The Fall 2023 Anime Preview Guide

The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 3

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The College of Sorcery has closed its doors, but that doesn't mean school is out. With a mysterious attacker on the loose, draining victims of their magical power for unknown ends, the school has been sealed shut to keep its students safe. Chise, too, is now shut inside with the future heirs of the world of human magic, finding herself tangled up in the web of conspiracies, grudges, and death that has tied her classmates down their entire lives. The walls are closing in, and it's anyone's guess who will make it to Christmas alive.

The Ancient Magus' Bride season three is based on a manga of the same name by Kore Yamazaki. The anime series is streaming on Crunchyroll on Thursdays.

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Richard Eisenbeis
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The last cour of The Ancient Magus' Bride was a slow burn if there ever was one. Almost the entire season was spent easing Chise into the magic academy and getting to know her fellow students on a superficial level if nothing else. While things picked up a bit near the end adding both real danger and serious intrigue, the fact of the matter is that pretty much nothing was resolved for any character.

This episode picks up directly after the last—with the school being placed on lockdown. However, it's important to note that this isn't really being done for the students' protection as much as it is to find the person behind the theft of both the forbidden book and the various students' mana. The idea is that by preventing entry to the school by both physical and magical means, the teachers will be able to narrow down the location of the perpetrator—i.e., if they're in the school, the attacks will continue but if they're in the outside world, the attacks should stop.

While no overt action either way has happened yet (after all, the school has been closed off for only a few hours at this point), this episode does show an odd reversal. Lucy, previously bedridden, is now nearly back to her old self. Meanwhile, Philomela is becoming ever weaker. This may be related to the stolen book and mana or it may not. After all, Lucy has been shown to get better when close to Chise (as she is able to absorb her excess mana) and Philomela's deteriorating mental state could likewise have started to affect her body with all the new stress and uncertainty in her life.

In general, this episode does a good job of reminding us of the general mystery while shaking up the formula in various tiny ways. The addition of some action through the monster fights brings both some visual flair and a reminder of what Chise herself is struggling with. So while it's not a knock-your-socks-off premiere, there's plenty going on here to keep you interested.

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Nicholas Dupree
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The first part of this sequel season was a full-course meal of setup. Sure, there were minor character resolutions, a few important moments to punctuate Chise and Elias' relationship, and plenty of satisfying moments. Yet its primary goal was to build up for the actual conflict and revelations awaiting us this season. While this episode continues that trend, prodding at further character revelations involving Chise's classmates without digging into them, it also does some critical tone setting.

The most crucial stuff comes from Fabio Zaccheroni's return (yes, that's his real name) as a semi-formal professor here to teach the academia-focused sorcerers in training how to defend themselves from possible threats. The class itself is pretty standard anime stuff that broadly establishes which of these scrawny teens can hold their own in a fight – Chise and Philomel excelling are expected, but Rian and Veronica are no slouches either – but its main narrative goal is to assert that playtime is over. With magical golems patrolling the halls and a barrier preventing anyone from coming or going, if the perpetrator who attacked Lucy is still within these walls, it's only a matter of time before another attack. So these kids have to know how to defend themselves, and fast.

It's a great way to build tension and paranoia for the coming story and also a fun way to bring Zaccheroni into the ensemble. He injects an element of danger even when he's seemingly under the thumb of the other teachers and makes for an entertaining personality as he impresses upon these kids that the stakes are higher than they realize. Combined with the teases about the other students (We knew Rian's killed before, but just where did he learn those assassin skills?) and the stellar soundtrack, it gives even the low-key moments of the episode a sense of tension – as if any second somebody could step out of the shadows and blow the top off this pressure cooker.

Admittedly, I am getting antsy to see that happen. This storyline has been well told, and there's been plenty to keep my attention, but it feels like we're due for something to shake things up now that all of our players and pieces are in place. Be it the Sargeant family's machinations, one of the students' mysterious pasts, or just a more immediate hurdle for Chise to overcome, we need something soon to push it all forward. Hopefully, we won't be biding our time too long for that.