Mahoutsukai no Yome: Nishi no Shounen to Seiran no Kishi

It’s decent. The story is fine, the release schedule was awful and I wish Chise and Elias were in it more. I understand that each episode was packaged with a manga volume, hence why it took a year for the full thing to air, but this information didn’t make it detract from my experience with this any less. Besides the release date I found the kid (Gabriel) a bit annoying. Overall it’s a fine Magus’ Bride OVA, I just wish Chise and Elias were in it a bit more because they didn’t really have any agency in the plot whatsoever. Still enjoyed it and am looking forward to season 2!

This is a 3 episode OVA and sequel for the Ancient Magus' bride that is relevant to the main story. The OVA is about a single story/subject and is pretty similar to the first season. The story is interesting and dense. Even though it's only one hour long, it feels like it lasts way longer because of how many things happen and the excellent atmosphere. Just like in the main anime, not everything is explained completely which leads to an air of mystery. There's also some minor worldbuilding with new concepts from the world being introduced. The characters are detailed and very realistic. Of course there's Chise and Elias as main characters but in this OVA a human boy named Gabriel also plays a big role. His personality and relationship with his parents is very realistic which added to the story and I felt like it made it easier to get immersed in the story. The voice acting was good and the same as in the main anime. The animation was good but the music especially was great. The music suited the animation well, brought about an air of mystery and made watching this a nice experience. Overall this OVA is definitely worth watching if you enjoyed the first season. It is a sequel, relevant to the main story and just has a great story with good animation and music.

The story is pretty and sweet like the original series, though it lacks the drive that comes with building on established characters. It doesn’t help that our lead, Gabe, feels like little more than a frustrated kid who is upset at having to use an inhaler, which is fine, but it’s not particularly interesting. The titular Knight is more interesting as a force of nature slightly humanized, but the emotional core of the series is the tension between the decision to go with the Knight and that to stay with his parents, and the lack of characterization for his parents, particularly his father, just makes it seem like the fantastic world the Knight represents might be better. But we never grapple with that beyond what is effectively mind control, making it all seem pretty pointless.

Appetizer before the second season Its a quick binge and only contains 3 eps of 20 mins. The story is quite basic but it's got the same relaxing vibes and subtle humour of the main show. Most of the show is set in the countryside and the animation is beautiful transporting you into the world. You get more context about the world in which our main characters inhabit. I would recommend it as it's only an hour long and if like me you want to refresh your memory as it's been a while since the first season. But it's not a must watch.