The Ancient Magus' Bride Episode 7 Review: Talk of the devil, and he is sure to appear.

Don’t you think it’s exciting to meet new characters? Whether they be friend or foe, getting to know fresh faces is always a treat! That’s why I loved The Ancient Magus’ Bride this week! Not only did we get to know someone new, but we were also properly introduced to the character who has been haunting the previous episodes.

Plot

Since things have become much clearer between Chise and Elias, she can now focus on properly being his apprentice. She starts learning to make medicine and he is helping him with his last errand. They set off to the church itself, where a black dog was reported to be frequenting. And to think the last few episodes had cats! Is this a pet party? Anyway, not only did Chise meet the dog in question, but she also saw a very tense Alice and a murder scene…

Episode Highlights

The Black Dog: Ulysse only just appeared but I like him already! Such a loyal dog to his master, who is actually his little sister, and he’s actually human? What? I don’t quite get his situation yet, but I hope it’ll be thoroughly explained sometime soon. Elias also did mention that he awoke as a black dog only recently. In his flashback with Isabelle too, he had brown eyes, but now they’re red. Such a mystery he is! All I’m certain of is that he’s shaped like a friend; he helped out Chise from that creepy black monster (that looked like No Face from Spirited Away or Koh from Avatar) even though he himself was injured! I know he only did it because she reminded him of his sister, but he still remained kind to her afterwards, so maybe it’s safe to say he’s a good guy! Guess the church won’t have any problems letting him hang around their cemetery, or maybe he can be Chise’s familiar?

Chise and Alice: Huh. Maybe Alice and Renfred aren’t as bad as we thought they are. Alice especially, as it turns out she has a lot in common with Chise: both had a hard childhood, were adopted by their respective masters to learn from their ways, and are probably about the same age! She even easily told Chise the truth of why she wanted to take Ulysse: it was for the sake of her master. Maybe there’s a chance that the two pairs will get along and work together to stop Joseph? I mean, I’m not the least bit happy that Chise got hurt, but I hope Alice at least realizes the sacrifice she made for her, even if it was in the spur of the moment.

Speaking of the devil: How can such a cute looking boy be so evil? Joseph has the makings of a sociopath, he’s charming but lacks a moral compass! I can’t believe he’s the reason why Renfred lost his other arm! What did the guy do to deserve that? The brat was even threatening to harm Alice, so he’s got Renfred in the palm of his hand even more! It’s especially scary to think what other things he has done; given that he was called a traveling sorcerer, Matthew and Mina definitely weren’t his only victims. And now he was aiming for Elias! Just what business could he have with him? So many questions are popping up, especially about his aim to create chimeras!

Pilum Murialis: Oh my goodness!! Not only did we finally see Elias mad, but he raged so much that he showed his true form! Alice was right, Renfred’s belief that Elias will never be human was not unfounded! His usual appearance is truly just a shell hiding his monstrous form! I know we should be relieved that he indeed cares enough for Chise to get that furious, but I can’t help but worry about what he’s gonna do and the chaos he might drag Alice and Ulysse into!

Themes & Trivia

Talk of the devil and he’s sure to appear: This idiom refers to when the topic of a conversation unexpectedly appears. However, it was originally a superstitious proverb from the Middle Ages. It warned people not to talk about the devil because it might provoke him to appear, with dire consequences. Well, I guess Joseph is a devil then.

Church grim: The black dogs mentioned in this episode are probably referenced from animal spirits that guarded a church and its cemetery. It was believed in some parts of Europe that burying a black dog alive in a new churchyard would save the first human who’d be buried there from the duty of guarding it from the devil, thereby haunting the place forever. The black dogs could also be a reference to the black dogs symbolic in literature, but a church grim seem to be more accurate.

Chimera: This creature first appeared in Greek mythology, and it was a hybrid of a lion, a goat, and a dragon. Now it refers to any being that is a mix of two or more animals, or even humans. I know of another story where a chimera was created using a dog and his owner, a little girl (this is a major spoiler so I will not say the name of the story). They were both quite close, like Ulysse was with Isabelle…oops, sensitive topic?

Comments

This episode was amazing! I liked it a whole lot! The visuals were still so eye-candy as always, and I couldn’t be happier! I was also quite satisfied with the pace and the writing; though it started off pretty peaceful and calm, it went nuts at the end! We got a lot of new, juicy info but it still managed to keep us in the dark as more important questions popped out. And of course, nothing says intriguing than a cliffhanger ending, and a dire one at that! Everything was A++ in my opinion!

Getting caught up in a child’s play

Chise’s definitely going to be okay, given that she’s the protagonist and she appeared to be conscious in the preview. But what about Elias and the others? What’s going to happen? Ah, the suspense!

Well, you know the drill! Comment away! Check out our Fall 2017 reviews too! They’re a huge help if you still want to try out a few other anime!

NEXT TIME: Let sleeping dogs lie.