Secrets of the Silent Witch

Episode 11

In my personal opinion, the worst thing a story can be is contrived—i.e., unrealistic to the point where it feels artificial, like it was forced into playing out in a certain way. It often feels like a story was designed backwards—as if the climax was created first and then the characters and events were tailor-made to make that scene come to fruition. This results in the cast acting decidedly out-of-character—or at least acting stupidly so that the intended result is achieved. In this episode of Secrets of the Silent Witch, we get a lesser version of contrived writing. While everyone acts within their established characters, everything plays out a bit too conveniently to maintain the suspension of disbelief.

Continuing from last week, Monica has found herself in a chess tournament representing both the student council and her school as a whole. There, she is reacquainted with Bernie, her former friend from magic school, whose ego couldn't take it when the “charity case” he favored had surpassed him. Despite her attempt to disguise herself, Bernie almost immediately sees through it and unleashes his pent-up impotent rage upon her—using her insecurities as his weapon.

On a character level, Bernie is a solid foil for Monica. As a kid who was constantly told he was special due to both his noble blood and magical talent, it makes sense for him to react as he has. His whole worldview was overturned along with his identity—and now he's clinging to the pieces. Of course, he lashes out and doesn't want to accept reality. That all works. What doesn't work is his character arc this episode.

Bernie starts the episode by verbally torturing Monica. Then Lana forces him to confront his own deeply held insecurity, while Monica leaves him feeling slighted by severing ties. From there, he plans his revenge but is forced to admit his inferiority to himself when faced with Monica's power. Finally, at peace with his own feelings, he decides to give up his perfect chance at revenge to protect her secret—giving her a peace offering in his own arrogant way.

The problem is not that all this happens—as I mentioned above, it all makes logical sense given his character. The problem is that all of this happens in one single episode. It's way too much too quickly. Not only does it blunt Bernie's emotional journey, as we have no time to reflect on his mental state each step before we move on to the next, but it also makes the story feel contrived.

Think about how many specific events had to happen within just a few hours on a single day for this episode to happen. It's coincidence after coincidence after coincidence. If Ryn hadn't been dispatched by Louis or Lana hadn't shown up while Bernie was confronting Monica—or if the assassin hadn't commented about not knowing who Professor Macragan was—Bernie's miraculous change of heart wouldn't have happened.

All in all, this is an episode where you can see the puppets' strings clearly—taking you right out of the story. It doesn't fully ruin the episode, but it does lessen the impact of what could have easily been a meaningful coming-of-age tale—and another powerful step on Monica's healing journey.

Rating:

Secrets of the Silent Witch is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

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Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.

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