Bandai Namco Pictures and Actas are collaborating to bring Fujino Omori’s Wistoria: Wand and Sword to life. The short trailer promises plenty of high-speed combat and quality art thanks to the creative power behind it. Furthermore, longtime fantasy fans will get to see a new story from the author of Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?
Between Is It Wrong and Wistoria, Omori’s credentials have some pull in the anime industry. So it is no surprise that new studios would want a slice of the pie that J.C. Staff had till now been holding alone.
The exciting visuals in the trailer, posted on the official Wistoria X account, show that Bandai Namco wants their anime, expected to drop in July 2024, not to stand in the shadow of Omori’s earlier work.
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The official website for the upcoming anime includes a synopsis for the show, which, when translated, says this:
“Will is a boy who enrolls in a magic academy with the aim of becoming a full-fledged mage. As a hard worker, he had a fatal weakness as a mage. That is, “I can’t use magic at all.” Will receives cold stares from his classmates and teachers, and although he sometimes seems to be discouraged, he pushes forward with a strong feeling. Even though he can’t use a wand, he wields a sword and fights his way through the world of magic supremacy.”
Working alongside Bandai Namco Pictures and Actas on the project are several other notable creative forces. Most prominent is Tatsuya Yoshihara, the action director for the 2022 Chainsaw Man anime adaptation, who is now serving here as main director. Sayaka Ono, best known for her work in Cross Ange, serves as character designer and chief animation director. Meanwhile, Yuki Hayashi, who composed for My Hero Academia, is providing his expertise for this adaptation. The quality each of them brings is obvious in the PV, providing exciting, eye-catching action that is further supported by Bandai Namco’s experience in animation and the sizable budget that enables it.
Wistoria, which is written by Fujino Omori, is boasted to have moved 15 million volumes since its initial 2020 publication. Past that though, Omori’s Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? is a minor entertainment phenomenon in Japan, that has spawned novels, video games, movies, and, most notably, J.C. Staff’s anime adaptation that persisted in the fantasy niche since the mid-2010s, and still has enough heft to have a fifth season on the way. So Wistoria‘s adaptation is very significant, as Bandai Namco is producing a sibling and competitor to one of anime’s most enduring franchises.
At first glance, Will Serfort and his Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? predecessor, Bell Cranel, are treading familiar ground, with Omori writing a similarly slender, plucky boys out to make their name in a fantasy setting where they’re not wanted – Will lacks magic, and Bell lacks experience. But this retread might be to Wistoria’s advantage when it arrives later this year. Fans who might be interested in Omori’s worlds, but turned off by Dungeon‘s sizable backlog might see Wistoria: Wand and Sword as a fresh chance to follow the prolific writer’s works without prior baggage or expectations, especially with such a promising first trailer.
