Imagine finding yourself waking up in a coffin as a pair of black horses and a carriage come storming towards you, when all you were doing just a moment ago was waiting for the bus to arrive. To make matters worse, when you come out of this supposed coffin, you’re the only person who has no idea magic exists! For poor Yuken, this is his new reality. He’s just your average high schooler who gives his all in the kendo club, where he was preparing for the big tournament with his fellow club members. So when he gets “isekai’d” to an elite school in a place called Twisted Wonderland and is told he was “summoned” for his magical abilities, he has no idea what to make of anything. When a monster storms in during the opening ceremony at Night Raven College, chaos abounds! What’s to come for Yuken in this “Villains’ world”?
Help, where do I even start? As soon as I heard Crowley, the headmage of Night Raven College, speak, I was starting to tear up, and then I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I saw the words “Welcome to the Villains’ world”! To give some context, I am a huge fan of the game this anime is based on, and I play it every day! I have also actively read all the available manga in English and deeply love them all! So to say my expectations were high when starting this first episode would be an understatement! The animation, the music, and the voice acting is the ultimate fan dream! No matter who your “best boy” is, each character gets at least some of the spotlight, with my ultimate best boy, Idia, having a moment in the opening song and in his tablet form! Squeals! When it comes to faithfulness to the game and manga, I found that it is perfect! I loved how the anime made the moment where Yuken is about to go to Twisted Wonderland a lot more eerie than I remembered. I also liked being able to see more of the opening ceremony and how Crowley reacted because I don’t recall there being that much chaos! I will say that outside of the very cute mini short at the end, my favorite part is very much Riddle, the housewarden of the Heartslabyul dorm, using his magic pen and having a magical girl transformation sequence! That was such a fun addition to the anime, and I absolutely love how the music really aided in making it a cool, scary, and powerful moment! Hearing “Piece of My World” as the opening song had me on cloud nine, and then I was “freaking out” in excitement hearing “Obedience” as the closing song! Honestly, hearing music directly from the game had me starry-eyed because it only enhances the overall anime! All these little moments add up to this being a superb first episode that I think fans of the game and characters are going to absolutely love! And if you haven’t experienced this incredible world yet, I think the anime makes for a very smooth introduction compared to the game (which I feel sort of throws you into this world); what a great way to experience the very wonderful world of Twisted-Wonderland for the first time! Wednesdays just got all the more exciting for this fangirl!
Disney Twisted-Wonderland The Animation: Episode of Heartslabyul is streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
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