Common Name: Mahou Tsukai no Yome: Hoshi Matsu Hito
Alternative Names: The Ancient Magus' Bride: Those Awaiting a Star
Score: 9/10, 5/5
Length: 3 OVAs
Genre: Magic, Drama, Slice of Life
Summary: Long before Hatori Chise became the apprentice and bride-to-be of the great magician, Elias Ainsworth, she spent years of her life just trying to survive as one of the world's few Sleigh Beggies. Gifted with "the sight" and born as a natural magnet for the supernatural, Chise has always been ostracized for being "weird" or "different." Abandoned by her family and moved from home to home, saying she's had a hard life is something of an understatement. While she has grown older now and found a kind of peace in Elias's company, her youth is still something of a sensitive topic. When she is gifted a book that was an important piece of her childhood, though, she can't help telling Elias about her youth and her first encounter with a magician, the caretaker for The Library of the Forest.
Review: Let it be said, here at the start, that I'm coming from a very different mindset than I usually do with my reviews. Normally, the shows I watch are my first experience with a property and I'm able to evaluate it purely on its own merits (unless it is so bad that I need to recommend a different source). In the case of Magus' Bride, I have read all of the manga released in the States thus far and even went out of my way to see the first three episodes of the upcoming Fall 2017 series in theaters. So, I think it goes without saying that I REALLY like this particular property. Even more so when you consider that the OVAs I'm covering today are brand new additions to the franchise, meaning this story wasn't even in the manga. So, rather than trying to quell my fanatic cries, I will be covering this title from my particular stance because: A) I have reason to believe my perspective will be particularly useful and insightful this time around, B) this three-part movie was clearly designed to influence people's perceptions of the new show, and C) the fact that this is a totally new story is likely to grab the attention of the manga's fans and make them interested in what the new anime will have to offer the franchise.
I mean, it's certainly grabbed my attention from word "GO" with the visuals alone.
So, without further adieu, I guess I'll get this magical crazy train going. To those who are not familiar with the series at large, Mahou Tsukai no Yome (Magus' Bride for short) is something of collection of English faerie tales told from a Modern-Elizabethan era perspective and is primarily centered on the experiences of Hatori Chise, a Japanese girl taken in as the apprentice of the titular "ancient magus," Elias Ainsworth. While the events of the story are usually told through these "faerie tale of the week" stories, they all express the slow and eventual growth of Elias and Chise as individuals and, eventually, as a sweet but amusingly dysfunctional couple. In many ways, however, the story told in this OVA movie is different from the standard Magus' Bride story. For starters, this story begins "in media res" and can be probably placed somewhere between Volumes 4 and 5 of the manga (as noted by a single, quick image that shows Chise has already received her magician's staff). By this point in the story, Chise has already grown significantly as a person and slowly coming to terms with her less than happy past. The fact that this story is centered on her past at all is another big difference between this OVA and the show's usual themes. While the manga does feature several snippets that hint at Chise's past, these snippets have only focused on the broad strokes of her experience. So, getting an actual story from her past is a big change of pace. What is probably the biggest difference, however, is that this story isn't one based on English or Germanic faerie tales. Rather, this is a story about Chise's life in Japan, a land with a very different kind of magical world than the enchanting, Fae-filled shores of England.
Let's just say it's not nearly as charming or...you know...willing to find an alternative, less human-based, diet.
As many other anime will tell you, the monsters and myths of Japanese lore are inherently different from their English counterparts. Where England is full of cunning and deceitful creature myths centered on charming people into doing their bidding, Japan's mythologies are born from a more spiritual foundation. Namely, Japan's monster myths are born from humanity's wrong-doings and evil natures as monsters called youkai. While I'll admit I am glossing over key aspects of the Shinto faith (as I understand it), like the kami, Chise's story focuses mainly on her relationship with the youkai.
ON A SIDE NOTE: the relevance of the youkai in Chise's life can be seen a couple different ways: 1) her natural allure as a Sleigh Beggy draws the attention of bloodthirsty youkai more than the benevolent kami or 2) the modern human world is filled with so much grief and evil that it's simply impossible for her to avoid the more prevalent youkai.
During the first OVA of the three-part movie, we are given what the fans of the series have been asking for for a while now: more on Chise's backstory. Since that story is inherently a tragic one though, her story begins with her mother's suicide and her life with her adoptive family who neither wants her nor understands why she is so "different." This introduction, paired with scene after scene of the youkai tormenting her, solidly sets up the understanding of what made Chise the miserable, suicidal wreck she is at the start of the manga and the anime. However, this first episode also introduces the fact that her life was filled with just enough ups that kept her going in spite of how low she'd fall afterward. It is at this point we are introduced to The Library of the Forest and its caretaker, Miura Riichi--a place and person that welcome Chise with open arms and serve as a kind of port in the storms of youkai and waves human cruelty that plague her daily life.
Needless to say, the first episode gets pretty rough at times.
It is also at this point, however, that the OVA movie begins to grow more and more similar to the original Magus' Bride stories. Over the course of the second episode, Chise's traumatic childhood takes a back seat to the magical allure of The Library. Since it is understood at this point that she is a thoroughly traumatized youth, this episode focuses instead on the mystery of The Library and its strange caretaker. While the place does offer Chise some amount of peace and comfort--a home away from her not-home--there is a kind of a suspicious aura to a library that opens its doors to a few neutral youkai, one little girl, and its strange caretaker. Of course, there's always something a bit concerning about a magical caretaker who changes personalities at the drop of a hat--regularly switching between a calm, welcoming host and a panicky recluse. In spite of all The Library's strangeness though, the warm and welcoming atmosphere it offers is a welcome change of pace from watching a little girl suffer a living hell.
In the same manner that The Library charms Chise into visiting regularly,
it doesn't take much for the audience to become enthralled by The Library's beauty.
Since this is a story about Chise's magical yet tragic childhood though, it all still ends up pear-shaped in the end. As it turns out, the place she desperately wanted to call home was little more than a Japanese faerie tale--a kind and welcoming deception made all the more cruel and tragic once the truth is revealed. This truth is what ultimately makes up the whole of the movie's final episode. We learn about the history of The Library of the Forest and its caretaker and how they came to meet. We learn about where things went wrong and why the place and its magician seemed to be in conflict. Last but not least though, we learn about how deeply this place influenced the young and hopeless child who would eventually grow into the Ancient Magus' apprentice in spite of its intentions.
After all, while this might be just another "faerie tale of the week,"
it is still Chise's story from beginning to end.
That conclusion, in particular, is probably one of the main reasons I'm so fond of this story in its own right--second only to how freaking gorgeous it is. While, yes, this is primarily a prequel to the upcoming series it is also a story that begins and ends in media res. It is a story within a story that reminds people of how far Chise has come as a character. That is why I think this movie is probably the best addition to the franchise its fandom could have ever hoped for. It's a story that fills in the blanks for people who are already past this point in the manga. It's a solid introduction and establishment of the main characters without digging too deep into what they have done/will do in the series proper. Having seen the first three episodes of the coming series though, I can also say that it serves as a welcome reminder that, no matter how bleak and depressing those first three stories get, Chise's life does eventually get better. Afterall, we're given solid proof that she not only survives those trials like she did her past but also grows into a troubled but far more happy person.
When all is said and done though, I will admit that this movie isn't a perfect product in of itself. Rather, it is a solidly good story with drop-dead gorgeous visuals that is disrupted regularly by the way it was presented. Had it simply been released as a full movie, spanning a little over an hour, it would have likely been absolutely perfect. Yet the production team decided, for whatever reason, to break the story into three parts, creating break after break in a story that typically moves at breakneck speeds so it can cover as much as possible. While the three parts do highlight the three focuses of the movie (i.e. Chise, The Library, and Miura Riichi), I don't think that aspect offered enough to justify the damage it did overall. In spite of that single problem though, I have nothing to offer but praise for this movie. The art was great, as I've said several times now. The characters are engaging and develop well and in the way they should, given the precedent offered by the manga. The tone is always spot on. The music reinforces the tone, just like it should, but it's also beautiful in its own right. The story is solid, gripping, and complex enough to warrant more than one viewing. Though saying so does little more than reinforce how big a fanboy I am, I honestly believe this movie was great. It was solid and engaging at its worst and almost Ghibli-esque at its best. So, it goes without saying that I recommend this one with high honors, especially if you're planning to watch the Magus' Bride series or have read the manga. Even if you're not doing either of those things though, give it a shot. It might just convince you to give the rest of the franchise a chance.