This week is known by many different names: Holy Week, Passion Week, and Resurrection Week, among others. It commemorates Jesus’ final entrance into Jerusalem and his march toward Calvary, leading to his death and resurrection. To commemorate this on our blog, starting today and through the week I’m going to talk a little bit about… Read More Holy Week: The Patient Magus Bride
For much of the early portion of The Ancient Magus Bride, we only know Chika Hatori, Chise’s mom, as an abusive parent. While alive, she spewed hateful words toward her daughter and even attempted to strangle her. When Chise remembers her time with her mom in a more extended scenario, reconstructed by Joseph during the… Read More The Grace Chika Hatori Needs
The Ancient Magus Bride dwells in a place of religion and myth, making countless allusions to creatures from the realm of legend and those with more concrete origins, with Elias and Chise moving in and out of the world of fairies, dragons, and spriggan as easily as they do the church. I commented previously on… Read More The Invisible God in The Ancient Magus Bride
The contrast of dragon and human in episode three of The Ancient Magus Bride is stark and purposeful. The ancient dragon, Nevin, and even the young ones (and Lindel, too) see death as part of life, something they shouldn’t fear, something they should even aspire to do well. So even as Nevin breaks apart, like… Read More The Ancient Magus Bride, Episode 3: Mended to Broken
Episode two of The Ancient Magus Bride plunges us into a world of magic and sorcery, setting some of the ground rules in this universe and providing some context for the story. I was reminded very much of Harry Potter; though the magic system works differently, the wide-eyed wonder in learning about it is just… Read More The Ancient Magus Bride Episode 2: Welcome to Magic
The opening minutes of The Ancient Magus Bride‘s first episode are compelling. A young woman named Chise has apparently given up on life and decided to sell herself to the highest bidder. She’s paraded in front of creatures that are not human, a number of whom excitedly begin bidding for her. It’s a bit creepy… Read More The Ancient Magus Bride, Episode 1: Reaching for Your Soul
Without hope and deciding to abandon her life, Chise instead contracts herself to a supernatural auction house, letting the highest bidder enslave her for whatever use they desire. An intimidating figure makes an unsurpassable bid, but despite the figure he carves, including a head resembling a horned beast’s skull, he surprises Chise by proving to… Read More First Impression: The Ancient Magus Bride
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