The Ancient Magus’ Bride vol. 10

One door closes and another opens…

As the previous volume made explicitly clear, we’re onto a new arc in this series.  The “College Arc” to be precise. After settling things with Cartaphilius and managing her curses into a state of equilibrium, things are actually going well for Chise right now.  Which means that the invitation for her to attend the local alchemist’s college couldn’t have come at a better time. Not only will she get a chance to learn even more about the world and rules of magic, but she’ll be able to meet all sorts of new and interesting people at the same time.  You’re not wrong if you think that this is something that Elias is going to have a problem with. Which is why he’s made the decision to attend the college as a teacher.

There’s all sorts of fun worldbuilding to witness as mangaka Kore Yamazaki establishes the cast and curriculum of this college.  From the cats who serve as dorm mothers, to Chise’s status as the rare mage to attend the college, and the predictably awry results of Elias’ first day as a teacher, we get a lot of interesting stuff to take in.  We also get over a dozen new characters added to the cast, about a third of which are fleshed out in any meaningful detail here. Then there’s the hints of potential conflict for this new arc: Students who study Chise with gazes that belie simple curiosity, the Seven Shields of the university who are not all of the same mind regarding what to do with Chise, and the church is now VERY upset with Father Cullum and how he’s been handling Elias.  Even if the rather large expansion of the cast at this point is mostly underdeveloped, there’s still plenty of new and compelling details that come with the story and the setting to suggest that this “College Arc” is going to be a good one.