Summary
While Philomela’s character made the story more interesting this week, the series still chose to hold back and be unnecessarily mysterious in its most exciting moments, almost immediately killing the intrigue it built.
We recap the Crunchyroll anime series The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 7, “Slow and sure. I,” which contains spoilers.
Last week’s episode of The Ancient Magus’ Bride took the chance to slow things down and focus more on the relationships than the action.
While it was an exciting choice that revealed much about Renfred (Satoshi Hino) and Alice’s (Mutsumi Tamura) relationship, it did not move the plot forward. Hence, things at the college are likely about the same as they were before.
READ: The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 6 Recap
With those mysterious figures still roaming the school grounds as well, the college may not be the safest place for Chise (Atsumi Tanezaki). Still, it’s definitely where the most action is happening.
The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 7 Recap
The episode opens with a flashback to young Rian and Philomela climbing a tree. Although he struggles at first, Rian eventually makes it up the tree as well, complimenting her climbing skills.
The scene then returns to the present, where the students seem to be engaging in a rock climbing unit in their physical education class.
Who discovers Elias secretly watching Chise in class?
While walking in on the P.E. class, Adolf discovers Elias secretly watching Chise in class and realizes this is something the mage often does. He appears to be using his magic to hide, but Adolf’s eyesight is good enough to see him anyway.
Who is Alcyone?
Alcyone is a large figure who manifests when called on by Philomela. It is not specified whether they are a human, magical creature, or familiar, but they seem to be someone who aids Philomela.
Alcyone tells Philomela that they’ve heard mages and witches are sensitive to the scene of certain emotions. They speculate that this could be how Chise and Ruth were able to locate Philomela even when she was trying to hide.
What is Bushcraft?
According to Isaac, Bushcraft is comparable to camping in that it’s where you learn skills needed to survive in nature without using sorcery.
The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 7 Ending Explained
Chise and her friends attend a Bushcraft class where they learn to cook in order to prepare for their upcoming camping trip to Scotland. She wonders if Elias will insist on coming as well.
The episode ends with the students being sent on a camping trip where they begin trying to use the survival skills they learned in class while a mysterious figure watches Chise from the forest.
While I was more intrigued this week, I don’t know Philomela well enough to truly invest in her story yet. Everything we know about these new characters is so vague it’s hard to connect with them fully. I imagine everything they are showing us is to prepare us for something that will happen with her character later, but that’s how most of this season feels.
Everything is a build-up to something, but what those somethings are, I could not even begin to guess.
There’s something bigger at play here, and after this week, I’m more curious about what, or at least about Philomela.
Still, the closer we get to the end of the season, the harder I find it to believe that we will make any substantial plot progress with only twelve to thirteen episodes when nothing has really happened yet.
What did you think of the Crunchyroll anime series The Ancient Magus’ Bride Season 2 Episode 7? Comment below.
