Blue Exorcist, Amanchu!, Sweetness and Lightning, Barakamon, March Comes in like a Lion
The Ancient Magus' Bride(魔法使いの嫁,Mahō Tsukai no Yome) is a Japanese fantasy shōnenmanga series written and illustrated by Kore Yamazaki. The series is published in Japan by Mag Garden in its Monthly Comic Garden magazine. The manga is licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. A three-part prequel anime is being produced by Wit Studio, and an anime television series adaptation will begin airing in October 2017.
Voiced by: Atsumi TanezakiThe protagonist and titular character of the story. She is the apprentice and future bride to Elias Ainsworth. Her father abandoned the family when she was young, taking her little brother with him, and eventually her mother committed suicide in front of her. Feeling unwanted by her relatives, she sold herself into slavery so that she didn't have to worry about anything, with Elias purchasing her. She is a Sleigh Beggy, a special magus who can draw magic from her surroundings and within herself, at the cost of dying young because of the strain in her body, hence why Elias took her in, hoping to prevent her death. She has about 3 years left to live naturally at most.
Elias Ainsworth (エリアス・エインズワース,Eriasu Einzuwāsu)
Voiced by: Ryota TakeuchiThe Child of Thorns, Chise's master and fiancée, once apprenticed to Master Lindenbaum. A being with both fae and human elements, his origins are a mystery. Known as the Thorn Sorcerer, the other faeries see him as an abomination, something he doesn't mind. Besides using glamour to hide his appearance, he can control and also turn himself into shadows, and when angry enough, he takes on a more monstrous form. He can even change his head to a human’s using magic. Despite claiming to lack human emotions, after some time caring for Chise he has slowly developed a true fondness for her. However, his innate lack of understanding certain human emotions makes Lindenbaum call him a child. He dislikes children. He says they don’t have magic powers, but they are talented in being able to see the true nature of things, so sometimes he is found out.He is called “Pilum Murialis” by the wizards.
Ruth (ルツ,Rutsu)
Voiced by: Kōki UchiyamaIntroduced in chapter 9, he is Chise's familiar, a black grim who was originally a church guard dog who chased away grave robbers and evil spirits. He was formally called Yuris and used to be owned by Isabel in chapter 10. He thinks of himself as a human, thus able to maintain human form, until he remembers who he is in chapter 12. He shares a mental link with Chise and considers her a sister.
Angelica Varley (アンジェリカ・バーレイ,Anjerika Bārei)
Voiced by: Yūko KaidaIntroduced in chapter 2, she is an old acquaintance of Elias. She is a witch and a technician of the Magus Craft. She has a daughter named Alucia Barlei.Her father was a technician of the Magus Craft. Even though her father was a magician, Angelica, who only had the quality of a sorcerer, couldn’t directly learn the ways of her father. She worked hard to find her own method of performing magic.
Silver (シルキー,Shirukī, "Silky")
Voiced by: Aya EndōIntroduced in chapter 2, she is the fairy landlady of the house where Elias and Chise reside. Originally a banshee (chapter 24), she is now silent and takes care of the housekeeping duties in the household.
Lindenbaum (リンデル,Rinderu, "Lindel")
Introduced in chapter 3, he is Elias's magician Master, commonly referred as Lindel, lives in the Land of Dragons, the last sanctuary of dragons. He is the caretaker of the dragon’s nest. His title is Echoes, Song of Flowers and has lived for hundreds of years.
Introduced in chapter 14, she is a beautiful vampire-like faerie who loves men and gives them talent at the cost of dying young. She had strong feelings for an old man named Joel Garland, but denied that they were love. Her presence slowly killed him, so Chise created a remedy that allowed them to see each other one last time (chapter 22). After Joel's passing, she tells Chise she will be living in Joel’s garden and won't look for more lovers anymore.
Simon Kalm (サイモン,Saimon)
Voiced by: Toshiyuki Morikawa (drama CD)Introduced in chapter 3, he is the priest of the local church in the town in England where Elias and Chise live. He has a breathing condition that is treated by Elias's medicine.
Michael Renfred (レンフレッド,Renfureddo)
Introduced in chapter 6, he is a wizard who apparently hates Magus and magicians, but at the same time is caring towards his apprentice Alice. He was scarred in the face protecting Alice (chapter 27) and later allowed Cartaphilius to take his left arm as material to save his apprentice from it.
Alice (アリス,Arisu)
Introduced in chapter 6, she is Renfred's apprentice. A former street urchin, drug abuser, and drug seller, Renfred discovered her innate magic potential and took her in as an apprentice, hence her devotion towards him. Despite a few rough meetings with Chise, because of their similar circumstances and having been saved by her, she ends up befriending Chise.
Introduced in chapter 6, he prefers to be called Joseph, and is known also as the Wandering Jew, or the “Magician of the Flow”, he is a mysterious being that looks like a young boy, but is much older. A long time ago, people said that “god’s son” cast an immortal curse on him. Holding no clear intention, he’s just a monster that simply does what he feels like. He seems to travel around the world experimenting with the living and dead for the sake of his experiments, although he has apparently forgotten why he experiments. He has the appearance of a human but the body of a non-human – as seen in chapter 11 when he was struck with a magic bullet. He doesn’t like his “Cartaphilius” name.
Hugo
Voiced by: Misaki KunoIntroduced in chapter 2, he is Angelica’s familiar. He is a Vodanoi-type of water fairy.
Introduced in chapter 8, he is the Faerie King and husband of Titania. He resembles a satyr, with hooves and deer antlers.
Titania (ティターニア,Titānia)
Introduced in chapter 8, she is the Faerie Queen and wife of Oberon. She looks like a beautiful woman riding a donkey.
Nevin (ネヴィン)
Introduced in chapter 3, he is an Elder Dragon from the Land of Dragons who used his body as a seedbed for a tree when he passed, from which a branch was used to make Chise's staff (chapter 15). He was a 500 year old dragon, the last of the Old Dragon. Lindel gave him his name.
Introduced in chapter 8, he is the bodyguard of Queen Titania and King Oberon, who dislikes Elias. He is the one who gave Silver a new purpose and name (chapter 24).
Kore Yamazaki began publishing the series in Mag Garden's Monthly Comic Blade magazine in November 2013. The magazine ceased publication on September 1, 2014, at which point the series was moved to the new Monthly Comic Garden magazine, while also continuing to be released on the Monthly Comic Blade website. Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the series for publication in North America in October 2014.
A drama CD was bundled with the limited edition of the fifth volume, released in March 2016.
Volumes
The series has been collected into six tankōbon volumes, five of which have been republished in English.
Anime
A three-part prequel anime was announced in the fifth volume of the manga. The series is titled The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Those Awaiting a Star(魔法使いの嫁 星待つひと,Mahō Tsukai no Yome: Hoshi Matsu Hito). It is directed by Norihiro Naganuma and written by Kore Yamazaki, with scripts by Aya Takaha. Wit Studio produced the animation and Production I.G is credited with planning and production. Hirotaka Katō designed the characters and Bamboo is in charge of the background art. The series' music is composed by Junichi Matsumoto and produced by Flying Dog.
The episodes will be bundled with the sixth, seventh and eighth volumes of the manga, between September 10, 2016, March 10, 2017 and September 9, 2017. The first episode was shown in theaters for two weeks, starting on August 13, 2016; the second episode premiered in theaters on February 4, 2017; and the third episode will premiere on August 19, 2017. Crunchyroll began streaming the first episode on September 10, 2016.
An anime television series adaptation was announced on March 10, 2017, and is scheduled to premiere in October 2017.
Reception
Volume 2 reached the 9th place on the weekly Oricon manga chart and, as of September 21, 2014, had sold 104,518 copies.
The series had sold half a million copies as of June 2015, 2.5 million copies as of March 2016, and over 3 million as of September 2016.
The series was number two on the 2015 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Top 20 Manga for Male Readers survey. It was number 36 on the 15th annual "Book of the Year" list by the Da Vinci magazine in 2014. Da Vinci readers also ranked it at number two in a poll to determine the series most likely to "make their big break" in 2015. The series ranked number one on a poll of 2,360 bookstore employees to determine 2015's top 15 manga series of under five volumes. It was one of fourteen titles nominated for the eighth Manga Taishō awards in 2015.
Volume two appeared on The New York Times manga bestsellers list for four weeks, rising to third place for two. Volume three debuted on the list at second place, volume four debuted at first place, and volume five debuted at fourth place.
Reviewing the first volume for Anime News Network, Nick Creamer gave it a grade of A-. He praised the series art, noting that it "does great work in impressing upon the audience the same sense of wonder Chise experiences throughout. The character designs are expressive and backgrounds ornate". Commenting on the relationship between Chise and Elias, he wrote that "having this story go in a legitimately romantic direction would likely raise thorny issues of power dynamics and consent", but remarked that, as it was, the story "does a commendable job of making both Chise and Elias understandable and likable characters." He concluded his review by writing: "What conflict all these lovely details might be leading towards is a mystery so far, but the execution is so strong that I'm ready to follow wherever it leads." In his review of the second volume, he admitted to coming to an appreciation of the main characters' relationship, writing that "the ambiguities of their relationship actually seem like one more fitting piece of a world where every relationship is ambiguous". He called the series' magic "classic but still refreshing". He also commented that the series art "remains gorgeous and well-suited to the story all throughout this volume ... the backgrounds are lush and faces expressive, and the whole style has an ornate looseness to it that works perfectly for this kind of fantasy storytelling." He concluded by saying "If you have any appreciation for this style of classic fantasy storytelling, Ancient Magus' Bride is a can't-miss production."
