Meeting Date: 12/23/2017
Disclaimer: The Herald Anime Club discusses shows as they’re airing. Naturally, there will be spoilers for a given episode. You have been warned!
Mike Ferreira: Good evening everyone, and welcome to the Herald Anime Club. I’m Mike Ferreira, and I’m joined by Anthony Simpson, Lydia Rivers, L.B. Bryant, and Matt Brown
Anthony Simpson: Evening
L.B. Bryant: Hello!
Matt Brown: yo
Matt Brown: I feel like we need buddhist temple recordings or a yoga playlist to discuss this show.
Mike Ferreira: WATASHI WA KOKO!
Anthony Simpson: That can be arranged.
Mike Ferreira: Someday… with the power of money
Mike Ferreira: Aniwho, tonight we’re talking up episodes 11 & 12 of The Ancient Magus’ Bride..,. AKA “feels and more feels”
Matt Brown: I think the show is telling me to check my base animal instincts at the door and sing happy campfire songs and hug people.
Anthony Simpson: Don’t hurt people close to Bone Daddy. He will hurt you.
Mike Ferreira: That’s saying it lightly
Mike Ferreira: But yeah… we got some very real truth bombs dropped in these episodes. Lots of new details about Elias, finally
Anthony Simpson: So we learned a bit more about Elias back story in episode 11.
Anthony Simpson: Like the fact that Elias ate humans at some point.
Mike Ferreira: Indeed.
Mike Ferreira: We also got to see that same extreme reaction when Lindel was injured.
Matt Brown: I can see why he stopped. Humans are gross. We pump ourselves full of GMO shit and donuts
Anthony Simpson: That and he sucks at cooking.
Matt Brown: Man, I want a donut right now
Mike Ferreira: Hooray for Silky.
Mike Ferreira: But yeah… we got a lot of those mysteries answered, finally.
Matt Brown: I wasn’t particularly wondering what Elias eats
Matt Brown: Or where he came from, actually. :3
Mike Ferreira: Aniwho…
L.B. Bryant: I really liked the scene where Elias and Chise were talking through the water. Thought that was a really gorgeous piece of work.
Anthony Simpson: That was amazing.
Mike Ferreira: That was a fantastic scene. The art, the music, it all just came together to bring the whole thing together… then that little moment where Chise sent the flowers through to Elias
Anthony Simpson: That and Lindel signing was breathtaking.
L.B. Bryant: I admit I got a little misty eyed when Elias picked up the flower.
Mike Ferreira: This whole last two episodes had me borderline.
Mike Ferreira: Like… they just hit the feels hard
Anthony Simpson: The emotions were hitting on all cylinders these the last two episodes.
Mike Ferreira: Oh yeah… Lindel’s tale, Chise making her wand, stuff I won’t talk about because we haven’t reached episode 12 yet…
Anthony Simpson: So we also learned that Lindel’s master gave Elias his name.
Mike Ferreira: Yep – I hope we see more of her. I liked her.
Mike Ferreira: Aniwho… I’d probably say the biggest discussion has to come from the finale, as a *lot* happened in the span of that 20-ish minutes.
L.B. Bryant: Episode 12 was pretty stellar. Sorry to go out of order but Chise turning into a phoenix and flying back to Elias? Beautiful work.
Mike Ferreira: Indeed. That was just incredible.
L.B. Bryant: That was easily the highlight of the episode for me.
Mike Ferreira: The animation, mixed with the refrain from the theme song, that was just a great way to top off the season.
L.B. Bryant: Though there were many other great moments to choose from.
Anthony Simpson: That was beautiful.
Mike Ferreira: Indeed… Seeing Nevin come back was great.
Matt Brown: The other moments didn’t have fire. I like fire
Anthony Simpson: Side note. Did anything notice that Chise’s wand looks the wand Sakura uses from Card Captor Sakura? The color isn’t the same and the design isn’t exactly the same but there is a resemblance.
Matt Brown: Also, lindel needs to get himself a lathe. srsly
Mike Ferreira: I did notice that.
Matt Brown: Takes way too long to carve a magic wand
Anthony Simpson: I saw Chise’s wand I was like that looks familiar to me.
Mike Ferreira: Meh, it’s like building a lightsaber. Every jedi has to do it, just as every mage has to craft a wand
Mike Ferreira: On a technical note, did anyone notice the art just take a huge nose dive at about the five-minute mark?
Matt Brown: It’s not like you can walk into a corner drug store and buy a light saber, but they probably have wands.
Mike Ferreira:
Anthony Simpson: They will fix that on the BD release.
Mike Ferreira: They fucking better. I actually started laughing at that point
Mike Ferreira: And I know it was supposed to be a dramatic moment, but literally everyone just turned into these derpy little caricatures
Mike Ferreira: But anyway… back to the discussion – we also got a good look at Chise’s non-depressing family life for once
L.B. Bryant: I didn’t actually notice but now that you point it out, yeah I can see it.
Mike Ferreira: I’m too sensitive to that shit from years of bad anime.
Anthony Simpson: So we learned she did have a good family life at some point.
L.B. Bryant: I think this was a turning point episode where if you didn’t already love Chise, seeing her smiling as a child with her parents probably won you over.
Matt Brown: Did we see that? Usually “and then she wakes up” isn’t solid evidence of a memory having surfaced :3
Mike Ferreira: yeah… I’m thinking her unborn sibling was what led to the whole… parent suicide stuff
Anthony Simpson: My guess her powers has something to do with it.
Mike Ferreira: I’m not so sure… I think they all had the sight, as you noticed. I’m going to wager that one of the denizens led to either a miscarriage or a stillborn situation
L.B. Bryant: I’m leaning more towards Mike’s theory. I don’t agree with it 100% but it does make a little more sense.
Matt Brown: I certainly wouldn’t rule out whatever happened being Chise’s fault.
Mike Ferreira: Or you just remove the denizens part – I can see it being that the child was stillborn/miscarried, and the parents fell into depression
Matt Brown: It’s funny though…there’s so little conflict in this story so far, that I want to believe there’s this inherent darkness in her past so that things get more interesting.
Mike Ferreira: The post-credits preview clip hints at the greater story to come, I think.
Matt Brown: It’s been very Someday’s Dreamers in the first season
Anthony Simpson: If they don’t cover what happened with Chise’s family I’m going to be upset.
Mike Ferreira: I think they will
L.B. Bryant: I’m pretty sure they will
Mike Ferreira: This felt like a prelude of sorts, really
Mike Ferreira: The first season was a lot of world building and character establishment, from Chise and Elias, to their circle of friends and allies.
Mike Ferreira: This finale felt like the real start to the coming experience.
Matt Brown: Yep. Only question is will they take the characters we’ve grown to like through the wringer, or cop out by throwing in some one-dimensional arch villain :3
L.B. Bryant: Time will tell I suppose
Anthony Simpson: With it being a 24 (or 25) episodes they can take the time to do the world building and character establishment.
Mike Ferreira: I’m leaning toward the former, as there hasn’t been any *true* evil aside from the wandering sorcerer
Anthony Simpson: With good scripting they could do this 12 or 13 episodes but the pacing would have been faster as well.
Matt Brown: I think it’ll be interesting if we find out that Elias is more innocent than Chise.
Mike Ferreira: Indeed. I liked that like “you’re both just kids, really.”
Matt Brown: In a way he is, currently. He has no knowledge of his past, other than a desire to feed
Mike Ferreira: Indeed.
Mike Ferreira: And he’s acknowledged that a few times now
Matt Brown: It puts into perspective given his character how he would think nothing of going to an auction and purchasing a human :3
Mike Ferreira: True. It explains a lot of his more… questionable actions
Matt Brown: But then again, he had a reason, and we don’t know what that is yet. Nobody buys something for no purpose
Matt Brown: Maybe he thinks her power can make him whole
Mike Ferreira: Perhaps. Ironically, it’s a very human need, to find someone to make themselves whole
Matt Brown: I want to give a shout-out to the underwater scene, and the giant beast. That was rad to see.
Matt Brown: It makes up for the “she sure falls in the water a lot” gag being lame
Mike Ferreira: I thought that was kinda funny.
L.B. Bryant: I laughed at that line.
Mike Ferreira: But yeah… that whole scene underwater was fantastic. Beautifully done, and really conveying that wonder and magic that seems to filter through the world again
Matt Brown: The show is so *safe*. Come to my magical dragon land where we carve wood for our mage scout badges and go swimming and see giant creatures that don’t eat us and dance with faeries and lay down in green pastures, my cup runneth over.~
Mike Ferreira: Haha… as of now, I’m still saying “this feels like the prelude” – I think we’ll see shit going down next season
Matt Brown: Yeah, they certainly are hinting at that
Mike Ferreira: I do think we’ll see Cartaphilius come back at some point
Mike Ferreira: And I do feel we’ll see something going on with the sorcerers, but I don’t see it being clear-cut black and white
Matt Brown: One thing that fascinates me about the world they’ve built is how Tolkien-esque it is. There’s all this ancient mystery and wonder, and it’s all fading into the background as mankind spreads across the land.
Mike Ferreira: I really did find that intriguing.
Mike Ferreira: The whole dualism, technology vs. magic
Matt Brown: Another thing I was thinking of is parallels with xXxHolic.
Mike Ferreira: I can see that.
Matt Brown: Chise winds up in a safe place under odd circumstances, and her benefactor (if you’ll call him that) proceeds to build a life for her.
Matt Brown: Of course Holic used comedy as the vehicle to achieve that
Mike Ferreira: Holic was a very CLAMP take on the idea, which I can respect. They did them
Mike Ferreira: Hrm… any final thoughts this week?
Anthony Simpson: Two excellent episodes and looking forwards the rest of the series from here on out.
Matt Brown: I want to have a totem war with the Land of Dragons
Mike Ferreira: Fair enough :) Just a quick reminder – we’re out until January, when the next season begins. So ’til next time, have a happy holiday season and an amazing new year.
Matt Brown: Let’s see…if indeed this season is leading up to something, it sure took a long time. But it’s pretty, and the dialogue is pretty legit.
Mike Ferreira: Indeed. I kind of expected that, though
Matt Brown: Happy Christmas and the other things. If somebody could ship a few million tons of snow to Florida, express delivery, I’d appreciate the hell out of it.
Matt Brown: Srsly. We’re going to be lucky if we don’t break 70 on Christmas day
Mike Ferreira: oof
Mike Ferreira: Aniwho, happy holidays, everyone! Have a great night
Anthony Simpson: Have a great night.
Matt Brown: Yeah, just saying…I might push myself into a mountain lake at my next opportunity
Mike Ferreira: He really falls in the water a lot, doesn’t he? -flat stare-
Matt Brown: The sad truth about “pristine” mountain lakes is they’re teeming with microbials that will fuck your shit up. :)
Matt Brown: And depending where you are, also full of leeches
Mike Ferreira: ugh.
Mike Ferreira: Leeches suck
Matt Brown: But streams are a different story. The fast moving ones are safe to horse around in
Mike Ferreira: Yep.
Matt Brown: That is, as long as you don’t drink the water. The sickest I’ve ever been was drinking water from a mountain stream, despite how amazing it tasted
Mike Ferreira: Why would you drink straight from the stream? O_o That shit’s loaded with bacteria
Matt Brown: Tell that to a thirsty 10 year-old kid
Mike Ferreira: Fair enough
