So, exactly why is Chise rejected? Well, it turns out that she can see things that other humans can’t in such a vivid way that it brings her problems. At best, people say she is odd. At worst, the creatures she can see do harm and she is faulted for whatever they did. It might look like she attracts disgrace somehow. Fear of the unknown is an unfortunately strong human feature, so Chise is left in solitude.

Sadly, not even Chise’s own family wants her, so she grows up going from one relative to the other. However, perhaps the most traumatic part of her past is that her own mother did not love her and apparently feared her. It looks like she also killed herself in front of poor Chise. No wonder she grew up to become a bit odd...

Along with being odd, we are talking about depression. Some people think that being depressed implies being sad all the time, making dramatic reactions for everything and crying a lot. However, most depressed people are not easy to spot because they appear so calm. Just look at Chise! She sold herself for 5 million pounds and confronted the ordeal with a minimum of expression showing in her face. Her buyer is not precisely the regular guy either! However, the scene where Chise sees Elias Ainsworth for the first time shows how she feels empty and without direction, mostly useless all the time. To such a person, nothing matters much anymore.

You might also be tempted to feel sad or even disgusted about Chise, but a slight dose of depression can be useful sometimes. For example, we see how our protagonist approaches both magical and non magical challenges she is confronted with calmly and with a cool head. Any other person might have taken more risks, being scared or run away, but not Chise. Besides that, it also looks like her depression is getting lighter thanks to the changes in her life. And that is mainly due to...

The first interactions between Chise and Elias Ainsworth cannot be described as emotional. However, his matter-of-fact tone reaches the depressed Chise quite well. Elias takes her into his home in England, clothes and feeds her and gives her a room. Later, they shop for magical items together, as Chise becomes his magic apprentice… but then, Elias admits that he is thinking of making her his bride, too.

We can take the title Mahoutsukai no Yome literally and think that Elias Ainsworth is an old guy preying on a young and innocent woman. However, once we watch a couple more episodes, we understand that this story goes more into the lines of classical tales like Beauty and the Beast. Elias is a half-fairy and half-human creature that can understand many things, but can’t empathize. We learn in episode 6 that he bought Chise in order to understand humans, among other reasons. As Elias is the only one that has treated Chise like family (in sharp contrast with what we could call real humans), she chooses to stay by his side. They both are, to a certain point, very practical and down to Earth with their relationship. This is a rare thing in today’s anime world, where exalted feelings are what mostly moves the plot away.

From Episode 1, Chise interacts with all sorts of magical creatures at her new home. She even is exposed to some degree of danger. However, Elias lets her wander free and take her own decisions. It is also noted by many (for example, Angelica) that Chise attracts the magical creatures and can funnel magic in a quick and instinctive way. It is later explained that she is a Sleigh Beggy, a type of mage that can collect and use large quantities of magic at one time.

Elias even takes Chise with him on his explorations around the world. She starts helping him as soon as episode 3, where she intuitively helps an old dragon make the transition from old animal to new tree. The dragon even tells her to remember her name has a bird in it, so she should fly, too. Chise’s magical work is not always easy or peaceful, though. In Episode 4, she is assigned to cleanse the corruption in the lake of Ulthar. To cleanse means to erase of this world and the afterlife. Everyone including Elias and the Cat King of Ulthar try to convince Chise that this is for the best. Nevertheless, thanks to her ability to see into the depth of the corruption, her intuitive knowledge of magic and her friendship with the magical creatures, she is able to save the souls from the corruption. That Chise is able to do something so complex so quickly only testifies that she is a powerful mage.

So yes, it might look like Chise has finally found her place in the world and a little bit of happiness (she smiles for the first time in Episode 5, sniff). Unfortunately, not everything is ok in the magical paradise. The price of being a Sleigh Beggy can be explained as having too much blood and a weak heart. In other words, Chise’s usage of her powers exhaust her so much that she might not live longer than three more years. This is made obvious since Episode 2, where we find Chise waking up after a couple of days from her first encounter with the fairies. However, it is not explained in detail until Episode 5.

The good thing is that Chise keeps her matter of fact attitude when she finds out about her short life span. She just asks Elias how much time she has left and if something could be done about it. He promises her to find a way out of it so that they can spend decades together in Episode 6 (aw, ain’t that sweet?). Nevertheless, my dear otakus, Mahoutsukai no Yome has just started and the manga, which is its source material, is still ongoing. It is still unknown if Chise will survive becoming one of the most powerful mages we have seen in the anime world.