Grim fairy tales.
What They Say:
From the director of Drifters, and the creator behind Grimgar, Ashes and Illusions, comes a war-torn world on the brink of calamity. Able to summon fairies as alter-ego weapons, former soldiers become government dogs, mafia members, and even terrorists in search of purpose beyond the battlefield. Who will maintain the peace they all fought for nine years ago?
Episode #1: Ash-Covered Girl
Marlya has been searching for Veronica ever since the great war, but Veronica seems to be conducting a search of her own. When the two of them, and Free, all run headlong into each other, it quickly escalates into a fairy-fueled fight.
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Fairy Gone is the latest action anime to catch my attention for its staff, promo images, and overall setting. With the writer of Grimgar and veteran animation staff working on this project, I was immediately interested. The character designs are far more mature than most anime, and the leads were clearly adults. Basically, it was right up my alley.
The setting is a post-war one with a distinctly WW1 era feeling to it. There are guns and swords being used as weapons, and magic in the form of fairies. This first episode plunges the audience directly into the action of an auction which comes under attack. A terrorist named Veronica is after the page of a book up for auction, and only the appearance of an old friend, Marlya, gives her pause.
Marlya is an unusual lead to get a handle on. She’s confident and comfortable with a hunting rifle and has clearly been making her way on her own for a long time. Yet she has a level of naivety and just a touch of ditziness that makes me wonder how the hell she managed to get hired into a security detail. She stumbles into her powers by accident and her only recourse is to join Free’s unit, a deal which she accepts.
Free is a bit more typical as far as leads go. He’s a veteran soldier on the losing side of the war. As a former fairy soldier, he is a walking weapon and works for the new government. He infiltrated the same organization as Marlya for similar but different reasons. His banter with Marlya definitely feels like a meeting of equals, and it will be interesting to see how their relationship develops.
Some of the elements of this first episode feel especially clunky. Marlya has somehow infiltrated the mafia in her search for Veronica, yet seems to know nothing about the world she inhabits. She comes across as someone who is playing dumb but it doesn’t exactly appear to be an act. Despite having grown up in a town in close proximity to fairies she knows nothing about them. The cute mascot creature is entirely out of place and unnecessary, and strikes me as an act of committee.
The most out-of-place element of the presentation is the music. The action scenes are filled with generic rock music with Engrish vocals reminiscent of a video game. It just doesn’t fit with the setting at all and took me right out of the action.
The animation is decent, even if the fights involving the fairy spirits are mostly CG. I want to call the fairies “Stands,” because that’s exactly how they seem to operate. I’m worried about how well the animation will hold up in later episodes because the character designs are very intricate and detailed. They aren’t as cartoony as most anime and definitely feel focused on a western audience. I really like the designs overall, with the practical clothing and period appropriate attire. It’s a good look.
In Summary:
Fairy Gone presents itself as a more mature fantasy series, grounded in a setting reminiscent of World War 1 and rife with the lingering effects of war. The strength of this series lies in its character designs and setting, and as of right now that’s about it. The music feels out of place and while the writers try not to take the exposition route to explain their world yet it leaves their lead sounding like a ditz for being so unclued into its workings. The action is heavy on the CG, and the designs of the fairy monsters are rather bland. Still, I’m willing to give it the benefit of a doubt as the plot gets underway and hope the animation can at least maintain the levels presented here.
Episode Grade: B –
Streamed by: Funimation
