This episode gave us a quick look into the world and magic while introducing to us a new character who I already love. I can also see Angelica to be like a mother figure to Chise, a more positive one. At least I could sense that. We already know that Chise has particular feelings towards her own mother, who said to her daughter right to her face that she never should have given birth to her before jumping to her death. Getting something like that in the beginning of the episode was hard, and I know Chise probably grew up with a lot of guilt.
I found it interesting, though, that the one memory she had that triggered the crystal was of her mother showing her a field of poppies when she was a toddler. Maybe it was because Angelica had specifically told her to think of her favorite flower, but the fact Chise thought of that particular memory probably says that she still loves her mother.
Elias and Chise go out to London for some errands. Chise had been asleep for two days after the emotional strife from before, and we learn quickly who Silky is. She’s a neighboring fairy that does the cooking and cleaning and other domestic things, but Elias thinks of her more as a landlady than a servant. Chise is still getting acclimated to her new home, not really sure whether to take Elias seriously when it comes to their “marriage” and “honeymoon”. And honestly I feel the same. Just like Chise, I also think Elias seems like a very kind and caring man, but because he has the head of a skull I can’t see his expressions to really see what he’s thinking. But that just makes him more interesting.
They both visit a woman named Angelica, a mage who makes magus crafts. And I love her already and I hope we see more of her. She punishes Elias for being weird and dumb to Chise so she uses this time to get to know her and explain some things to her, like the differences between sorcery and magic, with one using a more scientific approach to bending reality while magic uses the help of faeries and other magical creatures to make miracles and bend reality. Sort of similar but also very different. Angelica shows Chise her familiar and decides to give her a quick try with magic. She gives her a crystal and tells her to think of an image. I suspect she had asked for a flower because it seemed like she was doing the same training with her own daughter, who had barged in before with a little crystal flower. Except when Elias comes in to snap Chise back to reality, she wakes up to practically the entire room covered in crystal flowers with her legs trapped. It’s then that Elias spills the truth to Angelica and tells her that Chise is a Sleigh Beggy. They all clean up the shards and Angelica hands them tools she’s made and they head back home.
When they get back they meet with a priest named Simon who had business with Elias. It wasn’t really explained but it sounded like Elias had some problems with the church because of free auctions? But he’s still sought after because of the medicines he produces for the village that Simon delivers. It was great to see this actually because like Chise thought, you’d think the church wouldn’t want to work with mages but instead they’re both friendly (sort of) with each other. Simon sees the benefits of the medicine and they work hand in hand thankfully. I would think that magic and religion would be opposed to each other but I was glad to see that wasn’t the case.
At the end of the episode Elias and Chise go off on their “honeymoon” to Iceland! Elias was asked to watch over the dragons there when suddenly Chise is literally swept off her feet and kidnapped by a man riding on a dragon.
I mentioned the self guilt from Chise because I could see that from her this episode. She probably always felt guilty from her mother’s suicide since it was her very existence that drove her to kill herself. We saw Chise look unsure a lot, and after she made the mess in Angelica’s work studio she immediately apologized for what she did, and when Angelica patted her head and said not to worry since it wasn’t her fault at all (it was Elias’ for not explaining), she looked surprised. Chise had also asked Simon whether it was her fault or not that Elias was in trouble with the church, and Simon smiled at her and reassured her that it wasn’t. Chise grew up as a burden to others and was so desperate to get away from it all that she sold herself, not caring whether she would live or die. But for Elias, her past means nothing because what matters is that she’s here now. Those two scenes playing off each other, us getting a look into Chise’s psyche and how it’s changing is so great to watch. Everyone around her is incredibly kind and warm, that even Silky warmed up to her quickly. It was great of the show to touch on Chise’s self guilt, and I hope this is a step towards her self love.
Though being a Sleigh Beggy is going to be annoying if she’s going to be kidnapped by a dragon.
