The Ancient Magus' Bride (2014)
[魔法使いの嫁]
Volume 2
Author/Artist: Kore Yamazaki
Publisher: Blade Comics
Synopsis:
Chise is held hostage by two sorcerers looking to claim the abomination of Ulthar for themselves.
Story/Characters:
Our sorcerer duo doesn't make a great first impression, but we quickly find that there seems to be more to them than what first appears. We don't yet know at first if Renfred, the senior of the two, is genuine when he tries to "free" Chise from Elias, but Chise shows her dedication to her master (and future husband), much to the sorcerers' bafflement. We then get a glimpse at the true villain with another look into Mina and Matthew's past and the sad end they both met, leading to our current situation. Happily, Chise finds a way for their souls to find peace rather than simply destroying them. It comes at a cost, though, as using that much magic puts Chise out for days. A discussion between Elias and Simon explains more about Chise's nature as a Sleih Beggey and the sort of danger she's in. We're then introduced to Titania and Oberon, who make a personal visit to see Chise. Given that many Fae regard Elias with contempt (typified by the herald Spriggan), it's interesting how the top two regard him more kindly. In this story, Oberon is rather childish and playful, more like what you'd expect of Puck if he were here. However, the Fae being the Fae, there's still a menace to them rooted in their natures, which simply operate on a different logic than ours.
We open our next chapter with the sorcerers being threatened by the big bad, which will put them on another collision course with Chise and Elias. We see Chise working on potion-making before they head off to the next case, investigating a church grim. Elias gives Chise a ring from Angelica to restrain her powers and ward off her being knocked out of action as we've seen. After they split up, Chise gets attacked by some critter, only to be rescued by a mystery man, who turns out to be the human form of the black dog they were looking for. He mistakes Chise for his former owner Isabel, though while I say "owner", he's forgotten that he was originally a dog, but the flashbacks make it clear to us. They then get confronted by Alice, Renfred's apprentice, but Chise defends herself using the sleeping potion she made. With Alice incapacitated and restrained, she's no longer in a position for taking what she's after and instead has to plead her case. She explains that the bad guy who took Renfred's arm is making a chimera and he wants the black dog for a component. Said bad guy makes an appearance and decides to tie up loose ends. Chise protects Alice by taking the hit meant to finish her off. We close on a cliffhanger of Elias taking that very poorly.
Art:
The tragedy of Ulthar is played quite strongly in the visuals. Yamazaki finds a nice balance of delivering the horror of what Matthew's been doing without being too explicit. (Still, cat lovers aren't going to be too fond of it.) The visual portrayal of Titania and Oberon does a good job of showing their range, from playful to threatening, all while giving them an otherworldly air. The critter that attacked Chise leading up to Ulysse's introduction was suitably creepy. And then there's our cliffhanger, delivering just the right amount of visual punch.
Other:
We don't have the end-chapter sketches and trivia like last time, but we do close on a one-page afterword comic where Yamazaki talks about visiting a bookstore with her editor after publication began. We also get a little trivia panel about the design of Elias' head.
Conclusion:
The Ulthar story ends nicely, we get a little interlude that introduces us to the heavy-hitters of the Fae world, and we kick off an even stronger followup in the form of the church grim story. The story has a strong cumulative feel where each story builds on what came before rather than a more self-contained episodic approach. If you liked the previous volume, you should be quite happy with this and I gladly recommend adding it to your collection.
Rating:
Own It