Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

The Ancient Magus' Bride: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

The Ancient Magus Bride is a fantasy-romance offering a genre blend to anime fans. Created by Kore Yamazaki, The Ancient Magus Bride is a unique offering in the anime medium. Produced by George Wada (Attack on Titan, Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign), Hirotsugu Ose (Joker Game, The Ancient Magus' Bride: Those Awaiting a Star), Shousei Ito (Gourmet Girl Graffiti, Izetta: The Last Witch), and Toshio Iizuka (Noragami Aragoto, A Silent Voice), The Ancient Magus Bride features animation by acclaimed animation studio Wit Studio (Vinland Saga).

Chise Hatori (Atsumi Tanezaki) never had the life he wanted to have and grew up without the happiness so many youth have. Having lived a tragic life since his childhood, Chise only begins to find hope again when he meets the young Elias (Ryōta Takeuchi). Elias has begun to be interested in the art of magic and is working to become a better mage.

Chise finds her appealing and begins to see the potential for her to become his own apprentice. Yet there is more to the tale. Chise wishes for Elias to become his bride-to-be and the romance won’t be easy without some prickly thorns along the way. Can the romance of Chise and Elias be one of true love and what magic can the two create?

The series features excellent animation and this is one of the best strengths of the entire production. The art style is intriguing and distinctive. The art direction by Yūsuke Takeda (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Sword Art Online) helps to provide The Ancient Magus Bride with a uniquely dark and ethereal style that is unlike most productions. These elements help the series to stand out as something more distinct in the medium.

The chief animation direction by Hirotaka Katō (Eyeshield 21, Hozuki's Coolheadedness) is worthwhile and brings forth the best components of the team of animators involved. The animation is also enhanced by Katō’s own character designs. The characters are undeniably distinct looking (with the “mask” element playing a big role in regards to the series aesthetic).

The cinematography by Mayo Suzuki (The Rolling Girls, Happy Happy Clover) is dark and grim at times while simultaneously offering a brighter shade of color for some elements of the production. This is certainly an interesting cinematographic approach by Suzuki and is something that was done to help the production form a distinct visual sensibility. The results are wondrous.

The score composed by Junichi Matsumoto (The Ancient Magus' Bride: Those Awaiting a Star, Plunderer) is an excellent component of the production and stands as one of the best aspects of the series. The score by Matsumoto fits the production as worthwhile background music and helps with telling the story. The score fits the characters and the dark thematics of the production.

The Ancient Magus Bride chief scripting is by director Norihiro Naganuma (Hiyokoi, Yowamushi Pedal) and co- screenwriter Aya Takaha (The Ancient Magus' Bride: Those Awaiting a Star, Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us). Director Naganuma crafts a dark fairy tail with this offering and imbues the series with some artistic creativity. The production certainly benefits from the visual sensibilities of Naganuma and the results are more effective because of the filmmaker’s style. The Ancient Magus Bride might not be perfect but some fans of dark and surrealist anime may wish to check it out.  

The Ancient Magus' Bride: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Funimation, The Ancient Magus Bride is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The high-definition presentation is excellent. Colors look exceptionally deep and robust during the presentation and the animation shines with good clarity and detail. The encoding is sufficient as well (and handles the series dark and atmospheric cinematographic style). The release is a solid offering from Funimation.

The Ancient Magus' Bride: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound and Japanese Dolby TrueHD 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles). The lossless English dubbing offers a more robust soundstage with a moderately more enveloping soundtrack. The score and sound effects are enveloping with the surround soundstaging and it makes a bigger impression than the stereo only presentation for the original language track. Nonetheless, purists seeking the original audio track will find that the Japanese audio is crisp and clear with lossless encoding.

The Ancient Magus' Bride: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc 1:

The Ancient Magus' Bride: Those Awaiting a Star

Part 1 (HD, 22:58)

Part 2 (HD, 24:14)

Part 3 (HD, 28:37)

Disc 2:

Twitter Q&A: The Ancient Magus' Bride Cast & Crew (HD, 17:36)

Episode 08 Audio Commentary

Textless Opening Song "Here" (HD, 1:32)

Textless Closing Song "-cycle-" (HD, 1:32)

Trailers (HD, 6:42)

Disc 3:

Episode 21 Audio Commentary

Disc 4:

The Ancient Magus' Bride at Anime Expo 2018: Interview with George Wada and Norihiro Naganuma (HD, 10:24)

Trailers (HD, 2:56)

The Ancient Magus' Bride: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Ancient Magus Bride is a dark and gothic anime series with a style unlike most other productions. The genre elements are certainly one of the key components of the production. The animation looks lovely and is a strength of the The Ancient Magus Bride. The series also has a strong score and solid direction. The Blu-ray release has an excellent video and audio presentation alongside a selection of excusive supplemental materials including an anime expo interview featuring George Wada and Norihiro Naganuma alongside the most important supplemental: the OVA special The Ancient Magus' Bride: Those Awaiting a Star. Fans of the series will want to pick up the release for their anime collection. Recommended.