Hakushaku to Yousei

The one thing that always impresses me about anime and manga is the attention to detail that the japanese creators of individual stories have, especially when they utilise culture, history, folklore, etc, from other parts of the world as integral parts of their tales.

Hakushaku to Yousei (or Earl and Fairy in english), began life as a series of light novels written by Tani Mizue, which were serialised in Cobalt magazine. The novels proved to be popular given the japanese love of western folklore and mythology, allowing the novels to be adapted for two drama CDs and a manga which is currently serialised in The ... Margaret magazine.

Before I go any further, I should point out that the story is most definitely unfinished, so expect a second, and maybe a third season at some point. That said, this initial series was rather well done on the whole.

The story is set in Victorian England and follow the adventures of 17 year old Lydia Carlton, a "Fairy Doctor". She has the ability to see and communicate with supernatural creatures like fairies, pixies, brownies, and other members of the Seelie Court, and for this reason she is chosen to help one Edgar J. C. Ashenbert in his quest to become the legendary Blue Knight Earl, the human ruler of the fairy nation. He is accompanied by his servant, a boy of around Lydia's age simply known as Raven, whilst Lydia is accompanied by a talking cat called Nico.

The story doesn't follow a straightforward path though, as Edgar's quest is borne from a desire for vengeance, and he has some extremely deadly enemies to contend with, as well as dealing with fey creatures who can twist the meaning of words and promises to suit their needs. It's for this reason that he desperately requires Lydia's help, especially as he can neither see nor talk to fairies.

The art and animation for this series is very well done, especially if you like bishies. The animation is generally very smooth, however my one gripe with the character designs was that Victorian England had a lot more plain looking people than the anime portrays (it would have been nice to see this, but it doesn't really affect the story). The characters that are in the show are all well designed though, especially Tomkins, whose features hint at his ancestry as one of the Merrow (merfolk). The fairy creatures are also well designed on the whole, and the members of the Unseelie Court all possess a suitably ominous appearance.

The music throughout the series is actually rather well done, and generally matches the time period. However, there are moments when the music definitely spoils the mood of the scene, especially with the more tension filled moments where a more ominous piece of something classical would have served better than the J-rock/pop track from the OP. The VAs are generally very good, however there is sometimes a slightly one dimesnional note to the main characters because of a lack of emotion being projected through the voice.

On the whole the characters were fairly solid. I found Lydia to be quite likeable, although this may be because she reminded me of Kou Shuurei from Saiunkoku Monogatari. Edgar was also quite likeable, however I found the supposed lack of emotion to be odd, especially given his feelings for Lydia. This is something that, unfortunately, carries over to many of the other characters, especially the males. For some reason they all seem to be protrayed as cool, icy, bishounens, when it would have served the story better if they let loose once in a while. It could be argued that this is in keeping with the Victorian setting, but it's more likely to be because this is most definitely a shoujo anime.

I found this to be surprisingly enjoyable though, especially given it's flaws. I think that my enjoyment though, mainly comes from the fact that folklore is a hobby of mine, and I found that the numerous fey creatures and references were more closely related to what is in folklore than most people would believe (in other words, the old fairy tales where there's lots of blood, as opposed to the more modern version - the bedtime story). It shows that Tani Mizue actually referenced a fair amount of material during the writing of the light novels, and has used the information to good effect.

This isn't really a series that will appeal to everyone. It's not complete enough to be a true shoujo anime, however it does highlight the fact that fey creatures aren't nice on the whole. It won't appeal to action or sports junkies, and probabaly won't be liked by mecha and combat fans. Horror buffs may like it for it's portrayal of fairies and the like, but the ones who will probably enjoy watching it the most are fans of Angelique, Saiunkoku Monogatari, Gakuen Alice, etc, especially given the romance aspect between Edgar and Lydia.

If you do happen to like this because of the fairies though, then you may want to check out the following books:

"Faerie Tale" by Raymond E Feist
"Lords & Ladies" and "The Wee Free Men" by Terry Pratchett.

I have to admit that this anime had failed to impress. I was expecting much more from the plot and the characters, but to my misfortune I had only ended up disappointed. Once I finished viewing the entire series, I was not satisfied with the overall outcome of the characters' journey.

Story: [6]
There is still so many questions the anime has left unanswered. The viewer knows little of the Blue Knight Earl. The plot itself is mainly concentrated on Edgar's need to bear a name with a powerful presence, as well as to fight for his love for Lydia whilst others are after her. There was ... still much to be told of the fairy world, but due to the focused romance between Lydia and Edgar, all other information of the anime becomes lost. Hence the reason why the anime became more choppy rather than bearing the fluent motion that other wonderful animes had.

Art: [7]
The art could've been done better. A fairy world is meant to be magical and enthralling. Matter of fact, if the creators had done their art in an inconspicuous way as to make the viewer imagine they are in a fairy world indirectly [similar artistic appeal to EF - Tale Of Memories and 5 Centimetres Per Second], then they would've received a higher grade. I do praise the art done in O'Neill's paintings though. It almost suits the time setting of the story.

Sound: [7]
I bestow a 7 upon the sound because not only does some music pieces relate to the specific time period of the story, but even the suspense scenes can allow the viewer to understand that there is critical observation involved between characters [e.g. Nico helping Paul search for Banshee, Lydia and Edgar figuring out Ulysses' motive, etc]. Thus, the sound was not too bad. Allow me to point out, if you will, how the theme song sounded like a Japanese version of Yellowcard?

Character: [4]
Indeed a 4 does seem pretty low, but I do have my reasons. Firstly, Edgar. The ash mauve eyes gave him a mysterious appeal. Yet his eyes implied nothing extravagant about his persona. Throughout the progression of the series, it felt to me that Edgar was a phony. The sincerity of his character was questionable. Was he a killer? Is he playing Lydia? What's going on? He didn't seem truthful enough. I had assumed he was only playing smooth as to win Lydia's trust in order to help him obtain the marrow sword. But as the plot proceeded, I wasn't too sure. Furthermore, his reactions are downright dull. When he saw Ermine for the first time, it was as though he either kept on the smooth facade or was expecting her. What? Wasn't she dead? Wasn't he mourning her absence of some sort? It was ridiculous. Not to mention the cheesy romantic remarks made towards Lydia that further aggravated his reputation.

I did take interest in Raven's mysterious, composed aura. Though I was left dissatisfied when he only mentioned his personal character in less than 2 episodes. I was craving for answers to the truth behind his sprite species, like what they were like and how it could be more of a disadvantage aside from the fact that possessing a sprite spirit caused him to kill on impulse. It's too bad though. Especially when he and Lydia shared their similarities, I was expecting the similarities to be elaborated. Oh well.

As for Lydia, we know more of her profession than we do of her personal character. It's understandable on how she is a fairy doctor, which is good for the series. But how do we know how she was able to become a fairy doctor aside from the fact that she inherited the gift through her mother's genes? What did she have to go through? Was it difficult to be a fairy doctor at first aside from others believing you have crossed the brink of insanity? And what was the mother like in order to win the heart of a human professor? Her emotions are also puzzling. We understand that her heart was meddled with by mischievous boys as a child. Still, is she insecure? Is she afraid? Even Edgar asks those questions and yet she has failed to answer them. But overall, Lydia is rather cute [more in nature than in appearance] and has great knowledge of different worlds. But that is only one slice of the cake. If she were to show her personal side a little more, the viewer would have the whole cake and eat it too.

Enjoyment: [5]
I am not much of a fan of Shoujo animation. Nonetheless, I have encountered with Shoujo material that has caught my interest. Unfortunately for Hakushaku to Yousei, it failed to do justice. The corny romantic remarks made me laugh to a point where I questioned the seriousness. I am still sitting here questioning about over matters the series has not covered. The only thing good about the anime was its comedic nature. Truth be told, there isn't really anything unique about this anime. We've seen young, cute, silly girls attracting the attention of the dashing higherups. We've already seen supernatural matters that have brought two people together in holy matrimony. We've seen talking animals and non-human creatures causing trouble. At first glance, an Earl and a Fairy Doctor does sound different amongst the array of stereotypical Shoujo animes. But once peering through the depths, there isn't as much difference as I had initially perceived.

Overall: [6]
Keep in mind, if you will, how I am not bashing the series at all. I have seen worst. But I can admit that this anime wasn't as good as I had expected. I am giving the series a "fair" 6. It did leave me wondering, as most animes should. If this series could've done better in the growth and development of both the characters and the plot, the anime would have done justice to all. It did not. C'est la vie.

Earl and Fairy is an adventure where a doctor and a prince are going on a journey to find an heirloom of fairy origin. But since it is also a shoujo, the doctor is your typical silly girl with a good heart that can see mythological creatures and the prince is your typical mysterious hairless chest bad boy hunk. YEAAAAH here comes the cheese.

Animation is done by Artland, a studio which has produced nothing but mediocrities with the exception being the highly acclaimed Mushishi. Other than that, they never had high budgets and thus this show looks rather run down. Direction is done by a ... nobody who has produced nothing but passable titles.

So our shoujo heroine TM Lydia is a doctor, something that can fool you to think she cures diseases and treats wounds. That would make her a heck of a dynamic female instead of a clueless dumb broad. But NAAAAH she is actually a FAIRY doctor, akin to a witch doctor or a shaman, able to see and communicate with the unseen world of mythological creatures. And that is all she is doing, so the whole inborn talent she has is just there to flavour the story with sparkles of magic. So instead of having rose petals and stars as nothing more than visual effects in the background, those are literally stuff that happen in real life… but only to her, because she is the only one who can see all that, so everybody else just thinks she is a nutjob. So much for superpowers if you can use them to do jack in your every day life and be sent to an asylum for no real reason.

The problem with her is that she is penniless, since nobody would give a job to a 19th century girl, much less to a girl who claims she can see monsters in an age such things are considered nothing but fairy tales. Here is where the mysterious hunk TM Edgar enters the story and with his royal lineage and hairless chest asks her to help him find a sword to prove he is indeed an earl. Because finding that sword is apparently all it takes to prove to everyone you are who you claim to be; let’s hope some random peasant doesn’t get to it first because he will magically turn to a noble or something.

Each of them has their own mascot pet to boot. Lydia has a talking fluffy cat that acts like a spoiled noble and Edgar has a butler bodyguard who kicks ass and is of course also a hunk. And thus the four of them go on a journey where she constantly is helpless, he is constantly mysterious, and their pets do all the comic relief and action scenes. That pretty much means that the protagonists have less appeal than their lackeys. YAWN!

So here you are waiting to be excited with an adventure full of action and suspense. You get close to nothing because everything remains quite basic and blunt to the most part. The artwork is so weak and the antagonists so dull, you just don’t give a damn even if they accomplish whatever they want. And by the way, they don’t because the story is left incomplete. You also hope for some spicy romance to take place between them but NAAAAH not even that happens as everything remains on first base at best. There are many moments where they could have done much more than just holding hands but she keeps flipping and he just doesn’t try to force himself on her. How nice of him; too bad we don’t get a single interesting scene for the same reason.

And that is pretty much all you get from this anime. Run down visuals, dull music, stereotypical shoujo characters who don’t do anything, piss poor action and adventure and an open ending showing you its middle finger. You might as well not bother watching this unless you so much want to be disappointed or have a heck of a lot free time to waste.

And now for some excused scorings.
ART SECTION: 5/10
General Artwork 0/2 (run down)
Character Figures 1/2 (generic)
Backgrounds 2/2 (Victorian era and fairy tale feeling)
Animation 1/2 (basic)
Visual Effects 1/2 (basic)

SOUND SECTION: 6/10
Voice Acting 2/3 (corny but fitting with the feeling of the series)
Music Themes 2/4 (average)
Sound Effects 2/3 (ok I guess)

STORY SECTION: 3/10
Premise 1/2 (typical)
Pacing 1/2 (dull)
Complexity 1/2 (not much)
Plausibility 0/2 (none)
Conclusion 0/2 (doesn’t exist)

CHARACTER SECTION: 4/10
Presence 1/2 (generic)
Personality 2/2 (cheesy but well founded)
Backdrop 1/2 (generic and simplistic but it’s there)
Development 0/2 (none)
Catharsis 0/2 (none)

VALUE SECTION: 1/10
Historical Value 0/3 (none)
Rewatchability 0/3 (no reason to bother watching again such a dull and incomplete show)
Memorability 1/4 (nothing much to bother remembering it)

ENJOYMENT SECTION: 1/10
Art 0/1 (looks lazy)
Sound 0/2 (sounds dull)
Story 1/3 (generic and heads nowhere)
Characters 0/4 (stereotypes)

VERDICT: 3.5/10