Wistoria and the Cost of Gatekeeping

Spoilers

Our story starts with Will Serfort. He and his best friend, Elfaria, promise to become magicians who ascend to the Mercedes Caulis tower, where the powerful magicians, the Magia Vander, reside and maintain the barrier that protects their kingdom from evil. Elfaria succeeds and becomes the youngest magician to ascend to the tower and become a Magia Vander. However, Will doesn’t have an aptitude for magic. Can Will become a Magia Vander and reconnect with Elfaria without an ounce of magic? 

I think Will’s story can resonate with a lot of people. Throughout the centuries, there have always been gatekeepers who try to prevent access to their community by keeping out those who they feel are undesirable. We see that today with the restrictions on healthcare and laws making it hard to participate in voting. It risks people’s safety and makes it hard for people to be a part of the collective. Will is no exception. The kingdom where he resides only favors people with magic. Many of the students shun and mock him for his lack of magical aptitude. One teacher tried to prevent him from graduating because he wanted to crush Will’s dream about getting into the tower. The teacher thought failing Will was less cruel than letting him believe the impossible. 

However, the thing is, impossible is not always set in stone. The majority of society in Will’s world thinks that magic is supreme. Ironically, those same magicians learned the hard way that there is always someone better and stronger than you. 

At the beginning of the second season, enemies attack the kingdom. Not only were the enemies strong, but they were also impervious to magic. Magicians watched as their fellow peers were easily killed one by one while the powerful Magia Vanders watched on. Their leader thought it was important to keep the barrier intact instead of helping the people of the kingdom from being slaughtered. However, Will decides to fight back. The magicians watched in shock as Will, an excellent fighter and swordsman, slew each enemy in his path and saved the day. 

It illustrates that there is more than one way to be powerful. If Will wasn’t there, they would all be slaughtered because of their lack of diversity, since the magicians only know how to defend themselves with magic. Accepting a variety of people instead of discriminating against them not only shows strength, but helps to increase creativity and brings new ideas to improve the community.

I have to give props to Will, though. Despite the students and teacher trying to block his success, he never backed down. It is easy to want to give up when so many people are against you. However, he fought back even harder. He made sure he was knowledgeable in most subjects and a strong fighter. He showed that the might of the sword is just as powerful or even possibly greater than magic. It showed that playing on his own strengths set him on the path to success instead of following the norms of society. 

Overall, I really like the show. It reminds me a bit of Witch Hat Atelier since both had communities that tried to keep their society small from those that they think are not worthy. Despite all the gatekeeping that happens, I hope that as a whole we can be more like Will: tenacious and never giving up even if the odds are against us. Nothing in society will ever change if we don’t fight back for what we believe in. In the spirit of the show, I have the following question: How do we encourage more diversity in society?