I started with the Manga.
I strongly recommend the Manga, if you liked the Anime even if you are not an acutal Manga-Reader, Yes, I mean it.
I was a person who did not read Manga and then I picked up this highly enjoyable art of fiction which beautiful illustrations, including many Specials.
You didn't know how suprised and happy i was when i saw it getting adapted into an Anime!
This Reviews contains a few Spoilers about the characters itself (not storywise) - but they shouldn't be affecting you if you want to give it a Try
Story (8 - Very Good):
The Story is very unique and hard to find in common Anime today. The main theme of this Anime is Fantasy,
if you love Mythology, also evolving Sagas and Legends and MAGIC you will love it definetly!
This Anime is filled with them! And the Anime is also filled with many different kinds of loveable stories of other characters. Goddamn ,there are so many characters..
Many people have been budging aroudn it becomes of the Genre "Romance".
I have to say, it definetly does include Romance but not in the way you might think, in this Anime there are many different kinds of relationships including many different kinds of "Love". What is Love? Even this question is included in there for one of the maincharacters as Elias, you might already have noticed this very big man with a bonehead. He is in a rift between humanity and of a beast/spirit who is mentally barely maybe a child and in this story Chise is the teacher of it. A little twist as therefore, Elias usually plays the teacher for magic.
Even though Elias seems like a very dominant person first, Chise is indeed the leader in many ways through the series which makes sense making her the main character.
What I also love about this Anime is,that Nothing is rushed. If you are not a passionate person, this might trouble you, since character-developement is very slow in this. It takes a lot for the characters to even make a small step to change a little bit.
I write this review as the Manga is still not even finished yet.
Art (5 - Mediocre):
The Art is Something. In a meaning, whilest i definetly love the art of the Manga, you could say the Anime feels a lot different compared to the beautiful illustrations of the Manga.
They are basically throwing a bucket of bright colors in your eyes, that's how I felt about the adaption. It is SO COLORFUL and is also VERY BRIGHT.
While they tried to maintain the artstyle of the manga, i don't think they are not capable to truly captivate the original art.But it is not that bad.
The Animation feels a bit lacking and blantly though.
Sound (7- Good) :
The Sounds have a very unique and also traditional charm. It perfectly fits the series that indeed treasures the old legends and old traditions while living somewhere at the edge of London in England. It feels a bit weird at first, but you will get common with it and it will feel refreshend compared to many other Anime.
I don't think I ever heard themes like these in an Anime, which makes it Special.
The Opening I think though, is not very good. It is okay, i liked how they choose to make chise have an expression-dance. Not sure if people are common with it, but there is the art of dance where you try to tell your emotions through body language in that or hence lilke telling a story with your body that happens in the Opening.
Otherwise the Opening is filled only just with clips of the series but it definetly will not spoil you since you will have no clue what these clips are all about Lol. So i don't think they put a lot of effort in it.
Character (8 - Very Good):
What should I say.
Since this is already an very own unique of work, even the characters are. In personality and in appaerence. I mean how often do you find a main character that get proposed by a fairy-beast of wendigo that also kinda wants to eat you?
It does sound indeed weird, but there are reasonable explanation of how the character are build of how they are build.
Chise is actually japanese with foreign blood, she actually couldn't be more unique in the series of appearence and is well thought out. She is a special kind of mage with enourmous power. It is said the magic of witches lays in the hair, especially black or red hair, whats chise's hair color again? Red,yes. And she even has Green Eyes as Asian.
Just to make sure, Green Eyes with Ginger Hair is the most rare genetic combination there is on earth. With her ember hair, her green eyes she makes also the perfect colors of nature she presents. She seems calm, but you will eventually find out that Chise can be Like Fire (hahah....)
Anyways, stop with the simping. Because almost every character is well made :v
Enjoyment (9 - Great) :
I think you already figured out that I am a fan of Kore Yamazaki's Work Mahoutsukai No Yome. I do enjoy the animated series and the Manga very much and I hope for it too continue. As a Fan of Fantasy, including all the Magic and Mythologys this is for me almost a Must-Watch.
Overall (8 -. Very Good):
I still prefer the Manga over the Anime in terms of antmosphere, illustrations etc. but i still enjoy it either way. The Anime Adaption feels lacking in terms of atmosphere and Animation itself, i wish they could have tried it a little more.
This Anime has it's very own charms and it will definetly not become for everyone's taste buds so it is merely a question of Taste!
And No, This Anime is not Pedophile. I just wonder how People even come to that conclusion with a character that is not even human, living over 200 years old with the Mental of a 15 years old.
Either way, the Relationship between them is misinterpreted and not as romantical as you would think first, (YET). I see forward for the Characters to develope in the future!
As also first said, highly recommend for any Fantasy-Fans out there.
((This review was written when the Manga and Anime was not completed Yet.))