Author: Lenlo

Hello and welcome another episode of Mahoutsukai. This week it makes the best of a bad narrative decision, introduces more tertiary characters and sprints through story arcs like nothing. Lets jump in!

Starting off, I am a bit disappointed in how quickly the auction/dragon bit was resolved. Its as if Mahoutsukai can’t let any given story or arc last longer then 2 episodes. At this point Mahoutsukai is less of a drama and more a “monster/problem of the week” type show. That might be an unfair criticism, as many drama such as Rakugo, Steins;Gate and Your Lie in April also lack the typical “arc” format. However in those the story always seems to make sense, it… it flows, for lack of a better word. One event always lead into the next. In Mahoutsukai just feels like its moving from one story beat to the next, trying to hit all the notes it can along the way, without considering how those beats link up. Regardless how good those stories are alone, they often don’t fit together well.

Continue reading “Mahoutsukai no Yome – 20 [You can’t make an omlete without breaking a few eggs]” →

Hello and welcome to a very… contentious episode of Mahoutsukai, at least for me. This week we have two halves of the same episode, with wildly different tones and quality. The first half being inconsistent and dull, while the second is interesting and successfully, but slowly, ramps up its tension. Overall concerning, but lets jump in.

First up, I want to talk about Mahoutsukai’s tone this week. Specifically how ridiculously all over the place it is. I had no idea how to feel about this episode as we go from brutal surgery, to jokey side characters, to dream sequence and back to silly scientists. During the first half at least, nothing was consistent. There was no slow progression, just fast cuts up and down the spectrum. Add to that the general flop of the comedy in the first half, pretty much any scene with the scientists, and it just feels lacking. Easily the worst opening/12 minutes of Mahoutsukai across all episodes. Even the time with Cartaphilus in the dream felt lacking. Like it was condescend, that information was cut for the sake of time. It happens in every adaptation, but this particularly bad timing.

Continue reading “Mahoutsukai no Yome – 19 [Any port in a storm]” →

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.

Continue reading “Mahoutsukai no Yome – 18 [Forgive and Forget]” →

Welcome to another, better, week of Mahoutsukai no Yome! For the first time in weeks we have an episode I actually enjoyed, with my favorite character in the series and a new spin on Mahoutsukai’s standard relationship commentary. Lets jump in!

To start off, I must say, this was the best episode in weeks. The story was concise and explored a new type of relationship, that of family, without shoving it down our throats to much. We also got more of the magical lore aspect, which I have wanted for weeks. The bartering with the forest Fae was brilliant, actually using the crystallized magic from the teddy bear we opened on. Progressing, once out of those, to trading blood. I enjoyed how the Fae were actually used rather than being background or antagonists, and how Stella couldn’t see them. It was interesting. The problems with this episode, of which there are few, are mostly the fault of prior episodes. The reused cliffhangers and “Chise cried danger” problems of earlier episodes hurt this one. Its a shame, as we finally saw what Chise can do on her own here as well.

Continue reading “Mahoutsukai no Yome – 17 [Look before you leap]” →

Welcome to another week of Mahoutsukai! This week we have an anime staple, the Christmas episode, with a dash of tragic backstory. Like always there are ups and downs this week, so lets jump right in.

As I said, this is our token Christmas episode. There are presents, shopping, misunderstandings and snow. Such pretty snow. There are some interesting bits though. The time spent prepping for Yule, with no dialogue just music and motion, was good. I enjoyed that not everything was explained, like the Centaur and his Lady, and how Elias hid from this. It reintroduces some mystery that Mahoutsukai had lost. The same goes for the Yule Twins. When it comes to the world and magic, sometimes a little whimsy goes a long way. The other half of the episode consists of a shopping trip, which is fun enough. There is more random danger for Chise, as she can’t seem to leave the house without something happening. However this time it served a purpose, allowing us to get Alice’s past. That story has its own issues, but the danger at least had purpose.

Continue reading “Mahoutsukai no Yome – 16 [God’s mill grinds slow but sure]” →

Welcome to another week of Mahoutsukai no Yome. This week continues Chise’s bad relationship with water, Elias’s with Fae and gives Silky a history. Lets jump in!

To start off, I want to talk about the best part of this episode, that being Silky’s history and alone time. For the longest time Silky was a pointless background character, and she largely still is. But now she is a character with a backstory and relationships outside of our leads. Silky’s solo time is spent well, with her cleaning the entire house and demonstrating her loneliness as time passes. Mahoutsukai even uses the chibi are they have been shoving down our throats in the perfect manner, since Silky cant talk. Mahoutsukai is much more successful at making me care about Silky here than say, Joel. Most likely because of the lack of speech, forcing the artists and the watched to pay more attention to Silky’s movements and expressions. It’s a great buildup to her backstory and the better half of the episode.

Continue reading “Mahoutsukai no Yome – 15 [There is no place like home]” →