Earl and Fairy - Reviews

Hakushaku to Yousei (Earl and Fairy)

Plot: "Throughout the ages, fairy doctors served as liaisons between humans and fairies; but in the present time of the 19th century, fairies are nothing more than an old wives' tale. Nineteen-year-old Lydia Carlton is one of the only remaining fairy doctors and enjoys a quiet life in the countryside of England - that is, until the dashing Edgar, for mysterious reasons, whisks her away on a daring adventure. Said to be the descendent of the earl of the fairy nation, Edgar desires the noble sword of the merrow that serves as proof to his lineage. Though his motives and origins are questionable, Lydia now sets forth to help Edgar on his quest." (site synopsis)

~Warning, this review might contain heavy spoilers~

Story: After watching a masterpiece like Spice and Wolf i decided to choose an anime thats not far from the briliance which Spice and Wolf had so i gave a try to Hakushaku to Yousei. Even though the background of this anime is abit different (the background is more modern than the feudal, medieval setting of Spice and Wolf, typical in the 19th, early 20th century), and it doesnt revolve around a wolf god and a merchant this time. The story of Hakushaku to Yousei revolves around a girl named Lydia Carlton, which happened to be a Fairy Doctor, a person that could see fairies and it could help them as well. Unfortunately, fairies at that time were concidered as a fairytale, and also Lydia Carlton is one of the few remaining Fairy Doctors enjoying a peaceful life in the countryside of England. Her life wasn't filled with adventure until the day when a mysterious, handsome man named Edgar managed to whisk her away. He claimed to be the descendent of the earl of the fairy nation so he desires the noble sword of merrow which served as proof to his lineage. Not everyone could become the Earl though, the sword accepts only those who really are the descendent's of the earl lineage and not someone else. Captivated by his beauty and his determination to obtain the noble sword of the merrow, Lydia Carlton, offers her help, and toghether with Edgar and his loyal and protective butler, assistant Raven sets up on a quest to find and obtain the noble sword of merrow. Though Edgar's actions were questionable, Lydia was aware that he trusts her mainly because he storied to her details about his past. But even though his determination seems to be pretty credible, his motives and orgins are still questionable, since Lydia just met him it seemed difficult for her to trust him after all for her he was nothing more than a stranger but still she remained by his side even though she had no idea of what he was planing. To be able to obtain the noble sword of the merrow, this requires a sacrifice, though Lydia wasn't aware of that. Even so things turned out to end differently, Edgar becomes the Earl of the Fairy Nation, the noble sword of the merrow accepted him as the Earl and so Lydia becomes his personal Fairy Doctor. Though this is not the end, many enemies were ploting against Edgar and he had to deal with them. Also as he spent more and more around Lydia, both of them started to develop feelings for eachother. Still Edgar's past was still haunting him, though he loved Lydia he couldn't stop thinking about Ermine, Raven's older sister which apparently died. Even so the story of Earl and Fairy its filled with holes, whats even more its unfinished, and there are no signs of a second season as well.

Animation and Sound: In terms of animation Hakushaku to Yousei its nothing that catches you attention, the typical animation style and directing from nowadays, the character designs were average, given the fact that this show has some reverse harem influences we see many bishounen/bishoujo characters. The sound as well is nothing that impresses, the opening was average as well and the background sounds were suitable to the anime mood and environment.

Characters: Another low point of Hakushaku to Yousei is in terms of characters. There aren't much things, details about characters, we know some stuff about Lydia, that she has a unique profession and that her father used to be married with a fairy doctor as well though her role in the story of this anime is pretty unsignificant other than accompanying Edgar and his servant Raven and sometimes cheering and helping him up with minor details. Edgar on the other hand is the most captivating character of this show, he has a dark past covered in mystery, and also he has a romantic side which at times its damn funny especialy when hes goal is to marry with Lydia. Other than this two, only Edgar's butler Raven which provides the fighting, action scenes may seem interesting but even he was shalowy developed, not too much information, details about his past as well, only that he used to travel alongside with Edgar and that he had a older sister named Ermine.

Overall: One thing i have to say regarding Hakushaku to Yousei, this is a shoujo type of anime (mainly because it features reverse harem aspects) and its appropriate for younger people, someone with more knowledge would definitely see the low points of this anime but sufice to say this anime is pretty entertaining even though its uncompleted. Making hopes for another season isn't quite the best idea, since this anime wasn't a great hit there is no real interest in continuing it which kinda pisses me off (a second season might have made it more popular though). Oh well, at least it managed to entertain me quite abit. So girls, if ya wana see another anime with bishounen characters then this might be a nice choice.

~Enjoy and Cya Around~

I wanted to love this anime so much. The overall story is captivating as the journey it takes you on and how it ties in a combination of mythology and relevant historical relics. Kelpie was by far my favorite character despite his mischievous undertone he was actually incredibly romantic, thoughtful, protective (without being overbearing) and noble. He saved any romanticism that was attempting to take place but I found myself swaying between focus on the storyline and frustration with the hot/cold displays between the main characters -- primarily due to Lydia.

Wishing for a second season so it can take hold of its great potential and actually bond together/develop a few character sets while continuing forth on their journeys. Just don't lose focus on Kelpie, he's this shows greatest asset.😉🥰 I would also be interested to see further character development on Raven as he's setup for a great "unfolding".

Overall, I would recommend watching. It's whimsical and mythologically fascinating, but save yourself the romantic frustrations.. the most you'll get are between Kelpie and Lydia.😍 ...Unfortunately he's not as consistent as he could've [should've] been.

Story

At first, I thought Earl & Fairy would follow a very interesting plot. Basically, this handsome guy named Edgar wants to become the Blue Knight Earl (the ruler/protector of faeries), but he isn't a descendant of the first Earl. He asks a Fairy Doctor (humans capable of seeing and understanding faeries, whose job is to establish ties between the species) named Lydia to help him. The plot is scattered throughout 12 episodes in which other random things happen and made it difficult to follow the virtually lifeless plot. Nothing really happened in the story. I personally only watched the anime for the scenes between Edgar and Lydia.

 

Animation

Overall, good quality animations, except towards the end I began to see sloppy action scenes.

 

Characters

Most of the characters appeared towards the ending with no introduction or background, and somehow everyone knew their names and what they were. The main characters are Lydia, Edgar, and his servant Raven. Half-way through the anime, we begin to learn a bit about the characters, but most of it is fuzzy. I loved the anime because of the romance between captivating Edgar and innocent Lydia.

 

OVERALL

Although I really disliked the story, I am a romance-lover, and couldn't stand to leave the anime unfinished knowing there was a romance building up! I finished the series in 2 days, easily, and actually quite liked it. But to be honest, during most of it, I wasn't really paying attention too much to what was going on, because everything was sudden towards the end. I only really paid attention to the scenes I found interesting. Recommended for hopeless romantics and people who can somehow manage to follow uneventful plots.

I love old animes and jealous MLs so this anime was perfect for me. 

I started watching Earl Fairy with high expectations but was sadly disappointed.  While the characters are beautifully drawn in this anime, this story has too many holes and unanswered questions.  I wouldn't recommend watching it unless your bored.