Fairies possess and reside within animals, granting them special powers. By surgically removing and transplanting the organs of a possessed animal into a human, humans can partially summon the fairy and use it as a weapon. Eventually, such individuals were used for war, and were called “Fairy Soldiers.” After a long war, these soldiers lost their purpose, and had to reintegrate into society. Nine years after the end of the war, Maria is a fresh recruit of “Dorothea,” an organization dedicated to the investigation and suppression of fairy-related crimes and incidents. Even in peacetime, the government is still unstable after the war. Many criminals still have lingering wounds from the previous conflict, and there are terrorist groups bent on revenge. – ANN
Streaming: Funimation and Hulu
Episodes: 24
Source: Original
Episode Summary: Several years ago, Marlya Noel witnessed the destruction of her home village and was one of only two survivors of the carnage. Nowadays she works as security, hoping to meet back up with Veronica, her fellow escapee. Backstage at an auction house, Marlya marvels at the fairy-related artifacts being bid-upon, though her distracting curiosity draws the ire of Free, the man running the security operation. As bidding commences on a page from a coveted underground tome, the action is interrupted by violence from the hand and heart of a beautiful blond woman. Marlya, as she defends the patrons, is shocked to discover that the woman is, in fact, Veronica.
There is no touching reunion, as Veronica seems uninterested in reminders of her former life. In the struggle, both Veronica and Free reveal their own powerful nature, battling one-another via their terrifying fairy avatars. What Marlya discovers is that, as a survivor of her village, she has this ability as well; she inadvertently joins with a fairy primordial when a fairy bottle breaks. As the violence dies down, Marlya learns that her very existence is illegal under the current government, but Free offers her an out; as an operative of “Dorothea,” he helps hunt down and regulate the use of this forbidden magic. Marlya chooses his outstretched hand – for the time being.
Impressions: As much as I was looking forward to this series, I tried to temper my expectations. I enjoy fantasy-tinged action-packed fare as much as anyone else, but it’s also a type of entertainment that I find easily falls victim to a whole host of issues. A big one for me is that, in some attempt to up the “cool” factor, the violent moments are placed front-and-center in an attempt to attract through shock value. Characterization can sometimes be lacking, as the characters may become a vehicle for action set-pieces rather than as storytellers of their own pieces of the narrative. The balance between action, drama, dialog, and storytelling is a tough one to maintain, and many series aren’t that successful at it.
This intro episode manages to do a lot of things well, in my opinion. Its setting is kind of an interesting re-interpretation of WWI-era Europe, had its native mythological creatures actually existed and become tools of the military. I like that our focal character is a young woman. I think the expression of the fairy powers is pretty neat-looking. Where I feel like this episode (and, possibly, the rest of the series) struggles is that it gives the impression of being so thoroughly enamored with the seriousness of its own premise, that it undermines that impression for those watching.
Something I think about a lot when I’m watching anime (or anything, really) is the impression that the production gives off. Some series are meant to be comedic, while others deal with subjects and stories that ought to be taken more seriously. Sometimes (perhaps too often), there’s a bit of a mismatch between what a series would like to you believe about the story it’s telling, and what it’s actually demonstrating. One of the more blatant examples are sex comedies – I think there’s a lot to laugh about when it comes to human sexuality, because we are all pretty much disasters in that realm and it can be really funny to talk about that. Most anime sex comedies, however, rely less on the sort of “shared laughter over shared experiences” model of comedy, and instead rely more on character embarrassment (and sometimes shame) as a stand-in for humor. For viewers who can overlook this, these types of shows might be entertaining, but for me I often find them rude, crass, and even emotionally-isolating.
Fairy Gone seems very focused on style-over-substance, and I’m certainly fine with that. What’s causing some trouble for me is that its expression of “style” often seems focused on the wrong things and becomes distracting. This is likely because English is my first language, and so I can tell you point-blank that “Free” is not a typical male first name (or really, a given name for any gender) in my locality. Neither is “Lay Dawn,” or many other names on this series’ list of characters, many of whom haven’t been introduced yet. This sort of misstep feels akin to some anime creators using Christian iconography and terminology for “style points” without realizing how those things are really used. It doesn’t offend me personally, but it almost always brings me out of the moment because of its awkwardness.
There’s also the matter of the soundtrack, which unfortunately is very reliant on the type of emotional hard-rock that’s often utilized to profess how “hard-core” something is. The extended battle sequence in the opera house is set atop hard-strumming electric guitars, thumping drum beats, and male vocals that bring me all the way back to AMV-editing circa 2004. There’s an element of this that seems aimed at a Western audience (the lyrics are in English and it very much causes me to recall a certain time and place in my anime fandom), but the very fact that it’s used to cultivate this atmosphere sometimes undermines whatever the story itself seems to be attempting. And this is before mentioning how anachronistic it feels alongside images of women in bustled dresses and men in bowler hats.
I should be clear, though, I found this episode entertaining. For me there’s at least a little bit of charm when a property seems willfully unaware of its own ridiculousness and willing to draw from such a deep well of past fandom moods and experiences. It’s manufactured in a way that I’m receptive toward.
This episode has some very solid visual qualities. The character designs have a lot of fine details and give off a more “grown-up” vibe than a lot of anime series. There’s also a decent use of CG throughout the episode that’s used to render the the characters’ fairy companions (there’s a temptation to call them “personas” or “stands,”). They’re obviously generated in 3D, but because they’ve appeared under the cover of darkness so far, they don’t stand out in a distracting way. When Free and Veronica come to blows, the choreography is fairly exciting. It’s clear that some care was put into the visual expression of the series. My one major critique would be that some of the scenes are overly brown-tinged, as if to constantly remind us that there are grim and gritty situations afoot.
I think it’s also worth mentioning as a positive that the series’ story seems to focus on the relationship between two women, which I definitely think is a positive. It’s not exactly a rarity anymore in storytelling, but it is a nice change from male-male rivalries, and failed heterosexual relationships that often form the basis of character conflicts in these situations.
This series was on my pre-season shortlist of anticipated anime, and it’s always a bit of a let-down when those series are riddled with so many irritating little issues. I think there’s a solid story here and it has a definite “cool” factor that’s more enjoyable when keeping things to a face-value analysis. I just hope the show takes time enough to get over itself and let its narrative shine on its own terms.
Pros: The story seems motivated by two women and their shared past. The visuals are very solid.
Cons: The series seems very in love with its own coolness and makes various missteps because of that.
Grade: C+