Everything about this anime is my aesthetic. Magic, a fantasy setting, mages, a pretty cottage, an unconventional loving family, and evil faeries. I loved those evil faeries because I love writing about faeries. In university for my fiction workshop classes, I had wrote a short story about evil faeries and I loved it and the class enjoyed it too. The only difference is that the faeries I wrote about actually attacked and hurt the main character. These types of settings are my jam and so are evil faeries.
Hatori Chise is a young girl from Japan who begins the episode with signing a document and letting herself be sold off at a slave auction. She has no family, having been living with relatives right and left until she was completely abandoned. Being desperate for any kind of home, Chise lets herself get sold. For 5 million pounds, the mage Elias buys her and for special reason.
Chise is a special being called a Sleigh Beggy and it sounded like Elias bought her for that exact reason, while also bringing her to be his apprentice. Just like the synopsis for the show said, he also takes her in to be his wife.
The one thing I found incredibly odd and worrisome is the fact that Elias bought Chise to be his wife. Buying off a young girl at a slave auction to be your wife? This…type of stuff happens in real life you know, and it’s awful. That’s why going into this show I was incredibly curious and cautious about Elias. It surprises me that he turned out to be a very warm and caring man. He immediately tells Chise to stand up straight and look ahead with confidence, says he’ll make sure to make her feel fortunate about her “power”, and even said he considers her family. They’re both rare beings, a mage and a Sleigh Beggy who can see mythical creatures, and my take is that he just wants them to stick together even though he didn’t exactly say that outright. Calling someone a puppy usually makes someone feel inhumane and worthless, but the way Elias says it to Chise is both endearing and sweet. He doesn’t look down at her at all, and he’s not suspicious or aggressive. He’s honestly so nice. He’s already appointed Chise as his apprentice but he even says that she’s free to choose whatever she wants, just picking the life of a mage is one decision. When this man is so honest and loving, I don’t know what to think of him. His proposal in the end of the episode was a good cliffhanger, and I’m sure Chise is going to be asking a lot of questions about that. Judging by Elias’ attitude so far, will he force the wife thing on her?
But buying someone and forcing them to be your wife is a serious thing. In fact, there were a lot of serious events in this episode that were kind of glossed over. Other than the wife issue, the man who sold Chise. He found her in Japan and brought up the slave auction to her. Who is he and how did he find her? Also, there was literally a slave auction. I’m shocked the show didn’t mention anything more about this slave auction considering how awful slavery is. Who were the rest of those people, and if Elias hadn’t appeared, what kind of person would have bought Chise and just what would they have made her do? Why is slavery a thing in this world? What time period is this for slavery to be an issue in England, even though Chise had the school uniform of a modern Japanese schoolgirl?
This episode perfectly set up for things to come. There are many things to explore, such as the lore, the world, and the characters. I loved the dynamic between Chise and Elias, and while I want to know a lot more about Elias, and that girl in pink, I’m really rooting for Chise! I just felt heartbroken as I watched her dead eyes, with bags under them and a sorrowful expression. She’s a broken girl who was disowned by her own family just because she was different. Without love and without a home, and without self love. I want Chise to love herself and be happy. I hope soon she can find good things about her ability. Like Elias said, I want her to feel fortunate for what she has. Elias holds her in high praise and with him by her side I’m sure she’ll soon see herself in that way.
The animation was gorgeous as well as the OST, which had the typical kind of music you’d hear in a fantasy story (like I said, it’s my jam). The OP and ED themes also match the mood of the show. I’m pretty sure the OP’s visuals had scenes from later on that could be seen as spoilers. But since those scenes went by so quickly and they were all very confusing, it didn’t really bother me. Maybe they’d make more sense if I slowed it down and looked at every little thing, but there’s no way I’d ruin the fun for myself.
Mahoutsukai no Yome has a good start and is probably my favorite premiere of the shows I’m watching, with Yuuki Yuuna at a close second. The episode was a little slow, and seeing as how it’s a two-cour show, it might have the same pace. It seems like a very calm show that might have some action here and there but I’m ready with whatever comes my way.
Possibility of watching: Guaranteed
Possibility of blogging: Guaranteed
I think this is like Harry Potter, it’s set in the real world, but magic is separate and normal people can’t see it. So in a sense slavery would happen, because that’s…what happens in the real world, along with all the bad things that happen in the real world. What heartens me about Elias is that they say he has never been to the slave auction (or so the slave auctioner said), so it leads me to believe he knew in some way (he has spies, magic) that Hatori was going to be there, and came specifically to save her. For what reason, Idk.
This is speculation btw, I don’t know the series at all. I realised I might come across as I knew anything, but I don’t.
That’s okay that’s good speculation! That sounds like it could be it, since her family couldn’t see the things she could. There’s probably so few people in the world that can see and use magic.
Elias’ seemingly condescending way of addressing Chise is due to his lack of understanding of humans, specifically human emotions. What to him is a fond way of addressing a new member of his family (and to him, Chise is a pup, since she’s young and a novice as a mage) would sound sarcastic or condescending to a human. His limited, child-like understanding of emotions and human interaction, and Chise’s role as his guide to all things human, is a big part of the over arching story. As for the bride thing, most of the time it’s used for laughs (usually at Elias’ expense), but his relationship and attachment to Chise also ties into the bigger plot picture.
Ooh okay, I like that. I’m looking forward to the rest then, more than I was before. 🙂
When I first started reading the manga I was also wary of the whole “bride” thing, but my concerns have proven to be unfounded. If anything, I really enjoy the development and growth of Chise and Elias’ relationship. There’s both a good and a bad side to their relationship (which is acknowledged by characters within the story, so it’s not brushed over) but it feels organic, and there’s nothing salacious about it.
As for the whole black market thing, while Chise is the only human ever seen as merchandise in the auction (and of her own volition at that), magical creatures are very much up for grabs, as we saw with the mermaid and other magical critters. The auction gets a revisit later on. However, I’m not sure we’ll get there within the first season, since that’s well into later parts of the story.
The slave stuff is returned to in a later arc, and details of it (and even Chise’s own decision to sign off on her sale) isn’t glossed over then. However, that’s at least a few arcs and it’s not guaranteed the anime will adapt up to latest arcs.
I do like what they’ve set up, though. The first episode has fantastic pacing and the anime original scenes really adds to the source material. Plus, while art of the manga is good, the animation is a treat to see and makes me eager to see how they’ll portray the big SFX/magic moments.