Earl and Fairy Review

[eastofthemoon]

First of all, I want to wish a Happy Birthday to ray_wing

Now, then I've watched the first four episodes of Earl and Fairy I would have given a review of it earlier, but I wanted to watch a couple of episode to get a better grasp on what the series is like. So far, I'm enjoyed it.

The summary of the series is this:

The story is set in 19th century England and centers on a "fairy doctor" named Lydia. Her life takes a 180-degrees turn when she meets a legendary blue knight count named Edgar and his crew. He hires her as an adviser during his quest to obtain a treasured sword that was supposed to be handed down to him by his family.



To start with, it's a shoujo series. I was playing a game of counting the shoujo bubbles and sparkles for the first couple of episodes. Also, there the traditional romance tension between the main girl Lydia and main guy Edgar (who also happens to be voice by Zel's voice actor Hikaru Midorikawa). However, this shows has a good number of points for this series, that keeps this series from being too cliche.

For starters, I like the main character Lydia, who happens to be voice by Nana Mizuki who also did the voice for Kotoko of Itazura na Kiss. Between the two characters, I much prefer Lydia. I find Lydia to be a more mature character then Kotoko (which was one of my main problems with Kotoko).

Then there is Nico, the talking fairy cat which is probablly called a Sidhe (I thank ceruleanghost for this because I didn't know what the proper name was). If anything, I wish he would get more screen time. He's one of the more amusing characters of the show. I want a plushie of him.

The servant Raven has quite a few interesting moments and I can't help but wonder what exactly his past was like. I can't say anything more than that without giving spoilers away. Edgar has his moments too, but I find Raven to be more interesting. Although I do enjoy Edgar and Lydia's interactions with each other.

With that said, I do like how it's they guy going after the girl, while the girl is the one who's refusing it. That was one of my major appeals for Saiunkoku Monogatari, so it's always a nice twist to see. (not to mention that Shuurei is probably one of the best female characters I've encountered)

What I really enjoy about this show is it's use of actual fairy folklore.

So far we have seen:
Brownies
Sidhe
Kelpie (this is in the 5th episode)
Fairies
Mentions of leprechauns and banshees
Merrow aka mermaid/merman
sprites
And a few other that I've forgotten at the moment

I'm looking forward as to other types of fairies and other creatures from Celtic myths the story will show. On that note, the show is actually based on a series of light novels. Has anyone ever find that anime based on light novels tend to be the better anime? (Ex: Spice and Wolf, Slayers, etc) Maybe it's because they tend to have more weight to their story? I'm not entirely sure. But that's topic for another time.

I do enjoy the show, but I can see it being too shoujo for some people to watch. However, for those watching it for the first time, I suggest to stick with it for the first four episodes before giving your final opinion. I say this because that's the first plot arch, and I find that a better display of the characters and concept of the plot then a person would get from only watching the first episode.

Anyway, I may be making icons of this show in the future, so you have all been warned. ^_~

Comments

[gullwhacker.livejournal.com]

I'm tempted to make one, myself.

Sparkle PUNCH!

[nagasfan.livejournal.com]

Sounds very interesting, is it available on line, or did you order it from a dealer?

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

Online, you can see the episodes on youtube. Four are fansubbed so far.

[nagasfan.livejournal.com]

Yes, I see them now, thanks for the info. ^_^

They are coming through now, but when I posted my last post Youtube wouldn't give them to me for some reason, so I was wondering if you had a super secret Shoujo anime site... ^_^

Also, is it just me, or do Shoujo anime's tend to have more of a plot? O.o

[earthstar-moon.livejournal.com]

I normally get mine through Bit torrent, but youtube or veoh or normally a good backup when I'm not in the mood or can't download.

This is the group that is doing the fansub: http://m33w-fansubs.com/

[nagasfan.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the link! It's in my Favourites now! ^_^

Ah, good ol' Bittorrents... ^_^