It’s a good thing Mahoutsukai no Yome’s 2nd season got outed as a split cour this week, because this sure wasn’t much of an ending. That surprised me a little but it probably shouldn’t have – even I knew that this arc would extend considerably beyond what 12 episodes can cover. This remains quite a popular manga and it wouldn’t surprise me to see it get a complete adaptation eventually, though given the number of hiatuses Yamazaki Kore has had that may take quite some time. For now we only have to wait until October for the second cour, however.
I must be honest and note that this season has largely been a whiff for me. I knew the Hogwarts arc was not broadly seen as among the series’ best by manga readers. And I get that now. It only rarely charmed me in a way this series did at its best (or even at its average) with the first season’s material. There were moments, but they were most often when the series revered back to its old model. Among the school episodes there were only a couple (including last week’s) that really engaged me, and that’s a pretty big hill for this season to climb.
This episode fell right in that middling zone. Frankly there was a ton of focus on people and events I don’t care that much about. And that’s an odd choice for a finale, even with a split cour. The “Testament of Carnamagos” mystery was basically ignored. Elias was largely absent (a broader problem with this season). It’s not that I especially dislike any of the new characters, but none of them really made enough of an impression to make me feel emotionally vested. All the drama with Philomela and Lucy and Rendred/Alice is just kind of sound of fury to me. I’m mildly interested but nothing beyond that.
Zaccheroni is the driver of much of the drama here. As it turns out he’s not a teacher at all but a sorcerer “bound” to the Waste Tower. I’m not sure why the real teacher was so late showing up but Zaccheroni took the kids on quite a thrill ride, especially Chise. Two of his presumed underlings got their hands on Zoe and forced him to go full gorgon on them. And Zaccheroni has the students chasing a particular plant that Chise can see but most of the others can’t, the condition for doing so being that you have to have killed someone or something.
Meanwhile, Philomela’s mother has sent an owl (heh) familiar to press the principal to accept Philomela’s withdrawal from school. In response the principal calls out the cat-sith squad (that’s what those dorm mothers really are) and announces that the school is going to be sealed in response to the magic-stealing incidents. It very much seems as if the principal is going to war with the Sergeant family here, which presumably carries with it a great deal of risk.
And that’s about it, really. Things just kind of stop, and we’ll see you in the fall. I’m glad the show is returning of course but I don’t find myself looking forward to the second cour as much as I’d like to. There’s still compelling material here, but only if Mahoutsukai chooses to showcase it – and how much it does so in the second cour is very much an open question.
Nicc
June 24, 2023 at 8:14 amGood news first, the second half of this cour drops this fall. Otherwise, you’re right that it wasn’t much of a final episode. I didn’t like how the first half of the episode felt disjointed by switching back-and-forth between the Waste Tower and the College.
At the Waste Tower, the students go on a fetch quest with the teacher who is not what he seems to be. They have to collect some minerals and along with a plant that can only be seen by people who have met certain conditions. Yep, they have to have killed somebody or something before. The fetch quest turns out to be not so simple. Zoe gets lost while poking around for minerals and finds himself about to be accosted by some of the denizens of the Tower. He breaks out his Gorgon form to escape. Rian learns that some of the plants are disguised as monsters. Fabio seemed intent on abducting Chise until he was scared off. There are some hitches, but the fetch quest is successfully completed. However, it turns out that Fabio wasn’t supposed to be their instructor.
Back at the College, the Webster siblings are able to reconcile. Alice is planning… something when it comes to Renfred. The parent-child relationship still irks her. The returning students meet up with the headmistress and Elias at the courtyard. It’s a chance meeting Philomela’s grandmother sends over an owl to talk about her withdrawing from the school. They have a difference in opinion and then the claws come out of the dorm moms. Right, they are cat-siths and it also appears at the dorms are going to be sealed for safety. That woman who was escorting the owl seems to be related to Philomena, but she has already dragged away by her classmates. Isaac takes action here and I guess he’ll be featured when the second cour kicks off. And, yep, that seems to be about it. Otherwise, it did not feel like a finale and the show will resume once the leaves start falling.