TV Recap: “Disney Twisted Wonderland: The Animation” Episode 1— Yuken’s Arrival at Night Raven College
The hit mobile game and manga becomes an anime with today’s global launch of Disney Twisted Wonderland: The Animation. When a normal teenager is summoned to a world of Disney Villains, he finds himself trapped in a magical academy molded in the image of seven iconic villains. Meet the key players in our recap of the first episode.
Episode 1: “Stranger Walking” – Written by Yōichi Katō, Adapted by Madeleine Morris
Prologue — Night Raven College in Twisted Wonderland
Headmage Dire Crowley (Mitsuru Miyamoto/J. Michael Tatum) approaches the Dark Mirror, which floats above a fountain in Night Raven College’s great hall. “Mirror mirror, close at hand, come from farthest space,” the headmage calls. “Show me to their voice and face.”
Having seen what he needed, Crowley dispatches a two-horsed carriage into the moonlit night, sending it off to fetch a new student.
Tokyo Hibari High School
Enma Yuken (Yōhei Azakami/Jonathon Ha) has singlehandedly saved his school’s Kendo Club, leading practice in preparation for the school’s first official match in a decade, which occurs tomorrow. One of his team members, Saya Koito (Yūki Inoue/Joshua Galvan Evans), is being hard on himself for not being as good as the rest of his team. Yuken stays late to give Koito some last-minute one-on-one training. After practice, the dedicated Vice-Captain walks his teammate home.
Waiting at an empty bus stop under the light of a full moon, Yuken vows to win tomorrow’s match. But the mood turns decidedly grim as glowing yellow eyes surround Yuken — cats in an alley, bats under a bridge, and crows in a tree taking flight. Feathers surround Yuken as the sound of horse hooves grows closer. A dark carriage appears, a nightmare come true.
Night Raven College in Twisted Wonderland
Yuken awakens in a standing coffin, banging on the door, which breaks from its hinges. He looks up and sees a magic mirror floating over a fountain, coffins like his suspended from the ceiling. The sound of murmuring draws his attention out to the rest of the great hall, where robbed students watch him in shock. Headmage Dire Crowley steps out of the shadows, holding a giant raven key, calling Yuken impatient for crossing the gate before being invited. All of the coffins have a keyhole, indicating that Yuken released himself ahead of schedule.
Confused, Yuken defensively grabs his bagged kendo sword, asking why he’s there. “Because you were chosen, of course,” Crowley tells him. “Welcome, dear boy, to Night Raven College.” The Dark Mirror chooses fledgling mages from across the world, bringing them to Twisted Wonderland’s most prestigious arcane academy for tutelage. The headmage explains how the school’s disciplines are divided into seven houses based on spiritual attributes of the Great Seven — The Queen of Hearts, Scar, Ursula, Jafar, the Evil Queen, Hades, and Maleficent.
“You are here today because the Dark Mirror recognized in you a particular aptitude for magic,” Crowley reveals, announcing to the rest of the hall that Yuken is the final student to arrive and orientation can now begin. But Yuken interrupts, claiming to now know how to do magic and insisting that he needs to go home for the tournament he’s worked so hard to lead his school to. Yuken tries to exit through the door to the great hall, finding it locked. Crowley explains that students never refuse admission to Night Raven College, and the other students mock Yuken. “He’s making a mockery of our traditions,” Riddle Rosehearts (Natsuki Hanae/Paul Castro Jr.) furiously mutters.
A glass window shatters as a cat-like creature with flaming blue ears and a forked tail leaps into the great hall, announcing that if Yuken is leaving, he will gladly take his spot. He introduces himself as Grim (Noriaki Sugiyama/Ben Diskin), “a monster who’s destined for extraordinary magehood.” The students erupt in laughter at the concept, but Grim has the last laugh as he showcases his power, breathing blue fire throughout the great hall, setting it ablaze!
Students run toward the locked door as Grim continues to breathe blue fire in every direction. In the chaos, we’re introduced to Ace Trappola (Seiichirō Yamashita/Max Mittelman) and Deuce Spade (Chiaki Kobayashi/Hunter McCoy) of Heartslabyule House…
… Kalim Al-Asim (Kazuki Furuta/A.J. Beckles) and Jamil Viper (Kaname Futaba/Nazeeh Tarsha) of Scarabia House…
…and Jade Leech (Wataru Komada/Jonah Scott) and Floyd Leech (Nobuhiko Okamoto/Kellen Goff) of Octavinelle House. Their housewarden, Azul Ashengrotto (Atsushi Tamaru/Alejandro Saab), asks Crowley to let him handle Grim, calling him a “poor, unfortunate little soul,” as Ignihyde House housewarden Idia Shroud (Kōki Uchiyama/Khoi Dao) mocks him for being a suck up through a tablet he sent to the ceremony by proxy.
Azul’s attempt to butter up the headmage is thwarted by Kalim, who knocks him over while running around in a panic because his butt is on fire.
Diasomnia House’s vice housewarden, Lilia Vanrouge (Hikaru Midorikawa/Crispin Freeman), steps forward to handle Grim. Silver (Nobunaga Shimazaki/Aleks Le) begs her to step back as Sebek Zigvolt (Haruki Ishiya/Danny Kramer) scolds him for not being more protective of Lilia.
When falling debris almost falls on two students from Heartslabyle House, Jack Howl (Taito Saka/Kamran Nikhad) of Savanaclaw House dives in to save them. He looks to his housewarden, Leona Kingscholar (Yūichirō Umehara/Major Attaway), who calmly sits on a throne watching the chaos, asking Ruggie Bucchi (Aoi Ichikawa/Zeno Robinson) to wake him when this is over. Pomefiore housewarden Vil Schoenheit (Hiroki Aiba/Nick Monteleone) questions why Leona wouldn’t want to prey on a snack like Grim. When he tells Vil to enjoy himself, the vein housewarden calls it “uncouth.” His vice housewarden, Rook Hunt (Yoshirō Itokawa/Matthew Mercer), is captivated by the beauty of Grim’s blue blazes. Epel Felmier (Shimba Tsuchiya/Jesse Nowack) is the only member of Pomefiore House remotely trying to handle Grim, whose fear of marring his own beauty makes him totally ineffective against the fiery cat.
Cater Diamond (Tatsuyuki Kobayashi/Michael Sinterniklaas) and Trey Clover (Ryōta Suzuki/Johnny Yong Bosch) watch as their temperamental housewarden takes matters into their own hands. “I am judge, jury, and executioner,” Riddle Rosehearts declares as Grim unleashes a huge blaze of fire. Yuken’s overprotective instincts take over as he dives in, toppling Riddle, who otherwise didn’t flinch in the path of the blast.
“Are you okay?” Yuken asks. Riddle is wide-eyed with momentary disbelief before his usual fury returns. “Who do you think you’re talking to?” Riddle scolds as he kicks Yuken off him and stands up, drawing a wand pen with a mirror-shaped red gem. “Your sentence comes first, the verdict after,” Riddle declares. The red jewel glows as Grim quivers in fear. “Off with your head!” A red blast of magic strikes Grim, placing a heart-shaped lock around his neck that disables his magic.
Headmage Dire Crowley applauds Riddle Roseharts’ skill and ability, calling the “Off with your head” spell one of his favorites. Crowley picks up Grim, promising not to hurt him as he rids Night Raven College of his presence. The flames abate.
Yuken drops to his knees in shock, left alone in the great hall. His left forearm is cut, letting him know this definitely isn’t a nightmare… It’s real! Riddle slowly approaches, brandishing his wand. “It’s not enough that you intrude, but you dare insult me as well,” Riddle scoffs, offended by Yuken’s effort to see if he was alright. “Your punishment will be swift and righteous, and your head will roll,” Riddle vows.
Bonus Short: Twisted Wonderland Mini Theater
Keychain versions of the headmage and housewardens reenact efforts to rehearse the entrance ceremony that went awry in this episode. Dire Crowley and his most responsible housewarden, Riddle Rosehearts, waited for the other housewardens to trickle in. Kalim Al-Asim had extravagant ideas for the ceremony, including a banquet and a parade of animals. Azul Ashengrotto offered to help execute that vision, while Idia Shroud, via tablet proxy, mocked Azul, suggesting the entire ceremony be reduced to a livestream event. Vil Schoenheit couldn’t be bothered, getting in trouble for using the Dark Mirror to admire his own reflection. As the bell tolls to signal the beginning of rehearsal, Leona Kingscholar arrives, tired and in need of another nap.
Headmage Crowley talks about the longstanding tradition of Night Raven College’s entrance ceremony, where students chosen by the Dark Mirror are introduced to the houses by the housewardens. In that moment, Crowley realizes that one of the seven housewardens is missing. “Where is housewarden Draconia of the Diasomnia House?” They realize nobody invited him!
Outside the castle, we see Malleus Draconia (Kazuki Kato/Jacob Carlson) looking at the lights from the great hall. “I have a sneaking suspicion they forgot to invite me,” he says.
To be continued in Episode 2, streaming November 5th on Disney+ and Hulu.
