Review of The Ancient Magus' Bride

Magic is bullshit. It's almost never done right, and, in anime specially, it's mostly used in hand-wavy fashion to allow for cool-looking animation without any proper explanation or limit. It was one said that magic can break the tension of a story is not used correctly, and to use magic correctly, the sheer power has to have consequences. I think that's where Mahoutsukai does immensely right, and where it somewhat fails. This is a world established by magic, and it breathes it through its gorgeous animation, amazing soundtrack and odd and wicked sort of male protagonist Elias. I'll admit to being blown away by the setting alone,enthralled by the way magic felt in this world. It wasn't just that magic was a device, Mahoutsusai is magical. Fantastical. I enjoyed it even more when they depicted correctly the true nature of faes (or fairies) — I'll avoid saying any more about it, but anyone who knows the folklore can see where I'm going with this.

In Mahoutsukai, magic has consequences, especially for the newbie true protagonist, Chie. The entire anime waves between gorgeous and terrifying and I didn't know how badly I wanted it until now. I thoroughly recommend it despite its beauty — which made me cry in at least 4, maybe 5 different episodes — dwindling as it progresses. I still think it's utterly magical and deserves a watch.