Review of The Ancient Magus' Bride: Those Awaiting a Star

Oh, this anime is absolutely charming; I don't understand why a chunk of people are so vehemently against it. The art is stunning. Stunning. I'm a sucker for good character design and color usage, and this set of prequel episodes nailed it. Not to mention the environments and lighting effects were also gorgeous. As far as the sound goes, it really stood out to me in certain places. I felt it conveyed tone very well and only served to immerse me more into this world of The Ancient Magus' Bride. This is technically a prequel because of the chronology of the subject matter, but really, it'smore of a side story-- and what a good side story it is. To me, the structure of the story was flawless. I, honestly, don't typically enjoy prequels because they always feel forced or rushed. These three episodes, however, were easy to watch and told an entire, interesting story. There isn't a whole lot to say about the characters beyond the fact that I enjoy watching them on screen, so I can't say much to that end. Actually, I get the feeling that character work isn't going to be something vital that's needed for me to enjoy this world because the main attraction is the world itself (similar to Natsume's Book of Friends).

Speaking of the world, it's enchanting in the strongest sense of the word. It was not hard for the animation, art, sound, and story to completely transport me to another reality. This anime does it so effortlessly. It doesn't feel strange, it isn't overly done, it just is what it is, as though it's meant to be.

All in all, I really loved these first three episodes. Though the remainder of this anime will undoubtedly be different, something tells me the magic that I found here will carry on into the next series. I look forward to telling you my thoughts on that in the future.