Watching Ancient Magus Bride now from your recommendation! I had it on the back burner for a while. Five episodes in, it's good. Still curious what exactly will happen, there's not too much of an actual plot. But I'm fine with it even if it goes on like this.
Hell yeah lets goooo! Finally managed to convince someone. In my case I love the contrast between the laid back chill moments and the more dramatic/action filled moments, so yeah, often plot takes the backseat. I hope it stays good for you till the end!
Finished the first season now. It's really good - I especially love the soundtrack and the calm nature of the first half. It sorta reminds me of the first half of Frieren (before Frieren's second half which turns into shonen fight stuff 🙄). The second half is really sad... it feels like everything is going wrong all the time and there's not really a nice resolution. It feels like the characters are struggling a lot but not managing to fix things despite it. It's kinda sad and frustrating.
I'm really a sucker for happy endings so this style doesn't really leave me satisfied. It's not that it ended sadly per se but I wouldn't exactly call it a happy ending either. How would you say the second season compares?
I have yet to watch the second season since I think the animation is absolutely beautiful and want to see it at its height from a BD rip. Its been a while since I watched it but I remember it ending in a hopeful tone, even if all problems weren't solved it still seemed like it would mostly work out with time. Contrasts are really central in this series I feel, from chill and happy to sad and hopeless, nothing captures that more than the exquisite soundtrack no doubt!
I can however recommend the two OVAS that come after the second season (tho one is a prequel), those were pretty nice too!
Btw, it makes me seriously happy that not only you took my recommendation but also really liked it so thank you very much
It's a little slow and unevenly paced, but overall I do solidly enjoy it. There are some really great characters and arcs and I especially loved Elias trying to make friends. My girlfriend absolutely loves this show as well, so it's something everyone can watch and enjoy I think.
I may be misremembering on the pacing. I do remember liking season 2 more, though at first when I saw they were going to magic school I was worried what direction things were going to go in, but I really enjoyed Chise making friends and Elias's attempts and the accompanying adventure. The school felt like a real place, not just an excuse to do magic things.
I've seen some comments here saying they didn't when Frieren took a diversion to magic school, and I felt the same at first again, but I think they did enough unique things with it as well.