Review of The Ancient Magus' Bride
Out of 100 Nobles watching... 92 were impressed! 5 got a little confused with plot complication in the second half. 3 thought some character designs clashed with the show's aesthetic. I think Mahoutsukai no Yome could best be described loosely as a more anime Beauty and the Beast. It offers so much more than the Disney story so that is probably unfair but it's a good comparison. The story follows Hatori Chise, a human girl with great magical potency as well as the gift to see spirits and the paranormal. Her power has cursed her and in her teens she found herself being sold at an auction as analternative to taking her life with her sole motivation being the hope of being useful to someone for once in her life. From the promotional posters, Crunchyroll ads, etc... I was promised a story that would be equally heart warming as it was heart wrenching and it has met all my expectations.
I think the only problems I may have found with the show were that many of the character designs felt a little too "anime" for the western fantasy style world the viewer is presented with, also the second half of the anime felt like it struggled to grab on to a real strong course of where it wanted to go. This is likely because it is still ongoing as a manga and needed a good place to land. We got there though so all's well that ends well.
The detail put into the world of this story were phenomenal. Little things placed in every background are what really gave this show a lot of life. The show captures the viewer in a wonderful hodgepodge fantasy world of mostly European influence and was a delightful ride. The soundtrack was fairly enjoyable as well. I really enjoyed all the OP's and ED's as well as the show tracks, although the folky ED in the shows 3 part prequel is what spoke to me on another level. (Very Spice and Wolf-y)
Our protagonist Chise and her mentor Elias were characterized very well. Both characters go through a lot of development over the course of the show. Character's actually growing and changing is a fairly low bar I set that I am still surprised how often it remains uncleared by many.
I have heard complaints about characters in this show being bland, however I find these claims fairly unfounded. Many background characters had distinct personalities and those that may have felt more flat served their purpose to support the main characters of the story appropriately. Elias and Chise are both socially awkward which is something that is addressed and worked on over the course of the show.
Overall this a slow and thoughtful fantasy romance. It felt like it was made to appeal to my tastes, but everyone doesn't like shows like this in the way many people just can't get into Cowboy Bebop. The more I think of things I could complain about with this one the less I can find.