TV Recap: “Disney Twisted Wonderland: The Animation” Episode 2 — A Dismissive Ranking at Night Raven College
The second episode of Disney Twisted Wonderland: The Animation picks up right where the premiere episode’s cliffhanger ended. Based on the second and third chapters of the game’s manga adaptation (“A Dismissive Ranking!” and “Meeting First-Years!”), Yuken Enma discovers that he can’t get home and takes on a new role as Night Raven College’s groundskeeper. But he soon finds himself caught up in more trouble as he befriends two first-year students from Heartslabyul House.
Episode 2: “A Dismissive Ranking” - Written by Yōichi Katō, English Adaptation by Madeleine Morris
Heartslabyul House’s Headwarden, Riddle Rosehearts (Natsuki Hanae/Paul Castro Jr.), holds Yuken Enma (Yōhei Azakami/Jonathon Ha) at wandpoint in the Mirror Chamber. “Your head will roll,” Riddle vows. Thankfully, Vice Housewarden Trey Clover (Ryōta Suzuki/Johnny Yong Bosch) talks some sense into Riddle, rationalizing that Yuken is new to Night Raven College and can’t be expected to know the rules. Cater Diamond (Tatsuyuki Kobayashi/Michael Sinterniklaas) joins the mediation, suggesting that Riddle let Yuken off with a warning.
Yuken finally speaks for himself, saying he has no desire to stay at Night Raven College because he can’t do magic. Riddle thinks he’s lying because the Dark Mirror wouldn’t send the black carriage to pick up someone without magical abilities. They’re all surprised when the Dark Mirror (Kenyuu Horiuchi/Jon Olson) chimes in. “It is as the boy says,” the face in the magic mirror shares.
Headmage Dire Crowley (Mitsuru Miyamoto/J. Michael Tatum) returns to the Mirror Chamber from getting rid of Grim, overhearing the mirror’s explanation. “If true, then I fear we cannot grant you entry into our academy,” Crowley tells Yuken, addressing the Dark Mirror and asking it to return Yuken to his home. “The young man’s home does not exist,” the Dark Mirror says. “That’s impossible,” Yuken cries, “I just came from there 20 minutes ago!” Crowley tries to help, asking the name of Yuken’s country. When Yuken tells him Japan, Crowley thinks he’s playing a joke on him. He’s never heard of such a place.
Frustrated, Yuken vows to find his own way home, leaving the Mirror Chamber and wandering the halls of Night Raven College, searching for the exit. He finds the front door and steps outside. The landscape is unlike any he’s ever seen before. Three students fly on broomsticks in the moonlit sky, complaining about how bad this year’s entrance ceremony was.
Crowley finds Yuken looking out at Twisted Wonderland, suggesting he contact a friend for help. Yuken pulls out his phone and tries to call Saya Koito, but his phone has no service in this realm. He realizes he won’t make it home in time for the Kendo tournament he’d worked so hard to lead his team to. Crowley, realizing Yuken isn’t joking, offers Yuken shelter in the school’s old Ramshackle Dorm, which is no longer in use.
The Ramshackle Dorm looks haunted from the outside, and it proves to be legitimately haunted inside. A chandelier shakes over Yuken’s head, crashing to the floor a step ahead of him. Three ghosts (Takuma Suzuki/Danny Kramer, Nobuaki Kanemitsu/Jacob Carlson, Toshitaka Hirano/Khoi Dao) appear, trying to haunt the home’s new tenant. Instead, Yuken remains calm, introducing himself as their new housemate. The apparitions seem disappointed by this unexpected response.
Crowley explains to Yuken that the school can provide these lodgings free of charge, but that he will be responsible for his own food and clothes. He offers him a job as the school’s groundskeeper to earn money, plus access to the library so Yuken can research a way home. Yuken makes himself at home in one of the upstairs bedrooms, hoping that when he wakes up in the morning, he’ll be back in Japan and this will all have been a bad dream. The ghosts sleep upside down on the ceiling above his head.
It wasn’t a dream. Yuken’s first task as groundskeeper is to clean Night Raven College’s Main Street, arriving on the avenue with a broom and a bucket of water. He seems perplexed by the seven strange statues lining the path. Thankfully, two new first-year students from Heartslabyul House, Ace Trappola (Seiichirō Yamashita/Max Mittelman) and Deuce Spade (Chiaki Kobayashi/Hunter McCoy), pass by and fill in the gap in Yuken’s knowledge. “They’re considered the greatest beings who have ever lived,” Deuce tells Yuken as they introduce the Great Seven — the Fairest Queen in All the Land (the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), the Thorn Fairy (Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty), the Sorcerer of the Sands (Jafar from Aladdin), the King of the Underworld (Hades from Hercules), the King of Beasts (Scar from The Lion King), the Sea Witch (Ursula from The Little Mermaid), and the Queen of Hearts (from Alice in Wonderland).
“She prized discipline and order above all else,” Deuce concludes his explanation of Heartslabyul House’s inspiration. “If anyone broke the rules, it was off with their head.” Yuken doesn’t understand why Ace and Deuce seem so enamored with a queen who sounds like a tyrant to him. Yuken introduces himself and discovers that people in Twisted Wonderland have a hard time saying his name. “You can shorten it if you need to,” he offers. “Then I’ll call you Yu,” Ace declares, who asks if the fire monster has also been sentenced to scrubbing floors.
Speak of the devil, Grim (Noriaki Sugiyama/Ben Diskin) has snuck back onto campus, leaping onto Ace’s head in response to his mockery. “You won’t catch me doing any stupid chores,” the cat-like creature brags. Grim is mad that Yuken is still around, under the assumption that he’s hogging an enrollment spot that could be his. The creature begins to charge up a fireball, but Yuken treats his broom like a kendo shinai and uses it to pin Grim to the floor, grabbing him by the scruff and asking why Grim wants to be enrolled so badly. “I’m destined to become a great magician,” Grim explains, imagining himself as a powerful sorcerer. He shares that he’s been waiting his whole life for the black carriage to come for him, and he’s done waiting. He decided to take matters into his own paws this year. “I won’t give up,” Grim vows, and Yuken turns sympathetic towards him as he’s reminded of Koito’s determination. “I understand,” he tells Grim, who seems surprised by his sympathy.
Ace laughs at Grim’s ambition. Deuce tries to stop his housemate from being so rude to everyone, which causes them to argue. Ace starts to walk away to head to first period, but Grim wants to give Ace a little payback. He hurls a fireball in Ace’s direction, missing his target. Ace pulls out his wand and starts to use his wind magic. The dangerous combination of fire versus wind has significant consequences when the statue of the Queen of Hearts ignites in blue flames. Yuken grabs his bucket of water to put the fire out, but the statue is now charred.
Headmage Crowley heard the sound of fighting and rushed over. He screams when he sees the charred statue. “As of this moment, you three are expelled!” he yells at the boys, giving them until sundown to leave the campus. Deuce pleads with him to reconsider, offering to do anything to make this right. Crowley gets an idea, sharing that the ever-burning candles of the dining hall’s chandelier are powered by a dying magestone, which is rare and only found in the Enchanted Mine. “If I do not have the magestone in hand by tomorrow morning, you will all three be expelled.”
That night, Crowley summons Riddle Roseharts to the Headmage’s Office to tell him that Ace and Deuce are on the verge of expulsion if they can’t obtain a magestone in the Enchanted Mine. Riddle is furious with their behavior. He storms through the school’s halls after his meeting. “They must be sentenced!” he vows.
Yuken, Ace, and Duce walk through the forest toward the Enchanted Mine, unaware that they’re being followed by Grim. They pass a quaint cottage by a brook on their way to the mine’s entrance.
Inside the Enchanted Mine, we hear the sound of rubble falling. A shadow appears on the wall, carrying something that glows purple. “Mine,” the Blot Monster (Shōmaru Saza/Jon Olson) says. “It’s all mine…”
Bonus Short: Twisted Wonderland Mini Theater
Chibi versions of first-year students get settled into their dorms in this episode’s bonus short. At Heartslabyul House, Ace Trappola selfishly hogs his dorm, despite it having two beds. Deuce Spade enters, informing him that they’re to be roommates. As Ace rolls around on his bed laughing, Deuce asks Ace to respect his study time. Ace responds by throwing a pillow in Deuce’s face.
In Savanaclaw House, Jack Howl (Taito Saka/Kamran Nikhad) finds his dorm, disappointed that his weights aren’t there yet. Refusing to miss a workout day, he picks up his bed and uses it as a weight to do squats.
In Pomefiore House, Epel Felmier (Shimba Tsuchiya/Jesse Nowack) gets to his dorm, frustrated that Housewarden Vil Schoenheit grabbed his chin during the entrance ceremony, complaining that his head hurts. He opens a box of apples, chucking the fruit out until he finds what he’s really after, a bottle of apple juice, which he ungraciously chugs like a potion.
Lastly, in Diasomnia House, Sebek Zigvolt (Haruki Ishiya/Danny Kramer) furiously tries to find the perfect spot to hang a portrait of Housewarden Malleus Draconia in his dorm. Outside Diasomnia House, we see Malleus standing around, seemingly waiting for an invitation to something.
To be continued in Episode 3, streaming November 12th on Disney+ and Hulu.