In the most recent episode of The Ancient Magus’ Bride season 2, we learned about how curses work in this universe. There is a strong element of “you reap what you sow.” The more power someone puts into a curse, the more it takes a toll on the caster. This isn’t just true for fictional magic – it’s also the way society works for social animals. Be careful who you hurt and how far you go, because the consequences may cost you everything. Now, without any more rambling, let’s get right into the episode reviews.
Episode 16: Needs Must When The Devil Drives (Part 2)
The students begin their secret test of courage. The whole thing was arranged by Violet, who was bored out of his mind. Just before they get started, Jasmine appears, saying she feels much better. The teens split up into pairs according to a lottery. Chise goes with Veronica, Isaac goes with Philomela, and Rian goes with Violet. Most of the episode focuses on the discussions shared by these three groups. (Lucy and Zoe were also paired up, but they don’t get much screen time.)
Veronica and Chise discuss Philomela, while Isaac and Philomela talk about Rian. As for Rian and Violet, they discussed their roles as heirs to their respective families. There were some flashbacks and a lot of insight into the characters. At the end of the test of courage, the students discover that “Jasmine” was an imposter. A ghost was impersonating her the whole time. Thanks to that creepy ending, everyone felt like they had a true Kimodamashi.
With the recap out of the way, I have a few points to focus on in this episode. I was wrong about my suspicion that Veronica has been mistreating Philomela. Veronica does see herself as superior – the rightful “master” over her attendant. However, she never strikes or bullies Philomela. I get the impression they respect each other as much as possible given that neither of them are happy in their positions. And strictly speaking, Veronica helped Philomela by choosing her as personal servant when her family didn’t believe she was worthy of such a comfy position.
Both mistress and servant are unhappy to be tied down to a certain life because they happened to be born into “important” families. This is akey theme in the story. These kids all feel trapped and suffocated. Things are probably difficult for Veronica, even if her treatment is heavenly compared to what Philomela gets from her grandmother. This talk did make me like Veronica better, but to me, she still seems condescending and somehow unpleasant overall.
The relationship between Rian and Isaac is interesting and complex. It certainly deserves its own discussion, but I’d honestly rather spend the time I have writing about the twins. I’m very interested in Violet’s sense of self-expression. He doesn’t seem to be trans, but he loves cross-dressing. He feels very comfortable being feminine. Of course, Violet’s family isn’t too happy about that. They want their son to be the streamlined, masculine head of the family, since he’s the heir. I hope Violet is able to maintain his confidence and colorful spirit despite adversity.
It was also interesting to hear that Jasmine, the twin sister, has started expressing herself in a much more masculine way. She cut her hair and changed the way she behaved. It’s almost as if the two are swapping traditional gender roles. Violet wonders if Jasmine is trying to switch places with him so he doesn’t have to be the heir anymore. Whatever Jasmine might be thinking, we won’t know until she gets better from the mysterious sickness going around the school. That’s all for episode 16.
Episode 17: Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May
We’ll start with a recap as usual. Many students have fallen ill. According to Alexandra, it’s because someone is sapping away their magic power. When one boy comes to the nurse’s office, he grabs Chise and demands “more.” Chise sees a vision of some kind of tree monster that immediately saps most of her magic. Cartaphilus prevents Chise from locking eyes with the monster, which protected her, but also means she couldn’t identify the threat. Moments later, all the sick students wake up feeling energized.
Chise is confused, and Elias doesn’t understand either. All he can do is cheer her up by letting her and the other teens harvest the fresh tomatoes to distract their minds. Tensions are still high, though. Someone accuses Lucy of being the magic thief, and she responds by punching the boy’s lights out. As Christmas draws near, Philomela leaves her room less and less. She is apparently terribly sick. Rian is worried, but can’t go see her due to dorm restrictions.
The last scene in this episode was bizarre and lowkey disturbing. Veronica come to see Philomela, who is so sick she can barely sit up. The food Veronica feeds her causes the servant to vomit violently. I’m not really sure what happened here, so I have two different interpretations. 1) Veronica kindly came to bring food to Philomela, and it happened to trigger her nausea at first because she was already sick. 2) Veronica came to make Philomela test her food, which was poisoned.
If it’s the second case, then Philomela is now even worse off from poisonon top of being sick. It’s even possible that Veronica has been continuously poisoning Philomela on purpose to keep her sick. I don’t know what the reason for that would be. Once again, I can only hope I’m wrong about Veronica, but she’s extremely creepy and suspicious. She’s so perfect in terms of traditional beauty and manners that she seems like a doll – a scary doll. Anyway, that’s where the episode leaves off.
As for my thoughts, I still think Philomela may be the culprit. I’m not sure what Veronica is doing. So, let’s change gears a bit and focus on our main character. Chise annoyed me a little in this episode. It wasn’t the part about her getting angry for Lucy’s sake, because I can easily understand the desire to defend friends. The part I didn’t like was when Chise tried to deny payment for her services very early in the episode.
That scene was slightly aggravating because I really want Chise to be able to take credit for her abilities and enjoy the rewards she deserves. It led to a decent discussion with Alexandra, so I guess it’s all good in the end. Any frustration I feel with Chise is at least partly projection, to be honest. I also struggle with taking credit and feeling like I deserve anything. It’s maddening how long it’s taking me to get better. Hopefully, Chise and I will continue to improve.
On a final, more wholesome note, I loved the scene where everyone picks tomatoes. Tomatoes are my favorite “vegetable” – and yes, I know they are “fruit” in a botanical sense. Anyway, I felt happy watching the harvest. The tomatoes looked delicious, so now I’m craving fresh tomato. Life pro tip: they taste best with a few drops of Italian vinaigrette. Yum! ❤
Episode 18: Coming Events Cast Their Shadows Before
The action finally picks up in this installment, as Philomela breaks down and becomes corrupted by the cursed book. Early in the episode, Chise dives into Lucy’s memories, where she sees a guilty child at the time of the Webster slaughter. The child’s voice sounds like Philomela. There are also werewolves in the memory, arguing over whether to kill Lucy and her brother. The mother wolf wants to protect Lucy.
Chise distracts herself by giving presents to her friends: protective amulets with the Rune of Thorn engraved on them. Zoe, Lucy, and Isaac all receive the charms. Chise also made one for Philomela and one for Rian, but she hasn’t been able to deliver them yet. As the Christmas Party begins, Veronica goes to see Philomela again. That’s when Philomela loses it completely. She pulls the cursed book out of Alcyone’s body and transforms into a root-like monster that saps magical energy out of anyone it touches.
Rian tries to stop the monster, only to get drained of magic and choked unconscious by the monster in Philomela’s body. Chise senses the cursed book and runs to help her friends. But the monster is moving quickly, and it soon intrudes on the Christmas Party. As the students collapse left and right, the teachers present prepare to fight back. The monster sees the Principle and asks to be let outside of the college. To be continued.
My mind hasn’t been very clear lately, but still, I really should have figured out that it was the cursed book’s rebound making Philomela so sick. Veronica probably had nothing to do with it. That being said, I still don’t like her. Anyway, I didn’t realize the truth until Alexandra started explaining how curses work. There may be no recovery for Philomela now that she’s this corrupted by a curse. Still, I think it’s promising that she didn’t kill Rian. It suggests she’s still inside somewhere.
I’ll end today’s episode review with a positive note. I absolutely loved it when Elias agreed to help Chise. It was romantic and touching to see how far he’s come. He’s not as insanely overprotective as before. Furthermore, Elias said, “It looks like we both want to help our friends,” while thinking of Simeon. Not only does Elias treat Chise better, but he also developed a bond with someone besides her. It amazes me that Elias can be cute and wholesome when he’s an ancient shadow being who once ate humans.
Thanks for reading~
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