Author: Lenlo

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]” →

Hello and welcome to the new year! New Year, a new Cour for Mahoutsukai no Yome, this time with slightly more plot. These past two weeks have been a bumpy ride of Mahoutsukai, with plenty to talk about. So let’s jump in!

To start off, the new OP is terrible. The music isn’t as good and the actual animation part is mostly just reused shots from the 1st cour. Initially I thought this was a placeholder, but episode 14 proved that wasn’t the case. Disappointing, considering the quality of the 1st OP. As far as animation and art goes everywhere else, it all looks good. There are some interesting bits like episode 14’s ending scene with Joel and Chise’s creation of the Fairy Ointment. Mahoutsukai continues to make the magic and lore surrounding it the most interesting part of its story. More so even than the characters or the non-existent overarching plot. From the looks of things though, the latter is starting to change.

Continue reading “Mahoutsukai no Yome – 13/14 [East, West, Homes Best]/[Looks breed love]” →

Welcome to the end of Mahoutsukai’s first cour! Apologies for the lateness of this review. I had expected another to come out over Christmas and to simply do a double feature, but Mahoutsukai pulled on over on me! This week we finish up Chise’s wand, get to see Grandfather Nevin again and have an almost literal character rebirth. Lets jump in!

Mahoutsukai finishes up Chise’s wand arc this week with a bang, quite literally. Chise’s flight as a Phoenix was a great payoff. You can tell they put a lot of work into the scene, as she soars through the air and the lighting on her face and body changes. The sweeping Icelandic coastline and the fluffy cloudscape both stood out to me, really selling this whole “rebirth” theme Chise was rocking at the time. Sadly these shots came at the expense of others. Many of the shots of the Dragon Aerie were reused from previous episodes, and Lindel’s song simply didn’t have the magic it had last episode. Its a standout melody, but using the exact same version so soon after its first reveal? It simply wasn’t as special, especially compared to the use of the OP in Chise’s transformation right after it. All in all though, a decent job.

Continue reading “Mahoutsukai no Yome – 12 [Better to ask the way than go astray]” →

Welcome to another week of Mahoutsukai! Apologies for the lateness of this post. Mahoutsukai is difficult to write something meaningful about, and with Christmas right around the corner I have been rather busy. This week we have a continuation of Elias’s story, another step in Chise’s wand construction and more barely dressed elves! Lets jump in.

Picking up where we left off last week, Lindel continues with Elias’s story. Mahoutsukai did a lot right with this continued story. There was some comedy, without the use of chibi, with small things like Elias falling while skiing. There was some darkness, and interesting world bits, with Lindel trying to heal and Elias freaking everyone out. We even had a show of Elias learning as he uses the spruce to get them to safety! It all made for an enjoyable first half of the episode. It did still have issues however, such as the random chibi after Elias’s admitting to eating humans, or the odd opening shot of Elias in his home. I understand they wanted to show his lonliness, with Chise being off on her own adventure, but it just felt off. Overall though Elias’s story was a hit and framed Chise’s growth this episode well enough.

Continue reading “Mahoutsukai no Yome – 11 [Lovers ever run before the clock]” →