Chise Hatori, a 15-year-old Japanese girl, was sold for five million pounds at an auction to a tall masked gentleman. Abandoned at a young age and ridiculed by her peers for her unconventional behavior, she was ready to give herself to any buyer if it meant having a place to go home to. In chains and on her way to an unknown fate, she hears whispers from robed men along her path, gossiping and complaining that such a buyer got his hands on a rare Sleigh Beggy.
Ignoring the murmurs, the mysterious man leads the girl to a study, where he reveals himself to be Elias Ainsworth—a magus. After a brief confrontation and a bit of teleportation magic, the two open their eyes to Elias' picturesque cottage in rural England. Greeted by fairies and surrounded by weird and wonderful beings upon her arrival, these events mark the beginning of Chise's story as the apprentice and supposed bride of the ancient magus.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
PaladinAlchemist
Like many others, I highly anticipated Mahoutsukai no Yome. Maybe that was my mistake, and I expected too much. But even anime that fail to live up to expectations usually fail them this hard. So where did things go wrong? The plot? The characters? The worldbuilding? All of the above? I’ll start with what I liked about Mahoutsukai no Yome. It’s beautiful. There were scenes that were, for a lack of a better word, magical. The soundtrack is also worth listening too. But despite having high production quality and a magical world to explore, Magus Bride falls flat thanks to its dull cast and lackof subtlety.
The side cast is composed of characters with similar “blandly nice” personalities with few exceptions. If you described these characters by personality alone, you wouldn’t be able to tell most of the cast apart.
Our heroine, Chise, isn’t much better, which is really a shame. The story about a young woman overcoming depression through love and exploring a magical realm has great potential, but this supposedly traumatized girl ends up swapping overly dramatic and intimate backstories with every person she meets. It happens too often, which, in addition to losing its effectiveness, also makes it hard to believe Chise struggled to connect with people prior to the story.
She also makes a poor first impression. In the first handful of episodes, the only action she takes is selling herself into slavery. She barely even walks on her own. I get that she’s depressed, but a character is supposed to entertain, not act like a living blob.
Once she finally shows interest into something other than the 400+-year-old man-child who bought her, she grows more interesting, but falls into the same “blandly nice” personality as the rest of the cast.
Elias, our hero, has a personality at least, but it’s not one I’m a fan of. He’s a man-child who throws a magical hissy fit the second Chise talks to someone he didn’t tell her to. While the show does call him out for some of his more possessive behavior, it often gets played off as humorous instead of dangerous.
The show’s premise doesn’t do Elias any favors. He starts the story buying an underage girl and calling her his bride. I get that Elias doesn’t quite understand the connotations of the word “bride,” but the mangaka does. That is the connection the writers wanted the audience to make.
While I think people often overreact to this, since the story seems aware of the problematic aspects of Chise’s and Elias’ relationship, it takes all the mystery out of their relationship. It frames everything they do automatically in a romantic light, rather than leaving room for mystery, magic, and interpretation.
This might not have bothered me except that the entire show does this. Everything is so blandly obvious it feels like the producers are holding up cue cards to the audience saying “cry now” or “find this magical” rather than subtly guiding the audience or letting them make up their own minds.
Every single episode has some grand moment where the music gets big and characters exchange tragic backstory and Chise has some “magical” moment of character progression and on and on. This is fine if done once or twice, but it’s done so often it feels hamfisted rather than genuine.
The show also seems addicted to cliff-hangers. Characters how up and threaten Chise, only to reveal themselves as good guys within a minute of the next episode. It gets old quick and makes you wonder why these supposedly nice people wanted to come across as creepy kidnappers during their first impression.
I really wanted to like this show, but it lacks the magic similar shows like Natsume Yuujinchou and Mushishi mastered. In the end, when you look beyond the exceptional backdrops, stunning soundtrack, and excellent production, there’s just not much there.
Stark700
Opening a book and reading word by word is simple. Jumping into a story becoming part of its world while being enveloped by its ideas is a whole different experience. Mahoutsukai no Yome (The Ancient Magus Bride) has a way that make us see through its world, characters, and story. If you fancy yourself for a creative fantasy experience that blends between the lines of fiction and reality, then you came to the right place. An anime adaptation of Mahoutsukai no Yome is pretty inevitable in the eyes of many fans who are familiar with the author’s work. Ever since we got the 3-episode prologue OVAs,a full TV anime adaptation would bring in fans hunger for more. This TV anime adaptation focuses directly on the manga as it chronicles the life of Chise Hatori and guide the viewer through her experience. The life she once knew changed forever after meeting Elias Ainsworth, a supernatural being with traits of fae and humanity.
Jumping straight into this TV anime shouldn’t be a problem even if it’s the first time you’ve ever heard of this show before. The first few episodes successfully introduces the story along with a beautiful imaginative world. It shouldn’t take long for viewers to begin and understand the type of person Chise is. To describe her, Chise can sometimes be a normal teenage girl while other times feel like she’s not. She’s been through a lot in her life before meeting Elias and many events influenced her to develop a more subservient personality. She can also be a bit of socially awkward but if you look beyond that, Chise is really a person with strong heart and will to change people. Throughout the show, she changes herself too after meeting certain characters and experiencing a new life she’s never began to imagine before.
That brings in Elias, a supernatural being with mysterious origins. In the beginning of the show, he became Chise’s master after buying her at an auction event. Now you’re probably thinking…is this going to be a show about a master and a slave type of relationship? The answer is far from it as we see the depth of their relationship development. Despite being a supernatural being and not understanding humans, Elias develops genuine feelings of care for Chise while displaying human behavior. On the other hand, Chise begins to grow more confident of herself and accepting her role as an apprentice mage. Throughout the show, we can see how much she grows from an average teenage girl to a strong and dedicated woman. The loyalty she displays for Elias and her friends is admirable and throughout her experience as a mage, she learns much more about them and their world. This is what really gave me a favorable impression of the show. It’s how characters change and able to influence others while we understand them. In many ways, the story feels very human for the main characters. Teenage girls at her age tend to change a lot and whether it’s a good or bad thing can be a controversial topic. However, Chise’s change is displayed in ways that I can’t help but find inspiring. The show crafts her character from the beginning and capitalizes on her every action without wasting any time. Whether it’s meeting new people/supernatural beings, experimenting with magic, or battling her personal demons, she’s a character that you can’t turn a blind eye to.
Of course, this show isn’t just about Chise and Elias. While they are the main stars, Mahoutsukai no Yome does a lot to make the viewers get invested into its story. One of the first things people will find curious is the world setting. While there’s the modern setting of urban cities and streets, there’s also magic and a world with otherworldly creatures. Dragons, faeries, goddesses, and will-o’the-wisps are just a few to name. Possibly inspired by English, Scottish, or other European lore, it shouldn’t take long for viewers to recognize some of them. Furthermore, the show displays a wealth of magic with the many effects they can bring. It’s also interesting to note that magic in this show is considered a power that’s neither good nor evil. It’s used as a power that can have consequences or can really make a difference. At its most apex, magic can be extremely impactful that it can affect the story and change people in ways they can’t even begin to imagine.
Making a show like this takes a lot of risk too. Characters would have to at least make an impression that give viewers something to remember by. I can’t say this for all the characters but there’s definitely a list of them that people should take notice. These range from Chise’s familiar Roth to the beautiful vampire faerie, Leanan Sidhe. Chise encounters them in the story and makes her realize certain aspects about herself. However, there are also others such as Cartaphilius (Joseph) who can really bring out a side from Chise that she hopes others won’t ever have to see. The psychology and character chemistry between the cast isn’t just impactful but also characterizes their personalities. While there are probably some characters that will be more forgettable compared to others, the show still gets its priorities right to give viewers something to talk about.
As serious as this show may seem, it still balances between its light comedy at times so it isn’t just a moody story. When business picks up, you’ll realize how the author wants to make you feel. Other times, I feel like this anime really did a great job at capitalizing most of its ideas. As a manga adaptation, the show is mostly faithful at capturing the story without delaying or accelerating its plot. In fact, I think some scenes adapted from the manga looked even more impressive in the anime thanks to the modern talent of Norihiro Naganuma. Just be aware that the manga is still ongoing and with 24 episodes, it was inevitable that the anime would still leave out what’s ahead.
Adapted by Wit Studio, it feels like this show is a work of art. I don’t mean the type that you can see at some art gallery but more as a world that you can enjoy freely with an open mind. The beautiful world consists of many elements from modern fantasy such as enchanted forests, land of dragons, and to a more civilized city. Visual quality exceeded my expectations as there were no episodes that I found lazily made or sloppily animated. The character designs also takes time to accept but is creatively crafted. The most noticeable character to land eyes on is Elias. He has no human characteristics and looks like a creature you’d imagine from some dark fantasy. Other creatures in the show may look more familiar but fulfills its fantasy expectations. Adapted from the manga, they consist of characteristics that is incredibly faithful. Oddly enough, Chise is possibly the most normal looking character despite being a bit of an oddball. With her signature red hair, green coat, and necklace, she’s definitely the type of the character you can easily accept.
Matching its artistic elements, the soundtrack also brings in great value such as the OST and theme songs. The first OP song “Here” by JUUNA is masterfully crafted to showcase the potential of the show with its style. Similarly, both the ED theme songs capitalized on its fantasy setting. Unfortunately, the second OP song dropped the ball and didn’t manage to hold a candle compared to the first with reused footage. However, the OST manages to fully capture the thrilling feel of this adaptation. Some scenes adapted straight out of the manga is what I had pictured would be and with the music, it made it that much more alive. Character voice mannerism is also easy to take notice with characters such as Elias, Cartaphilius, Titania, and among others.
Every book has its meaning and intentions. For a show like Mahoutsukai no Yome, jumping into the story and world is like reading the text and realizing what the author wants us to know. Throughout watching this anime, I learned a lot about the characters and what it means for someone like Chise to experience her new life. The world setting remained committed to its premise while avoiding the mistakes of going overboard. While I can’t say this anime is for everyone, it definitely manages to elevate the heights of a fantasy tale.
Nekyia
The most disappointing anime I've watched this season. I've tried very hard to like this show but it did so many things wrong and honestly I don't understand the high score it has right now. If you're looking for something good just watch the OVAs. Trying to be short, the show is a mess. Most of the episodes in the beginning was the same rinse and repeat Chise getting into trouble. Later on It feels like whoever wrote just thought of half interesting scenarios to put their MCs in. The way they introduce characters for half of them to never appear again really seems like they picked randomstories out of a jar and decided to go from there.
Even their attempts at comedy with the characters having cute faces weren't funny.
Also Chise and Elias they themselves being quite uninteresting despite their really nice character designs. They are supposed to be teacher/student, Chise being the "human teacher" and Elias being the "magic teacher". Except they barely teach each other anything, most of the time it's Chises actions that indirectly affects Elias. The story is all over the place not leaving enough room to see them together just learning.
Honestly if the show didn't have it's great animation and decent soundtrack it'd actually be worthless.
TakaCode
“I don’t care if he thinks of me as a toy, and throws me out when he’s bored. It’s because he… even though it was only one time, said to me that I am his family.” Chise Hatori. The fall 17 anime season was a very interesting season for anime as we got a lot of shows that were actually good for the most part. Sure it that season had it stinkers like Ousama Game The Animation and Juuni Taisen but what am trying to say is that Fall 17 anime season reminded me how great the Fall 14 anime season was in terms of shows.However out of all the shows from the Fall 17 there was one show in particular that I had eyes ever since I watched the trailer it and that anime is Mahoutsukai No Yome or The Ancient Magus’ Bride in English.
When the first episode came out I watched it and while I liked it I thought the show was missing something in particular. After that I decided to watch the prequel OVAs and I loved it because not it was a lovely OVAs series but it I found that the TV was missing and it was Chise’s past aka her early life where it showcases how Chise became the person that she was in episode 1 of the TV series. Soon after I decided to watch Magus Bride weekly subbed along with some episodes dubbed and after watching all 24 episodes of Magus Bride I have to say this. The Ancient Magus Bride is not only one of the best animes to come out in the last 3 years but the show quickly became one of my all-time favourite’s animes.
So what made this anime so special?
You will soon find out.
Story.
The story of Ancient Magus Bride follows a girl named Chise who sold herself into slavery due to her not feeling wanted by her relatives. When all hope was almost lost a tall masked gentleman named Elias Ainsworth bids 5 million for the girl and outbids every other bidder in the room. Soon after Elias wins bid he takes Chise to her new home in rural England where she can begin her new life as an apprentice and future wife for Elias.
The story of The Ancient Magus Bride is absolutely brilliant in every way possible.
It's one of the best comings of stories I have ever seen period. It's was very well told, it perfectly showcased the rise of fall of Chise life in the new world as an apprentice and her journey from start to finish was very satisfying to watch as she's stars to find value in her new world and her own life.
Ancient Magus Bride is absolutely fantastic at presenting its world. Everything in its world feel alive has a purpose and it repents London perfectly. After experiencing the same old, boring JRPG, MMO fantasy setting that we all have seen before. The world for The Ancient Magus Bride feels like a breath of fresh air. If you though the Ancient Magus Bride is great at establishing its world than the worldbuilding is fantastic as it gives amazing attention to detail has been put to this setting from the food that they eat which is very British, the creatures races, the train sets from the First Great Western train to even the station itself that represents London Paddington Station. I know am diving in too about detail but it's these small that make the world of Ancient Magus Bride real and unique. I don't want to see an anime where for example having a British setting with anBritish cottage and some dude giving out Udon instead of Fish and Chips.
The small things in this show can mean a lot for your setting because it can give the setting more meaning compare to many throwaway Isekai shows like In Another World With My Smartphone and Knight’s & Magic. As a Londoner I was glad that the show managed to treat the city with London and the country of English with respect.
The pacing in this show is brilliant. Sure it may be too slow for some but keep in mind that this is a coming of age story where shows like this like to take time to establish the world, setting, themes and characters in a great and mature way. If only I can say the same thing to a certain shounen anime from the fall 17 done byStudioPierrot but we will get to that certain show another time.
Anyway, the show knows how to pace itself well to a point where the viewer can got invested with all the events that the show has to offer.
The first half of The Ancient Magus Bride is mostly a well-told collection of stories that meant to the new world that Chise is currently living as well as establishing the characters and Chise eventually growth. The second half, on the other hand, is more serious and darker especially the last four episodes where the show does a complete 180 with its tone. The first half and the prequel OVAs may have some dark moments but they are tamed when compare to these episodes where literally shit got real pretty fast. Both half’s were great but I personally preferred the second half overall due to it being more darker natured as well new themes and topics that completely changed the tone of the series not to mention some of the themes that were explored in the first half now have a darker edge to them. Speaking of themes let’s talk about quickly go through some of some of them now
One thing that I adore about The Ancient Magus Bride is the theme and messages.
Themes of hope, fate, rebirth, living, and especially love were well explored to where some of those themes link well with each other for example in episode 3 Chise visits a dragon who is ready to pass away.
Another thing that I love about themes in this show is how it showcases the downfall of characters where they don’t fully understand love, value and life. Two great examples of this are fully showcased in episode 21, 22 and 23 which I won’t mention due to spoilers. This show also does a great job tacking serious topics such like being curse where there’s nothing you can do about it and you can’t simply remove the curse that is inside you even if you decide to cut your legs or arms off.
The last thing that I want to talk about this the pedophilia controversy with Chise and Elias. Guys there is no pedophilia in this show plus the creators never even tried to glamorize pedophilia. If you watch an anime that features a lot of pedophilia that also features incest go watch Eromanga Sensei and enjoy the pedophilia as its glory as well being on the FBI watchlist.
Am sorry I had to bring this up because shit like that always infuriates me.
Overall the story of The Ancient Magus Bride was fantastic. It’s was well told, well-paced, it established its setting perfectly and the themes and messages were well handled and treated with respect
10/10
Characters.
Like with the story the charterers are brilliant as well-being likeable and well written.
I start with the main female protagonist Chise who is one of easily one of the best female leads I have seen in any anime. I honestly love this character from start to finish. She may appear to be a bit dull character at first but as the series progresses she greatly grows as a character that you can sympathise with.
Also, the one thing you should keep in mind is Chise is a tragic character where after the events of the prequel OVAs before episode 1 she was suffering from depression to a point where she sold herself to slavery.
Seeing Chise grow as a character was a great experience as she was very determined to keep on living.
Elias is also a great character. Just like Chise he’s is a flawed character where he doesn’t know the true meaning of love but as the series goes one he learns more about love and how it can it affect others. Like with Chise as the series goes on he quickly became a great and loveable character on his own right.
The rest of the characters were pretty great and enjoyable to watch as well severing they propose of the story very well.
Overall the characters in Ancient Magus Bride were brilliant and enjoyable from start to finish.
10/10
Visuals.
Where do I begin with visuals because this show visually is an utter masterpiece?
WIZ Studio did an awesome job with the production side of the show
The characters designs are amazing and well detailed and on top of that use of colour palates for the character designs is splendid and it makes the world even more presentable.
The camerawork in this show is brilliant. Everything from the basic mid shot, close up shots, wide to the establishing shots. Plus the contrast and lighting in the show were amazing.
The actual animation is top notch. It flowed well as being very consistent throughout its run.
One thing that I adore about the visuals is that is almost identical to the Prequel OVAs because usually, the TV series would be inferior compared to their ova counterpart but I was surprised of how great the TV series compare to the OVAs prequels.
The last thing I want to mention is the Chise Phoenix Segment from episode 12. That segment was honestly beautiful as it was very well animated and it perfectly symbolized Chise growth as a character as she now been reborn in her new world.
Overall The Ancient Magus Brides is a visual masterpiece of art.
10/10
Sound.
The soundtrack for The Ancient Magus is absolutely beautiful. This is one of the few shows where every single track and I mean every single track in the show was amazing and fits with the tone of this series.
My favorite track from the soundtrack is the one played in episode 3 Liberoara. As soon as that track/insert song I started to tear up because we the audience such as myself were about to witness an end to a life of an ancient dragon.
The first opening Here by JUNNA is a fantastic opening theme that perfectly fits with the first half of the show. Not to mention is catchy as hell.
While the first opening theme was fantastic the second opening on the other hand was pretty underwhelming at best. Not only the song itself did not fit well with the nature of the second half but visuals were terribly placed and timed. The final nail in the coffin that it literally feels like a badly made AMV where you can literally make it on Sony Vegas Pro or even PlayStation 4 Share Factory
If you hear the second opening theme do yourself a favor and skip it at all cost because it’s honestly not worth it.
On the other hand both ending themes Wa –Cycel by Hana Itoki and Tsuki no mou Hanbun by Aiki and Akino were equally good in they own rights.
Now for dub vs sub.
To be honest they are both amazing on they own rights but I personally prefer the dub overall.
For her first role as the main character, Dani Chambers did a fantastic job at voicing Chise as she has a lot of subtlety and personality to her voice. She's easily the best performance of the dub overall.
Brian Mathis is great as Elias as he able to sound like ancient magician perfectly despite Elias being unable to show expressions as he has no proper face.
9/10 one point taking off due to the terrible made 2nd opening.
Final Thoughts.
What a wonderful series. I was honestly shocked at how amazing this series was from start to finish.
The story was wonderful and well told. The pacing was brilliant, the themes and messages beautifully executed. The characters were all great and very enjoyable to watch. The visuals were outstanding and to top it all up the soundtrack and voice acting for both languages were top notch. The only bad thing about the show overall was the second opening theme with was unfortunately pretty bad and should be skipped but that didn’t ruin the show for me that much. It just didn’t work. Besides that this show is a masterpiece that should not be missed by anyone.
On my Little Witch Academia TV review I mentioned that it was my favorite anime of 2017 well after watching all 24 episodes of The Ancient Magus Bride it now completely stole that spot of favorite anime of 2017 and pushed that anime to 2nd place.
This show represents everything that I love about anime.
When this show gets a collector’s edition on Blu-Ray I will definitely buy this masterpiece so I can experience it again.
With all said The Ancient Magus Bride is not only one of the best anime to come out from this decade but it's one of my favorite’s anime series.
If you haven't seen this series please go watch it on Funmation as well being the Blu-Rays once they come out.
You won’t regret it.
Final Score 9.5/10
juneboba
2023 update: my rating still stands but i've cracked it. i know why this is so popular. it's today's twilight set in a more fantastical regency(?) era. that's literally it. i know i mentioned it in this review 3 years ago, but i'm reminded that that's the only way anyone liking this series makes sense to me. also STOP comparing this to studio ghibli. there's no glorified human trafficking, there's no romanticized abuse, and there's no pedophilia...like the bar is in hell guys c'mon. I HAAAATE the Studio Ghibli comparisons because this doesn't even come close. There could've been so much to love about Ancient Magus'Bride but their entire relationship is predicated on:
1) an older non-human man buying a 15-year-old girl at an auction (in other words, human trafficking),
2) calling her dehumanizing things like “puppy” right after she was sold, lording it over her that she's "expensive," and every character acknowledging she’s a “child” (especially him),
3) invading her privacy and trying to touch and bathe her without her permission (he understood that what he was doing to a child was morally reprehensible as indicated by Angelica),
4) telling her she has no choice in matters but is “free to reconsider”,
5) calling him his bride, and
6) her being a FIFTEEN YEAR OLD CHILD goddammit (pedophilia).
[insert pic of SNL title card reading: "tonight's episode: the writer's barely-disguised fetish"]
Chise and Elias could have been terrific characters in their own right but their relationship is marred by poor choices and bad writing. So many things Elias said reeked of things predators actually say to their victims and romanticizing the abuse gives me the ick. He even admits outright that he's grooming Chise and "raising" her to be his perfect bride. Yamazaki didn't need to make it so that the characters meet via human trafficking and to continue the narrative that a man "saved" Chise—just glossing over the fact that they romanticized human trafficking is gross.
I can't imagine reading this series without watching the "Those Awaiting a Star" OVA because Chise is even more watered down and underdeveloped as a character. She always looks like she's dead inside, even when she's smiling. Considering everything that's happened to her, I don't blame her but it's depressing and constantly reminds me that there's nothing good about being with Elias. Other characters would talk about how special she is because she's a rare, glass cannon mage. However, I never felt her importance come to light. Not to say Chise's experiences are invalid, but she's a child witnessing horrifying things and I felt squicky as an adult reading it. She also doesn't have a personality outside of being a powerful mage. Things are always happening around her or to her and she was just moving with decisions people made for her. Again, she's a traumatized child but these qualities don't help with Ancient Magus' Bride's lack of entertainment value and overall "ick"-ness.
Ancient Magus' Bride reminds me of the Twilight series. Chise is Bella Swan. She's a child who is loyal to an old monster dude who has no respect for her, she suffers from Same Face Syndrome, and everybody immediately loves her despite having no personality. Elias is Edward Cullen. It's his way or the highway and everybody has to bend over backwards to cater to him otherwise he literally becomes a violent monster. Chise made friends with another child 3 years younger than she, and he got jealous that her attention wasn't on him for a day. She returned that same evening, he ran away when she arrived, Chise ran after him, and he TRIED TO CONSUME HER by constricting her entire body to the point where she was almost lifeless. He says he "can't control himself" and warned her that he is likely to cause Chise more physical harm like HUH????? 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 Elias is abusive and possessive. Much like Bella, Chise sticks around anyway. Another jarring thing is that he's surprised by mundane human interactions despite living among humans for more than a century. Also like Twilight, every supporting character is more interesting than the main characters. They're complex, they're mysterious, they're charming, and they have a tapestry of history that is engaging. The amount of similarities between Ancient Magus' Bride and Twilight is comical. I'm convinced this is Twilight fanfiction.
It's such a shame because the art is beautiful and I personally have a weakness for jersey devil skull monsters. That's the only reason Ancient Magus Bride even has a star. Aside from the poor writing, I'm sick and tired of the stupid anime tropes that keep popping up in manga and anime. Editors need to do better about their creators and keeping their creepy lolicon fetishes in check. I would rather support projects with mangaka who aren’t afraid to create protagonists older than 30—or even 20 (like Wotakoi)—instead of children whose lack of world experience is taken advantage of by predatory adults. Pass.
RiverRode
There was a lot of hype leading up to the Ancient Magus Bride. Its first three episodes were shown in theaters months before it began to air, and critics and the masses alike were declaring it the best thing ever. In a lot of ways, it lived up to all of that hype. However, I think all of that glowing praise is overshadowing some actual issues with this adaptation. Before going into the story, I’d like to quickly run down the structure of the narrative. Magus Bride is a slow-paced and contemplative journey, and that’s not for everyone. Several friends of mine dropped it about athird of the way through simply because they didn’t feel any drive to see it through, which was exacerbated by a reliance on cheap cliffhangers. But if you’re willing to give the story time to unfold, it does have interesting ideas to explore. Now, into the story:
Magus Bride invites its audience to a world of magic in which dragons and fairies are commonplace. But despite its grand fantastic setting, the focus of its narrative is on the grounded and personal story of its protagonist Chise. To put it lightly, Chise begins the series in a dark place, and believes that she is worthless and no one would care if she died. Much of the show is dedicated to characters exploring their attitudes towards death; every person Chise meets helps to shape her perspective towards life, and these encounters change her as a person.
Chise develops a lot over the course of the series, and it’s not always for the better. Something that’s often ignored in fiction is that change isn’t always exclusively positive or negative, and Magus Bride handles this well. At one point, Chise decides that her life only has value on the condition that she can be useful to others, which leads to her becoming the needlessly self-sacrificing protagonist that we often see in anime. This particular plot point was kind of a weak point for me – most often the results of her self-martyring were that she would just be unconscious for a few days and then have no lasting damage. Still, it was interesting to see how Chise changes over time, and how this affected her interactions with those around her.
Chise’s growth is best shown through the evolution of her dynamic with the other lead Elias. At the onset of the story, the two of them are teacher and student, but over the course of events, Chise comes to realize that Elias isn’t the all-knowing figure she had taken him for, and that he has at least as much to learn from her as she has to learn from him. They spend a period of codependency, though Chise’s emotional growth leads to her trying to form meaningful relationships with other people, while Elias becomes increasingly dependent and obsessive. Chise’s relationship with Elias may be what starts her on her path at the beginning, but it’s also an unhealthy relationship that needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. This was another shortcoming – Elias does some genuinely terrible things which are downplayed by the narrative. Chise tries to see the best in everyone she encounters over her journey, including its villains, but it would have been nice if this nuance had extended a bit further into exploring the dark sides of its heroes.
But while the story itself is interesting, the visual presentation of it is lacking. The character designs are elaborate, but the models decline over the run of the show. There are also comedic aside scenes where the characters are chibified, and these detract from the narrative and disrupt its tone. One of the most disappointing things is that the second opening is composed almost entirely out of big scenes from the first half. None of the visuals are terribly bad, but they don’t really live up to the rest of the show. Everything is fine, but the attempts at spectacle don’t always land. Animation could have been used to accomplish things that wouldn’t have been possible in the manga, but instead this adaptation plays it safe and doesn’t add anything new to the story.
The audio makes more of an effort to go beyond the source material. Some sound effects are exaggerated for emphasis, which is a small but effective detail. On the larger scale, there are insert songs added to climactic scenes, which are sometimes effective but more often feel forceful and try to imbue drama into a scene that isn’t there. They’ll make scenes feel too drawn out, or they’ll go into the territory of melodrama. Other than that, the audio is unremarkable. The voice work and opening and ending themes are perfectly fine, though nothing exceptional.
What is the purpose of adaptation? If it is simply to increase awareness of the source material, then this anime was a resounding success. But I believe that an adaptation should try to elevate itself above its inspiration; it’s a different medium, and it should play to its unique strengths. In this regard, the anime adaptation is a failure. Everything that I enjoyed about this would still be present in the manga, and a lot of the things I disliked would then be absent. I think Magus Bride is a really interesting story, but I don’t think that this anime is the way to enjoy it.
ThatAnimeSnobRE
When the anime began airing, the community was split in half. There were those who were amazing with the fantastical world and the premise of an emotionally damaged female protagonist being given a second chance in life. And then there were those who 5 minutes into the opening scene of the OVAs had ‘nope’d out. It was another pro-slavery series where it’s fine to own slaves if you treat them well. This sick power fantasy that is mostly encountered in bottom of the barrel stories (which so happen to be mostly isekai) is enough to alienate all those who are not willing to see pastit. And you can’t blame them, since there truly isn’t such a thing as good slavery. You either own slaves or you don’t. However you treat them does not change the fact you own them, they are in dept to you, and you are allowed to do anything you like to them. In most cases, it’s okay to marry them. And look at the title. Oh my, it’s literally a magus buying a slave to be his wife. How do you excuse this?
You ignore it. It’s as simple as that. You pretend it’s not there and you proceed to enjoy whatever else the show is offering. Pretty sceneries, a fantasy realm, and a frail protagonist that is slowly exploring it. Here lies the second turn-off point that halves the audience for a second time. Those who are content with a very simple slice of life in a magical realm type of story will find it very good. Those who want something other than that will be bored out of their minds, for there is nothing much going on in terms of plot. Yes, the heroine is exploring the fantasy realm, but that is more of a simple excuse to have world building. There is no real objective since it’s just whatever magical thing she encounters on an almost episodic fashion and what she learns about that something, often through infodumps by the magus or one of his associates. She otherwise has no agency or urgency over what is going on around her. Because she is a slave, bought to be the magus wife. You see how the same problem keeps appearing?
That aside, the show doesn’t really do much with its own premise, which is not ‘the daily life of my future slave wife’. It was a tortured girl getting to live with a tortured magician, both of which had felt alienation. They were supposed to help each other overcome their emotional baggage by one offering what the other lacked. This doesn’t go anywhere. In fact, it’s almost forgotten and all you are left with is a no-stakes tour around the magical land of the magus. Which can be pretty to look at and learn more about if that is all you expect, but lacks any real meaning and it certainly is not what the premise promised the viewer. There is no danger, no stakes, no worry about the characters failing and ruining everything they were trying to achieve. The protagonist often comes off as a Mary Sue with a super magical ability that fixes everything right away and with no real effort. If that doesn’t work from time to time, then the magus will be the one who jumps in to deflate the tension with his own super hax magic. The show is constantly assuring you there is never going to be something terribly bad in their lives or that they will ever going to mature through their mistake and struggles. Because they never have to struggle; it’s a show you are watching to relax. Assuming you can remain relaxed while knowing the heroine is a slave who was bought to be someone’s wife.
Thus, as a whole, this anime is vapid air. It doesn’t give you what it promises, it doesn’t build on what its premise was implying, and it promotes slavery as fine if you treat your slaves nicely. Before you marry them.
JPKalauer
Based on the premise and quality of the art and animation, I really wanted to like this show. But even in just the prequel OVAs, there were some warning flags I really should have paid attention to, because they forecasted the subtext of the rest of the series pretty well. In the fewest words possible, Ancient Magus' Bride is a quintessential girls' escapist fantasy. In a sense, it's a bit like Sword Art Online in that it knows its target audience very well, and feeds them exactly what they want to see. In the case of Ancient Magus' Bride, this generally revolves around "a unique powerthat makes you misunderstood and miserable", "a male benefactor who accepts and loves you for who you are", and "sacrificing your health, happiness, and well-being for the greater good makes people love and admire you".
I had a very difficult time just watching this show and accepting it for what it is, getting way too stuck on the tropes to enjoy the story it was trying to tell or the characters it was trying to develop. Whenever I was able to look past the patterns and just enjoy it for what it is, it was a perfectly okay time with hard-to-follow, magically-themed stories of some intensity, charming-if-cliche characters in Chise and Elias as they experience this weird quasi-marital relationship, and generally beautiful art.
CodeBlazeFate
Life is a wonderful, horrible, fascinating, disturbing, and complicated concept to experience. The idea of existing is fascinating, as you get to have experiences that leave memories that you take with you and leave behind as you live your days in your world. No matter what twisted and painful situations occur in someone’s life, the idea of happiness, and memories worth cherishing, is nigh-universal. Everyone wants to have happy memories before they die. Death is a sad, chilling reality we must face, so we must cherish the life we have as much as we can, with people who will make us feel happy about living andhaving them in our lives.
Mahoutsukai no Yome serves as a brilliant reminder of this, with death looming as an intense shadow over everyone, characters whose lives were so devoid of meaning or love until they found someone who showed them any semblance of warmth that made them depend on said person and find meaning in their own life, and a world and atmosphere that is otherwise fascinating and majestic. It truly shows off a sense of life not many shows nowadays can, and in many ways, acts like a puzzle, slowly piecing itself together. Despite minor logical errors such as walking on water with nothing supernatural to back that up given the fantasy world (among other things that require explanation), Mahoutsukai as a fantasy, is leaps and bounds above its modern contemporaries, ignoring the occasionally photorealistic-esque CGI flowers and grass, and how the visuals for both openings largely consist of footage from the show itself.
Bit by bit, with each passing episode, we learn more and more about Mahoutsukai’s world, its creatures, magic, rules, and civilizations. The creatures we learn about have lovely, inviting designs that make you want to leap into the screen and explore nature to interact with them. We constantly learn about these fictional cultures and how they “interact” with each other and human societies. Not revelation about magic and this world feels believable, but most of them do. To have such large discoveries consistently make sense and feel even remotely like a powerful revelation, is a testament to the fantastic world-building this series showcases, as it is easily the show’s crowning aspect, partially thanks to WIT Studio, and partially thanks to the original mangaka's writing.
Revelations about Elias, other major recurring characters such as the show’s first antagonist, and about characters with their own stories to tell in miniature arcs, and even Chise herself, are all methodical and placed in such a way where they feel like a major highlight of any given episode. Given that you get one in every episode, sometimes upwards to three, it can be a nigh-overwhelming experience at times, if the emotional climaxes to many of these miniscule arcs fail to bring you to your knees as is. At least, that’s the idea, for you see, the series can feel quite droll at times, and the occasionally jarring and unwarranted comedy does not help with that. The color pallete getting dreary to the point of mandating a monumental shift in brightness settings only adds to the occasional mundanity of this series, to the point where some revelations and episode-defining moments fail to be as earth-shattering as others. Thankfully, the humor can still land fairly well when inserted properly, the atmosphere is often wonderful, and the emotional and chilling moments shine intensely at conveying their mood.
A majority of the characters are perfectly fine as they are, with their own emotional arcs that Chise wanders through and helps resolve, with some humorous banter and sweet moments to boot, even if they aren’t necessarily too entertaining. However, Chise, an emotionally detached person desperately looking for some real meaning and warmth in her life, is one of the more compelling protagonists of the year. On top of that, Elias is interesting to see get pieced together as distrust looms stronger in the air by the episode. It is nice seeing their relationship develop, and especially how Chise develops as a person. Additionally, Silky is the most precious thing and Ruth, while arguably the weakest of the main tetrad, is still an entertaining character to have around. The main antagonist, Cartaphilus, can be rather unnerving, with how childishly detached he is, how nonchalant he is about using and killing people, how he constantly questions himself abruptly, and how his body is merely a husk that can be destroyed and replaced casually. On top of what we learn about him, he’s utterly disconcerting to watch, intentionally so; he is easily one of the best villains of these past years. Other characters such as Lindel are fine too, though sometimes no one is truly enough to sustain a truly compelling viewing experience, notably in the second quarter of the show. Additionally, the best episodes of the early are the ones that really bring out the most of life and death, and/or reach for those delicate heartstrings, such as episodes 3 and 5, while after somewhat of a slump in the second quarter, the show truly picks up back to the best of what it was before.
Some of the music has been largely carried over from the OVA, namely some of the more melodic, instrumental pieces. Thankfully, there are a variety of new, often emotional tracks added to the mix. There are some nice vocal tracks as well that play in the midst of emotional moments (such as Kimi no Yuke), even if they never get played again. Both Openings, "Here" by JUNNA (OP 1), and "You" by May'n (OP 2), are rather memorable for different reasons, for better or worse. The former is a nice song that truly captures the feel of the song, with instruments like the spanish guitar being used to excellent effect and the vocals by JUNNA being wonderful. The latter feels like it stumbled into this show by mistake and the animators tried to dress it up as much as possible. On top of being the weakest May’n song I’ve heard, it just doesn’t fit; they should have used the former song for all 24 episodes. ED 1, "Wa -cycle- (環-cycle-)" by Hana Itoki (糸奇はな), is irritating to listen to thanks to the way the wind instruments are used, particularly in the beginning; even afterwards, the song isn’t memorable. ED 2, "Tsuki no mou Hanbun (月のもう半分)" by AIKI & AKINO from bless4, is a vast improvement, being a slow buildup to a wonderfully emotional and fitting climax that pays off brilliantly. It is one of the few good ending themes of the season.
Ultimately, while not as magical as anticipated, Mahoutsukai no Yome is a charming, calming, and occasionally sweet and somber series, showing some of the wonders in life, with the shadow of death ever so ubiquitous. It is certainly one of the better anime out there nowadays, especially for the anime fantasy genre. It can certainly be understood why so many have been enchanted to such a spell-binding series, even if it feels a bit withered in places. With all that said, as always, I bid you adieu.
AmishaelMA
I’d call Mahoutsukai no Yome a very wholesome anime. It contains loads of different genres that are normally incompatible, but here are all beautifully melded together to create a work of art. There are aspects of drama, horror, comedy, slice-of-life, adventure, and even romance. And of course, it’s set in a fantasy world. It has a unique pace; sometimes large amounts of screen-time are dedicated to small details and sometimes the anime will almost disjointedly jump from one scene to another. This can be quite disconcerting and takes some getting used to. However it is resolved several episodes in, and the anime begins to feel muchmore like a proper story. Or maybe you do just get used to it after a while. In any case, the second half of the series reveals the actual plot, and from there on the anime changes and becomes more focussed story-wise instead of staying events and environment based. I do also think the quality of the anime improves enormously from this point on.
The majority of the first cour is essentially what I’d call standalone episodes, you don’t generally need to have seen the previous one to understand. Chise is introduced to various characters and magical creatures, and helps them out of difficulties whilst simultaneously bonding with Elias. The fantasy world is explored minimally; information is provided on a need-to-know basis and exposition is scarce. Rather than being a source of frustration, this actually adds to the sense of mystery. It’s a bit like the Harry Potter Universe, so much remained unexplained even at the end but that just made it more intriguing.
The second half deals much more with the main antagonist. The anime delves into backstories in depth, explores the meaning of relationships and dependency, and brings a lot of the seemingly unconnected elements in the first half together. There are a lot more emotional moments and a lot more action scenes, leading up to a thrilling climax that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Not exactly what you’d expect given the tranquillity of the first half.
The art and animation are breath-taking. The scenery is stunning, the character’s faces show their emotions brilliantly (except for Elias, obviously), and the chibi moments are quite cute and add a sense of light-heartedness.
The music is absolutely phenomenal. All of it. The openings, endings, OSTs were all literally music to my ears. The first opening theme (as well as being one of the best I’ve ever heard), perfectly encapsulates the tone of the series.
But the characters are where it really gets interesting. Both the MCs actually grow massively throughout the series. Chise changes from a listless, withdrawn individual into a person who’s not afraid to speak her mind and will go to any lengths to help a friend. Elias develops from a stone-hearted and lonely individual into a being who starts to realise what kindness, friendship and selflessness actually are. Both of them still have a long way to go – Elias has only just begun to understand emotions after all – but watching such brilliant character development is immensely satisfying.
It’s done realistically too. Neither of them change overnight, they clearly grow as a result of the challenges they struggle through. Painful backstories, dependency, loss and betrayal; each of these things leaves an impact. Chise, in particular, agonises over some aspects of her life but eventually makes the decision to either accept them or change them. Others help show her the way, but she ultimately decides for herself.
The majority of the supporting characters are memorable and a fair amount of them also have a good level of development. Insights into Lindel’s, Silky’s and of course Ruth’s pasts bring a lot more depth to them. Cartaphilus’ backstory and subsequent actions after it was revealed managed to completely alter my opinion of him (and secured him a place in my list of famed villains), and characters like Oberon and Titania were just enjoyable to watch. I couldn’t help feeling excited every time I saw them pop up (whether they were bringing bad news or good).
Now to open up the can of worms.
As for the complaints that this glorifies human trafficking – I guess I can see why people think that way, even if I personally don’t. But if all human trafficking worked like this – ‘victim’ gets taken by their own choice, given good food, a warm place to stay with their own room and their own space when they need it, a loyal companion who cares about them, the opportunity to study and practice medicine and magic from a brilliant teacher, and the ability to leave and go off by themselves if they actually wanted to badly enough, I think the world would be a much better place. This is nothing like actual human trafficking, it’s an anime about magic and MCs almost always have tragic pasts. Yes, both of them are far too dependent on each other, but this anime isn’t going for a model relationship. It’s about emotionally damaged people slowly bonding.
And as for becoming his bride, it’s hard to talk about age gaps and glorifying paedophilia when one of the love interests is immortal and the other is doomed to die young. Besides, everyone has their own view on what a competent adult is anyway. Chise isn’t portrayed as a child; she’s more mature than most of the actual adults in the anime. I’m not going to discuss this in any more detail, at the end of the day there will always be people who interpret things differently. (It’s one of the things that makes life so interesting, after all.)
So what did I think of this anime? I liked it tremendously, but took a while to get there. I thought it was good from the beginning, but only really got invested in it about halfway through. I’d definitely say it was a worthwhile watch though.
It’s probably one to go for if you’re in the mood for something that’s serene, quiet, and emotional, but does show a sense of adventure from time to time. XD
To sum it up:
•First half an 8
•Second half a 10
Overall a 9
Raggadish
Depression. I think most of us has experienced depression at some point in life. Anyone who has can recognize the lack of energy, self-preservation, emotions (good or bad), life lust, motivations and drive. When the world feels grey and empty, and you question why you even bother with even the easiest tasks. The reason for being in such a state may be very different; the death of some close to you, money problem, bulling, stress etc. A depressed character could be winning card in a story, if portrayed right, and create relatable feelings in the viewer/reader. To follow a depressed person´s journey out of thegrey fog can be very emotional and touching and make up a good story and/or characterization.
But why am I talking about depression when reviewing the new big contribution to the fantasy, magic, shounen, and slice of life genres? I will get down to that now.
Mahoutsukai no Yome (The Ancient Magus´ Bride) may be one of the most anticipated anime of late, both by fans of the manga as well newcomers, me belonging to the latter category. The visuals looked colourful and sparkly, the story appeared unique and gave the impression of caring a certain depth by embrace darker subjects such as depression and loneliness. I´m sucker for fantasy stories with loads of magic and character growth, so I had high expectations for MnY. I´m going to be honest, I was a bit disappointed. Not that the show was all that bad or boring, in many ways it holds a high quality, it just contained some bits and parts that didn´t rub me right. Mainly the relationship between Chise and Elias, the pacing, and the shows episodic nature. I will discuss those later, but let’s talk about MnY´s strong suit´s first.
MnY tells the “hidden-magical-world-in-the-real-world” kind of story, little like Harry Potter. Mages, fairies, banshees, sorceress, dragons, talking animals, and many other creatures lives side by side with humans, who doesn´t know about their exotic neighbour’s existence. Personally, I love this type of set up, it has almost endless potential to turn into something really magical. This element is what really made me watch the whole show. Each little new treat of world building, such as collecting and preparing herbs for a magical potion, exploration of mystical creatures or realms, or the art of making a wand, was accompanied by stunning visuals. I enjoyed those parts a lot. MnY slowly but caringly explores this subject, which shows us both the beauty and the dark of magic.
And of course, the art and animation are one of MnY other strong suits. The character designs have a unique and distinguished style, colourful and cleanly designed, which speaks for a great innovation ability from the creator’s side. Wit Studio is behind the animation, so if you have watched “Shingeki no Kyojin” or “Owari no Seraph” you know what to expect from it visually. Backgrounds looks detailed, colourful and all over very stunning. A dark winter forest, a blooming garden, or a living room with a crackling fire, have all a great atmosphere and detail, which makes you want to be there and experience it yourself. As mentioned before the characters have a distinct design, which luckily fits in the stunning backgrounds. The animation is clean, with very few scenes were something look out of place. Well done Wit Studio.
Normally, the slice of life genre isn´t what I prefer, I often go for more action filled and goal driven shows/stories. MnY has “it´s about the journey, not the destination” kind of narrative, which often have a “yay” or “ney” effect on me. It highly depends on the other content of the story/characters, and the enjoyment I find there. MnY has a pretty slow paced and episodic nature. This is necesserly not a bad thing, it just didn´t fully worked for me this time. I get that the main theme is Chise´s and Elias emotional journey´s, as well introducing new characters and world building, but a little clearer direction would´ve made this a more enjoyable watch to me.
As individual characters, both Chise and Elias are very interesting and fresh. I talked a bit about depression in the beginning of this review, and the reason why is because or young female protagonist is deeply depressed. Chise is not only very depressed, but also extremely lonely. Life has treated this young girl really cruelly, which has brought her to a point to where she don´t care what´s happening to her, and passively want´s to die. Chise´s journey through the grey vail of depression fog was emotional to watch, and her slow progress forward felt aligned with what happened to her. Elias is a 500-year old magical experiment gone wrong (my personal guess), belonging to no race at all. He has with guidance been able to gain control of his animalistic instincts and have learned how to interact with those around him. Elias journey is more about loneliness, alienation, and to learn what it means to be human. The depth of Chise´s and Elias problems was portrayed with care and dimension, so my expectations for deeper subjects were mostly for filled.
I mentioned before that Chise´s and Elias relationship didn´t rub me right. This section contains minor spoilers to exemplify why I had problems with it, so if you want it completely spoiler free, continue to the next section. The first thing that really bothered me after Elias bought Chise on an auction is that he declared that she is to be his apprentice and bride. A 500-year old creature who states that the 15-year old suicidal girl he just bought is to be his bride, is just wrong. It´s not like he takes her to his bed and have his way, far from it, but right there and then it became creepy. That he takes the liberty to bathe said 15-year old girl the first thing he does when they arrive at his home, only amplified that creepy feeling. And throughout the show, similar situations are not to uncommon, and most of the other characters doesn´t even raise a brow at it, and sometimes even encourage it. They have for the most part a dysfunctional relationship, were the power balance between them were quite skewed. They grow together and strengthen each other at one hand, and at the other hand, they are completely destructive to each other. There is spelled out that they depend on each other to learn about self-value, to trust people to not to leave them, and what some emotions really is. Some of it is kind of heart-warming but having the bought-slave bride thing in the background kind of ruins the beauty of it. Had they gone for just the apprentice route and let the relationship grow more naturally I would´ve liked the show so much more. I wouldn´t even have minded a romantic relationship developed later on, but Chise´s situation and behaviour remined me all too much about a kid falling prey to an adult predator.
The quality of the supporting characters varies in depth and importance, but some of them were quite nice to follow, such as Ruth, Mikhail and Alice. They were interesting characters with interesting pasts, I wouldn´t minded if they had gotten more screen time then they did.
To get to some conclusion, MnY had some brilliant parts, some mediocre parts, and some out right disturbing parts. The magic part was satisfyingly inventive, beautiful and interesting, and is the part of the show I enjoyed the most. Chise´s and Elias individual emotional journey´s were slow but nicely executed, and their coupled was at times warming to watch, and sometimes down right disturbing to watch. Some episodes were better and felt more important than others, and some I forgot almost instantly. Since I´m not a slice-of-life person in general, I won´t hold it against MnY that it stayed true to its label. Over all MnY is a good show, it just didn´t hit bulls eyes on every point for me.
RyanSpring
[Spoiler Warning] The Ancient Magus' Bride comes to the table with one of the top ten presentations of the decade. The visuals and the soundtrack are absolutely magnificent, especially in the first half of the show. So how does a show with such an exceptionally good presentation end up with a score of 5? Read on... Art- As mentioned, the visuals are absolutely beautiful and have a true magical, mystical, fantasy world feel to them. It's extremely pretty if not outright enchanting to look at and after the first three or four episodes I was thinking I'd be in for quite the treat. Talk about counting your chickensbefore they hatch...
Sound-
In the first half of the show in particular there are at least three distinct and memorable moments in which the scene cuts to music. The production values in these scenes, both visually and aurally, are extremely high and I honestly felt like I was watching a Studio Ghibli film or a Disney movie, and I mean that in the best possible way.
The voice acting for the most part was solid, but it's largely diminished by crappy writing in the English dub, and a real standout in a bad way is definitely Josh Grelle as Cartaphilius. He sounds EXACTLY like Armin Arlert from Attack on Titan and Yukiteru Amano from Future Diary, which is compounded by the fact that his tone is generally very whiny in all of the aforementioned roles. This man simply has no vocal range and sounds the same in every role he plays.
Character/Story-
This, my friends, is where this anime does just about everything wrong. Starting with the elephant in the room, the relationship between the two main characters, 15 year old human girl Chise and centuries old 8 foot tall human-eating bone monster Elias, feels wrong on absolutely every level. It is THE most unnatural, non organic, forced, uncomfortable feeling relationship I've ever seen in any anime. Not only does the relationship begin with Elias purchasing Chise as a slave, but he then proceeds to follow her everywhere she goes, insist she ask permission and give full disclosure any time she wants to leave the house and do anything at all and even binds her and chokes her out when he's upset and having a "temper tantrum". Nothing about this is healthy, normal or okay. Their relationship is outright abusive and this is exasperated by the fact that when Elias does something completely unacceptable, such as choke Chise, Chise then apologizes to Elias and says that it's her fault and then proceeds to offer to comfort and cuddle with him. It's all kinds of messed up.
Additionally, the relationship between the two, even in non abusive times, feels CLEARLY like a father/daughter relationship, NOT a romantic one. Hell, even one of the other main characters who lives at the house with them specifically comments "At first I thought their relationship was like father and daughter, but now I think it's the other way around- mother and son". Whichever way you want to spin it, they have no business being romantically involved with each other. And all of this is to say nothing of their age difference, size difference, species difference and the fact that Elias is, though never specifically labeled as one thing or another, a giant bone monster.
There really isn't any way to truly emphasize just how cringey and wrong feeling their relationship is, but there's other problems as well.
As mentioned before, the writing in the English dub is sloppy and hard to believe. Additionally, plot threads are regularly explored, left unfinished and then not touched upon again until significantly later, many of which are not resolved until this anime's very rushed ending.
Also, as if all of the above weren't enough, honestly this anime is often outright boring. Many episodes feature a whole lot of nothing and there are many episodes in which nothing other than talking occurs at any point. Anything resembling action in this anime is few and far between. Most of the time it's just slow and dull and nothing is actually happening.
Finally, last nitpick- Chise is supposed to be Elias' apprentice and learn magic from him, but there are next to ZERO scenes of him teaching her things or her going through training. She basically figures out how to do magical things, often highly conveniently and out of nowhere, largely on her own. I guess 99% of her training was done off screen in between episodes...
Enjoyment-
Once you get beyond the sky high production values, which are undeniably gorgeous, everything else in this anime is below average and the core concept makes me feel dirty and like I need to take a shower. I liked this anime less and less as the show went on and there were multiple moments in which my wife and I both agreed what we were watching was super messed up and not okay, often accompanied by both of us making gagging noises.
Overall-
One of the best soundtracks in years accompanied by gorgeous and enchanting visuals entirely wasted on a slow, boring tale of an abusive and unnatural relationship that is about as forced as forced can get. This show, unequivocally, wins my award for "most wrong-feeling, cringe-inducing relationship in an anime". I do not recommend watching this.
+Exceptionally good soundtrack
+Gorgeous, magical visuals
-Worst MC relationship in any anime I've ever seen
-Josh Grelle sounds the same in every anime he's in
-Slow/boring
-Below average writing
-Plot threads left dangling in the breeze
OBJECTIVE RATING- 4.5-5
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING- 4-4.5
OmochikaeReee
The Ancient Magus Bride starts like a big buffet of delicious food. You gobble up everything as fast as you can, in awe of how delicious everything is. Yet you quickly run out of food. Dissatisfied, you pick at the scraps, settling for eating them as you wish you had more of that delicious food you started with. But enough with the similes. It's time for the review. *This review contains some minor spoilers for the purpose of critiquing the series as fair and accurately as possible. Plot: 3/10 What little over reaching plot there is serves as a poor excuse to aimlessly guide the characters througha show that can't quite decide if it wants to be episodic or plot driven. Floating between the two, it visits location after location of new, exciting places, but runs out of them as early as episode nine. The rest of the show then struggles to make up for this fact, by introducing new characters, villains, having old faces re-appear, or traveling back to old locations. For a show that seemed to be oozing creativity at the start, to run out of ideas so quickly is just a shame.
As for the overreaching plot, the show has a terrible habit of throwing in a new villain whenever it wants some plot. Yet these "villains" are all fake. Every single one of them proves themselves harmless and that they never intended the main characters harm all along, leaving every scenario involving them feeling pointless and empty at the end.
What makes the plot worse is it's terrible habit of thinking: blood = edgy and cool. Whenever the show wants to be serious, it'll suddenly have lots of blood. Especially the tried and true "crying tears of blood," a trick that should be extremely rarely used to make it more effective. And yet, this show uses it without a thought, as though it were written by a teenager who once heard, "Hey, this is how you make a cool and exciting story." It's desire to be dark out of nowhere is another disappointment, because not only is it executed poorly, it clashes with the overall tone of the romance and whimsical world. It feels completely out of place here, and I can't imagine why the author is so obsessed with being dark.
Lastly, the plot is interspersed with dry humor where the characters say something that's supposed to be funny and turn into simplistic chibis. The fact that I didn't find the humor amusing on its own would have been fine, I'd of accepted it as just the sort of thing I don't find funny. Yet what annoyed me about it was the chibi aspect. Every single joke, they turn into chibis. Every. Single. Time. It felt like the author was screaming, "LAUGH, THIS IS WHERE YOU LAUGH!!"
Characters: 5/10
Chise: Chise is an extremely bland protagonist. She has dry reactions and thoughts about the incredible environments and people around her, making her a buzz kill to the wonder and whimsical tone of the show. Drowning? Guess she won't try to flail or move at all, just sink to the bottom. Elias transforms? Guess she'll just tell him to turn back or he won't fit in the doorway. She constantly has empty reactions like this.
Now, I've seen people make the argument, "She's depressed, that's just how a depressed person would react." I have friends with depression, and she doesn't strike me as someone that's depressed. A depressed person is someone who feels they have little future, have few wants, and feel horrible whenever someone is nice to them. Chise shows that she has hopes and desires for a future with Elias, and she quickly goes from feeling bad about receiving his love to just accepting it. That's not depression. So, her blandness is just her personality. This personality of her kills my interest in her as a protagonist because it drastically clashes with the setting and tone.
Elias: Elias is a compelling character. He has a truly unique design, a backstory that leaves me eager for more information, and he has an interesting relationship with Silky. And yet, Elias's main point in this story would be his relationship and romance with Chise. A relationship the show failed to invest me in. Elias's stalker tendencies, ominous one liners, and degrading nicknames turn me off from this romance. Don't believe he's a stalker or a creep? Allow me to remind you: he has a tracker on Chise at all times, can follow Chise in her shadow without her realizing it, reminds Chise that she can't refuse him because he owns her, threatens a friend of Chise's because he's jealous that Chise spends time with her, ties Chise down with his tentacles against her will to keep her from leaving him, and calls Chise his puppy. So when this man tells Chise that he wants to marry her, when he also said that she can't refuse him because he owns her, I can't help but hold an extremely low opinion of Elias. He's not meant to come off in this way; he's just supposed to be childish. And yet, the writer doesn't know how to write Elias's lines and actions without him coming across as a creep rather than just being immature.
Cartaphilus: Remember how I said all the villains are fakes? There is one exception in Cartaphilus. Yet even then, he's not a particular good character. He's a villain that starts out like a cliché psychopath that we've seen in a hundred different shows, with little to separate him from other characters of his trope other than he really HATES being called a certain name. So while he's not that compelling at first, at least he's a real villain, right? Not really. Later the show works hard to undo any progress it made building him up as a villain.
Music: 9/10
Wit Studio has a whimsical and grand soundtrack that brings forth the majesty and splendor of the world of Ancient Magus Bride.
Animation: 10/10
Of course, breathtaking landscapes and smooth movement are abound with Wit Studio at the helm.
All around, Ancient Magus Bride is a heap of wasted potential. Its many failed villains, the utter lack of new places to explore in the second half, and it's poorly executed protagonists come together to create a show that constantly disappointed me after the beginning set itself up as an unforgettable glimpse into a world of magic. For those interested in experiencing the beautiful world and stunning animation, give it a shot. Just don't buy into the hype everyone's trying to feed you.
KANLen09
A story that eclipses through fantasy-esque likeness with the cruelty of mankind: the love story of a mere human with magical mysterious powers unlike any other (Hatori Chise, a Sleigh Beggy (or Sleigh Vega which keeps true to the manga translation) and Elias Ainsworth, an ancient monster of a mage). Disclaimer (Spoilers warned if skipped): For those who haven't been up-to-date with the series, I'd recommend watching the 3-part prequel OVA series (Those Awaiting A Star) as it sets the story for Chise's entrance into the magical world and reveals tidbits of her relationship with Elias with a firm grounding before engaging the main 24-episode series. Comingfrom the manga source of the same name by Kore Yamazaki, I'd say that Mahoutsukai no Yome or The Ancient Magus' Bride is one of the more prominent works to have come out at this season, handled by a well-known studio (Wit Studio) that knows what it excels at, and magnifies it tenfold. Honestly, I'm quite impressed with the storytelling and the fluent and vibrant animation that is always perceived as top-notch, with a few exceptions that I'll get into a bit.
Story:
Coming off from the 3-part prequel series, we encounter 15-year old Hatori Chise, being sold off not just as a human slave at an auction, but a rare breed known as a Sleigh Beggy (which her powers made her a target of many ire people). Sold off to the weird monster-looking that is the ancient mage Elias Ainsworth, a simple sentence ensues: "I want to make you my puppy (which meant an apprentice)...NO...I want to make you my bride." And so the not-so happy-ever-after relationship of Chise and Elias starts with lots of stories folded into one, from magical dragon creatures to creepy Cartaphilus burning the rakes on the couple and other related characters as they go.
Being faithful and keeping true to the plot of the manga (heck, even the ending scares and tears me to death) that its consistency is right on par with the translation makes this work really a coveted one, and it's easy to see why. By just referencing off the original source material, the storytelling may have more plot holes to fill in, but whether may it be following or side-lining (also known as filter), the execution is brillantly well-done and it never gets old...but hey, no liberties (for a distinct high 8.5 score on MAL) right?
Characters:
Other than the well-foretold story comes its characters, and is considered as another strong point for the show.
Hatori Chise is not your usual young girl (that's for sure) as she is the "One For All" equivalent, jam-packed with magical abilities that render her both effective and not in times of distress, being a Sleigh Beggy that amplifies the power of magic around her, both used for good (that when threatened, her power is able to defeat all evil) and evil (when Cartaphilus comes in the fray). An emotionless girl due to her tragic past that saw her parents cut all ties with her at a young age, Chise may seem breathless and lifeless, probably due to the effects of her memories, but with Elias, she becomes the puppy that wags towards him, acknowledging his monster-like feature with a heart that wants to learn to be like a human, and for that, she's the most calm and composed girl that I have seen in quite a while, one that is strong under pressure.
Elias Ainsworth is (definitely) not your usual monster magus either, because of his weird antics (e.g. shapeshifting into human form, the one time where Chise was life-threatened and his monster-likeness grew hatred for Cartaphilus), but as always, the main character that preserves his life to protect the one he is growing to love, is a man in my books. It's as though sometimes we may not understand the fullness of Elias, but as the series progresses at its natural pace that we come to understand Elias more through his actions towards the surrounding people and his reasoning which is succinct to say the least.
The main antagonist, Cartaphilus (or the alternate good Joseph) is clearly the series "All For One" that you don't want to mess around with. A freaking jerk, a master experimentalist who uses others for his gain, a terrorist for his cruelness and terror. Though like Chise, his backstory (Spoiler warning: towards the ending) irks of the same amount of wreck that Chise had in her younger days, he will stop at nothing to commit lifeless acts that will benefit to him at the expense of others. Not to mention that he is a good-for-nothing negotiator, he is the epitomy of evil at its core.
The other characters:
Ruth and Silky both reprise their roles as Chise's watchman and guardian respectively and though their efficiency is not fleshed out much (even less for Silky), the anime adaptation DID at least showcased their prowess at what they could do.
Lindel and the dragons (at the beginning) were fun to watch for their antics, especially after the couple's encounter, and the young children feels kick in with the young dragons playing as though their happy days, and the most important dragon of all: the ever mature, old and dying but not decaying Nevin. Just by looking at Nevin alone, I honestly learned a lot of life lessons through this old dragon (and props for Nevin's VA, it's really good!) and it made the time watching this series a hell of good warmth.
Renfred and the gang made their appearances as ones who have first encountered Cartaphilus with his deadly acts of killing (first with Ruth who became Chise's dog/watchman, then the dragon rage and his parallel world), and these guys are in for the extermination for justice, that will stop at nothing to bring Cartaphilus down.
Overall, a large character library, with their roles reprised as they should be, with great fervor and confidence.
Art/Animation:
What to expect from a studio that's well respected for the brillant animation and visual feel? Simply nothing but the best, and that's the idea of Wit Studio coming in to direct this fantasy world with the most visually appealing look that at times may look dark and creepy and at times filled with the brimness and fullness of the world, and it works wonders. Even if you managed to spot a tint of inconsistency with the artwork, the show blemishes that out with the ever-so-smmoth animation that will come off as striking the instant you watch it, and it further stands out in the best way possible.
And something to note in the Winter 2018 season: most people think that masterpiece-like animation such as Violet Evergarden is a masterpiece in its own right, granted that is too, but there're others like YoriMoi and this too, and with the false thinking of knowing that with good animation comes a great story, it's easy to see why it's notable for all the wrong reasons.
Sound:
The OST is honestly a killer soundtrack, though I WILL stick to my beliefs that the 1st cour is better than the 2nd cour of the OP and ED. Not to mention that the times where the background music plays along with the different tunes of the show, makes it work tremendously well suited for the scenario at hand.
And for the same reasons, I remember that people harshly criticize the 2nd cour's OP and ED because of the high standards of the 1st cour that didn't match ideally towards the narration of the series progression up to that point, and I raise this question: If you would have thought of a much better interpretation for the series, would we see it come to fruition? The answer would be suited to your own tastes, but I can point out a few:
- 2nd cour OP had repeating scenes from the 1st cour OP: Seems lazy for the studio to have a new, fresh take on the series with new artwork, plus the music itself is good but honestly doesn't hold a candle to the one that preceded it.
- 2nd ED is technically better than the 1st ED, but the style of implementation is different: Notice the progression of beginning-midway and midway-ending. I know I'm not evident much, but its a subtle hint to the progressing episode(s) that come next.
Overall:
Despite all the minor (or major if you can spot) flaws it has, this series is really enjoyable, and a delight to watch from start to end. The various cliffhangers, sense of foreboding, understanding the world surrounding the characters, all that makes for a series that stays true to the hype from the manga and OVAs to this wonderful piece of a work that will ensure your investment of a time well-spent and honour via its conscious execution and well-balanced progression. As always, a recommended watch for everyone who is tired of the typical romance genre and needs a subtle genre mix with it.
SenApai07
While delivering fantastic visuals, and some world-building, it fails at every other aspect— I just couldn't care for the other characters or the relationship between Chise and Elias. The whole time I felt like Silvery (my favourite character), just a spectator. No actual connections, but episode 22 was done well. The visuals and sceneries were amazing at times breathtaking and impressive. The story on the other hand was lackluster, along with the characters —They were interesting but lacked depth... Some review readers or watchers will like this, but others will not enjoy it. I'm in the middle.Some review readers or watchers will like this, butothers will not enjoy it. I'm in the middle.
-Ryoto-
Firstly, this is not a series that I'll recommend to anyone or something that I think everyone will enjoy, but a series that I want everyone to at least give a try once. I also would like to mention that I categorize this more as an appreciation essay than a review for many reasons. With that being said, on to the essay! From the beginning, this series felt like one of those worlds where I could simply get lost in. The world and magic of this anime induce that sense of awe and wonder in me. It has folklore and mythologies from Celtic, Irish, Christianity,British, Shakespear, Russia, Japanese and probably from all around the world at this point. Ever since I was young, I've adored mythologies and folklore from all over the world. Even though I do not believe in the supernatural, I've always loved watching and reading about these mystical and supernatural stories that have been a part of all of our cultures for centuries. So being such a mythos and folklore nerd, one of the most irritating parts about this medium is how it likes to butcher those already amazing stories into cliches or obnoxious rubbish. The West is a bit more respectful most times, but not every one of them managed to capture me. Some of those series that did manage to capture me would be those little book/ film series called Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings. But even compared to those massively popular cliches, this feels better written and more authentic.
Not only the mythos but the magic and alchemy too is beautiful. In a medium swept of fantasy MMO RPG worlds with your usual NPCs, your usual class systems and your usual elemental, buff, debuff magic systems you don't really see anything new being made. Because of that, every world and story has become oddly familiar. And no matter how good the story or characters are, the worlds have gotten stale. Or as Garnt said, "Magic ceases to be Magical". So compared to all of those The Ancient Magus' Bride (or MahoYome for short) feels or rather is a breath of fresh air. Magic of this world isn't something that only exists for destruction, it's something beautiful yet frighting and mysterious at the same time. It's never fully explained or understood and that's the beauty of it. The supernatural isn't painted black or white either. It's a phenomenon that can be good, evil or even both depending on various circumstances. Only the bare minimum information that's required is given. We don't learn everything about the world and its magic nor do the characters know about them. Even though beings who've lived for centuries exists in this world, they are still nowhere near understanding everything it has to offer. It's simply a world that exists and has existed for a very long time. Just like our real world. Exploring and learning about that world beyond my understanding is part of what makes MahoYome so compelling and fascinating.
The well-detailed world only complements that marvellous magic in the series. Kore Yamazaki, the original mangaka has managed to craft a world that not only feels fresh but somewhat familiar too. The amazing attention to detail that has gone into the series from the architecture to the food and even to the bloody patterns in the train seats! These subtle things are what makes this world feels real and so captivating. One of the worst things a manga could do is to have an English setting with a traditional British cottage and someone eating a piece of Onigiri or a bowl of ramen in the middle of it. A lot of research and care has gone into crafting this little gem and a lot of praise should be given to both the mangaka and the animation studio for it.
The magic and world-building are what captured me at first but that's not all there is to this fairytale. Tossed into this mystical world with no magical knowledge and with the help of her "mentor" character, our protagonist Chise Hatori learns more about the world and to appreciate the fantastical elements of it. Which does happen but later on in the story, you'll realize those were more of a surface level backdrop to the story, a pit of quicksand that looks solid until you start to walk into it. It's kind of tough, cause while some Anitubers and reviewers did break this series down to the bone and explain its amazing plot and characters, I kind of don't want to. If I were to do that, I'd reveal many things that initially you aren't supposed to know that will somewhat ruin the fun. But I will mention simple things such as a lot of the character designs in this series are very unique. The designs and character names all have mythological value to them, that reveal either backstories or parts of their characterization. The plot is somewhat monster of the week esque but it's crafted in a way that with happiness, sorrow follows. So it feels well balanced and will always leave you at the edge of your seat.
Wit studio most certainly did a magnificent job with this title. They proved that not only can they do action-packed titles like AoT but they can handle some emotional and beautiful titles like MahoYome as well. With gorgeous animation that was followed by some magnificent music, the manga panels were truly brought to life. The inserts complement the animation and the mood of the story very well. Though I'm not one to watch OPs or EDs, this was one of the few instances that I did not skip them in a single episode. It's also mind-boggling that this exceptional production was made by a group of newbies. From the director to the composer are all new names to these titles.
Would I recommend this to the general anime fans? Aye, this series became one of my favourite anime of all time. How it handles mythologies and folklore in my opinion, is the best. Another nerdy thing I loved about this world is its mages, witches and sorcerers. Usually, most series only have one of these magic-user types and the one they do have would be either butchered or twisted in an odd way. The fact that three different magic-user types existed in the same world and they all have their intricately detailed features and abilities that differentiate them from one another, which is also very much how folklore had described them over the years blew my mind. Kore Yamazaki is a mythos nerd and it very much shows, which is such a delight for someone like me. Though as great the manga is I think this is one of the rare instances where I prefer the anime over the manga. While I do like the very expressive and detailed drawings of Yamazaki sensei, the excellent animation, soundtrack and voice acting stands tall over its source material. If I somehow managed to pique your interest in this show with this overly long essay then I'd highly recommend you try the OVAs first before watching the series. Though chronologically they should come right after the end of the first cour, the OVAs are what first sold me on the series. Finally, with clamming the 8th spot in my favourite anime of all time, I rate The Ancient Magus' Bride a 9/10.
Hot-Tea-Minh
Alright, I started watching this anime because the first few episodes received some good reviews and the score was and is still high, so why not? I did not get hyped or anything though. But then slowly but surely the disappointment came through. Over the whole serie, in terms of character arc, Chise feels really incomplete. I know we're supposed to root for her ; the show deals with very serious matters. But her development is stuck in the same pattern for quite some time, maybe well until the very end actually, to the point where she seems like she's never gonna get from place Ato place B.
Elias is just foggy and unlikeable. We basically know nothing about him, his abilities are confusing and most 'action' sequences ends up just being some mumbo jumbo casually thrown at us without any sort of solid context. I know it's a magical world, but this 'hush hush, it's magic' thing, is not good enough.
Their relations is where the show fails the most hardly. From the get go the story gives us a complicated situation where an old dude buys a 15 year old as a slave : the show never makes the best out of it. I could not grasp any tangible tension between the two, despite the dialogues and the pretty good music and the on screen events, all tried very hard to make me understand that these two are supposed to have a strong connection, that connection was always paper thin, because the show had a lackluster script : no rooted emotion, no visual storytelling, too much words, too much of the same pattern one episode after another. Sadly it's not as if they did not know how to do it, because the OVA's were pretty good and gave me hope.
One detail that made me tick, I can't begin to describe the cringe everytime Elias lifts Chise with his arms to carry her, or just talk to her or sometimes even for no reason at all. It made no sense and I'm sorry to say, made the Chise character a very weak female lead and Elias an awkward character, the wrong not the endearing type of awkward.
I don't kow about the source material. Now this show suffers from not being able to take a straightstep towards a dominant tone for its narration. It tries to be fantasy, romance, comedy, dark, there's mystery and there's supposed to be psychological developments. Well nothing's done the right way. One interesting detail about Elias is his appetite for humans, they try to use it in his unfolding relation with Chise, but even there, the show falls flat on its back, because of bad storytelling and wrong tonality. One thing I read a lot and can't agree more is the senseless useage of weak so weak cliffhangers, which is a very serious symptom for headless chicken storytelling syndrom.
If you want the romance with a touch of magic, how about going back to Spice and Wolf. Even the currently airing show Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi feels more satisfying, even though it's very similar in terms of premises. Because this Ancient Mumbo Jumbo Fest is actually closer to the Twilight saga more than anything.
atarostarling
I really wanted to like this more than I did, which is why I ended up finishing it rather than dropping it. When I began to watch The Ancient Magus' Bride I was really excited. I loved the concept, the initial world building, Elias as a character in particular and the lovely animation too. There were some nice, emotional moments near to the beginning that had me tearing up, so I was definitely open minded to give this show a chance to be something great. Then...nothing really happened. As I'm typing this I actually can't remember what happened in the middle of this series arcand I JUST finished it. Each episode seemed to be about Chise being the best thing to walk the Earth and everyone falling madly in love with her for no convincing reason. Her only "flaws" were a) caring too much and b) not realizing how important she is. Yawwwn. This definitely felt like a shy girl's escapist dream where they have to do very little to appeal to others.
My favourite episodes were definitely the ones that focused more on Elias, which started to become few and far between towards the end in favour of highlighting lackluster Chise. I also want to mention his and Chise's dynamic, which for the most part is why I started to watch this show. How does a young woman end up being the bride to beast-skull-man-mage?! Instead of a intriguing progression of their relationship, where perhaps she would be fearful to begin with but then slowly fall for this being, it felt like a middle school love story of confusion, lots of glances, hand holding and ultimately no real substance. I wasn't expecting this to be some R-rated story, don't get me wrong, but their development as "man and wife" was just so arbitrary.
The music featured in the show was extremely cheesy, in my opinion, and made me cringe at times. The score was nice enough, nothing ground breaking, but not bad. Random note: *Spoiler* I dunno why when Chise would sing her sleep spell it would cut from her voice actress to a singer, it really took me out of the moment. *End spoiler*
What I did like about this show was the world, those character designs were fantastic, especially all the little creatures. I felt like this story had so much potential, there were rules in the world that were hinted at but never really explained. Everything just felt like it was touching the surface of what could've been a complex and rewarding story. Yet the world, the characters, the story - everything was shown at face value.
UltraKitten
I wanted to like this show. It was visually very pretty, and the soundtrack was nice. that is all it had going for it. I stuck it out to the end but man everything was wrong. Why make the ring or wand? they did nothing at all.. Why bother introducing half the characters that were introduced? they mostly served no purpose at all. Though at least they were more interesting than elias or chise I feel half the issues that come up was just throwing random things at the wall and seeing what would stick. I don't like Elias, i think even for something not human he wasto devoid of character and to inhuman to actually be taken seriously as a love interest. I don't like that he purchased Chise, and even stated he was grooming her to be his bride. its just gross. I think romanticizing human trafficking is just a bad start to a story.
Chise was boring, most of the time I just hoped for anything but her or elias to be the focus.
I liked Lindel.. he was cool. I like that he attempted to warn her way from Elias, even if she was to stupid to listen.
