Manga Review – Ancient Magus Bride Vol 12 by Kore Yamazaki (3/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Manga/Fantasy
Length: 180 pages
Publisher: Seven Seas
Release Date: February 25, 2020
ISBN-13: 978-1645052012
Stand Alone or Series: 12th book in the Ancient Magus Bride series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 3/5 stars
“Many different students from different backgrounds attend the fantastical institution of higher learning known as “The College.” They are the nameless, faceless strangers sitting in the next seat, or living in the next dorm room. As Chise begins to come out of her shell and interact with her classmates, she overhears a certain rumor about her roommate, Lucy…”
Series Info/Source: This is the 12th volume in the Ancient Magus Bride series. I bought this.
Story (3/5): I feel like this series has really gone downhill in the last couple volumes. I don’t even really know what’s going on anymore since the story is so fractured between a million different characters that I don’t care about. This was mostly Chise chattering with her new classmates and getting to know them and uncovering some of their secrets. There was also a lot of Elias being jealous, aside from that he wasn’t in the story a ton. There were a couple good scenes between Elias and Chise discussing his clinginess and what he wants out of a life with Chise.
Characters (3/5): While I still enjoy Elias, Silky, and Chise…a lot the rest of the characters were introduced so quickly that I have a lot of trouble caring about them or even keeping track of them. There is some stuff going on with Alice that is interesting but the rest I just couldn’t stay focused on because I just didn’t care.
Setting (3/5): The setting at the school is okay but feels very Harry Potterish. I miss the times when Chise and Elias did some traveling to more interesting places.
Writing/Drawing Style (3/5): While the drawings are still detailed and well done they have gotten harder to follow. There’s just so much jumping around I feel like we are getting quick glimpses into various areas rather than actually reading a cohesive story, I am not a fan. Originally I was excited for this new storyline to start and now I just don’t even want to read anymore of this series.
My Summary (3/5): Overall this volume was a disappointment to me. The story is too fractured and there are way too many characters that I really don’t care about at all. The last few books in the series have been like this and because of that I am setting this series aside. I just don’t like where it’s gone and am disappointed in what a mess the story has become.
