I´m actually a bit surprised about the amount of hate, negative critique, bashing and low scoring Fairy Gone Part 1 has received both during and after its airtime. I really can´t understand most of the foundations of said hate and bashing either, I thought the show had several good qualities and enjoyed most parts of it. So, I will give my slightly more positive point of view in this review.
Shortly described, Fairy Gone centres around a continental scale political intrigue in a post war society. Before the war several nations existed, which most fought for its independence, but the outcome of the war was the ... unification of the continent under one leader and the war came to be called the unification war. In this world creatures called Fairy´s exists, which has different special abilities and strengths. Humans as they are had found a way to exploit that in the context of war, by taking organs from the Fairies and implant them into compatible humans. The Fairy enhanced humans can therefore summon the Fairy and use it as they please, which was a crucial part of the outcome of the war. After the war ended, these types of human-fairy hybrids became illegal to produce, and the ones left was ordered to work for the government owned agency Dorothea or classed as outlaws. The story takes place some 10 years after the wars end, where a fragile peace is threatened by multiple sources, and we get to follow characters on different sides of the brewing conflict.
In addition to the main political intrigue, there is side themes such the search of a childhood friend, and the mystery about something called the Fairy Tombs which is old texts written by scholars who studied the Fairy´s and collected the knowledge into five books. These books are now highly wanted and valued by many, especially the Black Fairy Tomb, which explores something called “Fairy possession”, which is a rare occurring phenomenon of a Fairy fusing with a human without any surgery.
As foundations, I think these are interesting themes which they use, explore and develop during these first 12 episodes. Overall, this is more a story driven show rather and character driven one, which could be a `yay`or `nej`for some. The pacing is typical for this kind of plot, with some shorter arc format, where we get to know the characters and their connections, the structure and background of their society, and clues to the schemes that brewing in the Empire. I liked this concept and was always looking forward to a new episode and what it would explore. Is this the most unique and well written work ever done? Of course not, but I found it enjoyable in many aspects, and it do build on itself nicely. I much prefer these types of stories from P.A. Works before their slow-paced unrealistic dramas that they usually produce.
Fair waring though, Fairy Gone do demand your attention and focus to understand the connections of all story threads it has going on, geographical places and to keep track of all the characters (there are quite many). So, if you are looking for something you can enjoy while browsing your phone or watching with just half your attention, don´t bother. It will not be enjoyable since you will have no idea what´s going on.
There are some direction issues, where they choose to just show short glimpses of backstory (often non-linearly and geographically hard to place as well) spread out over several episodes instead of having one proper backstory episode were things would been more coherent. Fairy Gone also has so many things going on at the same time, and a large cast, which did not make it ultimately best watched on a weekly basis. I highly recommend watching it as coherent as possible time wise to get a good flow which will allow you to have all the names and places fresh in memory, and the experience will for sure get better that way.
We mainly get to follow Marlya, a teenager who´s village was destroyed by one of the now ruling dukes when she was a child. She was one of the few that escaped alive together with her slightly older childhood friend Veronica. They get separated shortly afterwards, and Marlya has been looking for Veronica ever since. So, to survive alone in the world she joined a mafia group, and during an assignment she runs in to the Dorothea agent Free. During an incident that evening Marlya comes in the possession of a Fairy and joins Free to work for Dorothea.
It is mainly though Marlya and Free and their missions we get to explore the story´s themes. Free is a fairy veteran from the war and carries the baggage that comes with it – lost comrades, the experiences of the battlefield and all the destruction it holds. Marlya is like most young women, slightly naïve in her world view, strong in her believes and emotions, but also struggles with self-doubt and survivals guilt. Even though neither of their characters was super unique or deeply developed I enjoyed them as mains and their dynamic. They form a bound throughout their journeys and starts to trust and support each other with a tenderness rarely showcased in anime. Their interactions were actually one of the highlights of the show for me. There so many more characters, and many still haven´t been explored nearly enough either, such as the more important characters Wolfarm and Veronica, which only have gotten the base exploration so far. But with 12 episodes left in the second cour, I still have my hopes up.
I think P.A. Works has done a great job with the art and animation; it looks good. It also holds the quality along the way, and some parts like the CGI fairies even improves (they looked kind of out of place in the beginning). The characters have their own distinct design which can´t be confused with any other works. The backgrounds are often detailed, beautifully coloured and highlights the scene. Like a golden lit stone cobble street at night, a library filled with books in the light of an open fire or the ruins of a long-abandoned castle, it all looks very good and creates a suiting atmosphere. The fight scenes are fluid and detailed, and the animation overall besides the CGI is seldom jerky or sloppy. Cuddos to P.A. Works for that.
The soundtrack is probably a hit or miss for most people, it contains a lot of vocal tracks. I quite enjoyed, and for most parts I think they matched the music well with the scene. The VA´s was well matched and did their job well, no complains there at all.
I might belong to the minority that actually thought Fairy Gone Part 1 was a good and interesting show and was enjoying it, but I guess I belong to the minority of this site as well (female and 30+). I think it had a lot of good things going on for it with just some miner downsides that I could easily cope with. And with 12 more episodes to go, it still could develop from good to great, depending on which themes and routes they decide to develop. So, I can warmly recommend Fairy Gone to any that can live with conditions I just mentioned and enjoy it for what it is.
Alternative Titles Japanese: Fairy gone フェアリーゴーン Information Type: TV Episodes: 12 Status: Finished Airing Aired: Apr 8, 2019 to Jun 24, 2019 Premiered: Spring 2019 Broadcast: Mondays at 00:00 (JST) Producers: Mainichi Broadcasting System, Movic, AT-X, TOHO animation, Medicos Entertainment, BS11, Sanyo Licensors: Funimation Studios: P.A. Works Source: Original Duration: 23 min. per ep. Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older Statistics Score: 5.801 (scored by 53,897 users) 1 indicates a . Ranked: #105552 2 based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #1408 Members: 167,020 Favorites: 216 Available AtResources |
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