Earlier this year, I posted about the manga series, Mahou Tsukai no Yome or The Ancient Magus Bride. Now, I am here about a month after the first OVA release to give a follow up review now that the anime is officially out. Without further adieu, the review.
WARNING: Very MINOR spoilers in the form of images
ANIME: Mahou Tsukai no Yome: Hoshi Matsu Hito (The Ancient Magus Bride: The Man Who Waits for Stars)
AIRED: September 10th, 2016
GENRE: Supernatural, Magic
MANGA AUTHOR: Kore Yamazaki
DIRECTOR: Norihiro Naganume
SCRIPT: Aya Takaha
CHARACTER DESIGN: Hirotaka Katou
BACKGROUND: Bamboo
ANIME STUDIO: Wit Studio
CAST
Chise Hatori – Atsumi Tanezaki
Elias Ainsworth – Ryota Takeuchi
Ruth – Kouki Uchiyama
Silky – Aya Endo
VISUAL SCORE: 10/10
The anime preview did not lie, the artwork is absolutely stunning. The colors are vibrant, glowing, and clean. The style still keeps true to the manga style which is very nice. A good amount of CGI help to make the magic effects more vibrant. The lighting is plentiful and spot on. The amount of detail in the scenes (transparency and refraction in the water, soft glows of light, etc) is amazing. I try to never give full points, but the art is pure eye candy.
SOUNDTRACK SCORE: 9/10
As this is only the first episode, only a few tracks are currently available. The main track is very magical and grand filled with strings. During the more light-hearted moments, a playful tune of woodwinds sets the mood. The ending song has a unique, mystical, and very “faerie” sound.
ENDING SONG:
Clockwork Quick, Lightning Slow
SINGER: Julia Shortreed
LYRICS: Chris Mosdell
COMPOSER: Oomori Riuto
A sample of the music. The entire video is the ending song. However, the beginning instrumental segment is used as most of the background music, with varying adjustments.
STORY SCORE: 9/10
The OVA is meant to be a three part prequel to the manga series, each episode releasing with the sixth (delayed release), seventh, and eight volumes.
The story is meant to tell about Chise’s life before the manga story line, before she met Elias. It’s in the form of a flashback, told by Chise. The first half is set around the time of the forth volume but you don’t really need to have read the manga to watch the anime. There’s JUST enough information needed to enjoy the anime but does leave you wondering about the story thus makes you want to read the manga.
The story does well in keeping the facts about Chise past from the manga. There is a new character never mentioned in the manga who I assume was created just for the OVA. I am excited to see what role he plays in Chise’s past, though I have an idea already.
I couldn’t ask for a better cast to be honest. The voices are almost exact to what I imagined them which is wonderful.
OVERALL SCORE: 9.3/10
All in all, a strong anime. The gorgeous art, perfectly paired soundtrack, and so far solid story. However, there are still two more episodes to go that could make or break the anime. Only time will tell.