There’s always a nice feeling of sweet nostalgia returning to a series after a long absence (better than three years in this case).  Even if there’s also an alarming realization of just how quickly time passes.  When it’s been as long as it has with Mahoutsukai no Yome, you never know how easily you’re going to fall back into being a viewer.  Sometimes it’s instantly like no time has passed, sometimes the feeling is never quite the same.  And I’ve never been able to figure out just why that happens.

The problem with OVAs, of course, is that they’re easy to miss.  Well, one problem – there’s also the fact that it’s hard to make myself slot time for them, unlike weekly series.  And the fact that they’re often somewhat lightweight.  OK, there are several problems with OVAs.  But Mahoutsukai has gone this route before – it started anime life as an OVA, in fact.  The series seems to lend itself to the side story route, and this one – like Hoshi Matsu Hito – was penned by mangaka Yamazaki Kore.  That almost always makes a big difference.

As this OVA was never streamed, as most aren’t, I in fact did miss its release in subbed form (about a month ago).  As usual Yamazaki-sensei stays firmly in the realms of Northern European folklore.  This time around the MacGuffin is the Wild Hunt, some version of which exists in just about every mythology from Celtic to Nordic.  To witness the Wild Hunt is to be abducted into the faerie realm, or die outright, and they were often seen as augers of war or plague.  This time around a lightning strike to the standing stone where the souls of the hunters are sleeping throws a spanner into the works, and the hunt goes a bit ass over teakettle as a result.

The key human figure is Gabriel (Igarashi Hiromi), a young English boy of perhaps eleven or twelve.  His family has moved from London to the countryside as a result of his asthma, and no one in the family is really happy about it.  His parents fight constantly, and Gabriel has left his best friend Oscar behind.  His mother’s overprotectiveness is also a source of great displeasure, but Gabriel takes some solace in the idea that he might have some rural close encounters with the world of fantasy he adores.

As for Chise and Elias, they’re relatively tangential here but are obviously going to play a central role in the story.  To be honest I’d forgotten how the anime ended and had to look at my series review post.  If indeed that was a “wedding” in the finale there’s not much sign of a change in the dynamic here.  Chise has certainly grown, though, and is preparing to head off to college (which Silky is deeply stressing over, and Ruth as well – albeit less overtly).  Chise comes down with a cold, but it’s actually a by-product of the miasma brought by the Wild Hunt.  And that’s obviously not going to be good for Gabriel…

Inside the rock he’s picked up – Gabriel loves rocks as well as fantasy – which has chipped off the standing stone, resides the spirit of a mysterious boy (Ichikawa Aoi).  He seems to be the rider/soulmate of the horse Spriggan has unceremoniously dumped at Elias’ doorstep with instructions to reunite it with the Wild Hunt before things get even worse.  But he doesn’t remember that, and to the lonely Gabriel he represents a potential friend.  And all the better than only he can see the boy – that means his mother can’t keep Gabriel from playing with him.

This is the first episode of three planned releases, and mostly setup.  That said, it’s very good setup indeed – none of it would suffer when compared to arcs of the original series.  The animation here is from Studio Kafka, a big change, but as Kafka is basically a spinoff of Wit things look pretty much as we remember them.  We also have a new director (Terasawa Kazuki), though much of the key staff (and all the cast) return.  All in all it’s great to have Mahoutsukai no Yome back, even if we still don’t know what’s coming after Nishi no Shounen to Seiran no Kishi.  All we know for sure is that this OVA is the first of multiple planned anime projects – hopefully a second season is among them.