Wistoria: Wand and Sword Volume 7 Review

As the Summer anime season fast approaches, we look forward to the debut of Wistoria: Wand and Sword’s adaptation airing. Before that happens, let’s catch up with the latest instalment of the manga!

In Volume 6 we saw the town surrounding the magic school Will and the others attend coming under attack during the Terminalia festival. With the powerful Magia Vander forced to stay on the sidelines to protect the Great Barrier, it was left to Will and the other students to protect the town and its inhabitants.

Unfortunately, the enemy has been plotting this attack for a while, so they’ve come fully prepared to crush all who stand in their way. They’re powerful enough that the tables are soon turned on Will and his roommate Rosti, who are in the midst of a fierce battle. Rosti ends up taking the brunt of an attack that costs him his life and Will is left in pieces, having failed to protect someone dear to him again.

Our protagonist is quickly rescued by Professor Workner who tries to snap Will out of the depressive spiral he’s sinking into. With the enemy being resistant to magic attacks, only WIll stands any chance of protecting everyone but he’s no good to anyone while moping about his lack of magical talent and inability to protect those he loves.

It’s not long before Workner also suffers a major wound but before collapsing, he tells Will that he does have a spell he can use. Our protagonist has no idea what that’s supposed to mean but luckily for him, the dwarf Finn arrives on the scene to explain. It may not be the kind of magic Will envisions when he thinks about what the term ‘magic’ means, but it’s special and unique to him.

This in many ways is a turning point for Wistoria not only because the battle is a pivotal moment in the story with lasting repercussions, but because it changes so much of Will’s circumstances. It’s impressive that author Fujino Omori and artist Toshi Aoi accomplish so much within the four chapters included here.

The downside of there being so much focus on Will is that it feels like we often only get glimpses of the other characters, especially those who aren’t the Magia Vander. This isn’t the biggest issue, as we know no one else can fight anyway, given the enemy can’t be hurt by magic, but it can be easy to lose track of what else is happening when Will is front and centre.

Still, that doesn’t distract from this being one of the best instalments of the series otherwise. The fight scenes in particular are very impressive this time around with several two-page spreads to show off pivotal moments in all their glory. I suspect this will be where the anime chooses to conclude as it’s a very good stopping point.

I just hope Volume 8 proves satisfying after all this, as it does feel like it’ll be a bit of a make-or-break moment, given all we’ve witnessed here. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to go through major changes now when we’re over the halfway point as the story was changing direction when Will failed his exam in Volume 6. I do believe in Omori’s ability to tell a good story, but all the same, I have a little bit of apprehension about the future of this one.

Wistoria: Wand and Sword Volume 7 comes to the West thanks to Kodansha and continues to be translated by Alethea and Athena Nibley with lettering credited to AndWorld Design. No translation notes are included nor are there any colour pages, which is a shame as the volume opens with a two-page spread celebrating the second anniversary of the series and I know that does exist in colour having seen it on social media at the time.

Volume 8 of the series is currently set for an English release in August whereas Japan are up to Volume 10. Although there’s nothing else in the schedule for the English edition, so I suspect we’re taking a more lengthy break, unfortunately. As mentioned earlier, the anime is set to begin in July, so we have that to look forward to!

Overall, Wistoria: Wand and Sword Volume 7 is a turning point for the series as Will suffers the loss of friends and finds a new power hidden within. Where we go from here is anyone’s guess, but I’m certainly looking forward to finding out what Omori has in store for us.

Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.