Mahoutsukai no Yome

Like many others, I highly anticipated Mahoutsukai no Yome. Maybe that was my mistake, and I expected too much. But even anime that fail to live up to expectations usually fail them this hard.

So where did things go wrong? The plot? The characters? The worldbuilding? All of the above?

I’ll start with what I liked about Mahoutsukai no Yome. It’s beautiful. There were scenes that were, for a lack of a better word, magical. The soundtrack is also worth listening too.

But despite having high production quality and a magical world to explore, Magus Bride falls flat thanks to its dull cast and lack ... of subtlety.

The side cast is composed of characters with similar “blandly nice” personalities with few exceptions. If you described these characters by personality alone, you wouldn’t be able to tell most of the cast apart.

Our heroine, Chise, isn’t much better, which is really a shame. The story about a young woman overcoming depression through love and exploring a magical realm has great potential, but this supposedly traumatized girl ends up swapping overly dramatic and intimate backstories with every person she meets. It happens too often, which, in addition to losing its effectiveness, also makes it hard to believe Chise struggled to connect with people prior to the story.

She also makes a poor first impression. In the first handful of episodes, the only action she takes is selling herself into slavery. She barely even walks on her own. I get that she’s depressed, but a character is supposed to entertain, not act like a living blob.

Once she finally shows interest into something other than the 400+-year-old man-child who bought her, she grows more interesting, but falls into the same “blandly nice” personality as the rest of the cast.

Elias, our hero, has a personality at least, but it’s not one I’m a fan of. He’s a man-child who throws a magical hissy fit the second Chise talks to someone he didn’t tell her to. While the show does call him out for some of his more possessive behavior, it often gets played off as humorous instead of dangerous.

The show’s premise doesn’t do Elias any favors. He starts the story buying an underage girl and calling her his bride. I get that Elias doesn’t quite understand the connotations of the word “bride,” but the mangaka does. That is the connection the writers wanted the audience to make.

While I think people often overreact to this, since the story seems aware of the problematic aspects of Chise’s and Elias’ relationship, it takes all the mystery out of their relationship. It frames everything they do automatically in a romantic light, rather than leaving room for mystery, magic, and interpretation.

This might not have bothered me except that the entire show does this. Everything is so blandly obvious it feels like the producers are holding up cue cards to the audience saying “cry now” or “find this magical” rather than subtly guiding the audience or letting them make up their own minds.

Every single episode has some grand moment where the music gets big and characters exchange tragic backstory and Chise has some “magical” moment of character progression and on and on. This is fine if done once or twice, but it’s done so often it feels hamfisted rather than genuine.

The show also seems addicted to cliff-hangers. Characters how up and threaten Chise, only to reveal themselves as good guys within a minute of the next episode. It gets old quick and makes you wonder why these supposedly nice people wanted to come across as creepy kidnappers during their first impression.

I really wanted to like this show, but it lacks the magic similar shows like Natsume Yuujinchou and Mushishi mastered. In the end, when you look beyond the exceptional backdrops, stunning soundtrack, and excellent production, there’s just not much there.

The most disappointing anime I've watched this season. I've tried very hard to like this show but it did so many things wrong and honestly I don't understand the high score it has right now. If you're looking for something good just watch the OVAs.

Trying to be short, the show is a mess.
Most of the episodes in the beginning was the same rinse and repeat Chise getting into trouble.
Later on It feels like whoever wrote just thought of half interesting scenarios to put their MCs in.
The way they introduce characters for half of them to never appear again
really seems like they picked random ... stories out of a jar and decided to go from there.
Even their attempts at comedy with the characters having cute faces weren't funny.

Also Chise and Elias they themselves being quite uninteresting despite their really nice character designs. They are supposed to be teacher/student, Chise being the "human teacher" and Elias being the "magic teacher". Except they barely teach each other anything, most of the time it's Chises actions that indirectly affects Elias. The story is all over the place not leaving enough room to see them together just learning.

Honestly if the show didn't have it's great animation and decent soundtrack it'd actually be worthless.

2023 update: my rating still stands but i've cracked it. i know why this is so popular. it's today's twilight set in a more fantastical regency(?) era. that's literally it. i know i mentioned it in this review 3 years ago, but i'm reminded that that's the only way anyone liking this series makes sense to me. also STOP comparing this to studio ghibli. there's no glorified human trafficking, there's no romanticized abuse, and there's no pedophilia...like the bar is in hell guys c'mon.

I HAAAATE the Studio Ghibli comparisons because this doesn't even come close. There could've been so much to love about Ancient Magus' ... Bride but their entire relationship is predicated on:

1) an older non-human man buying a 15-year-old girl at an auction (in other words, human trafficking),
2) calling her dehumanizing things like “puppy” right after she was sold, lording it over her that she's "expensive," and every character acknowledging she’s a “child” (especially him),
3) invading her privacy and trying to touch and bathe her without her permission (he understood that what he was doing to a child was morally reprehensible as indicated by Angelica),
4) telling her she has no choice in matters but is “free to reconsider”,
5) calling him his bride, and
6) her being a FIFTEEN YEAR OLD CHILD goddammit (pedophilia).

[insert pic of SNL title card reading: "tonight's episode: the writer's barely-disguised fetish"]

Chise and Elias could have been terrific characters in their own right but their relationship is marred by poor choices and bad writing. So many things Elias said reeked of things predators actually say to their victims and romanticizing the abuse gives me the ick. He even admits outright that he's grooming Chise and "raising" her to be his perfect bride. Yamazaki didn't need to make it so that the characters meet via human trafficking and to continue the narrative that a man "saved" Chise—just glossing over the fact that they romanticized human trafficking is gross.

I can't imagine reading this series without watching the "Those Awaiting a Star" OVA because Chise is even more watered down and underdeveloped as a character. She always looks like she's dead inside, even when she's smiling. Considering everything that's happened to her, I don't blame her but it's depressing and constantly reminds me that there's nothing good about being with Elias. Other characters would talk about how special she is because she's a rare, glass cannon mage. However, I never felt her importance come to light. Not to say Chise's experiences are invalid, but she's a child witnessing horrifying things and I felt squicky as an adult reading it. She also doesn't have a personality outside of being a powerful mage. Things are always happening around her or to her and she was just moving with decisions people made for her. Again, she's a traumatized child but these qualities don't help with Ancient Magus' Bride's lack of entertainment value and overall "ick"-ness.

Ancient Magus' Bride reminds me of the Twilight series. Chise is Bella Swan. She's a child who is loyal to an old monster dude who has no respect for her, she suffers from Same Face Syndrome, and everybody immediately loves her despite having no personality. Elias is Edward Cullen. It's his way or the highway and everybody has to bend over backwards to cater to him otherwise he literally becomes a violent monster. Chise made friends with another child 3 years younger than she, and he got jealous that her attention wasn't on him for a day. She returned that same evening, he ran away when she arrived, Chise ran after him, and he TRIED TO CONSUME HER by constricting her entire body to the point where she was almost lifeless. He says he "can't control himself" and warned her that he is likely to cause Chise more physical harm like HUH????? 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 Elias is abusive and possessive. Much like Bella, Chise sticks around anyway. Another jarring thing is that he's surprised by mundane human interactions despite living among humans for more than a century. Also like Twilight, every supporting character is more interesting than the main characters. They're complex, they're mysterious, they're charming, and they have a tapestry of history that is engaging. The amount of similarities between Ancient Magus' Bride and Twilight is comical. I'm convinced this is Twilight fanfiction.

It's such a shame because the art is beautiful and I personally have a weakness for jersey devil skull monsters. That's the only reason Ancient Magus Bride even has a star. Aside from the poor writing, I'm sick and tired of the stupid anime tropes that keep popping up in manga and anime. Editors need to do better about their creators and keeping their creepy lolicon fetishes in check. I would rather support projects with mangaka who aren’t afraid to create protagonists older than 30—or even 20 (like Wotakoi)—instead of children whose lack of world experience is taken advantage of by predatory adults. Pass.

This is my first review on this site so I apologize if it's hard to follow. I actually never even thought I'd write a review but something needs to be said about this anime that everyone seems to love for no good reason.

It's just bad. Almost everything about it is bad. If not for it's art and sound, it would have nothing to offer you.
The story is absolutely boring and doesn't seem to have any real direction.
The protagonists, Elias and Chise, have got to be the worst part about it though. Chise has little to no personality so there's not much to be said about ... her but Elias? I really, really wanted to like him. But, nearing the end of the anime, I find him to be the most frustrating. He treats Chise like she belongs to him & is totally fine with her being completely dependent on him. He still occasionally calls her by that derogatory pet name he gave to her after he freakin' bought her. (that she's also taken to calling herself. lol.) No character development whatsoever.

I have nothing else to say except that I would not recommend Magus Bride to anyone.

When the anime began airing, the community was split in half. There were those who were amazing with the fantastical world and the premise of an emotionally damaged female protagonist being given a second chance in life. And then there were those who 5 minutes into the opening scene of the OVAs had ‘nope’d out. It was another pro-slavery series where it’s fine to own slaves if you treat them well. This sick power fantasy that is mostly encountered in bottom of the barrel stories (which so happen to be mostly isekai) is enough to alienate all those who are not willing to see past ... it. And you can’t blame them, since there truly isn’t such a thing as good slavery. You either own slaves or you don’t. However you treat them does not change the fact you own them, they are in dept to you, and you are allowed to do anything you like to them. In most cases, it’s okay to marry them. And look at the title. Oh my, it’s literally a magus buying a slave to be his wife. How do you excuse this?

You ignore it. It’s as simple as that. You pretend it’s not there and you proceed to enjoy whatever else the show is offering. Pretty sceneries, a fantasy realm, and a frail protagonist that is slowly exploring it. Here lies the second turn-off point that halves the audience for a second time. Those who are content with a very simple slice of life in a magical realm type of story will find it very good. Those who want something other than that will be bored out of their minds, for there is nothing much going on in terms of plot. Yes, the heroine is exploring the fantasy realm, but that is more of a simple excuse to have world building. There is no real objective since it’s just whatever magical thing she encounters on an almost episodic fashion and what she learns about that something, often through infodumps by the magus or one of his associates. She otherwise has no agency or urgency over what is going on around her. Because she is a slave, bought to be the magus wife. You see how the same problem keeps appearing?

That aside, the show doesn’t really do much with its own premise, which is not ‘the daily life of my future slave wife’. It was a tortured girl getting to live with a tortured magician, both of which had felt alienation. They were supposed to help each other overcome their emotional baggage by one offering what the other lacked. This doesn’t go anywhere. In fact, it’s almost forgotten and all you are left with is a no-stakes tour around the magical land of the magus. Which can be pretty to look at and learn more about if that is all you expect, but lacks any real meaning and it certainly is not what the premise promised the viewer. There is no danger, no stakes, no worry about the characters failing and ruining everything they were trying to achieve. The protagonist often comes off as a Mary Sue with a super magical ability that fixes everything right away and with no real effort. If that doesn’t work from time to time, then the magus will be the one who jumps in to deflate the tension with his own super hax magic. The show is constantly assuring you there is never going to be something terribly bad in their lives or that they will ever going to mature through their mistake and struggles. Because they never have to struggle; it’s a show you are watching to relax. Assuming you can remain relaxed while knowing the heroine is a slave who was bought to be someone’s wife.

Thus, as a whole, this anime is vapid air. It doesn’t give you what it promises, it doesn’t build on what its premise was implying, and it promotes slavery as fine if you treat your slaves nicely. Before you marry them.

It happens to all of us; one day we find a book or a movie that seems incredibly interesting, but for one reason or another, don't feel comfortable recommending it to people we know. Magus Bride is that for me-the visuals and soundtrack and, hell, even the WORLD of the show are spectacular. I remember watching the OVAs before the actual show and being reminded of everything I loved about Studio Ghibli movies.

So what is so bad and discomforting about Magus Bride? Well, the core of the story revolves around human trafficking and that concept is never challenged. The love story revolves around the heroine ... being bought at an auction and later proposed to by her new 'master' (?).

If Chise had a more dynamic personality and challenged any of it, then I would be far more lenient on Magus bride, but Chise's personality of FREQUENTLY being afraid to be alone etc etc and relying on Elias for fear of the worst only pushes their relationship to deeply uncomfortable levels, where it's not clear if she genuinely wants to marry him or even loves him, or has any opinion of any of what's happening to her. When it comes to Chise, we are constantly reminded of how young and vulnerable and sheltered she is and what she has had to endure, which only makes her relationship with Elias (and her status as his apprentice in general) really uncomfortable viewing. Chise is constantly set up to be a victim of various abuses and the fact that even Elias is pretty guilty of this (proposing to her after one night at a point where she was in no position to decline) is either ignored completely or passed up as a joke that we aren't meant to think about.

I'm so sad because it could have been something wonderful, but in the end it was just too uncomfortable and frustrating for me to watch. In one episode, something actually happened to Chise that I thought would give her cause to want her freedom and challenge Elias, but it was over in five minutes without any conflict. Watching this show stressed me out and I have no regrets about dropping it.

It started out alright, but it just got boring really quick. In the beginning it seems like things are actually happening and the plot is progressing nicely, it wasn’t anything mind blowing but I was was under the impression the show was a slow burn, and it looked pretty so I didn’t mind a couple slower episodes. However instead of picking up the pace, the show just gets slower and slower until it feels like absolutely nothing is going on. Its almost like some episodes are just massive lore dumps about the world, which in most cases would be nice for any other anime, but ... these things that are shown off feel completely random and at worst filler. I just started tuning out the show and I was pretty much able to still get the point of the episode despite giving passing glances. I just kept asking why is this important? What was the purpose of that? Where are we going with this? And I seemingly never got answers to those questions. Elias' and Chise's relationship doesn’t progress in these episodes which is the central hook of the show, and I don’t care about these random side characters who spout exposition and roast the shit out of Elias. This might sound weird and be completely off, but I think this show is meant for women who want to project themselves onto Chise and be thrust into a beautiful, magical world while being saved by a powerful yet monstrous entity. That’s just the vibe I get because otherwise, there isnt much going on here to keep me interested.

[Spoiler Warning]

The Ancient Magus' Bride comes to the table with one of the top ten presentations of the decade. The visuals and the soundtrack are absolutely magnificent, especially in the first half of the show. So how does a show with such an exceptionally good presentation end up with a score of 5? Read on...

Art-

As mentioned, the visuals are absolutely beautiful and have a true magical, mystical, fantasy world feel to them. It's extremely pretty if not outright enchanting to look at and after the first three or four episodes I was thinking I'd be in for quite the treat. Talk about counting your chickens ... before they hatch...

Sound-

In the first half of the show in particular there are at least three distinct and memorable moments in which the scene cuts to music. The production values in these scenes, both visually and aurally, are extremely high and I honestly felt like I was watching a Studio Ghibli film or a Disney movie, and I mean that in the best possible way.

The voice acting for the most part was solid, but it's largely diminished by crappy writing in the English dub, and a real standout in a bad way is definitely Josh Grelle as Cartaphilius. He sounds EXACTLY like Armin Arlert from Attack on Titan and Yukiteru Amano from Future Diary, which is compounded by the fact that his tone is generally very whiny in all of the aforementioned roles. This man simply has no vocal range and sounds the same in every role he plays.

Character/Story-

This, my friends, is where this anime does just about everything wrong. Starting with the elephant in the room, the relationship between the two main characters, 15 year old human girl Chise and centuries old 8 foot tall human-eating bone monster Elias, feels wrong on absolutely every level. It is THE most unnatural, non organic, forced, uncomfortable feeling relationship I've ever seen in any anime. Not only does the relationship begin with Elias purchasing Chise as a slave, but he then proceeds to follow her everywhere she goes, insist she ask permission and give full disclosure any time she wants to leave the house and do anything at all and even binds her and chokes her out when he's upset and having a "temper tantrum". Nothing about this is healthy, normal or okay. Their relationship is outright abusive and this is exasperated by the fact that when Elias does something completely unacceptable, such as choke Chise, Chise then apologizes to Elias and says that it's her fault and then proceeds to offer to comfort and cuddle with him. It's all kinds of messed up.

Additionally, the relationship between the two, even in non abusive times, feels CLEARLY like a father/daughter relationship, NOT a romantic one. Hell, even one of the other main characters who lives at the house with them specifically comments "At first I thought their relationship was like father and daughter, but now I think it's the other way around- mother and son". Whichever way you want to spin it, they have no business being romantically involved with each other. And all of this is to say nothing of their age difference, size difference, species difference and the fact that Elias is, though never specifically labeled as one thing or another, a giant bone monster.

There really isn't any way to truly emphasize just how cringey and wrong feeling their relationship is, but there's other problems as well.

As mentioned before, the writing in the English dub is sloppy and hard to believe. Additionally, plot threads are regularly explored, left unfinished and then not touched upon again until significantly later, many of which are not resolved until this anime's very rushed ending.

Also, as if all of the above weren't enough, honestly this anime is often outright boring. Many episodes feature a whole lot of nothing and there are many episodes in which nothing other than talking occurs at any point. Anything resembling action in this anime is few and far between. Most of the time it's just slow and dull and nothing is actually happening.

Finally, last nitpick- Chise is supposed to be Elias' apprentice and learn magic from him, but there are next to ZERO scenes of him teaching her things or her going through training. She basically figures out how to do magical things, often highly conveniently and out of nowhere, largely on her own. I guess 99% of her training was done off screen in between episodes...

Enjoyment-

Once you get beyond the sky high production values, which are undeniably gorgeous, everything else in this anime is below average and the core concept makes me feel dirty and like I need to take a shower. I liked this anime less and less as the show went on and there were multiple moments in which my wife and I both agreed what we were watching was super messed up and not okay, often accompanied by both of us making gagging noises.

Overall-

One of the best soundtracks in years accompanied by gorgeous and enchanting visuals entirely wasted on a slow, boring tale of an abusive and unnatural relationship that is about as forced as forced can get. This show, unequivocally, wins my award for "most wrong-feeling, cringe-inducing relationship in an anime". I do not recommend watching this.

+Exceptionally good soundtrack
+Gorgeous, magical visuals

-Worst MC relationship in any anime I've ever seen
-Josh Grelle sounds the same in every anime he's in
-Slow/boring
-Below average writing
-Plot threads left dangling in the breeze

OBJECTIVE RATING- 4.5-5
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING- 4-4.5

I really wanted to like this more than I did, which is why I ended up finishing it rather than dropping it.

When I began to watch The Ancient Magus' Bride I was really excited. I loved the concept, the initial world building, Elias as a character in particular and the lovely animation too. There were some nice, emotional moments near to the beginning that had me tearing up, so I was definitely open minded to give this show a chance to be something great.

Then...nothing really happened. As I'm typing this I actually can't remember what happened in the middle of this series arc ... and I JUST finished it. Each episode seemed to be about Chise being the best thing to walk the Earth and everyone falling madly in love with her for no convincing reason. Her only "flaws" were a) caring too much and b) not realizing how important she is. Yawwwn. This definitely felt like a shy girl's escapist dream where they have to do very little to appeal to others.

My favourite episodes were definitely the ones that focused more on Elias, which started to become few and far between towards the end in favour of highlighting lackluster Chise. I also want to mention his and Chise's dynamic, which for the most part is why I started to watch this show. How does a young woman end up being the bride to beast-skull-man-mage?! Instead of a intriguing progression of their relationship, where perhaps she would be fearful to begin with but then slowly fall for this being, it felt like a middle school love story of confusion, lots of glances, hand holding and ultimately no real substance. I wasn't expecting this to be some R-rated story, don't get me wrong, but their development as "man and wife" was just so arbitrary.

The music featured in the show was extremely cheesy, in my opinion, and made me cringe at times. The score was nice enough, nothing ground breaking, but not bad. Random note: *Spoiler* I dunno why when Chise would sing her sleep spell it would cut from her voice actress to a singer, it really took me out of the moment. *End spoiler*

What I did like about this show was the world, those character designs were fantastic, especially all the little creatures. I felt like this story had so much potential, there were rules in the world that were hinted at but never really explained. Everything just felt like it was touching the surface of what could've been a complex and rewarding story. Yet the world, the characters, the story - everything was shown at face value.

Alright, I started watching this anime because the first few episodes received some good reviews and the score was and is still high, so why not? I did not get hyped or anything though. But then slowly but surely the disappointment came through.

Over the whole serie, in terms of character arc, Chise feels really incomplete. I know we're supposed to root for her ; the show deals with very serious matters. But her development is stuck in the same pattern for quite some time, maybe well until the very end actually, to the point where she seems like she's never gonna get from place A ... to place B.
Elias is just foggy and unlikeable. We basically know nothing about him, his abilities are confusing and most 'action' sequences ends up just being some mumbo jumbo casually thrown at us without any sort of solid context. I know it's a magical world, but this 'hush hush, it's magic' thing, is not good enough.

Their relations is where the show fails the most hardly. From the get go the story gives us a complicated situation where an old dude buys a 15 year old as a slave : the show never makes the best out of it. I could not grasp any tangible tension between the two, despite the dialogues and the pretty good music and the on screen events, all tried very hard to make me understand that these two are supposed to have a strong connection, that connection was always paper thin, because the show had a lackluster script : no rooted emotion, no visual storytelling, too much words, too much of the same pattern one episode after another. Sadly it's not as if they did not know how to do it, because the OVA's were pretty good and gave me hope.

One detail that made me tick, I can't begin to describe the cringe everytime Elias lifts Chise with his arms to carry her, or just talk to her or sometimes even for no reason at all. It made no sense and I'm sorry to say, made the Chise character a very weak female lead and Elias an awkward character, the wrong not the endearing type of awkward.

I don't kow about the source material. Now this show suffers from not being able to take a straightstep towards a dominant tone for its narration. It tries to be fantasy, romance, comedy, dark, there's mystery and there's supposed to be psychological developments. Well nothing's done the right way. One interesting detail about Elias is his appetite for humans, they try to use it in his unfolding relation with Chise, but even there, the show falls flat on its back, because of bad storytelling and wrong tonality. One thing I read a lot and can't agree more is the senseless useage of weak so weak cliffhangers, which is a very serious symptom for headless chicken storytelling syndrom.

If you want the romance with a touch of magic, how about going back to Spice and Wolf. Even the currently airing show Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi feels more satisfying, even though it's very similar in terms of premises. Because this Ancient Mumbo Jumbo Fest is actually closer to the Twilight saga more than anything.

I wanted to like this show. It was visually very pretty, and the soundtrack was nice. that is all it had going for it.
I stuck it out to the end but man everything was wrong.
Why make the ring or wand? they did nothing at all..
Why bother introducing half the characters that were introduced? they mostly served no purpose at all. Though at least they were more interesting than elias or chise
I feel half the issues that come up was just throwing random things at the wall and seeing what would stick.

I don't like Elias, i think even for something not human he was ... to devoid of character and to inhuman to actually be taken seriously as a love interest. I don't like that he purchased Chise, and even stated he was grooming her to be his bride. its just gross. I think romanticizing human trafficking is just a bad start to a story.
Chise was boring, most of the time I just hoped for anything but her or elias to be the focus.
I liked Lindel.. he was cool. I like that he attempted to warn her way from Elias, even if she was to stupid to listen.

When "Nice" Isn't Enough - A Conventional Encounter with Magic

As the saying goes, "'nice' is the brother of 'bad,'" and that's unfortunately the case with The Ancient Magus' Bride. While many praise it as a magical journey, it delivers an all-too-familiar, even tedious, experience. Stories, though passable, mimic conventional narratives seen on drama-driven TV.

The supposed posh "British" accents aimed at giving an aristocratic flair feel forced, detracting from the allure. But it's not all lackluster - the series shines in atmospheric presentation, merging captivating music, vivid colors, and distinctive artistry.

Predictability permeates the narratives, dulling viewer engagement. Emotional guidance, feeling formulaic, results in monotone viewing.

The series ... might charm anime novices or drama-romance seekers, but seasoned viewers might find it underwhelming. Its atmospheric appeal is a redeeming feature, making The Ancient Magus' Bride a polarizing spectacle, intertwining the magical with the mundane with mixed success.

The is a great example of no matter how beautiful the environment art, character design, and animation are; an anime will only be mediocre if provided a mediocre/bad narrative.

This series started out heart-warming and the premise of the story is an interesting topic. The gorgeous art and ambience also contributed to my tender emotions.

Yet, half way through, the anime fell apart with cliché plots, as the result, the characters also fell short and the story ruined. Perhaps this is what "slice of life" is supposed to be like and it is not my cup of tea, yet I still find the entire story is be ... unwholesome and that it could do so much better given the great introduction.

Overall, there seemed to be a promising beginning, but midway through to the end only disappointments were delivered.

I have to say that when I initially finished this anime I was confused. I didn't whether I loved it or if it was just ehh ok. After processing it ive come to the conclusion that I really wanted to love this story because the premise is amazing and unique but it just fell flat.
The show initially got off to a slow start but like I said I was really invested in the premise so I was willing to stick with it. Needless to say the slow start may not be for everyone. But honestly to say the show had a slow start implies that ... it eventually has an end destination. It felt like the plot was just all over the place and there was no purpose or end goal in site. Majority of the attempts at comedic relief were either confusing or just plain cringey. And the attempts at cliff hangers failed spectacularly there was no sense of anticipation nothing that drew me in and made me want to find out what happens in the next episode.
At the end of the day this story just felt incomplete there was so many questions I had about the world that weren't answered and so many topics that weren't explored it was just one big missed opportunity.

"Depressed teenage female MC who was supposedly hated but what we actually see is her being adored by everyone on sight, becomes slightly less depressed because she found a skeleton daddy teacher to romance."

There, I saved you some time reading the summary.

When I first started watching this show I thought the "Bride" in the title was just euphimism for a teacher - student relationship, or that the romantic undertones would at least remain undertones and it would be mostly about a girl learning magic in a magical world. Well... I was wrong about that! Not completely, but the series did seem to be way more ... focused in the romance story aspect of "boy meets girl and they become better through their interactions", rather than the "girl becomes independent through magic" aspect. I mean the second is still there, but is way too bogged down by the first to be actually enjoyable for those who can't stomach the "romance". And I definitely am one of them.

Contrary to popular belief, I can say with confidence that this is one of the worst series that I was able to complete. It didn't have bad production values, (even if it wasn't the best sometimes), the horror elements were suprisingly strong, and it had its powerful character moments, with the most impactful being the episode explaining why Chise's mom ended up the way she did. But the rest was a creepy mess. Every single aspect of conflict was always cut off or resolved in the most anti-climatic way possible. (someone tried to actually strangle Chise but kidding it was supposed to be a teachable moment so let's laugh about it, tehe~!) Most of the times there wasn't even conflict - just beautiful magical stuff in a beautiful magical world. They would serve as perfect wallpaper images no doubt, but plot wasn't a part of them. In all cases, the side characters went the extra mile for Chise by default, as per the already known female MC in shoujo character syndrome. But the worst part was by far Elias' entire existence.

I would have forgiven pretty much everything else, but the "romance" this series was trying to sell? Absolutely not. Let's ignore that he bought her in an auction. Let's ignore his monstrous, inhuman appearance. Let's even ignore that he's an ancient magical being and she's only 15 years old. Ignoring his lack of empathy and incapability of functioning beyond a toddler's emotional understanding, while this is served as something Chise is supposed to "fix" as he'll get better if he's with her, is something that I can't do and it noped me completely out of the series. If all of the above weren't problematic enough, she's even referred to as his mother in the way she handles his tantrums, because poor him he's ancient and inhuman and doesn't know better! One would think that millenia on this Earth would have taught him at least some basic stuff, but no. He was clearly waiting for a special 15-year-old redhead female protagonist to do that.

To put it into perspective, it's like someone watched Natsume Yuujinchou, shipped Natsume and Nyanko-sensei together and then wrote a romance about them. That's it. That's the relationship equivalent. And at least Nyanko-sensei wouldn't need extended therapy sessions for "understanding his feelings" in every episode.

There is definitely an audience for this series, I'm just not included. 4/10.

My review is 3 because the basilar relationship, around which the plot centres, appears to be a fan fic written by either a 13 year old girl or a 40 year old predator.

The world is interesting, although I think it could have been explored more deeply. The animation is pretty good. And the story is cliché: outcast girl/boy with special powers sacrifices herself to save everyone.


The major problem with this anime is that it romanticizes/normalizes an abusing relationship between a minor and an ancient (therefore adult) person. I would have no problem if it would explore the creepy, degrading and destructive parts of ... the relationship between Chise and Elias, but it means to show the audience this beautiful story of how two lonely people come together and live happy (despite how unbelievably unhealthy the relationship is).

The worst of their relationship (with spoilers):

- Their relationship a great example of child grooming. I would have given Elias the benefit of the doubt in the beginning, seeing as he is not human and does not seem to fully grasp the meaning of "bride". However, his twisted view of Chise does not change.

He preys on her insecurities and abandonment issues. Chise is a teenage girl, a minor with deep traumas and no (healthy) relationships in her life. She craves someone that will love her and not abandon her. She is the typical target of real life sexual predators. And Elias is not romantic when he lures a defenseless, suicidal and lonely teenage girl, desperate enough that she would sell herself, into a romantic relationship.

The anime would have been a thousand times better if they actually explored how twisted, destructive, unhealthy and disgusting their relationship is. Instead they normalize it and present it to the audience as an example of romance!


- She's his slave. The power balance of their relationship is already a mess at the beginning of the anime and does not improve throughout the story.

In the last episode, just as Chise is leaving the house, Elias demands that she recites a list of things she will and won't do, as a teenage person/child would do to their parent.
Another sign of how unhealthy the relationship is, with Elias, being an adult, and assuming a paternal, authority and control based position in their relationship.


- Elias is a possessive abusive and jealous "partner" that throws a tantrum that ends in physical assault when Chise spends normal happy time with a new friend. If there was truly a healthy care or love for her, Elias would have been happy and supporting of Chise for finding a friend, something that she has always been missing in her life.
He actually assaults her for it. There's no larger redder flag than this.

Oh wait, there's actually a time when he tries to kill that same friend so he could extend Chise's life. Because he obviously loves her so much, he can't be parted from her. This is not love, it's a twisted infatuation and obsession.


- People can try to justify Elias behaviour by saying that he is also emotionally immature, so it's as if they were the same age. A lot of the people that groom minors also have a lack of emotional maturity (adding to the psychological disturbances) and it does not justify anything.


- They can also justify it by saying that Chise seems to consent. Chise is a teenage girl that lost her father and brother, was strangled by her mother and witnessed her suicide. She is deeply troubled and suffers from deep loneliness, self-esteem issues, depression, abandonment. She feels welcomed for the first time in a relationship between a master and a slave. This is not a person that has the emotional ability (not her fault) to even understand how damaging and distorted her relationship with Elias is. She is glad that he needs her just as much as she needs him. And all the abusive possessive behaviour are just a con (a too heavy con) she feels she has to endure, when she deserves so much better.


I cannot give a good review to a story that has in its base something so sick and perverted as this relationship and presents it as something good, romantic and salvific to both parts. Even if Chise were an adult woman it would have been a terribly destructive, controlling and obsessive relationship. And it's wrongness is drowned in interesting supporting characters, wordbuilding and animation.

The target are teenage girls that can be led to believe and see relationships as this as goals, romantic and normal. It is not normal and it should not be normalised through a platform such as anime.

Hello, to start with this is the first anime I ever dropped so... that means something haha.

When I started Mahoutsukai no Yome I thought that it has a lot of potencial because of the "world" that present to us with all this magic and creatures, it looked so promising to me but when you going forward throught the episodes the anime start to looking so empty and boring because is not really happening anything important in the episodes and the story never take off...

I don't want to be negative but I'm so disappointed, this could have been so much better if the story had taken ... another path, because it really feels like all the anime was a filler.

But is only my opinion and I don't want to offend none who likes it.

Portuguese review below

The Magician's bridge is an adaptation of the homonym manga by Kore Yamazaki. The anime faithfully follows his source. Commonly, it is a wonderful idea, but unfortunately the animation has the same weak personalities in main characters.

The first episode is a masterpiece. That makes all the others looks like some kids work. I really think that anime needs only a first episode.

The powerful lord who frees a slave from a high value debt and the promise of being a equal remembers me a Greek narratives, the phoenix and the its teaching, and a part of Christian history of salvation and choice. ... An initial concern of Elias in the growth of the protagonist is interesting and reveals maturity of the magician, however this is being revealed as far as the history advances: the complexity of main characters is lost and the personage blurred because they don’t have a definite line in them personality. A female protagonist, Chise, has a considerable growth. However, the equality promised by Elias is always denied or not enforced.

Thus, the work is unable to remain stable, falling into a spiral of poor quality because the main characters aren’t sufficient in construction of the history.


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A esposa do mago é uma adaptação do mangá de autoria de Kore Yamazaki. O anime segue fielmente sua obra base, e, apesar de geralmente achar que isso é maravilhoso, infelizmente, a obra continua a manter a fraca personalidades das personagens.

É certo que o primeiro episódio é em si uma obra de arte que vale por toda a obra, digo que deveria permanecer apenas com o primeiro episódio.
A narrativa de um poderoso senhor que liberta uma escrava de uma dívida impagável e lhe promete tornar como igual a si, remente muito as narrativas gregas da fênix e a parte da história cristã. A inicial preocupação de Elias no crescimento da protagonista é interessante e revela maturidade do mago, no entanto tudo isso vai se perdendo ao longo da história, mostrando que o personagem é falho e fraco, não no sentido de ter ele fraquezas, tornando-o uma personagem esférica, tridimensional, mas uma personagem desfocada e sem uma linha definida de personalidade.

A protagonista feminina, Chise, tem um crescimento considerável, no entanto, não suporta a obra sozinha, e nem pode, haja vista, como o próprio título sugere, que precisa do mago para formar sua personalidade e agir de contrário senso. A igualdade prometida por Elias é sempre desmentida ou não executada.

Assim, apesar da interessante abertura, a obra se mostra incapaz de se manter estável, caindo em uma espiral de baixa qualidade por conta da fraqueza das personagens principais.

This show has some really interesting ideas and themes regarding depression, suicide, redemption, and recovery. What a shame it executes them so poorly it's viscerally painful to watch.

This show suffers from a chronic inability to focus on what matters, including the very characters it relies on for emotional impact. It would rather spend all of its time on cheap emotional payoffs; repetitive, futile, shallow conflicts; and skin-deep worldbuilding.

The show seems to periodically forget that its core romance is in fact with a child slave. Bad things that happen to Chise end up a weird test of her loyalty. Even the magic system shows a ... lack of continuity (i.e., wait, she can be an animal now?).

Maybe the manga is better? I hope so. Watch Violet Evergarden instead.

This is my first review. It's worth noting that this being my first romance anime, my perspective may be influenced by a history of predominantly watching Romance-Comedy.

Chise, the main character in the anime, comes across as delicate, gentle, and somewhat oblivious to her own feelings. This can be occasionally frustrating as she tends to brush off her emotions by claiming not to understand them, only to readily express them when the focus shifts to others.. While the ambiance and music contribute to a captivating experience, the character development appears somewhat lacking. The main theme seems to stagnate intentionally, almost as if being deliberately prolonged. ...


Elias, being a non-human entity, may struggle to understand emotions or empathize due to his nature. However, it's perplexing why he suddenly has to act like a tsundere, expressing jealousy and fleeing, which doesn't align with his character design. Sometimes, actions like saying 'Oh, my chest is burning' just don't suit Elias's character at all. They make it feel a bit forced, like they are applying romance reluctantly.

For this anime with such potential suffered due to this aspect of the story. While the initial episodes were relatively effortless to watch, it became somewhat challenging as the story progressed. The jokes and dialogues began to feel repetitive. For instance, our main character, being weak, prompts Elias to repeatedly caution her to be careful. The girl responds with a nonchalant "okay, okay," but the incessant repetition feels as if a 10-year-old child is stubbornly refusing to heed advice. In another anime, this could have been executed more smoothly with better tones and delivery, but the girl's voice tone and expressions create an impression that she doesn't care, making it rather irritating.Okay okay I understand she's a girl who has been sold into slavery and is suffering from depression, but does she always have to wear a crying face?


Some love scenes become intolerable at times. I'm not someone who watches romance anime all the time, but I can assure you that this anime doesn't make me say, "Wow, this is what romance is." I'm sure there are excellent romance anime out there, but in this one, I can't find anything to say like, "This romance anime is excellent; everything, from character development to the plot, relationships, connections, actions is logical and orderly." If there are other elements that kept me watching, it's probably my curiosity about the stories of characters other than our main girl. I can't outright recommend it. If you have time, you might watch it, but watching it at 1,5-2x speed might be good for your mental health at some parts because it can be challenging to endure.
The flow of this anime is notably slow, occasionally even getting a bit tiresome. As I began watching it, I wondered how it could stretch to 24 episodes. Yet, considering its leisurely pace, it's no surprise; they could've easily made it a 48-episode season (or maybe they were going for that 'slow burn' vibe with less than 48 episodes)! It's up to you.