Summary
Wistoria: Wand and Swordhas quickly made impressions on the anime community with its Summer 2024Crunchyrolldebut, thanks to its stunning visuals and familiar setting, drawing comparisons to everything fromBlack ClovertoHarry Potter. It’s easy to see why, but doing so can be a disservice to the excellent and competently executed series from Actas and Bandai Namco Pictures. ComparingWistoria: Wand and SwordtoHarry Potteris easy, but the truth is, the series might deserve more acknowledgment as a replacement instead of as a derivative imitator.
The manga forWistoria: Wand and Swordhas been running inBessatsu Shonen Magazinesince December 2020, penned bythe same writer behindIs It Wrong to attempt to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?,Fujino Ōmori, and illustrated by Toshi Aoi.The anticipatedWistoriaanime adaptationdepicts the protagonist, Will Serfort, who aspires to ascend the Mercedes Caulis and become a Magia Vander capable of protecting the surrounding kingdom.
Certain elements of the series make it somewhat easy to compareWistoria: Wand and SwordtoHarry Potter, as yet another contemporary magic-themed series popular with teens and young adults.
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Wistoria: Wand and Sword Fills a Harry Potter Void
Anime Fans Didn’t Know They Needed This
It’s easy to see comparable elements even in the first few episodes ofWistoria: Wand and Sword,which makes it easy to compare toHarry Potter.This could arguably be seen as the series being an appropriate replacement,especially as the latter franchise has seen better days.Wistoriahas enough unique qualities not to be declared a derivative of the series. That includes the regal, ostentatious Regarden Magical Academy standing in for Hogwarts, Julius Reinberg, and/or Zion Alster bearing similarities with Draco Malfoy, Cauldron resembling Minerva McGonagall, and more.
Yet, the activities are different, the mages' abilities in the series are more pronounced, and Will is not perfectly like Harry.
Wistoria: Wand and Sword’sworldbuilding even includes a segment where a hidden stairway in Regarden is discovered, protected by magic, which is highly similar to the first two books ofHarry Potter.In that same installment, episode #4, the Grand Magic Festival is referenced, oddly resembling the Triwizard Tournament. Yet, the activities are different, the mages' abilities in the series are more pronounced, and Will is not perfectly like Harry.Will’s utter lack of magic is the opposite of Harry’s prodigious handle on it,despite other similarities, driving people to compareWistoriato other series.
Wistoria Is Easily and Unfairly Compared to Other Magic-Themed Anime
Comparison Is the Thief of Joy
Like its comparisons toHarry Potter, confirmation bias is difficult to avoid when examining other manga and anime in the fantasy adventure genre, such asBlack CloverandMashle: Magic and Muscles.Will’s absence of magical aptitude in favor of Wis to empower his weapons, is comparable to Asta, along with his peak physical conditioning instead of magical mastery like Mash Burnedead. But, likecomparingBlack ClovertoNaruto,one misses the forest for the trees by writingWistoriaoff as derivative,as its anime has made just as strong a first impression, if not better.
Will’s absence of magical aptitude in favor of Wis to empower his weapons, is comparable to Asta, along with his peak physical conditioning instead of magical mastery like Mash Burnedead.
Still, with the popularity of these anime, it’s unsurprising that fans would crave aBlack Cloverreplacement, especially as the wait wears on for a fifth season. The amount of anime content for any genre or narrative experience one may crave at any given time results in natural, eventual overlap and may strike a nerve. At the same time, fans wait for new installments of their favorite series in that genre. Still, withWistoria: Wand and Swordsitting in the top ten seasonal anime for Summer 2024 onMyAnimeList, enough fans don’t mind the comparison.
