
Travel back in time to the early days of Magic: The Gathering!
It’s the nineties at Tokiwagi Middle School. And for gamers like Hajime Kano, after the release of Magic: The Gathering, nothing will ever be the same again!
In everything he does, it seems like geeky Tokiwagi Middle School student Hajime Kano comes in second place behind popular honor student Emi Sawatari. But when Hajime takes a trip to a new game store he’s been hearing about, their rivalry takes an unexpected turn. Welcome to the early years of Magic: The Gathering, whena trading card game shaped a generation forever!
The manga first debuted as a one-shot in Monthly Shōnen Ace in August 2018. The manga started its serialization in the magazine in November 2018. Wizards of the Coast LLC. is credited with cooperation. The manga ended serialization in April 2025, and Kadokawa shipped the 18th and final volume in June 2025.
Sources: Monthly Shōnen Ace November issue, Katsura Ise‘s X/Twitter account
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
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Side story debuted in January
© Akaza Samamiya, Kadokawa
Akaza Samamiya announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday the Mr. Mallow Blue: After The Rain side story to the Mr. Mallow Blue manga will end in the next chapter.
The original series focuses on the meetings of various social outcasts, including a fragile girl, a shut-in, and a handsome man who wears a cold expression as a mask.
Samamiya launched the side story in the March issue of Kadokawa‘s Asuka magazine, which shipped in January.
Samamiya launched the main manga in Kadokawa‘s Asuka magazine in November 2019, and ended the series with the the sixth and final compiled book volume on December 24.
Samamiya launched the Ballad x Opera manga in Asuka in May 2017, and ended it in September 2019. Kadokawa published the manga’s fifth and final volume in November 2019.
Samamiya serialized the Bloody Mary manga series in Asuka from November 2013 until February 2017. Kadokawa published 10 volumes for the manga, and Viz Media published all 10 volumes in English.
Source: Akaza Samamiya‘s X/Twitter account
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
>
Side story debuted in January
© Akaza Samamiya, Kadokawa
Akaza Samamiya announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday the Mr. Mallow Blue: After The Rain side story to the Mr. Mallow Blue manga will end in the next chapter.
The original series focuses on the meetings of various social outcasts, including a fragile girl, a shut-in, and a handsome man who wears a cold expression as a mask.
Samamiya launched the side story in the March issue of Kadokawa‘s Asuka magazine, which shipped in January.
Samamiya launched the main manga in Kadokawa‘s Asuka magazine in November 2019, and ended the series with the the sixth and final compiled book volume on December 24.
Samamiya launched the Ballad x Opera manga in Asuka in May 2017, and ended it in September 2019. Kadokawa published the manga’s fifth and final volume in November 2019.
Samamiya serialized the Bloody Mary manga series in Asuka from November 2013 until February 2017. Kadokawa published 10 volumes for the manga, and Viz Media published all 10 volumes in English.
Source: Akaza Samamiya‘s X/Twitter account
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
>
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