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Note: This review will reference season 1 structure and narrative while discussing the 2nd season but will refrain from referring to outright major season 2 spoilers.

Ancient Magus Bride season 2 strays away from the more folklore inspired magic world introduced by its semi-episodic format, where normally our main characters would meet many different characters and places, this would serve the overarching narrative as they would experience character growth from their journey all through out the 1st season.
Instead of focusing on what worked in the previous season, the 2nd season focuses on one setting with the same set of characters for 24 episodes.

The change of ... format from a semi-episodic season to a fully linear season would make it understandable if some fraction of viewers dropped the series. The 2nd season executes its plot and characters in a way that makes me feel mixed about it at best.

The first problem, while controversial, is that Chise, our main character, is onscreen too much (while also being overshadowed by other characters).
Chise works best when she has something to do, but the entire season is set in one place. And she already had most of her major character growth in the previous season, so her only issue now is being too self-sacrificing.
Yet, she can barely do anything because of the setting, and most of her dialogue and interactions can be summed up to wanting to help people.
This makes Chise boring to follow.

The season tries to rectify this by introducing new characters and making someone else have Chise's previous character growth while Chise tries to interact with them. But this creates another problem, where they have way too many characters and the season only gives them the bare minimum personalities and backstories that lead up to unsatisfying character arcs.
Some of the new characters don't even get to do anything, and Elias, our second main character, has to try to have character growth without Chise's involvement. However, Elias runs into the same issue of being boring, as he is only allowed to be clearly emotionally invested when Chise is involved, which is a shame, since their interactions were a major draw in the 1st season.

The plot of the 2nd season on paper sounds like an interesting concept. It would make sense as the next step for Chise to meet others and meet someone like her. There are some really good dark elements regarding the characters and themes that the story would present that could have hit so much harder if they had been executed well.
Despite the 24 episode season, the motivations and backstories of the characters are so one-note and small (even though their involvement is directly related to the plot of the season), that the show has to introduce all of these elements at a snailspace, made worse by the fact that interactions between characters are boring. They will keep interacting the same way towards each other almost the entire time without changes, which is what makes it a bit boring to watch for so many episodes.

I come for shows for the characters and plot, so sound and art doesn't really matter to me. However, I feel the need to mention that the sound and music are all as wonderful as before, so I have no complaints there.
The art might have changed a bit, although I can't really point out how.
What I can say for sure is that the animation is a bit less breathtaking and more simplified with a lot of stills, most likely due to the switch from WIT to Kafka, which is made out of the previous Ancient Magus Bride staff. On the other hand, the setting isn't really that fantasy-esque or action heavy most of the time in this season, so it can be excused.

Overall, I think Ancient Magus Bride could have benefitted if it had condensed its plot to a simple 12 episodes, maybe then the staff could've focused more of its budget on the animation aswell.
The presented content just does not work to make 24 episodes engaging, even if it has been split into two seperate parts without really any advertising for the 2nd part's airing.

Shadows House is a worthy watch for anyone, who wants some cute characters in an unsettling situation. However, the anime stays faithful to the manga only for 10 episodes. So, I recommend stopping there and reading the manga. (Below the next section I'm telling a bit about episodes 11-13 without spoilers)

-->If you're gonna READ THE MANGA, A few chapters are a must read,which the anime skipped.
*Episode 1's opening is different from chapter 1 and ending is slightly different from -
chapter 7.
*Episode 2 skips chapter 9.
*--->MAJOR CUT<----
... Episode 4 cuts chapters 19-20. Read chapter 18 just in case, since the episode takes
some panels from it. (Can read before watching the episode)

The last chapter adapted semi-closely is chapter 47 in episode 11 that is affected by the MAJOR CUT from episode 4. After this, the entire episode adapts only chapters 47,51 and 61 while skipping overall 12 chapters at once, and it can be only felt as a rushed way to bring everything together for the anime-only-plot that starts at the end.
Now the last 3 episodes of the anime aren't at all horrible, a bit awkward yes but not nearly as bad as Cloverwork's other stuff like The Promised Neverland season 2 or Wonder egg Priority's ending. The crew clearly tried with this one as they either realized they had too many episodes or they just didn't want to leave it on a cliffhanger. Also apparently the people/person the manga has stated that they are going to try to write this in for season 2, so lets hope it works.

Overall I really, really LOVED this anime. I originally did actually stop at episode 10 when episode 11 hadn't even aired as I was near the edge of my seat at the end of it. If this doesn't tell you how good it was, I don't know what else to tell you. It has a very good ending and soundtrack overall, very classy music. Fits the theme well. The art is very pretty and detailed and the animation isn't stiff. There are lots of different characters with different personalities and they are really fun and interesting. And man, the story is just starting and is surrounded in mystery that'll be revealed slowly.

Score for episodes 1-10. Story: 10. Art: 10. Sound: 10. Character: 10. Enjoyment: 10. Overall: 10
Score for episodes 11-13. Story: 5. Art: 8. Sound: 10. Character: 4. Overall: 4.

Heidi, Girl of the Alps (Alps no Shoujo Heidi) is an absolutely lovely anime adaptation of the 1880 Swiss novel written by Johanna Spyri. The novel has gotten other numerous adaptations beside the anime series, which should indicate how much the original novel has touched the hearts of its readers. Some adaptations surely have been much more grim and gut-wrenching than the rest with its happy moments but none might ever be held as high as this particular adaptation that for many is a taste of nostalgia from their their childhood. Many who have seen it might still imagine the people of Switzerland herding their ... goats while happily dancing on the high mountains of the Alps just like the character representing Japan in another series called Hetalia. In fact a lot of people from Japan wanted to visit Switzerland when the series had started airing, indicating even more of its impact on the viewers.

Back when I was young the only place I ever heard or saw of Heidi's story was from my grandmother, who I watched the live action adaptation(s) with, although I remember them having more sadness and melancholy than in the anime version, which I don't actually have a lot of memories of. Only when I was much older did I finally watch a bit of the anime adaptation as I recognized the familiar name from my childhood and skipped almost or, well basically everything as I was still a bit impatient a few years back. And finally this week I finally started watching it and finished all 52 episodes while knowing very well how the story would be.

The story of Heidi, Girl of the Alps is quite simple without big plot twists or any real big changes to the setting, which the characters reside in as the show wants you to feel like you're truly living in the beauty of the mountains along with Heidi. The beauty of the setting is also enhanced by the background art, which makes it feel like mimicking the real beauty that is the country of Switzerland from the towns, the lakes, the trees to the mountains. The characters are not as detailed or as clean as the background but they sure do stand out from it and the animators were able to put more detail into the movements when needed accompanied beautifully by the sound design, which sadly does sometimes use the same happy tracks that are very noticeable but you'll get pretty used to it as it doesn't really spoil a scene. There are also quiet moments when it's supposed to be serious or eerie in the scene.

The biggest factor to enjoying Heidi, the Girl of the Alps is its characters, which the story, art and sound are there for. All of it exists to enhance how the characters feel. Normally this is all expressed in the novel as text, so those who can't get themselves to imagine the scenes from text get to see it in art with the sound of the fir trees greeting Heidi as her face lights up with joy accompanied by her laughing as she turns around to chase the goats back into the top of the mountain where the sun smiles and turns the cliffs into a blanket of yellow and red. A scene so beautiful that you can truly feel what is going on in Heidi's head as she runs back into the hut to enjoy a piece of bread and cheese with the grandfather that smiles so kindly upon seeing the young girl enjoying her dinner after a long day on the top of the mountain. This is what makes the show so great, understanding the characters, their feelings, sorrows, happiness, everything.

And despite this show being old enough to be re-adapted by anyone many many times, I think no other adaptation could ever redo what this version did for so many people. There doesn't really even have to be an adaptation or even a continuation to expand the their world as much as I would want there to be. The story of a girl that lives on the Alps is something that was there and can't be really redone. It's a gem with small cracks but one of a kind that cannot be replicated or replaced despite its small imperfections. A gem that can be enjoyed by anyone despite their culture or origins.