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Annalyn

  • USA
  • Joined Nov 19, 2010
  • ? / F

Earl and Fairy

Dec 31, 2010

I approached Earl and Fairy with the expectation of a fairy tale. I wanted to be swept off my feet by handsome young men, and I was not disappointed. Earl and Fairy didn’t quite live up to its potential, and is certainly not for everyone, but I’m glad I watched it.

Story – 6.5

Meet Edgar, a handsome young earl on a quest for the sword of the merrow (mermaids), which will secure his place as the Blue Knight Earl.

Meet Lydia, a beautiful, naïve fairy doctor from the country side. It’s her job to mediate between fairies and humans. Since she can see and hear fairies when no one else can, most folk consider her to be a bit crazy.

Edgar needs Lydia’s help on this quest, and uses some rather bizarre circumstances to enlist it. I loved Edgar and his equally handsome and fiercely loyal servant, but they weren’t enough to impress me. The short quest for the sword didn’t quite do it either. It all seemed rather cliché and rushed.

Nonetheless, the show hooked me after the fourth episode. Why? The sword arc was over, and the meat of the story began. But I don’t think that was quite it. I believe the simple joy of a fairy tale did the trick.

The rest of the anime brings in more romance and even some humor. Two main conflicts are maintained: Edgar securing his place as Blue Knight Earl, and the relationship between him and Lydia. Because of her past, Lydia struggles to believe that a man would honestly pursue her. Yet she is pursued, by at least one man and a Kelpie (kelpie = mythical being in the same vein as fairies). Isn’t that every girl’s dream?

Accompanying the romance and fairies is a bit of adventure, including interesting fights.

However, no amount of romance or adventure can cover for the fact that the story feels rushed. You can tell that the creators of Earl and Fairy wanted to fit it into a single 12 episode season. As such, the story is not as rich as it could have been. The bit of show after the end credits is not a true preview of the next episode. If you miss that content, you will still know what’s going on, but you will feel there are even more gaps in the story.

So, let’s see…

Fairy tale and satisfying romance… plus!

Cliché and weak first few episodes… minus!

Plot is clear and rather satisfying… plus!

Story is rushed… minus!

More than one main conflict to keep me interested… plus!

The fairy tale romance gives Earl and Fairy a big boost. Unfortunately, for the sake of this review, I still can’t give the story more than a 6.5. That might even be generous.

 

Animation – 5.5

I love the style of animation in Earl and Fairy. Unfortunately, again, it didn’t live up to its full potential. So here we go…

I immediately noticed the beautiful, painting-like landscape and much of the scenery. This helped set the fairy tale feel.

There were very handsome male leads, but again, they weren’t brought to their full potential. I immediately noticed that all the beautiful and handsome characters had very similar noses. This is a small detail, but very important when you’re trying to draw in the young lady audience members by their hearts.

The animation of almost all the characters (including fairies and the cat, Nico), remind me of what I’d see in a children’s production – pleasant, but not near the quality needed to impress adults. The Undileen Court wolves were particularly underdone. Of course, there are more handsome men than you see in children’s shows.

Movement of characters worked, but it wasn’t great. My dream is to see a show where the movement made by the wind is stimulated by more than a loop of cells. Earl and Fairy did not complete that dream. In the first few episodes, there were multiple scenes with wind, and Lydia’s hair and clothing rippled with movement clearly made by looping a few drawings together.

Earl and Fairy’s animation was beautiful, but not of the quality it could have been. I give it a 5.5.

 

Sound - 4

Voice acting was good, though the sound of two voices, Nico and a very minor character in the first episode, grated on me.

The music was decent, I suppose, but forgettable when it was used. The opening and ending music wasn’t much. In the fourth episode, Raven (Edgar’s loyal servant) fights one of the mythical wolf creatures… to the light hearted, unimpressive opening theme. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This scene had loads of potential, all ruined by the music. I was tempted to go to the other tabs of my internet browser, like I usually do during opening themes, but I stayed since it was actually a part of the show.

I give sound a 4.

 

Characters – 5.5

During the first few episodes, a little fairy ran around in my head shouting “Cliché alert! Cliché alert!”

“Yes, yes,” I told the fairy, “But I want to review this anime, so I’m going to watch the whole thing. Besides, it might turn into a fun romance. It has potential, what with the handsome and charming Edgar.”

“Cliché alert!” the fairy repeated, “Edgar’s the case in point. Cliché alert!”

Earl and Fairy did turn into a sweet romance and wonderful fairy tale, but that little fairy was right. We have Lydia, the sweet, naïve, beautiful girl who longs to be accepted even though she talks with fairies. She doesn’t complain, but we know that’s what she wants. Then there’s Edgar, the wonderfully handsome and charming young noble. But he’s not what he seems – he has a dark history, and longs for Lydia’s love. And, of course, we also have Raven. Taken in and accepted by Edgar despite the sprite within him, Raven is dark, handsome, and fiercely loyal to his master.

During the second episode, I wrote, “Yeah, yeah. I’ve seen it all before.”

And then Lydia and Edgar started making sacrifices for each other – and not the I’m-a-good-person-so-I’d-make-this-sacrifice-for-anyone type of sacrifice, either. It my opinion, this happened too soon, without enough relationship building.

But all was not lost. Edgar and Lydia ended up developing well together. Lydia’s character development worked well, and I sympathized with her fear of loving, fear of insincere love. If the story had not been rushed and were brought to the richness it could have been, I have a feeling romantic character developments would have been even better.

So, the characters were a bit cliché, but not hopeless. I don’t think I can give them more than a 5.5 though. Some people might consider that generous.

 

Overall - 6

Using my usual averaging methods (where the story is counted twice), Earl and Fairy’s overall score ends up being a 5.6. However, I’m going to cheat at add an extra .4 points for the wonderful fairy tale effect, making it solid 6. Call me a subjective reviewer or whatever you like, but I enjoyed Earl and Fairy too much to give it any less.

6.5/10 story
5.5/10 animation
4/10 sound
5.5/10 characters
6/10 overall

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