Ancient Magus Bride: Season 2 – Episode 7 Review

So, guess who is going to be the worst adult this season?

The seventh episode of Ancient Magus Bride Season 2 has aired. Chise has shared her secrets, Alice has made her determination known, and Elias is pondering his emotions. Where will all of that lead in this episode?

Let’s get into the Recap and Review to find out.

Recap

The episode opens with a flashback to a younger Philomela and Lian climbing a tree together. He notes that Philomela was a good teacher, earning a cute smile. Cut to the present, where he sees her looking depressed and downcast as the students undergo climbing exercises.

Chise and Zoey are adjusting to their classes now that their secrets are out. Lucy falls from up top while Philomela manages to land gracefully. Unknownst to Chise, as she asks for advice, Elias is watching her invisibly until Adolf comes in since he apparently has really decent eyesight to see through whatever magic he’s using.

Elias notes Chise makes faces around others when he’s not there, which leads him to having questions and observing her. Adolf can relate to a degree as he brings up his backstory about growing up in Dresden in Germany as a child, only for it to be destroyed when he returned after the war. Everything he knew was gone, and only once he lost them did he start missing them. Elias still can’t decide if such memories are a good thing or a bad thing.

Adolf states that if it’s not uncomfortable then it’s a good memory, which Elias questions if it should be that simple. He then suggests Elias ask more people questions and he’ll get different answers. One of the other teachers is also eavesdropping and realizes that Adolf hadn’t aged since he met him, leaving him to realize that he must have been a mage of sorts.

As for Philomela, Veronica encourages her to talk more with others, but she can only ask if it’s an order. We see later at night Philomela is tucking in the Atwood twins before heading back to her room where she receives a messenger note. The next morning, there’s a letter to Veronica left behind showing that Philomela was recalled home until tomorrow.

The moment she gets back there’s some smack talk from a couple of other youths who call her attending College a waste of time and state she’s the child of a woman who stole the family succession. Philomela then calls to Alcyone, some kind of servant, and asks if there was a way to refine her concealment technique given that Chise could see through it prior. Alcyone reveals that it was likely because mages closer to the world are capable of sensing things like emotions or souls, so she will look into a solution.

Philomela then enters her Grandmother’s study, who immediately reminds her that she was only permitted to attend the College due to Veronica’s charity and then not to embarrass them. She then lectures her and generally talks down to her about how she always just states “yes” to everything. And then the moment she raises her head, her grandmother smacks her with the head of her cane hard enough to draw blood.

Back at the College, we see Alice working out her Guardian issues at the shooting range. Her instructor asks what’s got her so worked up since she booked a lot of time in the training area and she’s been attending her classes. He’s concerned she might be going too far, likening it to how he ended up in his current slime form, and warns her not to end up going too far. When she admits to wanting to impress someone, he gives her the go-ahead to continue and raises the cap on her ammo.

Adolf, at the same time, talks to Renfred over a drink since he comes there to vent at times. He admits he wanted her to remain a child for a while longer, but she’s 18 now and he doesn’t want her to end up like him or his father. But he’s also a lightweight and ends up passing out after a few drinks, leaving Adolf to consider using his paid leave to go back to Lindel.

Then we cut to a scene of the students preparing food and discussing a camping trip to Scotland this year. Chise had some bad experiences earlier, but she feels she’s changed enough that she’ll be looking forward to it. She also muses that Elias will want to visit, ignorant of the fact that he’s watching her via invisibility.

Then all of a sudden we see them at the camping site, where Lian has captured a snake to eat. The students are largely excited for it and Chise goes with Lucy for firewood when an ominous eye gazes at them from the bushes. Roll credits.

Review

Another episode where we see subtle character development as well as gain clues to a growing mystery that we’ll piece together soon. Let’s break it down.

First off, we see a direct continuation of Alice’s desire to be Renfred’s Guardian that she’s stepped up. She’s attending her classes, booking more time for training, and giving it her all. This is a notable change in her behavior that the instructors do notice, but once she explains herself they help aim for her goals while trying to prevent her from going too far.

As mentioned before, the College was established to prevent their art from dying out. So the instructors tend to have a vested interest in the students, both being examples of what not to do and offering guidance. Adolf himself basically serves this role even to Elias, being Lindel’s apprentice and thus also a connecting point to Elias whom he can offer some form of guidance.

For those who don’t remember, Adolf is someone between Mages and Sorcerers. He couldn’t become a full-fledged Mage but he also isn’t exactly a complete Sorcerer. He studied under Lindel and has a longer lifespan than most Sorcerers, but he has drawbacks as well.

In contrast to these helpful adults, we have Philomela’s Grandmother and the suffocating environment that is her home. Not only do other people her age give her crap, but her own Grandmother doesn’t hesitate to dish out physical punishment just for looking up. You could tell right away the contrast between how she was a child and how she currently is clearly stems from this woman alone.

Veronica likewise seems to be aware of the situation due to their family ties. But the best she could do was allow her to come to the College when otherwise she wouldn’t be able to. Her encouraging Philomela to make nice with Chise is one way to help, but she interprets it as an order rather than a request.

And now for the underlying mystery that’s been building up. The last episode, it was a drawer being all glowy. In this episode, we saw a bunch of flowers wilting. Now the episode ended with an ominous eye observing them all.

It’s going to start coming to a head soon. Look forward to it.

Changes from Manga

Most just small omitted bits from Chapters 58 to 60 to: “Better Bend Than Break (III)” – “Slow and Sure (II) :

• Chise notes Japanese schools only have six periods at the most, so having seven classes in one day is tiring.
• Zoey is an auditing student similar to Chise, but unlike Chise he attends their practical sorcery classes because he has a magical core. He notes that most Gorgons don’t have them, so he likely inherited it from his father.
• Lian explains that magical cores tend to take the form of an internal organ that generates magical energy and pumps it throughout the body However, they’re mostly fused with the other organs, so normal people won’t notice even if dissected.
• He also explains that it’s passed down through genetics, but occasionally two normal people will give birth to someone with a magic core. These children tend to be adopted into magical households as there are so few of them to begin with. 
• Chise as a Sleigh Beggy is an odd case as normally Magi only use the magical energy in the atmosphere but she also generates it. Though she herself isn’t too certain as her education is still somewhat lacking, so when questioned on Reagents it goes over her head.
• Adolf explains that he left Dresden long before the Second War and met Lindel in May of 1940. 
• While thinking about what makes a good or bad memory, Elias thinks back to the incident with Lindel where he flipped out. He doesn’t know if it was good or bad, just that he remembers things or he doesn’t. He also notes that Adolf heard about his past from Lindel and asks if that’s why he’s taking such care to teach him, as Adolf seemed to also be afraid of him so he can’t think of another reason for him to approach.
• Adolf states that it isn’t the only reason and there are lots of other things to be afraid of in the world, something that Elias has only recently come to experience. 
• The House Cats were also aware that Adolf was in cahoots with a Mage because he’s been sharing treats with them for a long time.
• Tory is also hanging around and tries to sneak off, but when called out he states that they aren’t home and he doesn’t have to listen to him. They have some history together and one avoids the other despite knowing him when he was younger.
• The camping trips are done once a year where they spend two nights out in the wild. The higher years have to do it alone, but they work in teams.
• When Chise heads to the camp, she sends Stella a magic origami letter. Stella’s brother wishes he could talk to Elias since he sees him as super-cool.
• Unbeknownst to him, Ashen Eyes is also there under a glamour only Stella can see. He chides the workmanship of the letter’s glamour since anyone with eyes could see it (in contrast to how Stella’s brother can’t see him)and notes that they’re visiting Caledonia (the old name for Scotland).
• He then brings up how dangerous that is for Chise because the creatures there shun men and many bring about calamity, effectively stating to Stella that Chise is about to get in some trouble.
• Zoey mentions that his people sometimes eat snakes if they are old and sick, but because snakes are precious it involves blessings and rituals.

Until next time.

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