English Dub Review: The Ancient Magus’ Bride “The Balance Distinguishes Not Between Gold And Lead”

A cycle of life and death.

Overview:

Chise is taken by Lindel to the land of the dragons. Elias follows her and speaks to Lindel as Chise plays with the young dragons. While she speaks to the eldest dragon, he sees into her heart.

Our Take:

Chise is whisked to the Land of Dragons, where she meets a variety of them, both young and old. The most prominent message this episode is about death, and how the view of death can vary per species. To a dragon, death is simply a part of life and is not viewed as a sad thing. Thanks to seeds planted inside their bodies, their corpses nourish the earth, and they become a fresh new tree for the landscape. Even though they can’t live the way they used to, their life is still being used for a purpose and that gives it meaning. On the other hand, Chise saw death as an escape. She was tired of the bullying and ridicule from her peers, and the trauma of her mother’s suicide, that death seemed like the most pleasant out. Life was nothing but suffering, and by dying, she felt like she could end that. There was nothing further down the road left to her, so that was all she had. Death was merely preferable to life, something she sincerely believed up until Elias adopted her into his household.

The elder, Nevin, is able to see into Chise’s thoughts and understand that her life so far hasn’t been a very fulfilling one. They manage to connect with their magic— Nevin offers to show Chise how thrilling it is to take flight, and Chise uses her innate magic as a Sleigh Buggy to make him recall his memories flying. That allows the elder to peacefully pass on and shows Chise that life and death do have its brighter moments.

At the core, Chise is incredibly depressed and hasn’t found significant meaning in her life before Elias. She is slowly opening up, but it’s hard to just easily heal from a lifetime of trauma. Still, she is extending her power and learning to be part of this brand new world. The story is very much learning towards her growth as a person and is doing it very tenderly.