I’d call Mahoutsukai no Yome a very wholesome anime. It contains loads of different genres that are normally incompatible, but here are all beautifully melded together to create a work of art. There are aspects of drama, horror, comedy, slice-of-life, adventure, and even romance. And of course, it’s set in a fantasy world.

It has a unique pace; sometimes large amounts of screen-time are dedicated to small details and sometimes the anime will almost disjointedly jump from one scene to another. This can be quite disconcerting and takes some getting used to. However it is resolved several episodes in, and the anime begins to feel much more like a proper story. Or maybe you do just get used to it after a while. In any case, the second half of the series reveals the actual plot, and from there on the anime changes and becomes more focussed story-wise instead of staying events and environment based. I do also think the quality of the anime improves enormously from this point on.

The majority of the first cour is essentially what I’d call standalone episodes, you don’t generally need to have seen the previous one to understand. Chise is introduced to various characters and magical creatures, and helps them out of difficulties whilst simultaneously bonding with Elias. The fantasy world is explored minimally; information is provided on a need-to-know basis and exposition is scarce. Rather than being a source of frustration, this actually adds to the sense of mystery. It’s a bit like the Harry Potter Universe, so much remained unexplained even at the end but that just made it more intriguing.
The second half deals much more with the main antagonist. The anime delves into backstories in depth, explores the meaning of relationships and dependency, and brings a lot of the seemingly unconnected elements in the first half together. There are a lot more emotional moments and a lot more action scenes, leading up to a thrilling climax that will leave you on the edge of your seat and then a wonderful conclusion. Not exactly what you’d expect given the tranquillity of the first half.

The art and animation are breath-taking. The scenery is stunning, the character’s faces show their emotions brilliantly (except for Elias, obviously), and the chibi moments are quite cute and add a sense of light-heartedness.

The music is absolutely phenomenal. All of it. The openings, endings, OSTs were all literally music to my ears. The first opening theme (as well as being one of the best I’ve ever heard), perfectly encapsulates the tone of the series.

But the characters are where it really gets interesting. Both the MCs actually grow massively throughout the series. Chise changes from a listless, withdrawn individual into a person who’s not afraid to speak her mind and will go to any lengths to help a friend. Elias develops from a stone-hearted and lonely individual into a being who starts to realise what kindness, friendship and selflessness actually are. Both of them still have a long way to go – Elias has only just begun to understand emotions after all – but watching such brilliant character development is immensely satisfying.

It’s done realistically too. Neither of them change overnight, they clearly grow as a result of the challenges they struggle through. Painful backstories, dependency, loss and betrayal; each of these things leaves an impact. Chise, in particular, agonises over some aspects of her life but eventually makes the decision to either accept them or change them. Others help show her the way, but she ultimately decides for herself.

The majority of the supporting characters are memorable and a fair amount of them also have a good level of development. Insights into Lindel’s, Silky’s and of course Ruth’s pasts bring a lot more depth to them. Cartaphilus’ backstory and subsequent actions after it was revealed managed to completely alter my opinion of him (and secured him a place in my list of famed villains), and characters like Oberon and Titania were just enjoyable to watch. I couldn’t help feeling excited every time I saw them pop up (whether they were bringing bad news or good).

Spoiler, click to view

Now to open up the can of worms. As for the complaints circulating around the internet that this glorifies human trafficking – I guess I can see why people think that way, even if I personally don’t. But if all human trafficking worked like this – ‘victim’ gets taken by their own choice, given good food, a warm place to stay with their own room and their own space when they need it, a loyal companion who cares about them, the opportunity to study and practice medicine and magic from a brilliant teacher, and the ability to leave and go off by themselves if they actually wanted to badly enough, I think the world would be a much better place. This is nothing like actual human trafficking, it’s an anime about magic and MCs almost always have tragic pasts. Yes, both of them are far too dependent on each other, but this anime isn’t going for a model relationship. It’s about emotionally damaged people slowly bonding. And as for becoming his bride, the vibe we get from the story is that Elias wouldn’t make Chise do anything she was really against unless it was for her own good (cos she’s selfless enough to risk her life for basically anyone who asks for help), so even that would end up being consensual or just not happen. Sure she’s underage now, but a) he’s not human b) he’s not planning to marry her for a while. It’s hard to talk about age gaps and glorifying paedophilia when one of the love interests is immortal and the other is doomed to die young. Besides, everyone has their own view on what a competent adult is anyway. Chise isn’t portrayed as a child; she’s more mature than most of the actual adults in the anime. I’m not going to discuss this in any more detail, at the end of the day there will always be people who interpret things differently. (It’s one of the things that makes life so interesting, after all.)

So what did I think of this anime? I liked it tremendously, but took a while to get there. I thought it was good from the beginning, but only really got invested in it about halfway through. I’d definitely say it was a worthwhile watch though.

It’s probably one to go for if you’re in the mood for something that’s serene, quiet, and emotional, but does show a sense of adventure from time to time. XD