A Monster Inside

The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 9 started to tie a lot of things together. And the first part of the episode was about Chise and what happened to her in Episode 8. When faced with the Nuckelavee, something took over Chise’s body and caused her to kill it.

This is troubling for a few reasons. Despite her life being in danger, Chise didn’t want to kill the Nuckelavee. She’s not the kind of person to want to kill anything or anyone. So, the fact that the Nuckelavee died by her hand is weighing on her.

But, the thing that’s more troubling is the whole being taken over by something. Chise heard a voice telling her that she had no other option. And when her arm transformed and she attacked, we also saw her eyes were different. The implication here is that Chise wasn’t in control.

Who’s to say whatever this being that took over her body is, it won’t do it again? And what if it causes Chise to hurt someone she cares about? It saved her this time. But that doesn’t make whatever it is good. Chise wisely recognizes this.

Why would something that’s evil want to save her, though? Well, it could be because that evil something wants to continue using her body. It could be that if Chise dies, so does whatever controlled her at that moment. And most living things want to keep on living.

What was the thing that took control of Chise? Cartaphilus seems to think it was the curse of the dragon. And considering how Chise’s arm looked, I think he’s right. But, unlike Cartaphilus, I don’t think the dragon’s curse is going to corrupt Chise. She’s the protagonist — she’s going to overcome it.

Forbidden Books

Personally, I didn’t think that stuff with Chise was that interesting. I was much more interested in the forbidden book Elias read. You know, the one that mysteriously went missing. And since Elias admitted to having read the book, that makes him a suspect.

So, what was this forbidden book about? According to Elias, it’s about things that could prove fatal for mortals. It’s about stealing the life force of others. It’s about how to create immortal beings. And it’s also about how to kill immortal beings. Oh, and there’s some stuff about raising the dead, as well.

It’s unclear exactly how this information can damage those who read the book. Is it because reading it will make the person want to engage in those forbidden acts? Or, does the act of reading the book actually control your actions? We don’t know. But, as a non-human, Elias seems to be immune.

Something I was wondering was why the college stores forbidden books, in the first place. Wouldn’t it be better to destroy these books so they don’t fall into the wrong hands? After all, since they’re forbidden, nobody’s allowed to read them.

But, one argument for storing the books is that you never know when you’ll need them. What if someone evil learns the secret of immortality on their own? In that case, the book could be useful because it tells you how to kill an immortal.

However, there’s a major flaw with this argument. The school librarian and the headmaster weren’t even aware of the contents of the book Elias read. If nobody knows what’s in the books, how will they know when to use them?

And if that’s the case, there’s no point in keeping the books around. They’re asking to be stolen.

The Webster’s Spiders

Toward the end of the episode, we learned what the Webster Tragedy was. Of course, we knew it was the event that killed off Lucy Webster’s family. But, we didn’t know any of the details beyond that — until now.

So, the Webster Tragedy is a bit of a mystery. But, it all started due to the Webster family trade. They were a family that specialized in copying forbidden books. And unlike most copies, the Webster’s copies were said to be as potent as the originals.

They created these copies by using the silk from special spiders. And, that’s what lead to the tragedy. It’s not known who committed the act, but someone killed the family and stole the spiders. Ever since, the spiders haven’t been located. However, a strand of Webster spider silk was at the scene of the recent forbidden book theft.

Lucy’s older brother seemed to be a suspect in the theft of the forbidden book. He was born without the ability to use magic. And as a result, the family abandoned him. So, he would have the motive to both steal the spiders and the book.

But, why would the person who stole the spiders also want to steal the forbidden book? Well, the whole point of the spiders is to use them to copy forbidden books. So, it seems obvious that whoever’s behind this theft wants to mass-produce copies.

Also, it doesn’t seem like Lucy’s brother is involved in the plot. The werewolf-like people we see at the end of the episode appear to be after him. My guess is that despite what Lucy thinks, her brother is actually protecting her. He doesn’t hate her for what the rest of the family did. She’ll figure that out eventually.

Conclusion

What do you think of The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 9? Do you agree with Cartaphilus that the dragon’s curse is what controlled Chise? Why do you think the college stores forbidden books instead of destroying them? And who do you think is responsible for the Webster Tragedy? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Into the Wilderness

The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 8 covers the camping trip Chise and her classmates went on. The purpose of this trip was to teach the students to fend for themselves. Sorcerers (and mages) need to be able to survive to pass their knowledge to the next generation.

But, it doesn’t seem like the students actually learned very much on this trip. They had to set up tents, start fires, and catch and cook their own food. That sounds pretty good in terms of self-sufficiency. However, it seemed more like those who already knew what they were doing did everything.

We only saw one student actually learn how to do something. That was Chise when Lucy taught her how to start a fire. So, if the students were on their own in the wilderness, I’m not convinced they’d be okay.

Anyway, there’s another reason why I don’t think this little excursion was a good idea. Apparently, the woods in which the students went camping are home to a variety of fairies. Most of the fairies we see in the woods are good and won’t harm anyone. But, that’s not the case for all of them.

So, if you’re going to teach a sorcerer survival class, shouldn’t that be considered? I mean, they already had a magic class in which Elias showed them how dangerous fairies can be. But how are they supposed to know what to be wary of if they don’t know what’s in the woods?

For example, Chise’s the one who warns Lucy about the Each-Uisge. It looks like a friendly animal but actually eats humans. That seems like exactly the kind of thing the students should be warned about beforehand. And, this is important information for future survival situations, too.

Friendly and Not-So-Friendly Neighbors

As I’ve already mentioned, most of the fairies in the forest appear to be friendly. That’s according to Chise, who is by no means an expert in fairies. But, if she says they seem “good,” I’m inclined to believe her.

With that said, Chise also likely would have called the fairies from Elias’s magic class “good.” And yet, the other students managed to make those fairies attack them. So, a good way to think about fairies is like any other wild animal. If you make them mad, they’ll hurt you.

But, also like wild animals, sometimes they’ll hurt you even if you leave them alone. And in this episode, we see two such creatures. The first is the Each-Uisge, which looks like a horse. But, unlike a normal horse, the Each-Uisge drowns people in rivers and lakes and then eats them.

While this is certainly a dangerous creature, the good news is that there’s a way to avoid it. Many dangerous, legendary creatures have very specific rules they need to follow. You know, like how Vampires can’t enter a building without an invitation. Well, the Each-Uisge is in the same boat.

Apparently, you have to choose to get on its back. Then, it has to take you to a body of water and toss you in. Only then can it eat you. And if you escape from the water before it kills you, then it can’t harm you. So, if you see a horse near water, don’t climb on it.

Then, there are the dangerous creatures that look dangerous. The Nuckelavee falls into this category. At first, Chise thinks it’s a Centaur of some kind. But, I have a feeling she would have figured out the difference pretty fast. It’s a sea monster.

Those Who See Behind the Shadow

I didn’t find the Nuckelavee to be that scary for the majority of the episode. But, then we got to the final scene with it. You know, before Chise murdered it with her dragon arm or whatever.

The last thing the Nuckelavee said was, “You see behind the shadow. And I will not spare you. So long as you look into our side, we will…” That was a bit intimidating. It had the same vibe as the Hound Dogs saying they’ll “chase you forever” if you break the rules of the back passages. Both the Nuckelavee and Hound Dogs also have similar physical traits.

But, the thing that’s scariest about what the Nuckelavee said was its use of the words “our” and “we.” This could be referring to multiple Nuckelavee. But, I took it to be referring to the creatures that call “behind the shadow” home.

With the Hound Dogs, I’d say we got our first glimpse of the horrors that live on the other side. But now we know those horrors aren’t rare. There are many of them and at least some don’t take kindly to humans who can see into their world. Just by existing as a mage, Chise’s life is in danger.

There is good news, though, if you can call it that. As a mage, Chise has already lost part of her humanity. So, in time, the creatures behind the shadow may no longer view her as an outsider. Like, do you think they view Elias the same way they view humans?

I guess Elias isn’t exactly the best example. As far as I know, we don’t actually know what Elias is. He could originally be from behind the shadow himself. But, Chise’s lack of humanity keeps coming up.

Conclusion

What do you think of The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 8? Have the students been adequately prepared to survive in the wilderness? Did you think Chise was going to befriend the Each-Uisge? And, who do you think the Nuckelavee was referring to when it said, “we?” Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 9 is available now.

Maybe I Was Wrong About Veronica

Like most of this series, The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 7 was fine. There were some interesting parts. But, Mahoyome doesn’t usually do anything that stands out. It’s not like it has great animation, characters, or story.

I know there are going to be some Mahoyome fans out there who don’t want to hear that. But, it’s the truth. If you want complex characters and relationships, there are plenty of better anime. However, an uninteresting character isn’t the same as a predictable character. And it seems like my predictions about Veronica may have been wrong.

I assumed Veronica would be a spoiled rich girl. She’s from the Rickenbacker family, one of the Seven Shields. And she has an entourage following her around. Philomela is a member of this entourage. And based on what we’ve seen of them so far, she seems to be subservient to Veronica.

It now seems like Veronica isn’t actually the problem. She’s probably still proud to be a member of the Rickenbacker family. But, I no longer get the feeling that this makes her spoiled or that she’s a controlling person. Instead, Philomela is the problem.

Whenever we see Philomela, she seems depressed and beaten down. But, we got to see Veronica interacting with her in this episode. And I didn’t get the impression that Veronica is making Philomela feel this way. Veronica actually appeared to be encouraging Philomela to make friends — notably Chise.

Additionally, we learned that Veronica is the reason Philomela is at the college. And the implication wasn’t that Veronica wanted Philomela there to serve her. The implication was that Veronica wanted Philomela to attend the college as a student — as her equal. Based on all this, Veronica views Philomela as a friend.

I Wish I Could Smell Philomela’s Soul

So, what did I mean when I said that Philomela is the problem? Well, I mean that Philomela’s the one twisting her relationship with Veronica. She’s the one pushing this whole master-servant relationship in which she’s the servant. It’s not Veronica’s doing.

Just because Philomela is the problem doesn’t mean she’s at fault, though. We need to think about why Philomela acts this way. And it’s pretty clear that she acts like this due to her upbringing. She was raised to be an expendable servant for higher-class sorcerers.

In Episode 7, we also see how the woman Philomela calls “Grandmother” abuses her. She both verbally and physically abuses Philomela. And I shouldn’t need to point this out, but that likely contributes to how Philomela views herself. She believes she’s not worthy of being on the same level as her peers.

With all that said, Philomela is still very competent. She might not value herself as a person. But, she recognizes that her abilities are exceptional. That’s why she was so surprised when Chise was able to sense her presence in the garden. That’s not something even most sorcerers can do.

However, Philomela’s attendant, Alcyone, explains how Chise may have noticed Philomela’s presence. Philomela can hide herself in a variety of ways. But, something she can’t hide is the scent of her soul. According to Alcyone, mages are sensitive to the emotions of others. And she believes it’s likely that Chise picked up on Philomela’s emotions.

What this all actually means, though, is that Chise has the power of friendship on her side. Since she can sense the emotions of others, she can connect with them on an emotional level, as well. This is how she’s going to befriend Philomela in the end.

Bushcraft With Lucy

At the end of Episode 7, we see Chise and her classmates preparing to go on a camping trip. The logic behind this is that sorcerers need to be resourceful and able to fend for themselves. That’s also why they have many different gym classes.

Remember, the Seven Shields families founded the college to protect magic knowledge. They feared that the war would result in the eradication of sorcerers and mages. So, it makes sense that the college would teach young sorcerers to protect themselves. If things go downhill, they can always flee into the wilderness and survive.

What’s most important to sorcerers is that their knowledge gets passed down. And, I want to assume the same is true for mages. But, that might actually not be the case. Mages aren’t human. They may have been human at one point. But, their use of magic changes them.

Also, I guess I should explain the whole “magic changes them” thing. Magic can also change sorcerers — the blob teacher who spoke to Alice in this episode is one example. A magic experiment gone wrong turned his skin and flesh into jelly. But, that’s only a physical change.

Magic changes mages at a fundamental level. Look at Rahab, Lindel, and Adolf (I think he’s a mage). Rahab and Lindel seem like they’re immortal. And Rahab lives in a dimension disconnected from time itself. Adolf is said to have not aged in a while, so he may be in a similar situation.

And, if we ignore Adolf (because I don’t know if he is a mage) mages don’t typically interact with society. We know Rahab doesn’t. And Lindel is off in the Land of Dragons, or wherever. Elias is the exception among mages and that’s really only thanks to Chise.

Conclusion

What do you think of The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 7? Has your impression of Veronica changed after this episode? What do you think Philomela’s soul smells like? And do you think mages are concerned with preserving knowledge for future generations? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 8 is available now.

Master and Daughter

While The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 6 was alright, next week’s episode looks very good. So, there’s that to look forward to. Episode 6 primarily focused on the relationships between masters and apprentices. And I don’t find this as interesting as the discussion of sorcerer families from Episode 5.

At the start of the episode, we see Elias ask Renfred about his relationship with Alice. Elias doesn’t know how to explain his relationship with Chise and he’s looking for some advice. But, he seems to misjudge the relationship Renfred has with Alice.

Elias thought Renfred took Alice on as his apprentice because she’s breedable. Elias thought Renfred’s plan was to use Alice and her magic power to maintain his lineage. But, this isn’t the case. Instead, Renfred views Alice as his adopted daughter. So, it’ll be a bit weird if they do end up together.

But, what I found intriguing about this interaction was the idea Elias brought up. According to Renfred, sorcerers do choose their partners based on magic power. I guess the idea is that if two powerful sorcerers have kids, their kids will also be powerful. And that maintains the prestige of the family name.

I have to assume that at least a few of the Seven Shields families engage in this practice. For instance, are Veronica Rickenbacker’s parents going to let her marry just anyone? I doubt it. Based on her personality, her family likely cares a lot about their status.

This also implies that if Elias and Chise have a child, that child would be very strong. I don’t even know if it’s possible for them to have a child considering Elias isn’t human. But, Elias is a powerful mage and Chise is a Sleigh Beggy.

I Definitely Remember Joseph

Later in Episode 6, we see a flashback from Alice’s perspective. Alice doesn’t want Renfred to view her as his daughter. She wants him to view her as his bodyguard. That’s the role Alice decided for herself. And this flashback is key to that self-identity.

One of Renfred’s notable features is that he only has one arm. I know it’s shocking, but that wasn’t always the case. He lost his arm while protecting Alice from Joseph. And this is important because Alice feels that she’s to blame for this injury.

After all, Alice views herself as Renfred’s bodyguard. So, how could she let him get injured like that in her place? That’s why she decided that she’s going to get stronger — to protect him next time. So, hearing that Renfred views her as a daughter hurts. She feels like he doesn’t respect her goal.

Now, as you may have surmised from the title of this section, I forgot Joseph existed. After the episode, I looked up a little refresher on him. And, what do you know? He was the main antagonist of the first season. Who could have guessed?

Well, even though we already know who Joseph is, I’m still going to mention a wild theory anyway. Joseph has white, straight hair. Do you know who else has white, straight hair? That’s right, Philomela. Could they be from the same family? And if so, will that matter at all?

We know Philomela’s family excels at gathering information. And Joseph mentioned how he heard Renfred was the kind of person to protect his own bodyguard. It’s obviously a bit of a stretch. But, that could have been a hint toward the connection between Joseph and Philomela. Or, I’m reading too much into it.

Master and Bride

We now know Alice and Renfred don’t exactly view each other in the same way. But, what about Chise and Elias? Are they a married couple? Are they master and apprentice? And if the latter is true, who’s the master and who’s the apprentice?

Well, it turns out the answer is all of the above. They are a married couple — they got married, after all. But, they’re also master and apprentice. Though, that relationship isn’t one-way. Elias is both Chise’s master and apprentice. He’s her master when it comes to magic, and her apprentice when it comes to emotions.

And even though neither of them is entirely sure what it means for them to be married, they feel the same about it. They’re both happy when spending time together and they want things to stay that way.

When asked why he wanted Chise to be his bride, Elias has an interesting answer. It’s not because he loved Chise. And it’s not necessarily even because he wanted a bride. More than anything, Elias wants someone who won’t leave. To him, this happens to be what a bride is.

Think back to Episode 4 when Rahab told Chise about how Elias came to be interested in brides. It was because Elias never had a family of his own. He wants someone to spend the rest of his time with. And as he put it in this episode, an apprentice eventually leaves their master.

So, why did Elias want Chise to be his bride? Because he doesn’t want Chise to leave him. Though, Chise did rain on his parade a bit by mentioning how many married couples end up divorcing. It doesn’t seem like Elias knew this was even a possibility.

Conclusion

What do you think of The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 6? Is breedability the most important quality to look for in an apprentice? Do you think Joseph is somehow related to Philomela? And, is it ethical to marry your apprentice whom you also purchased as a slave? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 7 is available now.

The Seven Shields

Even though not much happened in The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 5, it was interesting. We got to learn a fair bit about the various sorcerer/mage families. And that’s exactly the kind of world-building I’m interested in.

To start off this discussion of the sorcerer families of Mayohome, we have the Seven Shields. These are the seven major sorcerer families that came together to create the College. They did this during the previous war as a way to prevent the eradication of sorcerers. I’m not sure exactly how long ago this war was, though.

These families are Rickenbacker, Saint George, Nightingale, Forsyth, Roseingrave, Scrimgeour, and Hohenheim. A few of those names might be familiar to you. The most well-known is probably Hohenheim, the alchemist. But, two others I recognize are Saint George and Nightingale.

In the explanation of the families we got, Saint George is the hunter. This could mean it’s the family of the Saint George who slayed a dragon. And, we know that the twins Jasmine and Violet belong to this family. But, they’re not Chise’s only classmates from the Seven Shields families.

Veronica (the mean girl who orders Philomela around) is from the Rickenbacker family. That bad personality of hers definitely makes more sense now that we know about her family. But, as far as we know, it’s not like the Rickenbacker family is any more important than the other “noble” families.

And then there’s Rian Scrimgeour of the Scrimgeour family. Rian’s family is known for serving as bodyguards for other sorcerers and mages. However, Rian doesn’t appear to want anything to do with his family. He wants to go down his own path, instead. And based on his initial interaction with Chise, he wants to be a mage.

Gorgon-Human Hybrid

Zoe Ivy may not be from one of the Seven Shields families. But, he’s still from a pretty (in)famous family. He’s a descendant of the Gorgons — the snake monsters from Greek mythology. Zoe isn’t full-Gorgon, though. He’s a Gorgon-human hybrid.

I guess Zoe’s father has a thing for monster girls because he ended up with one. Apparently, he’s a sorcerer who had an interest in monster languages. Normally, Gorgons and humans can’t communicate. But, thanks to his research, he was able to. And I guess even in a language he’s not native in, his rizz was off the charts.

Being part Gorgon, Zoe hatched from an egg. And, I have to say that I’m not sure how this would work. Humans are mammals and Gorgons are, presumably, reptiles. Gorgons have scales and lay eggs. So, even if they’re humanoid, I don’t see how successful mating works.

Hatching from an egg isn’t the only weird thing about Zoe, though. He also does have hair, like a mammal. But, when he doesn’t have his earmuffs on, his hair turns into snakes. And speaking of his earmuffs, he needs those because he’s sensitive to sounds.

I don’t know if that sensitivity has a connection to his Gorgon side. But, sound isn’t all he’s sensitive to. He also has special goggles to protect his eyes and nose. Though, I don’t really understand that part. It’s not like we’ve ever seen him wear the goggles.

And, as far as I can tell, Zoe doesn’t have the Gorgon’s signature ability to petrify. None of the other students have had an issue looking him in the eyes. But, it could be that the petrifying gaze is an ability he has to activate. I assumed it would be active all the time.

The Webster Tragedy

There are two final families I want to discuss in this review. The first is the Webster family, to which Lucy Webster (Chise’s roommate) belongs. And the second is whatever family Philomela belongs to. As far as I know, we don’t have her family name yet.

So, what do we know about the Webster family? We know something called the “Webster tragedy” happened. And we know this tragedy involved the deaths of multiple members of the family. We also know that spies were involved, and because of this, Lucy hates Philomela.

But, what does Philomela have to do with all this? She comes from a family of spies. Now, there’s no evidence that Philomela’s family had any involvement in the tragedy. But, you can kind of understand why Lucy wouldn’t like people like Philomela anyway. From Lucy’s perspective, her family would be alive if not for sorcerers who act as spies.

Despite still being a student, Philomela is pretty skilled at spying already. But, she also doesn’t seem like she enjoys being a spy. Instead, it’s more like spying is all she knows how to do. Well, that and taking orders from people.

Something else I should also mention about Philomela is her relation to Rian. I believe Rian said they were second cousins. However, that doesn’t mean Philomela is a member of the Scrimgeour family. Rian specifically mentioned that Philomela’s family specializes in spying and gathering information. That implies she’s a member of a different family.

Anyway, I wonder how Chise is going to get Lucy and Philomela to settle their differences. In the ED, we see the three of them together. But, as things stand right now, I can’t see Lucy wanting to spend any amount of time with Philomela.

Conclusion

What do you think about The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 15? Which of the Seven Shields family names do you recognize? Do you think Zoe is a mammal or reptile? And, how do you think Chise’s going to get Lucy and Philomela to become friends? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me on your social media of choice — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 6 is available now.