[Anime's Carnot] The Ancient Magus Bride, Episode 2 review (魔法使いの嫁 - Mahotsukai no Yome)
Seeing Chise’s magic go haywire made me think I was back in a Shounen anime. A “10 times the main character’s powers went out of control” sort of video, and I’d certainly say that my curiosity was piqued as if I was watching one go by, waiting to see how the next few seconds would top it. But I had to remember, at least for now, that this isn’t that sort of anime. Adjust your expectations accordingly.
I got an “and so…” vibe from Chise’s opening thoughts. She’s a believer in Elias’ good intentions; the musical score in the slice-of-life scene, like a car in a slow roundabout before exiting its eventual and always intended destination served to show us the stages Chise takes to believe that it is worth trusting in Elias. He then gives a pensive Chise the rundown of the day’s events, flowing into the next scene of a familiar London–to me, likely not to you, they even had the phased-out stuffier electric bus models—Elias getting her out of the house to visit some allies. Angelica’s arm injury from poor lack of control is a small hint of the dangers of magic. Elias didn’t give away much, stepping in at the perfect time when Chise’s magic lost control, and he didn’t seem all that surprised about her magic abilities.
I wanted more from that scene. Signing up for a slow burner, you latch onto scenes which promise a bit of chaos. Chise being as unassuming as she is, you feel like the scenes that would make us less of a travel companion, and more of a theoriser are locked behind her passiveness. Elias doesn’t want too many cooks in the kitchen regarding her magic education. A continuation of the theme where he’s portrayed to be almost evil, with a course-correction scene, Angelica cuts him down to size in a comedic routine we’ve come to expect.
But with expecting this, expect that an Elias with unclear intentions isn’t just monster prejudice; the subplot born of more than just wishful thinking. They skip over the part which explicitly shows Chise’s mother killing herself, but what’s gained in the absence and the head pats is a docile creature less depressed and more holding things back than anything else. Emotions, and magic.
Elias bringing her out here, acting as a foil like when he asks Chise how his human form feels or when Angelica asks her if he’s done anything untoward, and so more scenes which lead to Chise being to open up, and how she is changed as a result is something I’ll look forward to.
We capped off the episode with Chise being introduced more to Elias’ line of work in the form of the priest. Next episode should be more exciting on-route to the final land of the dragons. With a setup like that, we’ll likely understand her significance whether Elias wants us to or not.
Final thoughts:
The scene with Silky (no longer 銀の君) holding Chise like it’s the most natural thing in the world was nice. And the spirit who casually decided to move in with them was too. It’s a failure of my writing style that I couldn’t work it into the main block.
I used Stable Diffusion for the first time. Making Chise-inspired art.
Presenting: How Chise might end up on a “10 times anime characters lost all control” thumbnail. These were the throwaways.
The 4th was very unlucky not to make the final cut.
Serious uncanny valley vibes here.
This post is the second in a series of reviews of The Ancient Magus Bride. If you’d like to be kept updated on any new reviews, please consider spicing up your inbox by clicking below.
It makes for a good change to “Is this you? IP: 192.168.0.1 has accessed your location from Tromsø, Norway.” Brighten things up with some anime instead.
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