This trend of powerful imagery will continue for several episodes, carried strongly by a macabre undertone that implies everything around Chise is far more sinister than it may first seem.

“Be my apprentice,” the mage named Elias says to his slave girl Chise, and the credits roll. Little is explained, but the stark juxtaposition of scenery, backdropped by our enigmatic and esoteric skull mage, creates a stunning and captivating setting. Almost immediately, as the mysterious interloper pulls his prize into the back room, the viewer is whisked away, through a torrential whirlwind of thorns and shadows, into a verdant field with a quaint cottage in the London countryside. As bidding is about to close, an impeccably-dressed magician steps to the front, glowing red eyes set inside a hollow skull, purchasing the girl for twice the asking price amidst an awe-struck crowd. The series opens with a dead-eyed, red-headed girl being paraded in front of auction framing her as a sort of exotic slave.

Indeed, the hook of Mahou Tsukai no Yome is spectacular, not only in static presentation but also in that of its first episode. One pass over the title and the characteristic image of Elias, and the average fantasy/romance consumer is going to grab this title in a heartbeat. Tolkien has his hobbits, Star Wars its lightsabers, and Mahou Tsukai no Yome its cow-skull-headed magician. Every so often, one stumbles upon a story that just nails the aesthetic of a “hook” at a single glance.

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