Dec 27, 2017
(This is my first review so it might not be too good and I'm trying not to contain any spoilers)
In an honestly pretty poor year for original anime in 2017, there have been a few strong animes. Personally 2 originals this year can be considered amongst the best, the first being Summer 2017's Made In Abyss, and Fall 2017's Mahoutsukai no Yome.
As the synopsis goes, Chise is a young girl coming from a broken family, who has given up all hope on her life and future, to the extent of even selling herself. She is then bought for an absurd amount by Elias, a demon?
...
looking mage. He then announces that Chise will be his apprentice and his future bride.
With a premise like this, it seems as though this would be a recipe for disaster. But Mahoutsukai no Yome has been able to exceed all expectations for it, and become quite frankly a masterpiece.This boils down to a few points.
The important duo pushing the story forward would be Elias & Chise, the main protaganists. The seeminly uncaring Elias is seen by Chise as her benefactor and saviour even, who is allowing her to use her talent/curse as a Sleigh Beggy to discover a new purpose in life. The change of Chise from a hopeless, unconfident girl to one who is on the path of gaining strength on her own is forged by both Elias' "tutoring" and Chise's determination. Similarly interesting would be Elias' own background. While little hints have been dropped throughout the story about where he comes from, he is still quite the enigma as of Episode 12.
Other characters are not to be dismissed as unimportant either. Often, characters like Lindel and the old dragon have helped her discover important learning points that would not only be invaluable for her learning of magic, but for how she should live her life as well. These life lessons can also be applicable for ourselves, but I would not go into detail about these.
The set-up for the plot is amazing. With a community saturated with isekai and fantasy worlds literally being in a Middle-Ages themed MMORPG, Mahoutsukai no Yome shows how a real magical fantasy world can be introduced to the viewer in a similar fashion to the Harry Potter universe, with an potentially even wider and deeper realm than that. This is aided by strong characters and their significance with the story, how the characters interact with each other. (ie the other mages and Elias and the fairies with Chise)
The animation is stellar. it never fails the viewer with its beautiful colours and detailed drawing that would entice the senses. Coupled together with the beautiful soundtrack and the amazing songs (like Lindel's singing) it gives the magical atmosphere and moving and bittersweet feeling. The opening song is powerful, and the ending song does not disappoint either. These are both coupled with great animation in the OP/ED, with the OP's song tone making it feel as though one is transitioning between hopeless sadness to hope, reflecting Chise's journey, while the ED seems to remind us that there is still more darkness/mystery to come. (That's my own interpretation and definitely open to other opinions)
To address the criticisms, I do admit that the pacing could have been too fast, and while I have not read the manga, i would believe that it is caused by the short 24 episode length of this series. I also agree that occasionally comedic moments are placed inappropriately, but i would argue that they are useful in lightening the show's generally dark tone. Moving on to the biggest concern of most of the reviewers here, which would be this being the glorification of pedophilia/Stockholm Syndrome, I would only say that I personally feel that this show encourages neither of which, and the Chise's age and situation are key factors in stringing her personality together, as well as showing her own teenage need for love, acceptance and a place in the world, of which she is finding in Elias and others in this world.
I do hope that this show keeps up this amazing 12 episode run with an equally, if not better last 12 episodes that would certainly please us viewers and give a new classic masterpiece for the anime community.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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