CaseyJewels

I was in the mood to watch a shorter anime, and I had heard this one mentioned a few times, so I decided to watch it without so much as a refresher on the synopsis.

I loved the mystery of the beginning, of not knowing why Chise was being sold and not knowing who the stranger was who bought her. Chise seemed so broken, and I was eager to get to know both her and Elias. I loved watching Chise grow throughout this short series, and that's probably my favorite thing about the show. While I kind of wish I had seen a little more of the quiet Chise presented in the beginning, I think her speed of growth was handled well.

As for Elias... I'm torn about his background. It does make sense with how he acts at times, of not seeming to fully understand Chise, and it does make the romance aspect a little less creepy, but it also made him a less interesting character overall. I'll talk about that more in the spoiler section. Still, I love his design, and his mannerisms.

Now for the world. I love how integrated and natural most of the fantasy is, while it also being believable why humans don't notice it more. This is also where we begin to have issues, though. It's not super clear why humans can see some of this fantasy, but not others--and which humans see what. Normal humans can see Elias, as well as a few other fantasy beings, if I recall correctly, but not much time is spent with normal humans, so... who knows.

This brings us into why Chise is considered valuable--she can see all fae creatures, regardless of if they want her to or not. When I first heard this explanation, it made sense. It also made sense why Elias could see them all, he being a fantasy creature himself. However, as the show introduced more and more characters, I started to question more and more why Chise was supposedly so valuable/special when it seemed like quite a few humanoid beings could see everything she could. It was also implied Chise had strong magic, but I don't recall her doing anything extraordinary with it. Granted, my memory is a little fuzzy because I waited too long to write this review...

But by the end of the show, I was seriously questioning why Chise was so special, as the show seemed to undo what they had set up with her in the beginning.

Also, just a side note, why does Chise see so many disgusting/scary things as a kid, but then sees mostly nice-looking creatures as a teen? I get the show wants us to know how traumatic her childhood was and why she couldn't pretend to be normal, but it seemed a little odd.

A lot of complaints, but it's really just one big issue in that it's really unclear what powers Chise has that no other living human does, plus me being unsure about Elias' backstory. Overall, though, I enjoyed the show. I was always excited to watch another episode, to see what happened next. The biggest thing I enjoyed was just watching Chise and Elias interact, and watching them grow together. The ending could have been stronger in that aspect, but I don't hate it either. Overall, while it's not one I would ever purchase, I wouldn't be opposed to re-visiting it down the road.

Oh, and a warning that there is some near nudity. Everything is censored, but there's one creature in particular that hardly wears anything at all (she only is focused on in one episode, if I remember right, and you don't see her much beyond that).

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SPOILERS BELOW!!!

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Elias. He seemed like such an interesting character until you learn of his backstory. In part the mystery is gone, but in part his backstory wasn't as cool as I was hoping for, which meant that Elias grew a little less cool in response. I don't necessarily mind the fact that he's basically just a large child--especially as it makes the romance aspect less creepy, since both of them are emotionally/mentally figuring it out. However, Elias had been such an imposing, powerful, and mysterious figure. It turns out most of those moments were just him being too child-like to understand, rather than him not understanding because he was an ancient being who didn't think the same as Man. If that makes sense.

So, the way the show went with him wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but I liked my idea of him better than what he actually was.

One other thing. It's odd this show is all about his bride, but there actually wasn't much romance in it. I love slow burn romances, so that's not an issue, but it did seem odd that Elias didn't really understand what a bride was. With that being such an important part of the show to not only be in the beginning/end of it, but also the show's actual title, it seemed odd for Elias to have such a little understanding of it. It also seemed odd things didn't end in a wedding.

I don't know. I love many aspects/characters of the show, but I do wish they had done some of it differently.