The Ancient Magus’ Bride follows Chise, a young Japanese woman who has sold herself into slavery before being bought at auction in the U.K.. Chise is purchased by  Elias a masked man, who wants to take her home, and make him his magical apprentice.   It turns out that Chise is a magical entity known as a Sleigh Beggy who has the power to attract other magical creatures to her presence. Elias, it turns out is quite a powerful magician in his own right, and together they begin to explore the ins and out of this secret magical world that Elias dwells in.

    The Ancient Magus Bride is an interesting experience, and one that I feel I need to check out again at a later date again to get a full grasp of it. The series opens with Elias buying the 15 year old Chise from slavery to be his apprentice, but after a bit of danger that befalls Chise in the first episode, he declares his intention not just to instruct her in magical ways, but also to make her his bride. I certainly don't mind a romantic anime or film, but the way this was handled put me off quite a bit, because of the implications here. Oddly, in the 2nd episode this becomes a successful joke when Elias take Chise to another mage to begin an aspect of her instruction, and she finds out that Chise was purchased, and that Elias intends to marry her.

   The series bridges the gap between fantasy and romance quite well. Early on the series has an episodic feel, and then a small plot-arc happens which draws us more into the characters and their plight, and makes the early episodes seem like character and world-building for a greater story. The film does world-building quite well in the early episodes with mythological and fantasy creatures being introduced with their stories and backgrounds being touches upon in a way that expands on the greater whole of the universe. The animation is simply gorgeous, well-detailed, and helps bring this universe to effective live.

    The Ancient Magus' Bride is presented by Funimation in a splendid 1:78:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer that looks absolutely stunning. The detail, colors, and black levels are excellent, aned I could find no issue.

    Audio is handled by an English 5.1 HD audio track and a Japanese 2.0 track. Both tracks are quite satisfactory, and help bring the world of his series to clear and concise audio life.

    Extras included with this set from Funimation include 3 OVA episodes, a Twitter Q & A, episode commentaries, and more. The Limited Edition also includes a book of notes on the world, and its characters, and a set of art cards, with part 2 there is an interview taken at anime expo 2018, and a commentary on episode 21.

Overall

    The Ancient Magus’ Bride realizes a wonderful and well-rendered fantasy world. While the themes of marriage and romance with a 15 year old former slave pushed me away at first, I found the series as a whole to be quite excellent, and I cannot wait to revisit. RECOMMENDED.