Story: tragic but beautiful and well paced, allowing the viewer to easily follow the plot (9/10)
Whether you know the manga by Yamazaki, Kore or not, if you approach this OVA with an open mind, you will definitely enjoy it, if only because of the beautiful parallels to famous novels such as "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens, "The Neverending Story" by Michael Ende or the play "Pygmalion" (better known as "My Fair Lady") by George Bernard Shaw. The story begins in foggy London and the first character we meet is Angelica Barley. She runs a workshop for magical tools and is a technician for the Magus Craft. Her little helper, Hugo, belongs to the genus of the Vodyanoi, or water fairies. The parcel that the two of them are preparing contains a very special gift. When it arrives at its destination, the estate of sorcerer Elias Ainsworth, somewhere in the west of London, it triggers a flashback that reveals Chise's forgotten memories. This is the world into which these three episodes seek to take us.
Character: Good, but too short to develop every personality (8/10)
The characters' behaviour is reasonably, self-contained and understandable, even if you don't know how it came about.
Chise as a little orphan is a good example. She behaves like someone who is alone and gets no help from anyone because no one understands her or even wants to listen to her. But Chise's world changes when she meets Riichi Miura. He is the librarian and the one who welcomes Chise to the library of the forest. Miura has a gentle personality, a bit awkward, but kind and honest. Incidentally, as Elias points out, the Library of the Forest is based on real Japanese folklore called Mayoiga. It can be read in "Legends of Tono" by Kunio Yanagita. You may need a little patience, but your reward will be a wonderful and touching story. Three episodes are not enough to fully flesh out all the characters, but the description of Chise and Elias does a good job of making them both understandable and sympathetic. It also makes you want to know more about their relationship and the other characters. The TV series "Mahoutsukai no Yome" will certainly satisfy that wish, and you might also be interested in reading my review of the TV series.
Visuals: Art and animation quality are simply beautiful and enjoyable (9/10).
Both the art and the animation are very pleasing to the eye. The experienced staff in the art department is certainly one reason for that. Directed by Takeda, Yusuke (other works: Shirobako, Eden of the East), the art impresses with beautifully detailed backgrounds, such as the forest library, as well as expressive character designs. It may seem like a small thing, but the increase in colour and brightness in situations where the plot takes Chise to a more beautiful setting is very pleasing. It reflects her emotional state very well. Certainly there are similarities with many other famous anime. I was reminded of Studio Ghibli's qualities by some of the aspects I noticed. For one, Tamura, Seiki is one of the art designers. He was also a background artist for the anime "Princess Mononoke". Then there is the mysterious creature with a shadowy body (in this case made of mice) that wears a mask. A similar creature called "No Face" also appears in the anime "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi - Spiriting Away". CGI is not usually my cup of tea, but here it was used very attractively. What matters is not whether CG has been used, but how. There are ways to use CG very well. The art and animation of this show is just beautiful to look at.
Sounds: Beautiful, supportive, accentuating and appealing (9/10).
The music underlines the atmosphere very well. For example, I liked the scene where Angelica starts to prepare the parcel, and as she talks to Hugo, the orchestral symphonic BGM begins gently. The music slowly increases and is complemented by some sound effects - in this case bubbles and water splashing. Anglica's own intervention stops the BGM, which makes this scenario even funnier. Just a small thing, but I like this kind of thing, and also that the speech performance is not disturbed by the music, but rather emphasises each other.
The voice acting leaves nothing to be desired. I especially liked the voice of Angelica, which was given to the character by Kaida Yuuko. Her voice is a little deeper and beautifully clear.
A beautiful and very rare case of a great realisation that combines the professionalism of understanding the story, its characters and a carefully imaginative adaptation of the very beautiful source material. Overall, a wonderful introduction to the world of "The Ancient Magus Bride".
Thank you for reading, and have fun watching!
