Review of The Ancient Magus' Bride

Family is something that is important to all of us. Whether being related by blood or not, having someone to be there for you is always appreciated and is something that we sometimes take for granted. But what about those less fortunate than us. But what about those that don't have a family or someone to take care for them? How will they cope? And if they do manage to get someone to take care for them, how will they react? Today we are looking at an anime series where that is just that. Set in a fantasy version of our world and the mysteriesand wonders that surround it all while watching it happen in the eyes of two flawed characters who need each other.

Sit back, relax, pull out your wand; swish and flick and say "Wingardium Leviossssaaaaaaaaaaaaa" as I present to you the anime review of the 2017 anime by studio Wit; The Ancient Magus Bride. Lets begin.

Story: 9/10

The story is very much a character driven story with the overall plot shaped by our main characters' actions. As such, through their eyes, we get to see a world where fantasy and magic exists in mainly the countryside of London and sometimes in Iceland as well. It kind of works like Harry Potter where you got the non magic users going around their daily lives; then you got the magic users and fantasy creatures that live alongside them in secret. So through Chise's and Elias' eyes, we get to see this magical world that has been living right under our noses. Seeing this fantasy world that our characters our in wants me know more
about this "other world" and what secrets are kept hidden. From a Dragon sanctuary to an opposite world where fairy's live makes an world that feels wonderful and whimsical all at the same time with some Chibi and light hearted comedy to make you laugh and smile.

That doesn't mean that it is all light and fluffy. Like other anime like Madoka Magica and Higurashi, Magus Bride can flip the switch and can be rather dark, bordering on thriller. From curses to horrifying creatures to the nature of Elias, we are never truly in the light and fluffy world for long periods of time as it were. This means that you can never be truly comfortable with the situation considering the world around them and you want the characters to be safe, encouraging us to care for them. You hope that the characters can encounter safe and wonderful places but you know that is not going to happen. That will cause you to keep on your toes to see what happens next, normally ending on a mini cliffhanger, Attack on Titan style.

It is a good thing these things happen too. Since this is a character driven story, the pacing is rather slow as the plot progressess as the characters progress. So you are going to need something that is going to keep you hooked or otherwise you might drift off. So in this case it's the thriller sequences or the emotional bonding moments between Chise and Elias to keep you watching. Otherwise you might lose interest.

Characters 9/10

So since this is a character driven anime, you got to hope that the main characters are interesting enough and enjoyable to watch in order to keep watching. Thankfully, they are.

Lets start with Hatori Chise first. Chise is the character that most of the anime involves around and our experiences with the world goes through her. But what makes
her such a great character is her development throughout the series. At the beginning, we see a character down on her luck with the world having thoroughly kicked the s*** out of her. But over time she starts to become more confident and independent as she starts to believe in herself and not having to always rely on others, mainly Elias. You will notice it too by the way she speaks and sometimes acting on her own but it is still done subtly so you won't notice. This makes her character arc probably one of the best in recent anime history.

Next up we have Elias Ainsworth, a character that for about halfway through the anime is a character shrouded in mystery since we don't know who or what he is. All we know is that he is neither human nor fairy, but something else entirely. You would think that would be something that we would discover along the way but it is never really explored outside of a flashback about halfway through the show. Instead, we take a look of how Elias' character develops through his interactions with Chise. Although he knows and has a grasp on human emotions, he doesn't feel them so he doesn't truly understand or be sympathetic towards them. That is until Chise arrives into his life and he starts to feel these emotions and feelings that he has never felt before. One particular scene is when Elias tells Chise that he and the house felt cold due to her absence; he was told what he was feeling was loneliness. It's these kind of interactions that make us think is Elias truly a monster? or someone who is misunderstood and just needs someone who wants to be with him? As such he does act irrational at times because he doesn't know what to do or how to react and doesn't want to scare Chise away and end up alone again, hence why he wanted to make Chise his apprentice and his "bride."

These two characters drive the show and their interactions are what keeps the viewer hooked. Chise and Elias need each other in order to solve their problems. Chise needs Elias to gain self confidence and prove someone does care for her and Elias needs Chise in order to understand human emotions and feelings so he can be more human.They are what keeps the show entertaining and makes for the best scenes of the show through emotional bonds and hardships to awkward Chibi moments for a quick laugh.

With the sole focus being on Chise and Elias, the side characters feel like side characters, only there to support the main characters. That isn't necessarily a bad thing as some of the side characters like Ruth and Alice do get development and how they came to be through origin stories so they aren't left out. That being said, not all of them get much development and really do feel like side characters. Even the villains of the show aren't all clear cut as it isn't very clear who is the main villain despite all these characters who have an interest in Chise until near the end of the anime when we get an answer. That's probably due to focusing on Chise and Elias having to deal with their inner daemons and how they can overcome them.

Animation 9.5/10

It's fair to say that the animation of the show is superb and one of its strongest qualities, which isn't really surprising from studio Wit. Everything just flows and moves naturally and some of the scenery and environments are just a sight to see. And while the character models aren't always wowing, they're still good. Chise obviously stands out in that regard with her red hair and emerald eyes makes her design attention grabbing as if we didn't already know she was the protagonist. However, the animation does take a very slight decrease as the show goes on but not enough to distract you and can still produce consistent quality. Then there is the moments where the animation changes to Chibi character models as to try and add humour to the situation. While it may annoy some people, in the right context, it worked and is never really forced onto us. It somewhat happens naturally and I like it.

Sound 8/10

The soundtrack is normally light with good use of Piano whether being high tune notes or low tune notes. it very much sets the tone of the scene and adds to the atmosphere. However, there is one track that stands out and that is when any of the characters are in danger and the situation becomes bad. With the frantic and quick pace of the piano to the sudden sound of trumpets to add to the question "what's going on?" Its frantic and fast and makes the a bad situation dire and adds to the scene, making it my favourite soundtrack of the bunch. That's not to say the other soundtracks can't hold their own as each soundtrack it enjoyable to listen to but that particular one stands out.

Now I have some gripes with the openings of this show, but I will say that the first opening is clearly the better opening of the two in terms of animation and song. The first opening of the show, "Here" by Junna, is a great piece with those opening lyrics and and then the change in tone from being lost to finding a new world as it were, with animation to boot. But, but but but but, it uses scenes from the first half of the show in order of when they are seen in the show, spoiling what is yet to come. Now spoilers in opening have been done before. Mirai Nikki and Shiki have done it with their first openings but they were subtle and you wouldn't realise it until it was already happening. But this is clearly just ripping scenes from the actual show and putting it into the opening. The second opening, "You" by May'n, is very much accused of this. Aside from the first opening seconds, the footage is just scenes from the first half of the show. Scenes you have already seen; being showed again. This happens until the last episode where it used original scenes. This leaves the question, "Why didn't you do this earlier? To me, this opening is very skippable.

The endings were okay, mainly consisting of still images and light hearted songs, not much to say here.

Now the last thing I want to say about sound is the dub. Now the dub is interesting to me in that it is neither good nor bad than the sub but more as an alternative. Chise dub actress sounds more chirpy than her sub actress since in sub, Chise sounds more mellow and more to herself. Elias is the same way, whereas in sub, Elias sounds more straight and emotionless whereas in the dub, he sounds more like a fatherly figure which is kind of appropriate for the character. Overall the dub is worth checking out if you are curious.

Conclusion

So overall is The Ancient Magus Bride worth watching? Well I would say yes, yes it is. It's a touching tale carried by two strong leads and stunning animations to make an enjoyable piece of entertainment that was definitely one of the highlights of fall season. It never truly sticks to one mold as it can go from slice of life to thriller when the situation becomes dire. Well it does have its minor problems, its pros out-way its cons as it flies into the sunset as it finds its peace. The show is definitely worth your time.

My personal enjoyment: 9.5

Overall score: 9/10 Recommendation: Watch it