The Ancient Magus Bride Season 2

[Kanon]

I'm wondering when someone is considered a mage. I understand the difference between mage and sorcerers, but is Alice considered a mage now that she has a contract with Will O Wisp? As in, you just need to befriend one of the neighbors?

The Rian being rejected because he smelled of rust makes me think he is shady. Rust -> iron -> blood.

[Twi]

Originally Posted by Kanon

I'm wondering when someone is considered a mage. I understand the difference between mage and sorcerers, but is Alice considered a mage now that she has a contract with Will O Wisp? As in, you just need to befriend one of the neighbors?

The Rian being rejected because he smelled of rust makes me think he is shady. Rust -> iron -> blood.

There's some biological component as well. Most mages we've seen, and I mean actual mages, have lifespans that range hundreds of years, while sorcerers age normally.

In addition, Mages can pull in ambient mana on their own, which is a problem for a Sleigh Beggy like Chise, as she also produces magical energy similar to how a sorcerer does. That puts so much of a strain on her body that the reason Elias first got her the bracelet was to cut that off.

There's also things like needing the Sight to see the neighbors naturally, which Chise has but a lot of other people don't. In the manga the students were surprised there were actually neighbors within the campus when Elias revealed them, indicating that they couldn't see them prior. You need to be able to see them in order to work with them unless they choose to let you see them or you pull a Chise and make some of that eye drop ointment.

In Alice's case, she has an affinity towards Blue Flame in particular. In Episode 23 of the last season, she had a reaction to Blue Flame popping up from her shadow before Renfred did, meaning she had some level of sensitivity to it. And Blue Flame asked for her magic to burn the wraiths away because he liked her scent as well, stating it came from her soul and was so appealing it. Ruth originally in the manga smelled Blue Flame within her shadow when they met in the training hall before popping out, which is when it revealed they entered into a contract after the mess with Joseph.

Now, compare that to Rian, whose rejection came from the scent of rust that she smelled on him.

So its' not just having an affinity for the neighbors, but with them you can get closer to becoming a mage. A knowledgeable sorcerer who has an affinity with a neighbor could become a mage in that aspect and gain access to magic by processing it through them, rather than using their backdoor access they use now. Alice has an affinity towards Blue Flame who is attracted to the scent of flames from her soul, and so in offering a bit of her magic Blue Flame expressed that as a flame on the candle.

[Master_Yoma]

Well Chise first day of school and trouble is following her

Well that kid is an idiot insulting that fire lizard like that good thing Ainsworth was there

[blakstealth]

The Harry Potter TV series got nothing on this. I missed this show.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Twi

There's some biological component as well. Most mages we've seen, and I mean actual mages, have lifespans that range hundreds of years, while sorcerers age normally.

In addition, Mages can pull in ambient mana on their own, which is a problem for a Sleigh Beggy like Chise, as she also produces magical energy similar to how a sorcerer does. That puts so much of a strain on her body that the reason Elias first got her the bracelet was to cut that off.

There's also things like needing the Sight to see the neighbors naturally, which Chise has but a lot of other people don't. In the manga the students were surprised there were actually neighbors within the campus when Elias revealed them, indicating that they couldn't see them prior. You need to be able to see them in order to work with them unless they choose to let you see them or you pull a Chise and make some of that eye drop ointment.

In Alice's case, she has an affinity towards Blue Flame in particular. In Episode 23 of the last season, she had a reaction to Blue Flame popping up from her shadow before Renfred did, meaning she had some level of sensitivity to it. And Blue Flame asked for her magic to burn the wraiths away because he liked her scent as well, stating it came from her soul and was so appealing it. Ruth originally in the manga smelled Blue Flame within her shadow when they met in the training hall before popping out, which is when it revealed they entered into a contract after the mess with Joseph.

Now, compare that to Rian, whose rejection came from the scent of rust that she smelled on him.

So its' not just having an affinity for the neighbors, but with them you can get closer to becoming a mage. A knowledgeable sorcerer who has an affinity with a neighbor could become a mage in that aspect and gain access to magic by processing it through them, rather than using their backdoor access they use now. Alice has an affinity towards Blue Flame who is attracted to the scent of flames from her soul, and so in offering a bit of her magic Blue Flame expressed that as a flame on the candle.

That makes things a lot clearer. Thanks.

Mages having extremely long lifespan had slipped my mind. Wish they had kept the students expressing surprise there were neighbours on campus because the anime made it seem like they all had the sight. I kind of surmised there were ways for them to see them by channeling their magic or something.

[Cloudedmind]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I rewatched that entire sequence carefully yesterday, including freeze frames of Chise's face, and was left confused. At the point where she was wearing the veil her left eye seemed neither its normal color nor his. Rather it seemed a mix of the two. (I have some mild red/green colorblindness so I may not see details that others do.)

So what was the point of showing Ruth ripping out Chise's eye and throwing it on the floor? I thought that implied it was available for some sort of surgical reinsertion after the battle.

Maybe manga readers got a more detailed explanation of events. There seem to be a few continuity details missing in the anime adaptation. Even just a minute's worth of explanation in the final episode of season one would have helped a lot.

Spoiler for Comparison to manga:

Perhaps they're doing some reshuffling, but there's a scene in the manga that happens right before the scene we see in the anime where Chise gets invited to attend the school, where she has a conversation with Josef about her eye. He points out that even if she were to pull his eye out now it would be to late. So, yes she still has his eye.

[Twi]

Originally Posted by Cloudedmind

Spoiler for Comparison to manga:

Perhaps they're doing some reshuffling, but there's a scene in the manga that happens right before the scene we see in the anime where Chise gets invited to attend the school, where she has a conversation with Josef about her eye. He points out that even if she were to pull his eye out now it would be to late. So, yes she still has his eye.

Spoiler:

That appears to be happening next episode according to the preview. They definitely shuffled a lot of it around.

[ryllharu]

I really like the sense of unease and dread the series is already building around the college. Between the occasionally sinister character actions and expressions, and the brilliant OST, you can already tell that there is something going on in the college and it is deeply wrong. We just get no idea of what it might be yet.

Comparing countryside scenes in the first season or even Chise and Alice's demonstrations, the music starkly contrasts and sort of shows off what is "natural" and the overall tone of the college doesn't match it.

[Frontier]

Just in case you forgot Katsuyuki Konishi was in another magic academy show this season, here he is as Tory! Seems like he and Rian have a close relationship too as student/mentee, and they look out for each other, which is pretty sweet .

Sorry Rian, looks like no Neighbor will want anything to do with you because you smell like rust! You can't be these lucky ladies .

Why am I not surprised Alice has already beaten someone up at the college? Or that she won said fight .

"He's....my teacher. And my child. And my husband. It really just depends on the moment." .

Ah...just look at the way Alice glows up when she sees Renfred again! Or when Chise comforts Elias after he'd been scolded! So sweet !

The way Gregory was asking about Narcisse and checking on if she'd be a danger makes me wonder how much of a powder keg this college might be .

That cafeteria buffet looks pretty solid, minus the computer-generated classmates who stand out so much .

Well, Elias has his first student crushing on him! And Chise has immediately found her table full of quirky and cute kids! I love how they were all so interested in Elias' head and how that happened .

Is Philomela okay? She seems incredibly unhappy and looks like she barely sleeps. I feel like she's got something serious going on with her while she follows Veronica around like a lackey. Also Zoe seems nice enough but something seems up with his eye, and like he was triggered by the unnatural nature of Elias and Chise .

I guess I'm not surprised Lucy sits by herself and doesn't see the point of friends, though assuming they'll all become enemies is a bit of a hardcore jump. I guess she might be talking from experience or just how the culture of sorcerers is .

Unbuttoned shirt Lindel fanservice! I'm kind of curious what Adolf will do learning how...savage, Elias used to be .

Drowsy Chise is cute. Also is it just me or is her hair longer than it used to be? Though it might be that we so rarely see her hair down .

Chise giving Elias a lap pillow...lucky guy! Though the whole family sitting around and relaxing was a very nice sight to see .

Elias in overalls is such a surreal visual that I love it !

Halloween backstory! A time once known for honoring the spirits before they faded into obscurity and it became the commercialized and trendy holiday it is known for today, though it looks like Chise and Elias plan to go for something traditional together .

Chise is still adjusting to her dragon arm and Joseph's memories, and Joseph is as surly as ever, but at least he's just sleeping all day rather than ruining peoples' lives .

Elias looked very annoyed when Stella showed up, but it says a lot that he let her and Chise spend time with each other. And Stella is as cute as ever, even if it seems like she and Chise are incapable of spending time with each other without something supernatural hijacking it. Looks like Chise and Ruth got transported to where Elias and Lindel's master is? And will get to meet her? I mean, more Kotono Mitsuishi is never a bad thing !

[Kanon]

I thought the twins were both girls especially after they gave their names but the one with the long hair is a boy. Green haired boy apparently has mystic eyes that can see the true nature of people, I can't blame for freaking out looking at Chise and Elias. But hey, don't judge them by their appearance!

Originally Posted by Frontier

Drowsy Chise is cute. Also is it just me or is her hair longer than it used to be? Though it might be that we so rarely see her hair down .

Same as the end of S1, I think. I remember thinking her hair had grown quite a bit since the beginning.

[Master_Yoma]

Well finely getting everyone names but it seems that Chise having trouble with that new dragon arm with washing those vegetables

[Twi]

Blog review is done.

Changes to the content in spoilers.

Spoiler:

Again, I covered a lot of the changes in the first two episodes caused by the mix-up. So this one has remaining information from Chapter 49 and a bit of Chapter 50: “Birds of a Feather Flock Together III & The Cowl Does Not Make the Monk”. Please note that they skipped some things that might come up later (everything with Simon) so I will probably abstain from mentioning it unless we get no proof of it coming up after the next episode. Then I’ll just spoil everything because they skipped the chapters.

• Lian/Rian doesn’t want Tory to know he was trying to learn magic because he’d be worried about him.
• He also mentions that the reason the rumors spread was that faeries becoming someone’s familiar only happened every so often back a few centuries ago. Wizards don’t look for partners when they get familiars, but a servant. Fae don’t like such shackles, and in the past they were bound by force or contract to wizards, resulting in the wizards getting killed when they broke the contract by accident. This is also why Wizards use dead animals or creatures they create themselves as familiars, like the bird from last season Elias buried.
• Blue Flame explains that Alice isn’t suitable for being a Mage because they tend to be bound by their fate and she isn’t. A Mage is someone who is a prisoner to their own fate, but when pressed they refuse to elaborate. They then state that because Rian carries the stench of rust in his blood he’s basically no good to any Fae. He also calls him a poor thing because of it.
• Elias’ Magic class is being moved to after normal hours, and only for those who are interested. Rian asks if he could attend, even though he doesn’t have the talent for it since someone said it was beautiful compared to wizardry (Tory said this last season). Elias complies with his requests since there’s no harm in visiting.
• Elias also notes that when he sees Rian and Chise close to one another, he doesn’t feel the way he did when she was with Stella. This is what originally prompted the question he had when Stella came in the episode, just shifted around, and he thinks the place has a lot to teach him as well.
• The Atwood siblings, with one of them nearly being killed by the Salamander, actually skipped a grade.
• Elias originally kept to his human appearance in the Cafeteria, but because the students are used to seeing Muryans they don’t mind. Alexandra, the caterpillar lady, for example. They also note she looks squishy. Because Elias was in his human form when Zoey started freaking out, it indicated he could somehow peer through the glamour.
• Adolf’s contact with Lindel has more context. They have records of Elias’ words and actions from the Church but they don’t know if they reflect his true self, with Lindel confirming that the Church’s records are outdated at this point and his current observer (Father Simon) is slacking.
• The Church’s records of Elias date back to the 1700s, when he was found in a French Port, and he gained his epithet from the “exchanges” that occurred around then.
• The mysterious mage waking up questions what era they are in now, such as if it’s in Anno Domini, indicating they slept for a long time.
• Chise notes it’s strange that school starts in September for them (starts in April in Japan), but Elias explains that it’s because children used to be a valuable source of labor and so the school starts in the fall months after the harvest would be finished.
• Elias’ jealous side briefly shows when he states Chise is hanging out with Alice too much, getting a “look” from her that scares him.
• Elias also explains he doesn’t like transforming himself to remove his horns since he gets hazy and a phantom itch like his body knows something is missing.
• Ruth brings up that they spent last Winter underground, back when she was recovering from the thing with Joel and Redcurrant.
• Chise brings Joseph some food, even when he tells her he doesn’t need to eat. It just shows she’s reaching out to him.
• Elias’ lecture on Samhain explains that Halloween (or All Hallows’ Eve) is an amalgam of Samhain and Christian beliefs and means winter is coming. It is the night people welcome the season of death, as the gods of winter and the spirits of the dead cross over from the next world. You light the lamps so that your ancestors can find their way to you.
• The reason Elias doesn’t know much about the old gods is that he was born when many were long gone. They’ve basically had their presence melted into the seasons and people of the world, being reduced to shades. But sometimes they appear, like the pregnant goddess of winter who gives birth to herself, and are still dangerous. He notes that its best for everyone if they stay dormant, as not many are known for being friends with men.
• Around the time that Stella appeared, a nun from Father Simon’s church (Gabriella) also appeared to tell Elias to come over to his place as some things were going down with Simon that threatened the peace he had (again, Simon is a lot laxer than the previous overseer). That was originally why he separated from Chise and Stella, to go see what that was about, leaving Ruth to go with the girls.
• Ruth sees a vision of his old friend, the girl who he couldn’t save and Joseph reanimated her corpse, as he watches the two of them walk. A reminder of what he lost and why he made his pact with Chise to die with her.
• When the fog rolls in and you see that shadow by Stella, it’s actually revealed to be a scarf. A very familiar one. We’ll leave it at that for now.

Their shifting the chapters around has caused a bit of information to be bent out of place. They’ve done a good job of trying to recontextualize it, but some things still get lost. I’ll cover them as I can.

[Kanon]

Thanks for doing this. Did the first season remove that much stuff too? None of it seems important, but having all the details is nice.

[Twi]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Thanks for doing this. Did the first season remove that much stuff too? None of it seems important, but having all the details is nice.

Um, in some of the episodes they trimmed some thing. I'd have to go back to the Season 1 Thread to check the full details. I think its because they have so little time to work with. The Hogwarts Arc runs for 40-50 chapters and they've only got 12 episodes.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Twi

Um, in some of the episodes they trimmed some thing. I'd have to go back to the Season 1 Thread to check the full details. I think its because they have so little time to work with. The Hogwarts Arc runs for 40-50 chapters and they've only got 12 episodes.

The manga is monthly, right? Cramming this many chapters in only 12 episodes seems like a tall ordeal.

[Twi]

Originally Posted by Kanon

The manga is monthly, right? Cramming this many chapters in only 12 episodes seems like a tall ordeal.

Right now it's on hiatus because they finished this part, but yeah. I don't think they'll cover the entire thing but instead might stop at the midpoint, otherwise, they're going to have to speed blitz as much content as the first season in half the time.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Frontier

I guess I'm not surprised Lucy sits by herself and doesn't see the point of friends, though assuming they'll all become enemies is a bit of a hardcore jump. I guess she might be talking from experience or just how the culture of sorcerers is

I don't see why any of the sorcerer candidates would consider themselves in competition with Chise, already a known mage. I think Lucy's issues lie elsewhere and come from her past. Chise might pick up a few tricks from the classes and other students along the way, but she is just at such a different level. I bet none of the other students ever communed with an aged dragon or transformed themselves into a phoenix. Wonder when awe turns into jealousy?

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I don't see why any of the sorcerer candidates would consider themselves in competition with Chise, already a known mage. I think Lucy's issues lie elsewhere and come from her past. Chise might pick up a few tricks from the classes and other students along the way, but she is just at such a different level. I bet none of the other students ever communed with an aged dragon or transformed themselves into a phoenix. Wonder when awe turns into jealousy?

I'm just waiting for her first animal transformation of the season .

[Twi]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

I don't see why any of the sorcerer candidates would consider themselves in competition with Chise, already a known mage.

It's not Chise she's referring to. It's in general making friends with other sorcerers/wizards. She doesn't see the merit in friendship in a society where in this same episode we were told that Chise can tip a balance of power and in the episode before it was said the College wasn't a monolith. Chise was warned not to let her guard down by the old lady president for a reason and we already know people have been spying on her from her visit to the nurse.

[Frontier]

Well, as far as Chise getting suddenly whisked to another place go, meeting up with Sailor Moon...I mean, Rahab, who is basically like a mother/grandmother figure to Elias and Chise, is probably one of the better times this has happened to her .

Rahab is an old soul, wistful, wise, and also caring in her own way. She helped teach Elias about humans and how to fit in with them, and he ended up basing some of his "persona" on her and how she acts, though she couldn't quite teach him 100% about the intricacies of human emotions and relationships (which I guess checks out) .

Angelica! It's always nice to see her, and she can't help but check up on how Elias and Chise's relationship is coming along. Trading neckties is romantic enough as is, but especially on Elias' part because he got it from Rahab so it has a lot of sentimental value, and giving it to Chise shows how much he values her and wants her to value and protect herself rather than recklessly throw her life away for others with no regard for her own safety as she's often wont to do. And Angelica seems to get the picture of how meaningful (and sweet) it all is .

Well, I guess from a certain point of view Elias understood what being a "bride" is...maybe not in the traditional sense, but Chise's never been a typical bride to Elias and that's not how their relationship really works. But she is his partner, more or less, and she makes him happy and she can genuinely read that he's happy, so in that respect I think she's the ideal bride for Elias and it seems Rahab sees that for herself .

So I guess Rahab's message to Chise was basically "you'll probably deal with a lot of complicated/confusing stuff, but just do what your body tells you" which is basically how Chise operates in general .

Looks like Philomela is trying to...make something? Not sure what though. And why does she keep trying to spy on the nurse's office ?

Having a shortcut from home to the college courtesy of Hazel sounds fun...up until you realize said shortcut is guarded by feral and slobbery "hound dogs" that look like if a dog and a lizard had an unholy union. They make an agreement to give them passage, but these things seem unpredictable and dangerous (beyond being pacificed by their craving for meat) that you probably should be wary of how often you use their path .