The Ancient Magus’ Bride was created from the shōnen manga of the same name, written and illustrated by Kore Yamazaki. The anime is licensed by Crunchyroll and was written by Kore Yamazaki and Aya Takaha, and directed by Norihiro Naganuma. Side note: for anyone like me who had somehow never heard the term, “magus” before, its the same as a sorcerer.
The Ancient Magus’ Bride is classified as a supernatural and mystery series. Although I wouldn’t initially use “mystery” to describe the series, the word definitely suits it. The story is full of many wondrous and interesting characters, but the main focus is Chise Hatori and Elias Ainsworth. Chise is a teenager (shocking, right?) who is a Sleigh Beggy, a being that can draw magic from surroundings and within themselves, a blessing of great magical power at the cost of a short life due to the strain that magic puts on the body. Her whole life, Chise has been able to see beings from another realm, such as fairies and evil spirits.
When she was still little, her father took her baby brother and abandoned her and her mother, and her mother later committed suicide in front of her. Feeling unwanted and like a burden, she sold herself in to slavery so she wouldn’t have to worry anymore. Luckily for her, she was purchased by Elias Ainsworth to be his apprentice and fiancé (a concept he doesn’t fully understand).
Elias is known as “The Child of Thorns,” outcast to both humans and fairies due to being half of each. He is a very powerful magus and can turn himself into shadows, but he also has a monstrous form that he may turn in to if he loses control (it’s really cool looking). Elias teaches Chise magic and Chise teaches Elias about humans and emotions. Because he grew up hated by both sides, he has for the most part been alone and does not understand feelings.
And all of that is sweet and adorable, but that makes the show sound like a regular shojou romance, but things are a lot more complicated than that. While Chise does meet new people and make new friends, she obtains an awesome familiar, a black grim guard dog which she names Ruth, and she finally has a place she can call home, but it’s never that simple. Things begin to spiral out of control with the arrival of Caraphilius/Joseph, the main antagonist of the story and one of the most interesting/complex villains I have seen in a while. It is with his introduction that this gorgeous, light-hearted show begins to take dark turn.
Every single episode of this show, even the darker ones full of tragedy and despair, are incredibly beautiful. Even if this show didn’t have subtitles, I feel like I’d watch it anyway just because it’s so pretty to look at. The art direction is phenomenal. The human and fairy realms, the mythical creatures, the use of magic, it’s all depicted in such a stunning way that you can’t help but want to see more of this world.
With that beauty comes some pretty freaky stuff though. One minute the world is bright and beautiful and then suddenly an evil spirit that looks like a giant black centipede with a white oni mask is chasing Chise through a graveyard in an attempt to eat her. Pretty creepy, right? Wait until you see a chimera. Those things are extra disturbing to see.
Chise has made her way up my favorite anime characters ladder. She definitely makes the top 5. She is such an interesting character and, as someone with depression and anxiety, I find her to be incredibly relatable. She is strong, not in the physical or even magical sense, but she sticks to her morals of right and wrong as well as her desire to help and do good in the world. She isn’t easily swayed and while she may need Elias’s help, she still puts every ounce of effort into helping someone (or something) in need.
Some people may feel Chise is annoying with how down about herself she is all the time, but if you have ever experienced depression, then you know exactly what it feels like. You know how hard it is to overcome. I loved seeing her go through that, I loved how long it took her to finally start having confidence in herself and realize she is worthy of living. That’s real. It’s so very real. Plus, Chise is also full of love and understanding. Even when she sees Elias in his monster form, she isn’t afraid of him. She goes to him without hesitation. Because she’s the best.
Elias is great too. He lacks emotional understanding, but he is incredibly intelligent and powerful. I mean, I don’t think he’s like…the strongest magus out there…but humans, spirits, and fairies are all afraid of his power. His threats seem to be enough to ward everyone off. That being said, Elias provides the main action for the show. His powers are unique and while I’m sure if I saw him as a monster in person I’d be terrified, he just looks so cool. Definitely fearsome, but also really cool.
I absolutely loved this series and all of the characters in it. It gives a fantastic and wondrous story that rounds up nicely in the end with just enough left unsaid that they could add more, but at the same time it’s closed up enough that we are given sufficient closure. There are some episodes though where I wish they would have expanded more on the characters and their role, they didn’t need to, but I still would have liked it if they had. Characters like Mariel and the witch coven, I wish we got a little bit more of them than just a couple episodes.
OVERALL SCORE: 9.5 / 10
The Ancient Magus’ Bride is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0k03OaDDfk