Fairy Gone Part 2

This review will cover both seasons of Fairy Gone.

The best thing about watching an anime train-wreck is seeing your hope and exceptions for a series get destroyed like dirt. Like many others from the net, I was excited for Fairy Gone. It had a great appealing poster that stood out compared to other anime of the season. I really thought that Fairy Gone was going to anime of the year material alongside with Fruits Basket 2019 and Vinland Saga thanks to its great premise. Instead, what I got was a badly directed, uninspired, and incoherent train-wreck of a show that contradicts almost everything that ... I value in anime.

The biggest problem with the anime is that it doesn't explain the plot. It has a lot of things going on yet the show doesn't even bother to explain shit. It doesn't take the time to give you the character motivations instead of stuff that just happens for the sake of it. It doesn't feel like a story at all and because of that the show ultimately becomes pointless just like a pre-made asset flip game on Steam.
Sure you may have the assets of the project that you want to make but there should be a purpose of all this and in Fairy Gone case a story that is worth telling. One of the reasons why people have gotten interested in this medium is for the stories that the writers have in-stored for us to experience. The varied story-lines, the intriguing themes and character growth.

The fact that this action-fantasy show doesn't have a story is not only insulting to the eye but it completely contradicts why people watch anime in the first place.
You can get away from being plotless in a slice of life series but for an action fantasy show, it's really pathetic. By the time I got to the second half of the series aka Fairy Gone Season 1 Part 2, I stopped giving a rats ass about the plot as it was so incoherent. I tried to care about many of the events of the second half but once again the show still didn't learn from its mistakes that plagued the first half.
This is what happens when you don't explain the story to the viewer and as a result the writing and characters suffer because of this.

Fairy Gone is an anime original project yet the writing is on par with generic light novel garbage. It hamfists you with info-dumps, flashbacks, stock cliches, monologues etc.
Now here comes the sad part of Fairy Gone, the characters. I really wanted to like the characters because they could have been good but the light novel garbage writing and the show's failure to explain the story competently killed these characters as they came off as husks rather than actual people. Not only are there so many characters that the show expects us to care about every one of them. I can only remember 1 character in the show Marlya.

The rest of the characters I had to go to the Fairy Gone Wiki just to remember the other characters names and if I have to use outside assistance just to remember the names of your cast then something is wrong.

Getting back to Marlya, she's one of the most annoying and blandest female characters of 2019. Not only she's a total Mary Sue but her motivation is weak. I also hated how she contradicts the show's setting. She gets a spirit by touching one while people like Free have to get surgery just to get a spirit. I think the writers in Fairy Gone had no idea of what they were doing, and they just had to contradict the setting to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

I really wanted to like Free but the show wouldn't allow me to like him. He seems to be a cool character that has a decent amount of personality but thanks to the show's failure to explain the plot properly it breaks this character to a point where just becomes just another generic male action lead. The rest of the characters just exist for the sake of existing. They are not even worth mentioning all just like this lifeless shell of a plot and it includes Veronica who is nothing more than a plot device for Marlya.

Fairy Gone visually is on par with other P.A works in terms of art-style, background scenery and character designs but at the same time, it's not as consistent or colourful as other P.A works shows. For starters, the style gradually gets more inconsistent as it progresses.  The first 3 episodes are visually pleasing but after that, the show starts to deteriorate to mediocre territory making it the worst anime from P.A works visually. Animation while competent at times is rather stiff.
The kicker of Fairy Gone visuals is the crappy CGI. I honestly have never seen CGI used so poorly in a long while. It makes the show look cheaper than it actually is with still frames, horrid fight, choreography and choppy animation. It just breaks the immersion drastically.

I honestly forget this show had a soundtrack. Despite the show having a great number of tracks, the show seems to play the same handful of tracks over and over again to a point, it becomes grating.
The opening themes, on the other hand, were good and easily the best thing about Fairy Gone. The ending themes were good but nothing special.
Both the Original Japanese Audio and the Funimation Dub are solid. The voice actors suit the roles nicely and the line delivery is consistent.

Fairy Gone is a textbook example of great ideas but poor execution. The series had everything right from its great premise and setting but the writing, empty characters, inconsistent production values and atrocious story structure ultimately killed it.

There is so much better action and fantasy out there like Bungou Stray Dogs, Golden Kamuy and The Ancient Magus Bride. Fairy Gone is a failure that is a void of passion, substance and creativity and you should avoid it like the plague.

Welp, a finale is here and here I am, once again writing a review on this anime that was for no particular reasons split in two. But whatever, lets begin.

Story. Did it improve? Not really, but at least we got some movement and a somewhat OK antagonist. But it still looked like they had most of names, organisations and groups just as white noise to create a "look it is a believable world!", so no need in them.
Art&Sound. Well, it is the same. It is kinda ok, looks cheap when not a close view, opening is nice but the rest is really mediocre.
Characters. Any development? ... Not really, once again. Characters do change, but they just pull a complete 180 out of nowhere, even though before this they did not change no matter what happent. So pretty disappointing. Most characters still have plot armor and don't care about any shooting, until the time for them comes to die and they just perish without any notable resistance. I'd say that characters are the main problem in this anime as they do a really bad job of giving life to the world, of giving us emotions to care about and follow. They are just way too shallow, dull and one-dimensional.
Enjoyment. Well, I watched it - and I can't say anything more about it.
Sadly, S2 is just a way too minor improvement compared to a failed S1, don't waste your time on it.

Wlep with only 4 guys who made a review of this sequel, I'd say that only one rated this a 10 while the rest rated it either a 3 or a 4, cu'z while it was an original work by studio PA Works through Shimizu, Takako, well it was pretty obvious that he make quite a good action pack anime with his works with Banana Fish thought it was just too gay for me, Garo and Jojo which I find it way too over hyped. But having this anime have a good ending was nice though it was a bit lackluster with it's 1st season, ... when you talk about Dorothea being a government agency that was basically a rock in hard place when it's an honest organization that was surrounded by corruption and enemies from inside of the government, in which we always get to see them fumbling as if they're incompetent. But in this sequel we now see them making up for their fumbling when the Ein's Organization came out and decided to their evil plan into action. So, how do I rate this:

Story- Good 7: It did have a good plot, when we talk about mankind where after the Unification War, some sees mankind that needs to be culled and reduce to a population that need to be rebooted by a single leader that was chosen by the secret organization. The story plot also puts a government agency by the named Dorothea that operated in a very difficult situation, where it has to do things by the book even though someone was making things hard for them when it involves a secret organization within the government thus in the end up being a bunch of fumbling fools. However in this sequel they somehow were able to get a break when they finally knew who's behind all the trouble brewing within The Unified Zesskia Empire, also the fact that this has a good ending was enough to make up for this anime's short coming from the 1st season.

Art-Fair 6: fair enough as in one won't be seeing any marlya, or Ver's or any of the female cast's fanservices.

Sound-Good 7: That for the ending theme , Stay Gold (K)NoW_NAME:Ayaka Tachiba.


Character-Very Good 8: Well.when we talk about the characters we have Marlya Noel, who started a Gui Carlin's security detail until she was recruited by Free Underbar into Dorothea, but the thing about her was at one point her character was more like a wallflower where she doesn't do much at all , even when she has a rifle she seem to be very much of a poor shot , not only that she basically has some lesbian love for her former friend Veronica Thorne about her well you could say that her characters an antagonist was very much well played though In could've wished that Marlya could have killed her. Free Underbar was basically a kind of protagonist that charges first and think later, in fact that what he always does, in which his character most of the time was annoying, there was also the part where I would feel that he's a homo for Wolfran Row another antagonist whose role was well played where he was portrayed as a smartass that was able to outwit them Dorothea guys a lot, frankly I can say that this was one anime where the protagonist weren't having it easy against them bad guys, so I guess at one point this doesn't make this anime boring.

Enjoyment-Decent 4: Given that them Dorothea guys keep fumbling up and them making it up for this sequel was basically one part good but two parts boring.However given that this has a clean ending it did provide a something good as to my enjoyment.

Overall- Decent 4: It might not be the best anime, but it did provide a clean ending.

My case with Fairy Gone as a series was always that of a disappointment. I wanted the show to be good, I wanted it to live up to its synopsis, but it seems, I gambled every hype I had at the time on its name, but this talk is especially directed at the first season, the gateway to it all. I have stressed long enough on the review for the first season on everything bad it did.
Season two, on the other hand, brings a lot of improvement to the table, but also slacks on some other, but the fact of the matter stays; the second ... season is a polished, more serious flavor of the first season.

Story (6.7/10):
A major convenience this season had over the previous one was the adoption of a more linear timeline that doesn't shift the focus too much. No excessive flashbacks that interrupt the action, but rather, those are initiated with a bit of a build-up that doesn't throw off the mood and attention.
The plot concludes on an open note, making an end to many plot threads and goals it set up at the start, but also raises a new question to - God protect us - a potential continuation of the story. That said, the plot does wrap, it does pay respect to the characters sacrificed throughout the run, it does eradicate the danger it was attempting to prevent.
I feel like the classical linear progression really helped shape a clearer, more enjoyable sit through of a story, favoring the backlash random timeline shifting to more character-focused gimmicks that definitely helped put some respect on the name of a few characters that were perceived as “useless” in the first season, *cough* Free *cough*.

Art (7.8/10):
I have been debating over this internally with myself, but I'm pretty sure the series knew a visual downgrade in terms of visual fidelity that we've grown to appreciate from the previous season. Aside from the highlights, characters look deformed, extremely idle and lazy at times with dead eyes and soulless faces.
The use of CGI continues still, but I can't help but point out how well they improved on hiding it, and making its use more uncommon compared to the first season.

Sound (8/10):
Fairy Gone has always had a consistent visual and vocal bundle, but unlike the visuals that have known a dip in quality on a general note, the vocals, dare I say, are objectively better. I still can't decide between both seasons' openings and endings theme songs, both had a pair of party bangers for sure, however, from what covers the voice acting, the second season surely takes the cake. This season had a lot of resolutions set, so naturally, it was almost a constant emotional roller coaster for the main characters that required professional voice acting that touches, tingles, and pleasures your audible strings. The desperate screams were convincing.

Characters (6/10):
What I hated about this franchise the most, right after the nightmarish CGI spam was its collection of uninteresting characters. But hear me out.
On the visual level, they do please the eye, the designs are great and all, but the personality is almost non-existent. And I say almost. The first season had me confused as if I was sitting through a narrated story while looking at motionless dolls, this season was threatened with the same fate, but it luckily overcame it.
Free, yes, the useless badass looking agent of Dorothea pulled down the cover that was slowing him down and actually showed some personality. He had a voice that can be heard, a vision that can be respected, and a body that acts instead of barking. The rest of the cast followed in his footsteps, and that alone highlighted a lot about the character, making me half-regretful from doubting the previous season.

Enjoyment (7/10):
I realized midway the first season that I had made a grave mistake by part-taking on this franchise' hype train. The series was planned to serialize in 24 episodes, but then was split into two cours that had a season-length break in-between, I was struck, disappointed, and really annoyed from the fact that I will have to dedicate time for this boring shitshow that I had just barely finished the first season of, but perhaps, that break was just the right drive the franchise needed to improved and realize its mistakes. The result? A far better package that delivered and polished on every little thing I nitpicked on my review of the first season. It was an unexpectedly welcomed seasonal addition to my library, to say the least, it even had me think about rewatching the series from start to finish again, this time, with a full picture perception.

Overall (7.1/10):
I feel like Fairy Gone is one of those shows that I'll keep to myself, one of those shows that I don't feel like recommending to friends and not. Of course, my perspective is not absolute, it can be flawed, it can be changed, hell, who knew if this became one of my favorite shows if a rewatch was all I had to give it, but until then, Fairy Gone is not... gone, and I, at least at this moment, don't wish for its return. OVA and special episodes that expand on some of the cast will be welcomed any time though.

Very analytical review by category(for both seasons, from someone with 720 anime entries as of writing this review) -- here we go!

Art: 8
One of the more praiseworthy aspects of this anime is the art. Especially in the opening theme. Overall the backgrounds were nice, the style of the characters were quite detailed, not the most detailed but it wasn't a copypasta of the same design with different colors either. The opening songs had enough effects that it was comparable to unlimited budget works as far as particle effects, cg, detail, animation etc (OP gets a 10, ED about 8-9). The show was nice to look ... at, overall. It isn't a masterpiece in the art department for its time, by no means, but it is at least above average. The only reason why some points were taken off were really just the fact that the quality was mostly in the OP and ED and the rest of the show didn't consistently follow through with the art quality (about a 7 for most of the show).

Sound: 7
The songs in this show are quite decent. Not sqeaky kawaii songs; decently spirited OP and chill ED. Sadly, despite the good use of sound in the OP and ED, the overall BGM is kinda lacking in iconic pieces. This isn't a Hiroyuki Sawano or Kajiura show, sadly. And the OP and ED were really just good for the budget this show had spent (8 each). The BGM sits at about 5 in that my ears weren't begging me to mute the show but I literally remember no pieces from it either. Voice acting was nothing special. This isn't like some of the older dub anime where I just want the characters to shut up but it's just standard Japanese voice acting.

Story: 5
Sadly, this is where the show falls flat. We have a post-war world with some plot going on with people who werent happy with how the war turned out. That's...about enough to sum it up. Yup, just that bland. Ok, there's a bit of "will of the fairies" shit going on too. Yeah but...Nothing intricate, no really good literary devices or story telling techniques to reeeeeally heighten the reader's emotions. The best scene was in the last episode and that's the only one that made me utter a "oof...". If there were morals to be discussed, they were not exactly any new ideas or topics and were rather cliche.

Character: 6
This bit had potential between Marlya and Veronica. It really did. There were parts where this could have gone REALLY far. The writers sadly...didn't really pick up on it though. Like that sisterly spark is there... but it was lit up too late and just not given enough time resource within the story to really shine. Free and Marlya's relationship could also really be improved. Sure they spend a lot of screentime together and I don't need them to get together romantically, but it felt flat. Then there's other characters who I really didn't feel any attachment for because there just wasn't really enough time to develop them. They were distinct enough to remember by appearance and ability but not really enough to cry for if they died (ex: a certain Holy Britannian Emperor). Some shows like Gundam Seed had Flay as a very passionately hated character, and these types make great antagonists but the ones in this show...I couldn't relate to or understand the logic for why they were doing what they were doing and they were just shadowy/edgey...not really anything to hate on and get emotions worked up when they do something bad.

Enjoyment: 6
It's a "eh". The characters are what makes a viewer grow attached to a show (ex: Macross Frontier did a great job growing the three characters they focused on and maturing them, Fate/Zero had broskander and AUO). The plot is what keeps a viewer hooked for more (Code Geass and it's infinite plot twists). This one didn't quite hit home in either department...

Still, it's watchable. Just, nothing amazing.

Overall:
7 (Would've been a 6 if the OP and ED weren't so nice to look at/listen to)

Hmm...I'm not really surprised at how sub-par this ended up, yet somehow I'm still disappointed.  Maybe that's me asking too much of P.A. Works, but I guess that's really par for the course at this point.

Story:

With the peace of Unified Zesskia threatened by several different looming parties, the independent defense force of Dorothea is forced to buckle down and challenge the groups that seek to break down what was built up during the War of Unification.  Which, along the way, our protagonists learn of the secret of the fairies and what the destruction of the town of Suna meant.

Considering the fact that the entire first ... episode of Season 2 is a recap of the entire series up until that point, the quality and pacing of Fairy Gone's second half was to be shaky at best.  While I wish I could say that Season 2 is just a continuation of the story, the reality of the show lends S2 to being a series of seemingly random events that are only loosely based on what was revealed in S1.  The series achieves this weird result by introducing completely new characters and different threats to the unification that were never previously mentioned before.  Plot points like the Black Fairy Tome, several character motivations, and the burning of Suna are used solely as connecting points to bridge new arcs to the series, acting like some antagonists and threats are things the audience should've known in the past, even though they were never mentioned prior.

As a result, the series feels incredibly disjointed from episode to episode, often times speeding through doing something like raiding someone's house in less than half an episode before transitioning to something completely different that's only tangentially related to the events at hand.  So much happens in the series, but almost none of it matters because the substance it provides has almost no handle in the endgame due to only a small fraction of the total character count having any kind of impact to the story.  The story also has a problem with repeating or reminding the audience about certain events, character grievances, or even character names (first and last) ad nauseam, making it as if the repetition makes these things more important when really it doesn't matter since we've known about the burning of Suna since the first episode; repeating it for the 40th time doesn't do anything.

The one point of the story I will give the show credit is the massive injection of Fairy lore given to us during the midway point.  It's the one thing in the series that I've been wanting since the beginning, and its introduction and backstory to the fairies, Suna, and the Suna survivors actually had me invested in the series for a period of time.  Still not worth waiting one and a half seasons for though.

While S2 resolves the issue of the show sporting divergent storylines that end up meeting in the middle somewhere, the direction of S2 was still faulty at best.  With random plot points and leads sprouting out of nowhere and multiple investigations, backstories, and talking points all appearing in the same episode, the structure and narrative progression of Fairy Gone II only exacerbates the show's running problem of fitting such a giant narrative with many moving parts into a relatively small timeframe.  This is made worse when character motivations evaporate at the first instance of characters actually talking things out instead of being stubborn to their only character trait, thus getting rid of a lot of previous tension in favor for the endgame's looming threat mentioned nowhere else in the rest of the series.

Characters:

Honestly, there's not a lot to really talk about here in terms of the 'main' cast.  Probably the only sticking point is the fact that practically everyone who was carried over from last season to this one has the same singular trait that makes up their character.  Marlya still sees herself as the 'cursed child' (until she's told she's not), Free still struggles with the idea of him being an article of war (until he's told he's not), and Veronica's bloodlust for the man who burned down her village persists despite efforts saying it's not worth it (until she finally sits down and is told it's not worth it).  And that's only for the 'main' characters.

Many side characters don't really change all that much, and any specific ones the series deems prominent enough to get a backstory gets one if only to serve the plot in that specific moment.  It's a strange waste of time because the building of such characters only fills in the allotted episode length, and needlessly complicates the story more because the enriched flavor text of these side characters vanishes the moment they're either unceremoniously killed off of the show, or just disappear because the role they serve is not needed.

The antagonists are the most egregious of the bunch, taking the ideas of both the main characters' singular trait and the side characters' needlessly expanded backstories to create bad guys that literally don't even matter.  (And I think a couple of them just don't exist some time during S1 and S2)  I've never been one to agree with the motivation of "Apocalypse for the Sake of Destruction", and the series doing just that really does not do the show any favors.  I get they did it for the reason of improving stakes, but the motivations of antagonists like these and others who only do something to 'prove a point' is so shallow that they don't even feel like characters.  They feel like plot points instead of actual threats and it's frustrating to see some of them go "You wouldn't understand" when their motivation just doesn't make sense from the start.  Seriously, how does 'resetting the world' save anything?  How does 'destroying peace to show how fragile it is' accomplish ANYTHING worthwhile?

Aesthetics:

The art carries a similar quality to that of S1, and doesn't really differ from that.  I personally don't like P.A. Works working off this muted color scheme, but I suppose the doom and gloom works for a series built around constantly threatening the government and usurping the fragile peace after a long war of unification.  Still not a fan however, and the art ends up looking quite average to me.  Despite that, I still do praise the designs of the fairies despite most to all of them sporting 3-D animation.  Good, unique designs that really show how committed they were to making these fae creatures.

Animation is another boon since it seemed like the team was really dedicated to making a lot of hand to hand combat scenes that had punch and movement to them instead of mostly gun fights and one or two sword scenes.  Still would've liked some variety to the fights instead of the humans fighting other humans and the fairies fighting other fairies, but I guess the budget wasn't big enough to let them try and mix the two together and create some dynamism with their action.

As for the OST, personally I still prefer "Knock on the Core".  (K)NoW_NAME's "Still Standing" is an alright OP, but compared to Knock on the Core, I don't think it's as good even though they both sound remarkably similar.  I think it's the heavier electric guitar that doesn't do it for me.

"Stay Gold" is a bit of a different story.  Its slower and more methodical beat works towards the show's favor due to every episode seemingly ending on a story beat that works towards the song's introduction.  It's also fully in Japanese instead of being sung in English like the OPs are, which I think(?) lends the song to being a smoother listen, and is significantly better than its OP sister.

Personal Enjoyment:

Fairy Gone is a show that felt doomed from the start.  The amount of moving parts this series has is staggering, and almost none of it felt significant enough for the plot to be as complex as it was.  Hell they even brought back a previous antagonist that showed up last season and threw him to the wolves at the very end of this season because they realized that his 'story arc' was incomplete, only to be unceremoniously offed without any real impact to the plot because he had nothing of value to offer.

Taking in the consideration of 3 mafias and its numerous members, 4 regional lords, a prime minister, the king, a fairy cult, a rogue soldier with a band of bandits, a fairy researcher, multiple miscellaneous characters who fill up the spaces, and Dorothea who holds the majority of the main characters, with each one of these serving as a moving part to the series as a whole, I'm not quite sure what P.A. Works was thinking when they made Fairy Gone.  I'm frustrated because the same motto of "Great idea, Terrible Execution" is so prominent here that I'm retching at the fact that I have to repeat it.  Again.

The plot moves with such staggeringly little substance that I'm genuinely surprised I managed to make it to the end without getting a headache, and what little worth the series has is clouded and hidden behind so much poorly thought out antagonistic motivation and forced character un-interaction that I actually think the creators thought that having no one talk about anything made the show more serious or complex.  Do you honestly want me to believe that the phrase "You wouldn't understand" is a meaningful response to another character asking why you're choosing to help end the world?

Fairy Gone's recommendation is still a no from me.  Feigned complexity is no substitute for actual substance, and the headache of trying to piece together all of these different cases and minor antagonists together, only for it to not matter in the end is such a slap in the face to the audience since there was no leadup prior to the series's 'final boss conclusion'.  Seriously.  The fairy cult shows up in like the last half to third of the series's entire runtime.  What's the point of the other bad guys if THOSE bad guys were the real bad guys we should've watched out for all along?

The real score is 7.5 because it's the average between the two.

I also watched the whole series so I'l explain briefly (for real) why this isn't perfectly good but at the same time why it isn't so utterly awful.

- So why it isn't that great for many of us?
It didn't have much plotwists. Plotwists are the very essence of an amazing story but this was just a bunch of adults fighting each other, I get it. They could have done better and some dialogs were too plain an obvious.

- It's not that horrible, because the animation was nice to watch, the CGI ... was great and it had solid action scenes PLUS women were extremely overwhelming in this one, you can't deny that. Did you realise that there are "revelation" scenes after most of the endings? Also, the OST was beautiful and well put and edited, that gets a point from me just for that.

They left an open ending... Yes.

I've talked about Fairy Gone. It was one of those series that had potential with its concept, but bland execution. Well, it's time we looked at the second series and see if it improves in that regard.

Story:

We pick up where the last series left off. Marlya's old friend Veronica wants to take revenge on mass murderer, Ray Dawn. Dorothea is trying to protect him and cleaning up after the attack from the climax of the last series. While all this is going on, another piece of the Black Fairy Tome is found and Dorothea, the terrorist organisation Gui Carlin and the shadowy Eins ... Order all want to acquire it.

There are a couple issues with the narrative. One is that the head of the Eins Order basically draws attention to himself unnecessarily. Seriously, the man is in a position where he's going to get the piece of the Black Fairy tome after Dorothea retrieves it but he sends people to get involved and draw a huge amount of attention to him. It's almost as bad as the antagonist of Tiger & Bunny exposing himself for no reason. Aside from that, the main issue with the series is one of the same we had in the first. The pacing is awkward and it doesn't elaborate on some of its big plot points properly.

That being said, there are a few notable areas where the writing does improve. First off, the climax is much stronger in this one. The series also continues with its survivor's guilt theme and starts incorporating this idea of moving away from past tragedies and looking to the future. Which is a theme that goes very well with the first. And the whole concept is still a good one with this group fighting criminals and terrorists using their Personae... I mean Stands.... I mean Faeries.

Characters:

I have the same issue with the characters that I had in the first. Aside from the major characters and the themes of survivor's guilt & Moving On, there isn't much depth or intrigue to the protagonists, except for Marlya. Marlya's back story, her interactions with Veronica and the way she contributes to those themes does elevate her. The rest are just bog standard. Wolfran and Veronica are still the strongest characters in the series and this one does do a good job of fleshing them out more. Veronica & Marlya still have the only interpersonal dynamic that I actually like. And not just because it's really gay. All the stuff you get about their childhood and them trying to reconnect is actually pretty good. I would even go so far as to say if the rest of the cast had greatly reduced roles and the focus was on those two, this anime would be really good.

Art:

The artwork is still a strong point of the series. The characters look good. The backgrounds are nicely detailed. The designs for the various Personae are well done. The action sequences are very nicely done.

Sound:

I'll say basically the same thing I said for the first series. The actors give strong performances, in spite of most of them not having much character complexity to work with. The music, though mediocre on its own, is used very well.

Ho-yay:

Marlya and Veronica's dynamic gets pretty les-yayriffic without becoming blatant enough that it's basically canon.

Areas of Improvement:

1. The series legitimately would benefit from dropping most characters to very minor roles and focusing on Veronica and Marlya. And there's a very simple reason for it. They're the only characters with a compelling dynamic while most of the other characters are a bit bland in general.

2. The series could definitely do a better job with the pacing and extrapolating on its plot points.

3. there's no reason for the antagonist to draw attention to himself the way he does. And it's frustrating because it's an easy fix. Have attention drawn to him by another source and let him catch wind of it. You can still have him clear out by the time Dorothea arrives without looking like an inept dumbass.

Final Thoughts:

I do think the second series is a bit stronger than the first but it also shares a lot of the same problems. Most of the characters are very flat archetypes. The pacing is all over the place. There are some dumb elements where the writers clearly weren't thinking. But it did improve on some of its characters. The climax is well done. The artwork and acting are both strong and there are some compelling themes. So, I'll go up to a 6/10.

Fairy Gone is a series that has got a lot of flack, some of it is justified, which I'll touch on in a bit, but much of it is exaggerated hyperbole. Despite, the criticism, it remains my favourite series of the year.

Fairy Gone 2 has improved a lot of the issues I had with the first cour, such as a the direction, cuts, fight scenes, link dumping and the overall feeling of not caring that I often had when watching the series. Don't get me wrong, I love Marlya and she's in my top 10, but the other characters like Ver, Free, the supporting cast ... in Dorothea, etc. just felt like cardboard cutouts who served no real purpose. In the first 4 episodes of this, we have received more development than we did in the entire first 12 of the first cour. The action scenes have improved, the character motivations are a lot more fleshed out, I can now understand the actions of the main factions and we finally got the lore explained to us.

The final few episodes are extremely well paced, written and the action scenes are well animated. The type of quality that would have really got the show increased popularity and scores had it debuted with.

Unfortunately, for some odd reason, PA works waited 16 episodes in to begin doing this, at which point most viewers have long since dropped the series. For a studio who brought us such works as Angel Beats, Charlotte, Shirobako, Hanasaku Iroha and Sakura quest, I am very surprised at this. Regardless of that, the second half of the series has made serious strides to improve and as someone who already loved the first half, the setting, story and characters, it's easy to give this one the stamp of approval. Another banger OP, ED and more best girl.

The finale episodes left me a bit disappointed narratively, felt like the show had been pushing several ships the entire time and then all of a sudden dropped them and offered no resolution. The CGI boss fight was also slightly off putting. But overall I still enjoyed the series throughout.


TL:DR If you are interested in the series at all, strong female MC's and waifus, you'll love the second half.

Edit: I have also now just learn there is a manga available through Kadowakawa, so I have ordered it and can't wait to get more of the story.

Kind of a miss on every front. The initial design is almost there but lacks a uniqueness. Then moving on from there the story back story characters fight scene magic system are all card board cookie cutter paper thin trying to be an interesting product for the start of the big 3 era. Thankfully other series have moved on greatly from that time and I hope this studio catches up as well because with a bit of risk and the lessons of its influences this could've been a great show. The alter ego made iconic by jojo its here with a blandness I never could've ... imagined. Attempting to build off of ajins aesthetics but with a foresty animal inspiration it completely flops as just edgy cg animals. The combat is often inconsequential with the fairy's playing almost no role and are actually comparable by the humans. I dont even know how to go into how awful and cliche the writing is just watch an episode for yourself and know it gets worse.