The Ancient Magus’ Bride Ep 15 Review: Home

This episode, mainly the second half, turned out way better than I thought it would. I am still a little surprised. Anyway, more on that later, so let’s get right into it.

The Plot:

So, Elias is a bit distraught by Chise, well, dying. Lucky for him the fairy king slapped him a few times to bring him to his senses. He suggests that they take Chise to the other world, mostly since time is different there. Although, Elias does not want to, he agrees. Also, Silky gets left behind.

Chise wakes up sometime later. They are at a fairy kingdom known as The Ant Hill. Well, the nice doctor taking care of her, well, she was apparently raised by humans and was swapped with a human child. Her name is Shannon.

Anyway, she talks about who Chise is to Elias. Such as bringing up her husband. Well, she mentions how communication is key. And just as she talks about it, a rather eccentric man shows up, which turns out to be her husband. He was apparently the human she switched with. They both lived for half a century, since people were starting to notice how Shannon was not aging. Well, she got pass that.

So, her and Chise go to a lake, where Shannon says how she doesn’t like Sleigh Beggies, so she tries to kill Chise. Seriously, Chise cannot get a break. But, just as Chise nearly drowns, she fights back. Thus, Shannon saying how, it was the will to live a second ago, that was able to heal Chise. Shannon is a doctor and will fight to keep her patient alive, even if they don’t want to.

While, all of that was going on, the lovely fairy queen reappears to talk to Elias. Well, she wants Elias and Chise to move to this world. That way Chise will live longer, plus how her body is, it is closer to the other world. But Elias does not want to. He says how humans were the ones to always reject him, but they were also the ones that always accepted him. The fairies were the ones to always look down on him. He simply wants to know humans more. It also looked like he was about to say something else, but next time we see him is shortly after Chise comes out of the water fully healed.

So, first half down, onto the second half. Silky tends to the house. Well, knowing how the manga was, I was a bit worried this would be boring or shoved into the last five minutes, but wow the musical score worked perfectly in this scene, same for the scenery.

While Silky tends to the house, she thinks about what it will be like when Chise and Elias return. But, time passes, with no one returning. It starts to bother her. She falls asleep and a clip of the past plays.

Silky was once a banshee. The home she cared (haunted) for well, everyone died. Her loneliness was slowly killing her. But, eventually she started moving again, also seeing a few familiar faces, so this was probably well before her meeting Elias, and anything like that. Maybe a decade or two, it is hard to say really.

Well, she meets Spriggan. He gives her hope, and thus is reborn as Silky. He brings her to a new home, the same home Elias will live in. Silky wakes up, and starts to tend to everything still waiting for their return.

Apparently, months have passed, as it is now winter. They did say the other world that time moves slower, well, there is clearly an understatement. Anyway, when Chise gets home, Silky is super happy and rushes to give her a hug.

Overall Thoughts:

Did I mention how good the music was in the second half. It really brought it to life, and honestly it would have been super boring if it was just silence. The music gave it more life, and more feeling to that whole situation. This was a manga chapter, and well, the anime is certainly the superior for this part. The art in the manga may be great, but the anime enhanced it in such a way that made it all that more amazing and have a lot more impact on who Silky was.

With that out-of-the-way, as for the rest of the episode, well, to me it felt like Chise was in the other world longer in the manga. I mean, at this point when I was reading it, I only read a chapter a week, so my memory may be a bit hazy. Either way, I rather enjoyed Elias’ half more.

Elias’ half was shorter, but it does say more on his character. Now, two things, first it is unknown exactly what he really is, or was before meeting his mentor. Was he a fairy trying to become human, or a human trying to become a fairy, or something else entirely. Either way, he has trouble fitting in with both societies. Both fear him, but one certainly respects him more over the other. His speech about how humans may have rejected him, but also accepted him, comes off more that he is referring to Chise. Sure, there are probably a few others, Angelica and the priest to name a few. They still accept him. Now, this seemingly comes more down to the king and queen for having pity on him, it is hard to say if any other fairy does. Now, that comes off differently. Elias is referred to as the Thorn King. They all have a royal status in a way, which may cause issues. But, who knows really.

As for Chise’s half, well, the idea of wanting to live, she is still not fully accepting. Deep down her body wants to live. She is starting to accept it, but there is the doubt. Shannon’s way was certainly rough, but also a wakeup calls for Chise to realize that. Still, poor Chise.

This episode as a whole, well, unlike last week, where there was the short moment at the start, and then it changed completely. This was two separate stories. While one did affect the other one happening, the first half seemed like there was not enough time spent on this new character, and even this new location. Still, as always, I enjoyed this episode.

Overall Enjoyment: 95/100

Overall Score: B

The anime is licensed by Crunchyroll, while the manga is licensed by Seven Seas in North America.

Feel free to comment your thoughts on the series or manga. (Try to keep mind of spoilers, for others who may read comments)

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Again, I hope you enjoyed and see you next time.

– Joe