Story:
Every so often, one stumbles upon a story that just nails the aesthetic of a “hook” at a single glance. Tolkien has his hobbits, Star Wars its lightsabers, and Mahou Tsukai no Yome its cow-skull-headed magician. One pass over the title and the characteristic image of Elias, and the average fantasy/romance consumer is going to grab this title in a heartbeat.
Indeed, the hook of Mahou Tsukai no Yome is spectacular, not only in static presentation but also in that of its first episode. The series opens with a dead-eyed, red-headed girl being paraded in front of auction framing her as a sort of exotic slave. As bidding is about to close, an impeccably-dressed magician steps to the front, glowing red eyes set inside a hollow skull, purchasing the girl for twice the asking price amidst an awe-struck crowd. Almost immediately, as the mysterious interloper pulls his prize into the back room, the viewer is whisked away, through a torrential whirlwind of thorns and shadows, into a verdant field with a quaint cottage in the London countryside. Little is explained, but the stark juxtaposition of scenery, backdropped by our enigmatic and esoteric skull mage, creates a stunning and captivating setting. “Be my apprentice,” the mage named Elias says to his slave girl Chise, and the credits roll.
This trend of powerful imagery will continue for several episodes, carried strongly by a macabre undertone that implies everything around Chise is far more sinister than it may first seem. Indeed, without so much as an inflection, Elias’ blank, silent stares possess a whirlwind of emotion – curiosity, contempt, hatred, contentment – and each time the viewer sees his face the deeper question surfaces: just why would this demonic-looking mage buy a slave girl to make her his apprentice? As the series continues its exposition, unfortunately the answers are far from satisfying. Chise wears an armor of plot device that rivals the infamous Mary Sue herself, and no scene truly manages to hold suspense when the a favorable outcome for Chise is already known.
That said, the story remains quite good at weaving in twists and turns regardless of the fact that it refuses to let itself become genuinely dramatic and serious. True, the intrigue and depth of the story is curiously placed alongside a sort of weird child-like narrative, with oddities like winged rhino-dragon-things, random fanservice, and an array of comedic-relief characters with poorly-expounded backstories saturating the bulk of the twenty-four episode run. But behind this shoddy presentation lies a very interesting cast of characters, Cartaphilus particularly, who manages to keep an overall narrative going which reaches its conclusion very nicely in the last quarter of the series. When all is said and done, both the climax and conclusion to Mahou Tsukai no Yome are satisfying despite their fundamental lack of suspense.
Animation:
Outside bizarre watermelon boobs and eight-eyed flying rhinos, Mahou Tsukai no Yome is visually stunning. Well, for a while. Many scenes seem written more as an excuse to draw a particular setting rather than to advance the story, which is definitely odd but harkens to the sort of aesthetic that Violet Evergarden was very successful in conveying. The magic scenes are all spectacular, especially those with Elias whose waves of thorn and bone starkly capture his self-statement as the shadow-aspected magus.
Around the halfway point, however, the budget clearly took a hit. Framerates during Chise’s songs look painfully out of place, and more and more chibi-style scenes are used to cut costs and push the blithe comedic injections. Still, there are some nice moments and the introductory arcs are quite well done, so not too much worth docking in this category.
Sound:
While I enjoyed much of the music as the series progressed, with its high orchestral charms as Chise and Elias throw out sparkling spellcraft, it started to lose much of its flair as the dramatic edge of the show dulled itself on sequential blunders. The whole premise of magic being fueled by a sort of creatural vampirism warrants the soundtrack for a time, but the show is no Mushishi in either its ghost designs or its musical aptitude. While the tracks themselves were fine, they felt at odds with the presented themes and felt simply out-of-place in the narrative that was presented.
Characters:
Of the ever-bloating cast of characters, most of whom end up being out-of-place comic relief fillers, Chise, Elias, and Cartaphilus are the only three worth mention. Having listed them in order of worst to best, perhaps the most telling aspect of Chise is not that she is a bad character per se, it is that her role in the story is poorly defined. Much of the narrative’s confuddled twists and turns comes from Chise being given too many roles to fill – tragic-scarred heroine, buddying optimist, prodigy magician, and planet relationship counselor...all at the ripe old age of 15. Despite being surrounded by a legion of sinister entities all wishing to use and exploit her hidden powers, the Power of Friendship ™ turns out to be her true hidden virtue, and no real genuine tragedy befalls her despite the constant emphasis of her being a harbinger of said misfortunes.
Elias’ role, initially that of manipulative and mysterious magician, ends up being completely questionable in the pattern of events that unfold. Hints of his backstory are dangled in front of the audience at times, but are never explored beyond some vague shoutouts in the dialogue amongst the fairy elites. Indeed, Elias is the hook that grabs the viewer and keeps them there the entirety of the show, and yet his crowning scene all but crumbles with a fundamental lack of follow-up in the ensuing episodes.
At the end of the day, the only character left really worth his salt is Cartaphilus, and his story is quite interesting from start to finish. Were the ending of the show willing to be a bit more risqué he could have been done exceptionally well, but he still functions appropriately given the backdrop the story places him in. While many a psychopathic serial killer has been done in the anime realm over the years, his twisted fate aligns and foils with Chise quite well, and his envy toward her is surprisingly believable. Reigned in quite handily by an ever-present upbeat vibe that the show must maintain, however, he never really becomes the cursed sadistic anti-hero that, say, Caster does in Fate-Zero.
Overall:
At the end of the day, Mahou Tsukai no Yome tries to be a dark drama and a romantic comedy simultaneously, which inevitably squanders too much potential for it to salvage into a solid storyline. The level of detail and thought put into the premise, the characters, and the setting is truly admirable, but their composition is executed poorly enough that disappointment is the only strong memorable emotion I find myself left with. What could have been a truly unique series can instead be summarized, quite blandly, with a simple “So what?”
Spectacular hook or not, all that is left at the end of the day is a mediocre slice of life, a pedestrian romance, and a simpering suspense-thriller all mixed together to form a forgettable-but-watchable twenty-four episode run. A watch worth the time for fans of the genres, I suppose, but an otherwise passable title in desperate need of an editor and a solid set of cajones.