Sometimes, you come across a series that speaks to you. I don’t mean that literally of course,
I’m not talking about a show that breaks the 4th wall, or a series that narrates to
you like it knows you are an observer. I’m talking about a series that does things in
a way which showcases aspects about yourself you thought only happen to you.
On the surface, The Ancient Magus’ Bride is fairly simple. It’s a series that takes
some known and some obscure parts of european folklore, adds the authors own twist to it, and
presents a narrative about a character who is tossed into this world unwillingly but
with the help of a kind of mentor character comes to learn more about the world and appreciate
the fantastical elements of it.
While the series does do that of course, by the end of it, I think you might agree that
those aspects are very clearly not the driving force behind the show. It’s more of a surface
level backdrop, a pit of quicksand that looks solid until you start to walk into it.
And that’s when you start to fall. Magus Bride is very much about that fall. About
what might cause a character to continue to fall down a very dark and deep pit within
themselves, about a character that already thinks they have found the bottom, and how
they may get themselves out.
Ladies, Gentlemen and others and today on Glass Reflection. Today The Ancient Magus’ Bride.
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NOW! Let's Jam!
I mentioned that the building blocks of this show's story are fairly simplistic
and easy to comprehend. You have a young girl Chise who ends up becoming the apprentice
of a by human standards very old magus of immense power. Not only does she interest
our Magus Elias, but their relationship is one that ends up becoming mutually beneficial
to them both, as they learn more about one another and for Chise, as she learns more
about this magical side of the world she used to be able to see, but never could understand.
While there is an aspect of the series dedicated to presenting a variety of mythological folklore,
it’s cleverly used to also help build and showcase where characters are in their various
mental states and how they overcome their unique obstacles.
So first we come to Elias. He is a character that I don’t really like, and I think that’s
the point. He rubs me the wrong way, and while some of his actions seem virtuous throughout
the series and with his interactions with Chise, his otherworldly nature is very off
putting. He doesn’t feel human, which is perfect because he isn't. He’s supposed
to feel off, especially during the times when he attempts to act like a regular human being.
He is an example of one of the few times that I can dislike a character and honestly wouldn't
have it any other way.
Elias could have been a perfect prince charming, someone more like an ideal of what a fantastic
sorcerer could be like. He could have been like the wizard Howl on a good day without all the playboy attributes.
He could have been like the kind-hearted prince Zen but with magic, come to save the heroine from danger. But
Elias is neither of these. While he understands some variations of human eiticate, there are
plenty of other things that are just completely lost on him.
Even in the first episode this is shown several times, with him ignoring established rules
of the magical auction, or even when he tries to bathe Chise without paying much mind to
her embarrassment. Finally making the blanket statement that he is already treating her
as almost his wife without consent. Many of these things are not how an ideal savior would act,
Though of course I wouldn't say they were
done out of convenience or love. Elias just acts based on how he feels he should
in any given situation without paying much mind to what others think of his actions nor
what they might want. It's almost like a child learning how to act in situations by reading
fiction, and they end up doing with their best guess for the situations they never read
about. When he asks Chise to be his bride, it’s entirely possible he doesn’t realize
what he's asking. That’s just the kind of character he is.
But then you get to the other side of things where he absolutely knows what he’s doing.
While human interaction and relationships are an extremely weak spot for him, dealing
with the magical nature of the world is another story. Elias knows how to be a Magus, he knows
how to handle the magical elements of the world, or at least hold his own against the
more dangerous aspects. In this way he ends up being the perfect mentor for Chise, as
there is very little that she interacts with, especially in the early stages of the story,
where he cannot be in full control of her safety. But because of Elias’s inhuman nature,
there is plenty that Chise can do to help him in kind. It’s their relationship that
really sets this series apart from others. Though it takes a bit to get there.
The first episode of course starts off with a situation that probably turned off a lot
of people despite it’s more positive ending considering the circumstances. A bit of a
dark spot as it were. Our protagonist Chise was introduced in chains, signing her life
away to be sold in some kind of fancy rich mage auction. Only for Elias to swoop in and
buy her. This is uncomfortable for a number of reasons, but mainly it introduces the relationship
between our two leads as something more akin to master and slave rather than equal partnership.
It’s something the show spends the rest of the entire narrative trying to shake off.
Sure you can say that Chise was content with the situation, you can say she agreed to be
placed on auction, she signed the paper, but we also know her life was absolute garbage
prior to the series fully starting. She wasn’t in a good place mentally, and then this suave
british man showed up and offered her an escape, one that just so happened to involve chains.
I would have been more inclined to agree with the idea that the auction was in good faith
if Chise was not in chains, that she was there and on that stage of her own will. The chains
were a touch I didn’t think was necessary. The point of them of course was so that Elias
could destroy them once they arrived at his home, possibly symbolizing the first step
of her mental freedom, but like everything with Elias, it’s just another thing that
looks to be well intentioned, but still comes off as something quite a bit different.
Of course Chise, being our protagonist, is the far more interesting and relatable character
between the two of them. While Elias comes off as one with sharp edges, Chise is more
like the familiar smoothness of worn wood. Like a living room chair, neglected for decades
gathering dust. Her relatability is one with a bit of a depressing connotation, because
she herself is incredibly depressed. Her parents are missing, she’s been mistreated by relatives,
never had many if any friends. She spent her childhood being treated as an annoyance at
best, and a burden at worst. To the point where, despite being sold to this skeletal
mage, she gives him her loyalty because he simply was the first to ever offer her a home,
to call her family. It’s an incredibly sad moment from the first episode that doesn't
even get into the depth of her character.
Chise is what the series called a Sleigh Beggy, a designation given to humans who are have
the ability to naturally absorb magical energy. Because of this they are extremely valuable
by both magical sorcerer’s and fae creatures alike.
However they are rare, not because they don’t appear often enough in the world, but rather
because when they do appear, they don’t live for very long.
The sheer amount of the additional magical energy puts a massive strain on their bodies,
and in the case of Chise a decent portion of the series is relegated to attempts just to
mitigate that by Elias and others so that she can have a longer lifespan. But it’s
an internal struggle for her character as well. Depression is not a fun topic, it doesn’t
do good things to people. So to have a character so close to death at every moment, one who
starts off by being pretty apathetic to continuing to live at all, is.. Well saying it’s “sad”
doesn’t really have the right kind of gravity to it.
Had things gone a different way at the start of the story, if Elias was not the one to
buy her if she was sold off into far worse circumstances, I’m willing to bet she would
have welcomed it all the same. The Chise at the start of the story is tired, far too tired
for someone of her age, wracked by trauma and lack of any urgency to actually live.
But living with Elias is not enough to change her by itself. Even several episodes in she
seems perfectly willing to accept a series of events that will no doubt lead to her death.
She almost welcomes it. She’s been in that place before, a place where you almost want
to know what it feels like to jump off a building and fly, even just for the few seconds that
you’d get to.
Chise’s story over the course of the series is not something I’d call healing. But for
someone who has been in similar situations, there is a level of understanding here that
can’t be overstated. Chise’s pain is not something that’ll heal in a few quick storylines,
regardless of how much magic exists in this world. There is no magic fix for her mental
state, you can’t just wish away the kind of self-loathing and depression that Chise
has come to accept within herself at the start of the series. But for the viewer, it does
provide a good bit of hope, even if we don’t have the same kind of help that she does.
But of course, one of Magus Bride’ strengths is that Chise receiving help is not what makes
the story worth watching. Especially if that help, in the form of Elias, isn't all that
helpful at all. But rather how Chise is able to develop and grow despite the challenges
placed before her, how she attempts to overcome her self-loathing and become an entirely different
character. Her journey is the one worth watching, dark spots and all.
Despite however being the titular character, and the one whose story is absolutely the
main reason why the series is worth experiencing, it is not the only thing this series has to
offer. Baked into this world is a whole slew of real world mythology and folklore, the
story takes place in europe for a reason, a place where a massive amount of mythical
creatures call home, and most of them become quite interested in the fact that a Sleigh
Beggy moved in nearby. But in addition to how the story deals with Chise and Elias'
personal stories and their relationship, the lore of the world leans on stories that are
not black and white.
Many creatures of the Fae have never been portrayed as a kind of pitch black evil, usually
instead as a kind of playful mischievous grey, their wants and desires may sometimes align
with our characters offering them the use of their magic, and other times their motives
may be counter. Wanting to use Chise’s nature for their own ends.
You don’t need a degree in Celtic folklore to appreciate the references either, though
I’m sure you’ll notice far more. There are plenty of more obvious references as well,
pulled from among other things the work of Shakespeare, with the likes of the Fairy King
and Queen from Midsummer Night’s Dream, or even the Fairy Ariel from The Tempest.
But there’s also Banshee’s and Dragons, each with their own aspects to them that help
the story along in little ways. But giving the world just that additional layer of mystery
and depth to make it even more interesting.
From a production standpoint as well the entire narrative is helped along by the show's animation
team, and in my eyes the equally important soundtrack. Most of the clips I’ve been
showing so far should give you a taste of what the team at Wit Studio came up with,
showing that despite the massive popularity of their more action focus titles they can
handle more subtle storytelling just as well visually. It’s also worth noting the strength
behind the show’s director, as prior to this he had only directed a small ova and
the film for Yowamushi Pedal, a series already established.
But the directors chair is a place he hasn't spent
all that much time in, something I found surprising considering just the level of quality in the
shows directing. But it looks like he was able to take past experiences and use those
to help his work now. Like who better to direct a series about a character who suffers from
massive amounts of depression than a guy who did Animation Directing, Key animation, and
general designs for Welcome to the NHK?
On the musical end there are two things worth mentioning, first the compositions by the
show's composer. Noteworthy not simply for how fitting they are to the narrative, but
also for the fact that like the show's director, it’s composer hasn't done much outside this
project. It’s like a combination of things that would have made me worry about the show
going into it, a director rarely in the hot seat, and a composer with no other anime to
his name? Color me surprised then when the OST for magus bride ends up becoming something
I find myself listening to on it’s own regularly. Not something that happens for many a soundtrack
I’ll tell you that.
Second, is the show’s use of insert songs. Most shows as of late don’t use insert songs
as much as anime of years past, and occasionally those that do don’t use them all that well.
I’m giving a side eye to Shinkai here. But the insert songs for Magus are phenomenal
with well chosen vocalists that add to the scenes they are used in, and don’t get me
started on the music packed for the shows opening. It’s just fantastic.
Magus Bride is a series I have such a passion for. The only reason I never rallied harder
for it back when it came out was that it shared a release year with what is my current favorite
anime ever, Made in Abyss. Also that it came out at that odd time that was half 2017, half
2018 so when doing things like best of year lists it feels like it belongs to both and
at the same time neither which made it hard to push for it like I have others in the past.
It’s also just a matter of how personal the show feels to me. I can praise it all
I want, and I have, but I can also understand that the main reason I love it so much is
for how much I can relate experiences in my life with Chise as a character. Something
that, while I’m sure others have experienced, might not be as noteworthy to someone who
hasn't been in a similar place. It’s not a perfect series, and there are aspects to
it that I think could have been done better or slightly differently, but I can’t help
but love it nonetheless.
As such, with all that in mind, I’m happy to give Ancient Magus Bride the Glass Reflection
rating of CERTIFIED FROSTY! A rating for only the best of the best or those shows too important
to ignore. I realise that it’s probably too high of praise for most people and I can’t
say that it's not without flaws, but since I personally found so much entertainment out of
the series I wouldn't feel comfortable giving it any less. There will be streaming links
down in the description for you to check out which I think you obviously should.
For alternate anime recommendations, we’ll start with another series about a red headed
protagonist and point you towards Snow White with the red hair. Not actually related to
the more well known story of Snow White, there are no dwarfs or witches, though there are
poison apples, various princes, and a well developed lead character who navigates her
way through this quite lovely fantasy world. Not an isekai either in case that's something
you were worried about.
Lastly, a very special thank you to my patrons, who not only support my work in general, but
allow me to continue to do what I do.
I do love and appreciate you
all. Specifically though, as I like to do, I want to give particular shout-outs to patrons
Wago 221, Calhoonboy, Hector Montemayor, Rune Jakobsen, Ryefan Boneapart, and Siri Yamiko
for being especially awesome. You guys are great! And until next time – ladies, gentlemen,
and others – watch more anime…and stay frosty.