In the never-ending world of fantasy, there are distinct personalities and features that help make it stand out. But it's often a taboo to have inequality in the world, such as masters and slaves, tradition vs. modern, and gender equality. Such is the case with novelist Miri Mikawa's completed 17-volume LN that is Sugar Apple Fairy Tale from 2010 to 2015, it sure took over a decade to finally have an anime adaptation, courtesy of J.C.Staff. But with every Shoujo-esque work that's clearly targeted at the female demographic, the Shonen or Seinen in us (if you're a young teenager or adult male) will definitely have something to say about a Shoujo show, in both good and bad ways.
In this season, there're quite a few "master and slaves" types of shows, such as Vinland Saga's Farmland arc (which is the immaculate kind) and this show, which true to be honest, raises some red flags. In Sugar Apple Fairy Tale, the kingdoms are treated in such a way that there are both humans and fairies, but that the fairies are controlled by the humans with one side of their wings as collateral. No matter how good or bad the human master is, the fairies are slaves to their work and bidding, and just like any abusive person, would lash out at them by using their given wings to forcefully torment them.
And one fairy would like to change that perception, thanks to someone that he would meet along the way. The main female Protag-chan Anne Helford has quite the dramatic life: the daughter of a beloved Silver Sugar Master (the title only bestowed by property), she passed on before Anne could ever mature and make her dream of becoming a Silver Sugar Master known to her. It's with that purpose that she sets on the long and winding journey to become just that, but with the kingdom's regulations that every human has a choice to affiliate themselves with fairies, Anne decides to purchase a fairy to act as her protector on her long travels. But what she got in return was a matter of pride and constant mutant understanding: the warrior fairy in the form of Challe Fen Challe who is more than meets the eye.
Essentially, Anne's journey of becoming the Silver Sugar Master is a road that filled with thorns and backlashes, as many as it could fill. Starting with the fairies that she affiliates herself with, Mythril Lid Pod is the small water fairy that she saved from a ruthless fairy hunter, and despite his childlike innocence plus the hatred of humans from how he was treated, he honours Anne saving him as a repayment of favour, eventually being a travel companion and a friend along the way. The main fairy in question, Challe Fen Challe is a warrior fairy serving as Anne's bodyguard, and although he hits the mark of the typical Ikemen being very handsome and beautiful, he has a sharp tongue that's not afraid to say what's on his mind, and with his master in toll, Challe constantly teasing Anne by calling her "Scarecrow" is the hallmark of a possible romance, because you can't take the romance out of a Shoujo work, as much as she works hard to bring out the best in her. Challe once had someone that was close with him but got killed thanks to the whole human-fairy enslavement rule, and eventually like Mythril Lid Pod, distrusts humans to an extreme degree. Though with Anne, both human and fairy take a while to get used to each other's quirks, and for the human who dislikes the gap between humans and fairies for slavery, promises something that is unheard of: letting one part of the wing that's reserved for the human masters, be returned to him on the basis that he doesn't run away from her willy-nilly, and as much as the warrior fairy himself gets a lot of scorn, he becomes trustworthy and protects her in the line of her dream enough for her to fall in love with him as time passes...because I must stress this again, the story would fall flat if there isn't any semblance of a relationship.
I don't know what it is about this show that likes to glorify inferior superiority, but there must be a hook, and this comes in the form of Jonas Anders. The former friend turned rival; Jonas is simply put: a man in agnostic denial. Once a friend that was as happy-go-lucky as he is to spell out that both him and Anne were going to be a married couple, ultimately, Jonas is a jerk of many proportions, using his past to anchor his present, like steal Anne's beautiful sugar confections and make it as his own. The reason for his inexcusable behaviour, is that he is the nephew of the Radcliffe Workshop under Marcus and owing to the school's hack-of-a-job inferiority complex to teach budding sugar artisans like Jonas, the biblical saying of "The Devil is here to seek and destroy" is as real as it could get. The unrepentable young man constantly in bickering against Anne, he is the epitome of selfishness. But, to talk about the Royals here, it would definitely taste even more sweeter. The Silver Sugar Viscount Hugh Mercury is a talented sugar artisan and knows when works like Anne's can be praised to high regard for the quality work that she has put out with all her heart. The same can be said for Alph "Kat" Hingley, who is also a Silver Sugar Master and respects Anne's hard work as well, at the cost of misunderstanding and a no-nonsense front if anyone tries to accuse Anne of unfairness. Last but not least, there is Keith Powell, the son of the previous Silver Sugar Viscount, who is affiliated with Kat and Anne's mother through surrounding his entire life with sugar confections, but never competes due to favouritism. And most certainly, he sees Anne like a legit, worthy rival, instead of Jonas and the others of the Radcliffe Workshop. Overall, the side characters support well, that is all except Jonas and his band of thieving rascals of the Radcliffe Workshop.
This show produced under the reins of J.C.Staff, it looks pretty, beautiful and whimsical from the fantasy standpoint. It's a lot of bright and vibrant colours to add to the allure of wonderful sugar confections that almost looked like it wasn't hand-made, but from the hard work of its artisans. A good job on that front. The OST complements the light-hearted show with Minori Suzuki and Sumire Moroboshi's OP and ED respectively, and that's all I can say about the other aspects of the show.
Sugar Apple Fairy Tale is both sweet and savoury. It can get sour from the many little things affecting it, from the slavery to the kinda-forced romance that most Shoujo shows tend to get plagued with for a moving story plot badly. But above all, it's light and delicate, and must be taken with a dose of fluff and air to properly enjoy and appreciate the show for what it is.
This is a love-hate show, and enjoy this or not, Sugar Apple Fairy Tale is a tale of the light and airy type. Who knows, you might like it...that's if you can muster the Shoujo tropes, which to me, this is yet another mediocre showing.
