©Fujino Omori, Kiyoshi Aoi, Kodansha/”Wisteria of the Staff and Sword” Production Committee
The premise of “Coward’s Real Name” couldn’t be simpler. There is a level 270 demon called the Archduke, which the narrator explains to us is a creature with the power of a mage with 270,000 points. Now, the problem with such abstract anime power rankings is that we still don’t know exactly It means nothing, but the gist of the situation is clear: Will and his gang are no The mages have 270,000 points, so they must devote their last bit of strength and wisdom to this battle to survive. Even so, the odds are slim.
There’s barely any plot or major character development to be done, and we’ve spent the last few weeks getting all the characters into the same place and on the same page. The only thing this episode has to deal with is the fight against the big, bad monster itself. Thankfully, when it comes to the realm of pure spectacle, Vestoria Historically, simple settings like this have worked well. Terrible monsters are coming; Will and his friends mount a massive fightback. Rinse and repeat until the end credits roll.
Is this a perfect example of a fight-centric episode? No, it’s not. For starters, the battle’s single Ghost Blood Cave location doesn’t have much interesting geography or asymmetry, so the whole thing mostly boils down to our heroes jumping and running around the Duke. This arrangement is great for boss battles in MMORPGs, but it doesn’t make for the most exciting cinematic effects. Additionally, the story still manages to fall into common anime clichés that might annoy you if you’re not completely sold on the Web Bible. Why does Will suddenly freeze and lose all composure when the protagonist’s goggles break? Because that’s his Achilles’ heel, and you just have to live with it. Why do characters always over-explain what’s happening on screen through constant narration? Because it’s the easiest way to clumsily integrate the video game-style combat mechanics of this world into more static media like manga and light novels, and few anime have the confidence to cut out all the extraneous stuff and trust their visual storytelling.
A few minor flaws aside, Coward’s True Name achieves its primary goal of delivering twenty minutes of villainous demon-fighting action. Sure, there are some odd edits and obvious animation shortcuts that clearly indicate this episode was rushed across the finish line at the last minute, but the overall experience is good. All the magical explosions, giant sword slashes, and dramatic “all is lost!” moments lead us to a climactic encounter with an insanely powerful enemy who, by all accounts, should be Will, Colette , the endings of Sion, Julius, Lihana, and Wignal. Of course, in genre tradition, this simply means that Will will be showing off his untapped potential.
In this case, it also means hinting more at the lore that gives the series its subtitle. “Wand and Sword” is Will’s apparent inheritance, which allows him to use his sword to absorb magical potential that is usually limited to the little sticks his friends are good at wielding, and the end result is a huge, The deadly sword is also on fire. I don’t care if the show doesn’t give us enough context or world-building to understand the larger implications of Will’s power, or what it means for his relationship with Elfaria and all of that; I believe we end up Will do it. I went into this episode expecting Will to slay the ever-loved Begius from a giant monster with a sword, and that’s exactly what we got. yes.
grade:
Vestoria: Wand and Sword Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop culture, which can also be found in twitterhis blog and his podcast.
