I decided to watch this anime as soon as I saw the news about it. Romance, Victorian-like style, and yes, a cat wearing what looked like butler attire. All those factors and the overall feeling the promotional images and the trailer gave off got me attracted to this charming fairy tale.
-STORY- 8/10
My only big disappointment was the ending. The story itself was quite exciting and adventurous, and was building up nicely toward its grand conclusion. Except that conclusion never came. The viewers were left with more questions than answers, and the issue that seemed to be the main focus of the plot, was never resolved. The relationship between Edgar and Lydia also stopped progressing in the second half. Nearly every potentially romantic moment was interrupted either by outside influence or by the characters' indecisiveness. Which is fine once or twice, but it is definitely not the method I would recommend overusing in a romantic storyline.
-CHARACTERS- 8/10
The story managed to introduce a very large range of characters in such a short time, which was both a success and a downfall. If I was judging solely on the characters' diversity, I would have given it full marks. I don't think there was a single character toward whom I was indifferent, nor were they your usual shoujo stereotypes. However, the development of characters is just as important as making them appeal to the public. Due to such a small number of episodes, the same problem as the one discussed in the previous section occurred. Some characters did not move farther than their point of introduction. And the so-called main villain appeared so close to the end that the audience hardly had a chance to find out anything other than his name.
-ART/ANIMATION- 9/10
The artwork is beautiful and suits the given genre very nicely. Pretty girls and handsome boys, flower gardens, starry skies, everything you would expect in a romantic fairy tale. It's quite colorful, but not overly bright, so it doesn't get in the way of enjoyment. I especially loved how the eyes were drawn. The animation quality could use some improvement though, and the characters on the background are not very detailed in comparison to close-ups.
-SOUND- 10/10
This is the aspect of Hakushaku to Yosei for which I don't have a single complaint. Both the background music and the sound effects were perfectly tied in with all the other elements. The opening and ending songs were also very nice. The ending song, My Fairy by Midorikawa Hikaru (Edgar's seiyuu), was especially charming and captured the overall feel of the story.
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Since there was no real ending to the anime and there is no second season in sight, you might have to look for manga and/or light novels to know the complete story.
