The Ancient Magus' Bride - Reviews

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∵⊹↹ღ𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒖𝒔' 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆ღ↹⊹∵
Chise Hatori is an orphan and a slave in a magical world. Now she is being sold to the highest bidder, a mysterious figure clad in black with an animal-skull-head. Elias is a powerful mage, and is determined to find an apprentice in order to keep the legacy of magic alive. He also has a second intention: make Chise his bride and marry her. Chise is A Sleigh Beggy, a person who can see magical spirits and magic, while also being able to absorb magic around themselves. Yet many will try to thwart Chise's journey of magic.

"Beneath the heavy veil . . . beyond the dull wall of cement . . . deep, deep within the ancient, misty forest . . . there lies another world. That world is far closer to ours than you might imagine."
The Ancient Magus' Bride Vol 1 is a decent opener to the series. I liked the illustrations, specifically the ones of the sprites, faeries, dragons, and other mythical creatures. So why is this only three stars read? The whole set-up of the story did leave me uneasy. While yes-I understand that this is intended to be a fantasy, I still paid attention to the fact that Elias bought her.

Chise was a slave, who was bought by Elias to become his apprentice. However, what she didn't anticipate was the fact that he wanted to marry her. It seems like Elias has given her free-will due to the fact that he wouldn't force her to become a mage. Yet the marriage part was unaccounted for . . . and then there was the massive age gap. Chise is only fifteen . . . being forced into a marriage just doesn't feel right, especially with a being who seems to be more than just 20 years older than her (as he is an ancient being). Its hard to read Chise as she doesn't necessarily have an aversion to the idea, but doesn't seem that keen on it either.

Then there was that awkward scene in the beginning where Elias forcefully rips off her clothes and puts her into the bath tub. She is embarrassed at being seen naked in front of him. That scene . . . just felt odd and awkward. I won't let this scene ruin the whole manga for me, but I thought it was also good to mention that I didn't feel like this was necessary nor did it seem like a humorous scene for me.

Overlooking these parts, Elias is in fact not a bad person. He is kind and caring, welcoming Chise with open arms. The art in this manga, specifically the fantasy art, is gorgeous. The cat kingdom is inventive, the faeries have all their unique powers, and the crystal poppy scene was breath-taking. Chise was a character who yearned to be loved and welcomed because of the lack of it in her own life.

A peeve I had with the story was the constant reoccurrence of the damsel-in-distress at least three times. We all have our moments, and not every time a female character is in trouble should it be labelled a damsel-in-distress. However, Chise gets kidnapped, captured, and tricked, not making much of an effort to get out of the situation. It feels like the mangaka constantly puts Chise in these situations where she gets saved by Elias. I just hope that she isn't utilized just to add "romantic tension" or make Elias seem like her cool savior.

Overall, a story that I will continue . . . I'm excited to see how the story will develop.
🆗PLOT
☑️PLOT TWISTS
🆗CHARACTERS

Okay there is a.... lot to be said about this manga.... for starters it's not done yet but this is my review about it so far:

Story:

The story is rather in depth but here is a simple version: (WARNING SPOILERS!)

The main Character is a female slave which was bought by a bone head (a half human, half beast) this tales the story about her helping others.... a lot there!

Art:

Okay the art is rather complex yet smooth... it's rather easy to look at and not very confusing.

Characters:

Well with a female lead it's rather nice.... that's all i can say really...

Overall:

I suggest watching this if you like magic then this manga is for you, Good Luck!

Story:

A whole magical world incorporated within ours? Heck yeah.

My only problem with it is that sometimes it's a bit difficult to follow and can be overwhelming (one big thing after another)

Art:

Like it. The character design, the landscape, all the magical stuff requires serious creativity.

Characters:

I have to say at the beginning I didn't like Chise since she seemed so passive and didn't care much about anything (though with her past I can somewhat understand her), seeing her transform into the strong willed Chise was really enjoyable.

Elias' developement is also wonderful, and also takes you along with him on his journey to understand humans.

In general all the characters are unique and are fun to get to know.

Overall:

I really enjoyed reading it and I look forward to the next updates.

I started collecting the manga of Ancient Magus' Bride after the anime utterly captivated my imagination and made me want to believe in magic. I can say that the manga does the exact same. The author, Kore Yamazaki, said that she was inspired in part to make this story because she felt there weren't enough good "beauty and the beast" type romance manga and there's a moment in the 11th volume that I feel perfectly sums up the entire manga's thesis in just a few beautifully crafted panels.



SPOILER WARNING!!!


The manga (at least up to the 13th volume, as far as I've read) is in a magic college/school arc, which would normally be a negative in my book (seen way too many generic high school settings in manga & anime) but it's been enough of a grand adventure that I would say it avoids the pitfalls of becoming yet another school setting. There's a colorful cast of new characters that get introduced but only a handful, so it doesn't have that shounen problem of suddenly having a hundred new faces that will never get enough character development.

There's a great little subplot where Chise and her new classmates try to uncover the secret of the shy boy Zoe and why he always wears headphones. When Chise's roommate, Lucy, snatches the headphones away it is revealed that Zoe is half-gorgon when his hair turns into a writhing bunch of vibrant green snakes. They corner him to explain that they aren't afraid of him and Zoey's snakes, with a mind of their own, start playing idly with Lucy's hair. Zoe, shy and nervous and afraid, frantically apologizes to Lucy but, completely unfazed, Lucy simply pets one of the little green snakes and says with the closest thing to a smile we've ever seen on Lucy that they are such a lovely shade of green that she wishes she could have a bundle of thread in their color. It lets Zoe know that he's finally someplace where he's safe being fully himself, snakes and all.

END SPOILERS!!!

It's such a beautiful little encapsulation of the western magic themed "beauty and the beast" concept of the entire story has at its heart and it honestly made my heart skip a beat when I first read it. Kore Yamazaki-sensei really is crafting a wonderful tale that has so much depth, so much beauty, and so much warmth. There are some ugly moments where the absolute worst of humanity comes out but the manga is so masterfully put together that these moments only serve to make the bright, warm ones stand out even more.

I would recommend 100% to at least check out this manga; it literally makes me want to believe in magic.