Anime

Review of Fairy Gone Episode 02: First Field Assignment and The Lingering Wounds of War

Quick Summary

In Fairy Gone episode 2, “Wolf Collar and Swan Feathers,” Free Underbar has some explaining to do after the failed operation in the previous episode. He’s ordered to keep it a secret that Mariya Noel apparently turned herself into a fairy soldier by herself and using just a fairy primordial, both of which are supposed to be impossible. Free and Mariya head out on their first mission as a team. They are ordered to investigate an artificial fairy manufacturing ring. Will they learn who the big-spending customer is? Can they stand up to the individual they do find? And guess who else has a friend who’s turned against society because of the wounds of war?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious. 

What’s in This Post

3 Favorite Moments

Mariya is a great shot — and her teammates seem to acknowledge that. Capture from the Funimation stream.

Moment 1

We’ve seen before how Mariya carries a beautiful bolt-action hunting rifle. The implication was that she was a good shot, but we really didn’t have any idea how good. Free didn’t really know either, because there wasn’t a lot of opportunity during the fight in the previous episode for her to show off. As Free’s commanding officer gets ready to grill him over the failure of the auction operation, we get to see Mariya at target practice with some of Dorothea’s other agents (5:40). Two things jumped out at me about this scene. First, she shot well — very well. Her stance supported the kind of shots she was taking, and she shot with both eyes open. Details like that are important to pulling me into a world! Second, I liked how the other agents (mostly men) were impressed at her skills. It’s nice to see an organization that recognizes quality execution! 

Clara has to concentrate in order to see what her fairy sees. That’s a realistic limitation on her powers! Capture from the Funimation stream.

Moment 2

So far, we’ve seen fighter/soldier fairies like Veronica Throne’s, Free’s, and Mariya’s. I was beginning to think that given the concept of fairy soldiers, that was the only kind there were. But in this favorite moment, we find out that there are at least two different kinds. First we meet Clara Kysenaria (10:21) (who Crunchyroll’s subs translated as Klara Kysenaria!), whose fairy looked like a light-green frog (and did it have a little collar?). Its job is to get close to an enemy’s position and relay what it sees back to Clara. It’s small, so an enemy can’t easily see it (though Wolfran Row, Free’s old comrade in arms, could sense it). Another example was the fairy with the fourth member of their team, Serge Tova. His fairy wraps around his neck and arm to act as a magical mortar or missile launcher (15:27). The variety will make the fairy’s role in this series more interesting. It was also cool to see that using that fairy’s ability’s meant Clara had to concentrate. I like an ability or power that extracts a price; otherwise, it could descend into Over Powered-ness!

Free’s tactics were sound! Wolfran was just faster and more powerful… Capture from the Funimation stream.

Moment 3

Free used to be a trained soldier, and we’ve seen that he can use a sword. That’s a good start, but he’s not just a soldier, he’s a fairy solider. So, I would expect him to have some way of integrating his fairy with his fighting style. I was really happy to see an example of that! Free and Mariya track Wolfran to where he’s about to attack Serge and Clara (and I’m already attached to Clara, so I would take a dim view of that). Leaving Mariya to provide cover fire, Free sends his fairy to attack Wolfran (14:00). Wolfran has not only great senses, as he detected the attack. He also has great reflexes, because he leapt up and away from the attack — right into the path of Free’s sword! Free’s attack failed because Wolfran is just that good, but it was a solid tactic that increased the world’s believability and immersion. 

Thoughts

You might notice that clicking on the character’s names in this post take you to blank entires in the My Anime List database. At least, as of this writing, they’re blank. Sorry about that! The show’s so new, MAL is still updating the information. I hope before too long, they’ll have character images and biographies updated. 

So, who was the poor guy who gave his life for Free? I know his name was Jet, but he just seemed to come out of nowhere plot wise! And couldn’t he have found a better way to save Free than just talking the spear/sword/fairy arm thrust? Not to belittle his sacrifice, but I think tackling the bad guy from the side so he and Free could have attacked two on one might have been more effective than taking the blow (2:52). 

Seriously, Jet, you get points for saving Free. But I got to dock you style points for taking a sword in the gut. Seriously, was a side-tackle really out of the question? Capture from the Funimation stream.

Plus, I’m still scratching my head over why the enemy just stood there grinning. Why didn’t he yank out his blade and continue his attack on Free? He just seemed to leave (though we’re not sure because we didn’t get to see that part).

Did I interpret this right — Dorothea give Mariya a little target practice, then puts her into the field? Are they that desparate for agents? Shouldn’t an agent go through months or even years of training before going into harm’s wary?

And I know this is hopelessly nit-picking, but during her target practice, as she pulled the bolt back to eject the cartridge, you could hear the brass casing pinging off metal or stone. But when the camera pulled back, she was standing on a wooden platform. Ever drop metal onto a wood floor? Doesn’t make much of a ping, does it? I used to shoot rifles in competition when I was a kid, so I notice silly stuff like that…

If you are getting the impression that I’m less impressed with episode 2 than I was with 1, you’re right. The things I just mentioned felt like missteps to me, but I’m not ready to give up just yet. This episode still had some cool elements (like my favorite three moments). It also gave us some hints that Mariya is more than she seems. 

Free was surprised that Mariya’s fairy, even though wounded, still moved to protect her. Capture from the Funimation stream.

Remember how Free’s commanding officer, Nein Aular, had a hard time believing that Mariya could become a fairy soldier only by interacting with a fairy primordial? How about when Wolfran saw what Mariya’s fairy looked like and seemed taken aback. What was that about? After Wolfran’s fairy sliced off Mariya’s fairy’s arms, Free tried to get to her, but even injured, her fairy moved to stand between Mariya and Free. Free was surprised that it seemed to act of its own volition to protect her. Clearly, there’s something going on there — something beyond what’s common knowledge to even more seasoned characters like Wolfran. 

A character mystery like that will keep me coming back. Not only that, but I’m still seriously enjoying the animation action and style. The music was a little more awkward in places this episode, but I liked it, too. Clara and Serge, along with their fairies, bring some variety to the cast; like Mariya said, Serge seems almost irresponsible, but he’s a great shot. So despite my griping earlier, I’m still glad I selected this show to review. At least so far!

Did you enjoy this episode? What were your favorite moments? Let me know in the comments!

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6 thoughts on “Review of Fairy Gone Episode 02: First Field Assignment and The Lingering Wounds of War

  1. I assumed Wolfran was surprised to see a humanoid fairy. Apparantly, fairies possess animals, and then the organs are transplanted, so in return the fairy then looks a little like the animal (as evidenced by, for example, the wolf form of frees fairy and the similar eyes which they emphasised, but they do seem to acquire a humanoid “skeletal structure”). Miriya’s fairy is almost completely human, though, with a mask for a face. You wouldn’t see that often. (Corrollary: if you were to kill Mariya and transplant one of her organs… how would the fairy change?)

    I didn’t notice any of the gunnery details. I’m hardware challanged and have little interest in guns as such. (I’ve always assumed people who close an eye while shooting have differently sighted eyes – e.g. one normal, one short- or far-sighted. Other than that, it’s snipers who look through a visor.) It’s interesting to read what they get right and/or wrong.

    1. “I assumed Wolfran was surprised to see a humanoid fairy. ”

      That’s a good point! I can always count on you to pick up on details like that.

      I’m still so bummed about her lack of training, though. It’s negligence! You just don’t put a newbie in harm’s way until they know what they’re doing!

  2. I still can’t get over them sending Marlya into combat without explaining the basics of using a fairy. Surely, Free could have talked her through some Of the fundamentals on the train. I get that it would be an info dump, but it would have been better than what we got.

    1. “I still can’t get over them sending Marlya into combat without explaining the basics of using a fairy.”

      I’m still scratching my head over that! As far as I know, she doesn’t even know the fundamentals of field work, much less the finer points!

      Even soldiers or police officers need weeks of training to begin to be proficient with a sidearm. Looks like fairies are way more complicated!

      1. All I can assume is that they only recruit fairy soldiers and no one is making them any more so there isn’t a training plan and if they made one for Marlya it would reveal her unique situation. It’s still crazy that Free hasn’t sat her down and gone over it as someone in the know.

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