“Let me put my face on.”
What They Say:
Few people know the truth about the bookstore on the outskirts of London that Elias frequents. He takes Chise there, where they meet Angelica, who teaches Chise a little bit of magic, but… The true power of the Sleigh Beggy materializes a fragment of Chise’s memories.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The events of the first episode were so eventful that you can hardly fault Chise for passing out for two days straight after them. It had a solid blend of despair and uplifting potential, so the dreams Chise endured in her long sleep weren’t too out of place. There’s no doubt that she’s a very broken girl whose trauma will torture her psyche for a long time if not forever, so it can be heartwarming just to see her awaken into a world that, while far stranger than anything she could imagine, is proving to be kinder than the cruel existence she had grown accustomed to. Elias gently welcomes her back to the waking world and takes her around town to meet some people who all treat her with the respect that had been missing from her life. Having never thought she would meet people who could understand the fantastical elements of her life, much less be on the same page as her and introduce her to how much more this magical world has in store than what she had seen, this is surely a shock in the most powerful way, but one that is extremely positive.
Yes, Elias can seem a little weird, and not just because of the head he has without putting a more human mask over it. Interspersed with his constant reminders that he intends to raise Chise as the worthy apprentice he believes she can become, he has undressed and bathed her, referred to her as his puppy and bride, and talks about their upcoming honeymoon throughout this episode. As Chise doesn’t have a strong enough sense of self-worth to fight most of it at this point, the woman she meets in this episode, Angelica, steps up to knock Elias down a notch when he’s being a bit of a creep. Some of it sounds worse than it was in context, but frankly, it is all weird enough to warrant that kind of response. Elias will almost certainly prove to be a character deserving of standing next to Chise in the lead role, but Angelica is introduced as a wonderful character with some definite overlap but also some very unique characteristics of her own. As a woman and a human (as far as we can tell), Chise can relate more closely to her, and she doesn’t speak as cryptically as Elias, instead teaching Chise more than Elias wants her to in just this brief visit to her shop. With a cute young daughter also progressing down the path of magic, Angelica is the kind of character that will be a great joy to see whenever the opportunity arises. When they return, they meet yet another unlikely character to be hanging out with someone like Elias, a priest named Simon. As it turns out, they’re not on such friendly terms after all, at least not on the surface, but along with seeming like another fairly nice guy, Simon serves to draw out a childishly competitive side of Elias that adds a little humanity to the walking animal skeleton.
Iceland seems like a nice place for a honeymoon, but not so much if the bride happens to get swooped up by a dragon. Chise’s new life is certainly an eventful one, and she’s going to have to get used to some rather remarkable things all too quickly. This turn does fill me with some concern that we’ll be seeing Chise getting kidnapped and rescued by Elias a lot, but I hope not.
In Summary:
After one hell of an entrance into a world of magic, Chise gets to experience some simpler parts of this life, going to town to visit the shop of a fellow mage. Angelica is a great addition to the cast, and the cliffhanger ensures that the episode doesn’t end up being boring in any sense.
Grade: A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Roku 3, Sceptre X425BV-FHD 42″ Class LCD HDTV.
