Mahoutsukai no Yome – 18 [Forgive and Forget]

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Mahoutsukai. This week we some follow up story time, a return of older characters and what is hopefully the start of an actual story arc. Lets jump in!

Overall, this week was adequate, or maybe slightly above.  They story was quaint, with some nice follow up, and with the reintroduction of our supposed main antagonist the ball might be rolling again. In terms of animation and such, not much really happened. There was a lot of very pretty stills, really showing off the background art and detail Mahoutsukai has when it wants. But there wasn’t much movement, aside from terrible chibi as usual. For sound design, I think everyone knows what the best part of was for this. Chise’s lullaby was great, for more than just its music which I will get into later. Say what you will about the new OP’s art, but from Lindel to Chise and the OP’s Mahoutsukai has a knack for music. With general critique out of the way though, lets get into the meat of the episode.

First things first, Stella and the follow up to last episode. Really I was surprised, as I figured Stella would be another throw away side character. Based on her showing up again though, he time with Chise, and he meeting with Cartaphilus its clear she will probably be involved in the next arc. Personally I think this is a good thing. We like Stella, she’s a cute little girl who has history with our main cast. Shes a side character so plot armor also doesn’t protect her. She makes for a good risk factor, assuming she is actually involved in the next arc. If it turns out teasing us with Cataphilus and her being the same scene was all Mahoutsukai was doing, I will be disappointed. We already know of his penchant for turning humans into monsters, so its a good plot hook. It just needs to be used well.

Next up we have the real focus of the episode and really the entire anime, Elias and Chise. This was an odd week for our main couple, with its own highs and lows. On the upside, we have more evidence of a confident Chise. Throughout the episode she is the one doing the consoling, dealing with problems and in general moving it forward. She got herself into a situation with a jealous Elias and she got herself out. Could have gone without the suicide threat, but hey it worked. As far as Elias goes his little bit with jealousy was cute, however I really didn’t need more of the whole tentacle deal. Felt… weird, watching that scene. All in all, with the fun lullaby sleeping story included, it was a cute and fun episode centered on our leads. Maybe next time leave out the pointless side bit with Angelica.

Finally we have Cartaphilus, whom I did a little research on for this post, and boy do I like his story. Turns out, this isn’t some villain just made up for the story but rather a mythical character from lore, the Wandering Jew. I believe I have made my love for lore and magical stuff like this clear up until now, but let me say I love tidbits like this. The villain of your modern day anime using real life folklore/magic is a figured cursed by Jesus to walk the Earth eternally? Well why didn’t you say so from the beginning? It doesn’t change his terrible personality or childlike design, but for some ephemeral reason I do like him more, knowing this. If Mahoutsukai uses him, his newly kidnapped dragons, and angry Lindel well then the next arc should be a treat.

All in all, Mahoutsukai is on an upward trend with these last few episodes. No more inane side side stories with irrelevant characters, just a focus on our leads and how they have changed. With Cartaphilus back we can return to some of the darker moments in the series, from the butchered cats to his experiments with people. Moments which, in my opinion, are some of Mahoutsukai’s best. The dark tinged with the fantastical, as Fae should be really.