Review of The Ancient Magus' Bride
A fantasy that’s done right? That’s a fantasy in itself. YET, The Ancient Magus’ bride is here to make such a thing come true. Story: Beautiful is the only way I can describe it. It’s so amazing in every aspect, the introduction of new characters, the development of them, the action scenes, the shifting between chill to dark and the pacing of all of that is absolutely terrific; nothing feels forced, nothing feels out of place and it just feels right. I should tell you though, if you intend to watch this, you shouldn’t start with the OVA which according to MAL is a prequel tothe show. I’d start by watching the first arc (the first 12 episodes) and then watch the OVA because the entire OVA is an expansion to episode 13. So, story wise, you should start by watching the first 12 episodes.
Okay now the story itself, I won’t get into too much detail in order to avoid spoilers though. The story follows Chise, a young girl who sees weird creatures and because of that has been ostracized. She meets Elias who’s a mage and so begins a story of romance as Elias becomes determined to make Chise his disciple. You should expect plenty of magic fantasy, dragons, mythological creatures of all sorts as well as thrill, which is one of my personal favorites in this story. I didn’t expect this anime, from how it looked, to have any sort of a dark side to it. However, it does have it, even if just a little bit it, and it adds just what most fantasy lack.
I couldn’t help but notice that the story held some sort of resemblance to The Beauty and the Beast. Although the story felt original, there were multiple instances in which Elias suffered because of how he looked and his birth as a whole and the one who always comforts him was Chise. Yes, that’s of course something to be expected when a beast and a human are in love, but it wasn’t the main focus of this anime as it focused more on the relationship between the two as well as the development of their characters. I personally liked this focus of the story, instead of the cliché story type they’ve made something fresh and refreshing.
Art: When you watch a fantasy, art is vital for the anime to succeed. The Ancient Magus’ Bride has one of the best art I’ve seen this season and in most anime in overall. It’s simply astonishing; the animation is insanely fluid and smooth, the details even the slightest are taken care of that you might find yourself complaining of how detailed it is, though you won’t find it a problem.
Sound: This is really tricky part. The setting of this anime is in England which made me think it would be more reasonable to watch it dubbed. Although I was right for the most part, I still ended up watching the subbed version. Why you ask? Because of Chise’s VA. The entire cast in the dubbed version did a splendid job that some of them were even better than the sub, mostly the supporting characters. Yet, I was off-put because Chise should have a monotone and somewhat dull voice in order to fit her quiet personality. However, I couldn’t help think of her voice in the dubbed version to sound like a kid’s with all due respect. I still intend to give the dubbed version a chance because of the rest of the cast, but for your first time watching this I’d suggest the sub.
The soundtrack is unique and fits the atmosphere of the show as a whole. I was kind of surprised to be honest with their choices for some parts and couldn’t help but think it was daring at times. Yet, it was amazing and it didn’t lower the quality of the anime in the slightest.
Entertainment: The English setting is truly splendid here. Just get yourself a jar of cookies and a cup of tea and watch this in order to absorb as much splendor as possible. I can’t really imagine a situation where this anime might go wrong. Regardless of your tastes in anime I think you’ll enjoy truly enjoy it, the difference is the extent of such enjoyment. The only problem I can think of is that it has come to a close.