©2024 Yozora Festival -Fujimi Nana / Kadokawa / Serendia Academy Public Relations Department
I personally think that a story is probably the worst thing artificial, which is unrealistic because it is artificial, like being forced to play in some way. It usually feels like a story is designed backwards, as if the climax is created first, and then the characters and events are tailored to make the scene come true. This leads to the actors’ performances that are absolutely unqualified, or at least act stupidly in order to achieve the desired results. In this episode The Secret of the Silent Witchwe get less artificial writing. When everyone acts in their own established role, everything is too convenient to remain suspicious.
Monica has participated in a chess competition that represents the student union and the entire school since last week. There, she re-recognizes Bernie, a former friend of Magic School, and his self cannot be accepted when his favorite “charity case” surpasses him. Despite her attempt to hide herself, Bernie saw it almost immediately and released his powerless anger, using her insecurity as his weapon.
On a character level, Bernie is Monica’s solid foil. As a kid, he was often told that he was special because of his noble blood and magical talent that his reaction to him made sense. His entire worldview was overturned along with his identity – and now he clings to the pieces. Of course, he lashed out and didn’t want to accept reality. Everything works. What doesn’t work is his character this episode.
Bernie starts the episode by verbally torture Monica. Lana then forces him to face his insecurity, while Monica makes him feel helpless in the cut-off connection. From there, he plans to take revenge, but is forced to admit his inferiority to himself when facing Monica’s power. Finally, he felt the peace, and decided to give up the excellent opportunity to take revenge to protect her secrets and provide her with peace in his own arrogant way.
The problem is not that all of this happens – as I mentioned above, it all has logical significance given his character. The problem is that all of this happens in one plot. Too fast. Not only does it blunt Bernie’s emotional journey, because we don’t have time to reflect on his mental state every step before we move on, but it also makes the story feel white.
Think about how many specific events this episode must happen within a day. A coincidence after a coincidence. If Bernie faces Monica or Assassin has no comments when he doesn’t know who Professor Macragan is, Bernie doesn’t send Ryn when Bernie faces Monica, or doesn’t show up.
All in all, this is an episode where you can clearly see the string of the puppets – bringing you out of the story. It doesn’t completely ruin the episode, but it does reduce the impact of easily becoming a meaningful adult story, another powerful step in Monica’s recovery journey.
grade:
The Secret of the Silent Witch Currently flowing
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