Mahoutsukai no Yome – 9 [None so deaf as those who will not hear]

Hello and welcome to another week of Mahoutsukai! Lets hop right into it.

First and foremost, let’s talk about Chise. As the main heroine of the show, naturally it’s going to focus on her a lot. This week zooms in on her relationship with Elias and what it actually is. Characters and situations comment on it throughout the whole episode. From Simon the Priest mentioning Elias is rubbing off on her, to Angelica calling out her Stockholm Syndrome. Even the little side story about the Leannan Sidhe, which I will talk about later, is a commentary her relationship. Usually, I would applaud this sort of commentary, making the characters think about their lives. But with Chise, while I like how she has grown, we know based on previous experiences she won’t question anything. Its not that it’s bad writing, that’s far from the case, I just find it uninteresting to watch.

Thats the real crux of the issue with Mahoutsukai for me. The writing has a good quality to it, the animation and art, the characters and the sound design are all good. Yet the slower scenes in this episode were just uninteresting. They lacked the beauty, the awe, the sort of whimsical philosophy of the earlier episode with the ancient dragon. This one just sort of threw it out there and told Chise what her problem was. She just refused to acknowledge it, and that’s not an interesting development. The only interesting scenes to me this episode were Elias in his room, a monster, and the side story with the Leannan Sidhe. Both of those raised questions or had interesting visuals with which to hint of more going on behind the scenes. These and Ruths new dynamic are what kept the episode afloat for me.

Speaking of Elias and Ruth, both had some good scenes this week. For Elias, Mahoutsukai really ramped up the creepy factor with this form. Somewhere between a Lamia and a weird Minotaur. It really highlighted the power difference in their positions. On the surface, hes an amiable spirit, yet the fact is he bought her. This scene shows that difference via physical power, with Elias towering over Chise at all times. Even while she is asleep he is hovering over her, in a distinctly creepy fashion. It doesn’t show up well, but I liked the scene so much I made it an image for this review. Ruth also had some good moments this episode, helping Chise as he can and being a calm voice when she needs it. His character is also such that he has reasons to disappear for scenes he isn’t needed in, like this episodes side story.

Speaking of the side story, talking with some other writers here, it appears I am the odd man out. You see, I wasn’t a fan of this side story. Don’t get me wrong, it does what it needs to do and it gets across what it needs. However, I didn’t feel anything beyond that. To me, this existed purely for Chise to find at this exact moment. It parallels her own love with Elias, as the Old Man loves the Leannan Sidhe. Yet they are Fey, and love works differently for them. Beyond that though I wasn’t emotionally invested in them. I thought it was sweet, then once the scene was over, stopped thinking about it. Unlike the scene with the dragons in episode 2, it failed to impact me in any way. A shame, as I love the use of more Gaelic myth and fairies.

Finally, its time to talk about the bugbear in the room. I promise, this will be the last time I mention it, and I only do so here because better comedy existed in the episode. Its time to talk about the chibi. The sad thing about the chibi this week is there were spots where it was used well. Silver standing with the hammer, or shoving Chise out the door early on both worked. But then they started throwing it into every other scene, with Simon, with the Leannan Sidhe, during the confrontation with Elias at the end. Its a shame, as there was real humor with Ruth, his protective attitude and his new form. They have the material for better comedy, yet they don’t use it.

All in all, it’s an acceptable episode. I personally found it to be the weakest Mahoutsukai episode so far. The status quo didn’t change, we basically just got commentary from the supporting characters as to Elias and Chise’s relationship. Nothing “real” actually happened, though we did get another small look at the world of the Fey. It wasn’t bad, it did what it needed to do, but it wasn’t up to the standard of what has happened so far. Nothing has really matched that 2nd episode speech of the Dragons yet to me.

I know that I am in the minority however, so please tell me what you thought. I already know Mario thinks I am wrong, but what about you? See you next week!