When I was just a kid on summer holiday
staying at my grandma's house
I remember my first time properly seeing an ant colony
Seeing hundreds of tiny creatures
going about their little tasks in such an organized fashion
created a flowing pattern that mesmerised me for hours
Like seriously, I could just stare at these ants from morning til evening
pfft
I- I know right, the most popular kid in school right here
But eventually wanting to learn where these strange little creatures were coming from
I followed the trail of small ants to a small mound
And, as a kid there was so much wonder and mystery behind that mound
What was in the mound?
Was something controlling all these creatures?
Where are they all coming from?
it was this curiosity
that lead me to try and uncover the mysteries that lay in that mound
using just a stick
and of course
my bare hands
But decades later
with a painful memory I will
never forget
I still find pleasure in itching that child-like curiosity of exploration
and learning about a world beyond my understanding
It's something which I think at some level we never really grew out of
And recently there have been two anime that have been able to
evoke this child-like wonder of exploration and discovery
One being last season's Made In Abyss
and the other being The Ancient Magus Bride
which I'll be focusing on today
But I will be sprinkling a bit of Made In Abyss here and there
Magus Bride is in my opinion one of the best shows airing this season
that stood out immediately from episode one
The first thing that caught my attention was
a story of an order aristocratic mage
putting down five million quid
for a fifteen year old teenage slave
who he then reveals he'll be grooming as her bone daddy
to be an apprentice and eventual wife
to which I thought
But then again we live in fandom where
we can casually call each other a pedo
for watching Ero-manga Sensei
before going about our days
so it's not something I paid much mind to
As the second thing that
God
We are a little bit weird aren't we
As the second thing that stuck with me
was the beautiful world which they inhabit
filled with mystique and wonder
which is what I'm here to discuss
and NOT the questionable Stockholm Syndrome-esque relationship shared by our manger
which someone else can unpack
Ah yeah that's right
Who's your bone daddy
The world that Elias resides in
this magical world of dragons, fairies, and phenomenon
that induced that sense of awe and wonder
which comes with living in this enormous place of mysteries, beauties, and terrors
These shows make a world so compelling
that it's just a joy to inhabit and explore them
from a third person perspective viewing it at least
And in this time of the same old tiresome
JRPGs
MMO Fantasy settings
(Did someone say transported to a fantasy world?)
Kore Yamazaki, the original mangaka (manga artist)
has managed to craft a world that not only feels fresh
but somewhat familiar too
that we actually want to explore and learn more of
But how does she do that?
One of the first things you may notice is
the amazing attention to detail that has been put into the setting and its environment
And this can be seen right from episode one
Hold on a sec
They're eating fish 'n chips with Shepard's pie
and aside from this use of grossly inaccurate use of American bacon
that's actually a proper Full English Breakfast
Are they about to go the the nearest Spoonies to grab a burger and pint
And this is the actual proper seat passage you see on a British train
And you may think it's stupid that I'm in awe
that they got the pattern of a fucking train seat right
But it's these small little details that make this world feel real and unique
cause what would stick out like a sore thumb
is having and English setting with a traditional British cottage
and some chick laying down a piece or onigiri or some shit
Or even worse
seeing some madman
putting a tea bag in a mug
after they poured the water
Jesus
fucking
christ
The small things can mean a lot
and the same level of attention and care
was given to the fictional part of the world too
See, magic and fantasy is not new to anime in the slightest
Some may even say it's become kind of over saturated recently
thanks to the abundance of shows with characters being
All together now
(Transported to a fantasy world) [Transported to a fantasy world] {Transported to a gaming world}
Wait
FUCK
Which if you seen my video on Isekai you should be an expert on right now
And as mentioned there
this new trend has swept over the fantasy genre in anime
causing countless titles with a grounding JRPG and MMO fantasy games
So much so that we rarely do see anything new or peculiar
that really surprises us anymore
It's like the term "fantasy" in anime now
means that we're hardstuck in some Medieval themed town
full of your usual NPCs
playing that same chirpy RPG soundtrack loop from your nightmares
With every major character fitting into one of your usual basic classes of
swordwanker
magicwanker
healingwanker
priestwanker
banditwanker
and titwanker
With even the magic itself being
something that we fully understand
You have your typical elemental spells
fire, ice, or wind, and lightning attacks
a summon
mana pools
healing spells
buffs and de-buffs
It's something that's become oddly familiar
either through our familiarisation of the games that have inspired them
or through the sheer number of titles out now with this concept
Which means that no matter how good the story is
or new interesting spin they put on the characters
The world themselves
have gotten stale
Once we start getting familiarised with all the aspects of these worlds
and the systems of magic that govern them
what should be unique features within these settings for us
become something we are tiring accustomed to
In other words
Hehe
Did- did you like that line
I- I like that line
In complete contrast
Magus Bride takes inspiration from all varieties of mythologies
and manages to blend them into a coherent setting
A world with fairies
dragons
magical libraries
strange, giant rat creatures
Kore Yamazaki is obviously a big fantasy nerd
as she tries to throw in as many little references as she can
For example
for the term "Sleigh Beggy"
we can find the origins of the term as so
THIS IS A MOTHERFUCKING JOJO REFERE---
Sleigh Beggy is actually a reference to some really obscure Celtic folklore
where Sleigh Beggy is a type of fairy
and when you meet this character
ur...
What was her name again?
Tit-
-tania
Tit-tania
You know
The queen of titti--
FAIRIES
The queen of fairies
(I'm safe)
She mentions her world of Tír na nÓg
which is from Irish mythology
A name for the otherworld
a supernatural realm of everlasting youth
And these are just two of MANY
that someone who's not too deep into fantasy, like myself
it will take a lot of time to research and unpack
but you can tell how much love and care she has put into this world
The origins of a lot of these myths and tales
are stories that were conjured up long ago
to explain things that people did not understand at the time
And this is the exact feeling the show gives off
THAT'S RIGHT BOIS
MAH MAIN MAN MAGUS BRIDE IS BRING THE MAGIC BACK INTO MAGIC
There are aspects about the world that are just
delightful
which comes from the stories held there
One that really sticks to mind
was a story of an old dragon
And honestly, there's not even much of a story there
We just learn that when dragons die
they turn into trees
And we meet an old dragon close to his deathbed
with a bunch of little kid dragons innocently cheering him on to pass on
so that he can become a tree
And you're just like
Wow kids
Don't you just have the most delightful view of the acceptance of our immortality in the grim inevitability that is our death
But then it leads to this beautiful scene
that encapsulates the true awe and beauty in this world
of this magnificent creature passing on
that is just
just
Did I just cry over a fucking tree?
Alright kids, you were right
Why don't we all just die and turn into magnificent trees
The story of this dragon was something very simple
but it was such a delight to see this one aspect of the world
It's comparable to some of the beauty we get to see from documentaries of our own Earth
And this is just one story to be told within this setting
which brings me to how the show makes it such a joy to explore the world
And it all boils down to one thing
To hammer this point down
I actually think Made In Abyss has a more straight forward example I can use
The world of Made In Abyss revolves around the exploration of the abyss
which is essentially just a big hole in the ground
that no one knows the origin of
with a bottom that has never been reached
Upon seeing this hole, you get this same question that anyone would get when stumbling on a really deep hole
How deep is the hole?
What creatures can I find in it?
What made this hole?
But, most importantly
What happens if I throw a rock in it?
It's an innate curiosity that's hardwired into our psychology
meaning that your natural instinct after seeing a very very deep hole
is to throw a fucking rock in it
The same instinct that would cause a stupid kid to poke at an ant hill
and stick his hand in it
As we explore the abyss
you start to see stranger creatures and phenomenon in the environment
Some of which we learn about
Some of which we don't
But it's the sense of the mystery behind everything
and discovering what they are really about
that makes the settings such an interesting place to explore
Magus Bride's world also does exactly that
with its inhabitants and strange phenomenon
What is the story behind this strange mysterious black goo?
Is there history behind it?
And what would happen
if I poked it with a stick and stuck my hand in it
The world is laden with mystery
that we explore through the characters
But rather than uncovering the mystery of a plot point
we are unravelling the puzzle that is the world itself that they inhabit
As we are learning everything through the eyes of Chise, the typical magic noob
we start off with the same grounding and knowledge as she does
allowing us to discover things at the same pace
But you get the sense that even though those who have existed in the world for lifetimes longer
still are in nowhere near in understanding everything it has to offer
Details are mentioned that are never explained
Characters have rich history that are only implied at
And rarely do we get some kind of exposition dump that explains exactly everything that we see
We are only given the information we need to be given
It doesn't feel like a world that was created for the purpose of taking us through an adventure
It's one that simply exists
and has existed for a very long time
One that we cannot fully explore
filled with features nobody may ever really understand
like our actual world and universe
We are not meant to be able to comprehend everything
as the phenomenon are bigger than any one person
And while Made In Abyss uses this concept to effectively build a sense of dread though it's lovecraftian horror
Magus Bride uses this to craft a location that feels like a living breathing place beyond our understanding
which will just be wonderful to dwell in
All this builds to create a mesmerising atmosphere that Magus Bride has
One that really encapsulates what fantasy should be like
It feels magical
It feels delightful
Evoking a sense of awe
and it's not just something that's exclusive to the anime
Many have argued that the manga has done an even better job at crafting that rich atmosphere
which I should probably mention is on Book Walker
Links below and details coming up
But from what I have read
it has also impressed me greatly
I mentioned during my first impression that I was waiting for that hook in the plot
But the more I watched the more I realized I didn't need a hook in some plot point to grip me
What kept me coming back was just wanting to see more of the world
because that is the magic of experiencing a new world
And a new world doesn't necessary have to mean entirely fictional one
an alien one
or a fantasy one
that is beyond our imagination
It could just mean a world outside the one you are normally exposed to
This video will probably be watched by thousands of people around the world of different backgrounds, locations, environments
that you may or may not have some familiarity with
And even if we look at our own world
there are still so many mysterious, fantastical and beautiful things that look like they belong in our imagination
And when we look at these fictional worlds with such mystique and wonder
we can forget that some of the most mysterious and wonderful things inhabit our own world already
And while I'm sure most of us are not travellers or documentary makers
exploring these delightful strange facets of our world
The true magic of fantasy worlds like these
is how they can make feel like we are
♫: Mahoutsukai no Yome (リベロアーラ)
If the world of Magus Bride sounds like something you'd like to explore aside from just the anime
you can always read ahead in the manga, which I do highly recommend
which you can do so on Book Walker
using coupon code Gigguk for a discount
No giveaway this time, I just wanted to talk about a great title
They are doing a giveaway for Spice & Wolf stuff right now though for the new series that just came out
so that interests you, you can also enter by buying the new Spice & Wolf book
Again, same coupon code same discount
But anyway, that's it from me
I've been Gigguk, and I will see you all next time