©大森藤ノ・青井 聖・講談社／ 「杖と剣のウィストリア」製作委員会
The premise of “The True Name of the Cowards” couldn’t be simpler. There’s a Rank 270 demon called the Grand Duke, who the narrator helpfully explains to us is a being with the same power as a 270,000-credit mage. Now, the problem with such abstract anime power rankings is that we still don’t really know exactly what that means, but the gist of the situation is clear: Will and his gang aren’t 270,000-credit mages, so they’re going to have to put every last ounce of their strength and wits into this battle just to survive. Even then, the odds are pretty dire.
There’s barely any major plot or character development to go around, and we’ve spent the past few weeks trying to get all the characters in the same place and on the same page. The only thing left for this episode to resolve is the fight against the big, bad monster itself. Thankfully, when it comes to pure spectacle, Wistoria has historically done a great job with simple setups like this. The creepy monster hits big; Will and friends hit big shortly after. Rinse and repeat until the credits roll.
Is this a perfect example of a combat-centric plot? No, it’s not. First of all, the Bloody Cave location for the fight doesn’t have much in the way of interesting geography or asymmetry, so the whole thing boils down to our heroes jumping and running around in a large circle around the duke. It’s the kind of setup that works well for a boss fight in an MMORPG, but it doesn’t make for the most exciting cinematics. Additionally, the story still falls into the usual anime clichés that can rub you the wrong way if you haven’t been fully indoctrinated by Weeb Scripture. Why does Will suddenly freeze and lose his cool when his main character’s goggles break? Because that’s his Achilles’ heel and you have to go along with it. Why do characters keep over-explaining what’s happening on screen with their non-stop narration? Because it's the simplest way to awkwardly integrate the video game-like combat mechanics of this world into more static media like manga and light novels, and very few anime have the confidence to cut out all that extraneous stuff and trust their visual storytelling.
Minor flaws aside, “The True Name of Cowards” accomplishes its primary goal, which is to deliver twenty minutes of demon-fighting action. Sure, there are some weird edits and obvious animation shortcuts that make it clear that this episode was rushed to the finish line at the last minute, but the overall experience holds up well. All the magical explosions, giant sword swings, and “All is Lost!” moments carry us through a climactic confrontation with an incredibly powerful foe that will ultimately spell the end for Will, Colette, Sion, Julius, Lihanna, and Wignall. Of course, in the genre tradition, that only means Will gets to show off his untapped potential.
In this case, it also means more hints at the lore that gives this series its subtitle. “The wand and the sword” is apparently a legacy Will inherited, allowing him to use his sword to absorb magical potential that would normally be limited to the small sticks his friends are so good at wielding, resulting in a big, deadly sword that’s also on fire. I don’t care if the show doesn’t give us enough context or world-building to understand the larger meaning of Will’s power or what it means for his relationship with Elfaria and all that; I’m sure we’ll get there eventually. I came into this episode expecting Will to kill the ever-loving Bejeesus off a giant monster with a sword, and that’s exactly what we got. Right.
Rating:
Wistoria: Wand and Sword is now streaming on Crunchyroll.
James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop culture, you can also find this information on Twitterhis blog and podcast.
