Anime

Review of Fairy gone Episode 08: A Bittersweet Victory and the PM at Lancepoint

Quick Summary

In Fairy gone episode 8, “Pipe Blowing in Stage Wing,” Sweety Bitter Sweet double-crosses the double-cross she double-crossed in the previous episode and captures Gilbert Warlock. Together with Mariya Noel and Klara Kysenaria, they descend into the cellars of Gilbert’s home on the way to obtain Black Four. Will Gilbert actually lead them to it? Will Sweety let the Dorothea agents take possession? Meanwhile, the investigation into the malfunctioning artificial fairies reaches a climax with an arrest — and a lingering doubt. Did they get the right man? Will the tenth anniversary celebration go as planned? Or is there still an active plot against the celebration and the Prime Minister?

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

What’s in This Post

3 Favorite Moments

Moment 1: Sweety Bittersweet’s Superior Planning

Sweety is resource and relentless. I’d hate to have her as an enemy! Capture from the Funimation stream.

Sweety showed that once again, she’s two or three steps ahead of everyone. Not only Dorothea, but Gilbert as well. Using the double double-cross to take Gilbert hostage, Sweety forced Gilbert to lead them to the hidden lair where he kept his secret stash — including the Black Four. It was behind a secret door in the back of a fireplace, and as the door slid open, she stood beside Gilbert. She reached into his pocket, pushed him back into Mariya and Klara, dove through the door, and trigged the mechanism to shut it — all in one fluid motion (5:54). The door shut before Mariya could drive through. It’s nice to see at least one of the characters using their brains! Okay, that was overly harsh, but Sweety did herself proud in this moment.

Moment 2: Golbarn Helwise Makes a Good Decision

Golbarn made a good decision based on the information in front of him. Sometimes even the right decision is tough! Capture from the Funimation stream.

Ordinarily, something as mundane as a solid, well-informed decision wouldn’t make it to my top 3 favorite moments. However, I thought in this episode, such a moment was noteworthy. Two ministers, with Nein Aular watching, informed Golbarn Helwise, the Prime Minister of Unified Zesskia, that they could not guarantee the safety of the new artificial fairies (10:10). Golbarn was disappointed; he was apparently under considerable pressure to use the new models for the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the end of the war. But between the news that the sabotage was an inside job, the minster’s uncertainty that the new models could protect His Imperial Majesty, and their inability to change the date of the celebration, he made his decision. They would not use the new models (10:40). It’s just so rare to see a government body make a good decision! 

Moment 3: Golbarn Helwise Barely Escapes Death

Some days, it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed. I think this was one of those days for Golbarn. Capture from the Funimation stream.

In terms of theatrical staging, the attempt on Prime Minister Golbarn looked impressive. As he stood on the balcony delivering a commemorative speech to the citizens, the old model artificial fairies formed a semi-circle around him and lowered the flag poles to point at him (19:35). The crowd noticed it first and start screaming. Then the Prime Minister himself noticed. While Ray Dawn looked on after apparently thinking about helping and deciding nah, Schwartz Diese shoved one of the artificial fairies away and pushed Golbarn to the ground. At the same time, the Dorothea agents closed in on Ted. Free threw him to the ground, and Mariya kicked the override flute away (20:02). Mariya gets bonus points for being so polite. As she kicked it away, she said “Sorry!” 

Thoughts

There are several reasons I try to stay positive about the shows I watch. One of the reasons has nothing to do with making a statement or trying to change the world. No, one of the reasons is purely practical.

Once I start to dislike a show, it’s easy to rip it apart. Even worse, one I start ripping a show apart, it’s really hard for me to notice if it gets better. I almost feel like a shark in the middle of a feeding frenzy! 

Let’s take this episode as an example. The show has left me increasingly disappointed after its first seven episodes. If I take a step back and look at this episode in isolation, I see that it’s not really bad. There are some cool plot moments. There are some examples of interesting characters, especially Sweety. There’s even some decent (if not spectacular) drama. 

But after seven episodes that left me feeling let down, things that might be little problems in another series seem much larger — and more jarring. 

How many shots do we need of doors opening? Of legs moving (4:25 and 7:17)? 

I know I’m nitpicking. But if I don’t nip it in the bud, this is what happens — I see all the faults! Capture from the Funimation stream.

How is it possible that no one noticed the gaping hole left by the device that took control of the artificial fairies (9:25)?

Is it really plausible that the chief mechanic never considered Ted Livingston might use the older model’s override function (15:55) — in a situation dealing with override functions?

Do physics mean nothing in this world? Robert Chase’s motorcycle skid about 10 meters when it stopped. But it wasn’t going that fast to start with (16:38)!

How did Ted get so close to the balcony to use his flute — yet stay near enough for Dorothea agents to tackle him (19:06)? He was kinda obvious standing there, too!

I know some of my favorite shows have issues like this. How many times did the opposing side halt their attack in The Asterisk Wars’ duels so Ayato and Julis could talk strategy? Oh, about every time! But I didn’t care because I was so thoroughly enjoying myself. But Fairy gone is challenging my philosophy here. More accurately, it’s tempting me to give into my inclination to tear it apart. And you know what?

I’m not going to do it.

The episode really wasn’t all bad. Mariya kicking the flute out of reach and apologizing for doing so was pretty funny. Capture from the Funimation stream.

I’m going to keep looking for my three favorite moments. I’m not going to sugar-coat its flaws, but at the same time, I’m not going to let those flaws blind me to anything worth enjoying. In a bizarre sense, it’s almost like living in modern Western society. If you let the insanity weigh you down, you could miss the honestly good things, and that would leave you at a disadvantage.

So, for the sake of Western Civilization, I’m going to try to find the good in this show! 

How’s that for hyperbolic?

Do you think Fairy gone is past the point of no return? What were your favorite moments? Let me know in the comments!

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8 thoughts on “Review of Fairy gone Episode 08: A Bittersweet Victory and the PM at Lancepoint

  1. I didn’t much like this episode, but that’s just the sort of shoddy writing I came to expect from the show. It’s solid when you look at the big picture, but it doesn’t really hold up on the details. It doesn’t seem to bother me as much as it does you, but at the same time I seem to be less receptive to the “cool moments” of the show than you. It’s a decent but middling show, for me. There’s potential for a better show in there, but I think it’s going to go like this to the end – an interesting story, clumsily plodding forth. It’s got a certain eye-rolling kind of charm for me. I’m fine with what I’m getting, but it’s no favourite of mine.

    1. “It doesn’t seem to bother me as much as it does you”

      Unrealized potential is a pet peeve of mine. I think this show has a ton of potential, so it’s really annoying for me to see it going in the direction it is!

      “It’s got a certain eye-rolling kind of charm for me. ”

      I like that description!

      1. I can see unmined potential in nearly every show. If I can’t, I’m inclined to get bored. Unmined potential is only a problem if the show either pushes me into it at every step or if there’s litterely nothing else of interest from me in there. Neither of that is true in here: I think they know what they’re doing and are doing it (and it clashes a little with what I want from the show). I still think that if Where Eagles Dare and Indiana Jones married, had a child, and were constantly bickering about child reering, that child might grow up to be Fairy Gone.

        1. “I can see unmined potential in nearly every show.”

          I think I didn’t explain myself very well. I agree with you about unmined potential — if other potential’s being realized. Tracing untaken paths or the unchosen of two choices is fun and can reflect a complex, well-realized world.

          Here, I have an overwhelming sense that the path taken ignores more interesting choices and the path taken seems blazed to bore!

          It’s all subjective, of course. That’s why I’m trying to keep a tight rein on my negativity, because I might miss something cool.

          “I still think that if Where Eagles Dare and Indiana Jones married, had a child, and were constantly bickering about child reering, that child might grow up to be Fairy Gone.”

          Maybe if the Indiana Jones movie was the fourth (Crystal Skull) entry? Okay, that was uncalled for…

          But you know what? The image your quote triggered in my mind made me want to see more of those qualities in Fairy gone — because the potential’s there!

          I’m just afraid we’ll see Free climb into a refrigerator and end up miles away from an artificial fairy attack…

          1. I’ve never seen Crystal Skull. I assume the refrigerator is a reference?

            ***That’s why I’m trying to keep a tight rein on my negativity, because I might miss something cool.***

            Some years I go, I deleted all the entries in my MAL by hand. Why? First, I couldn’t find a quicker method, and second, keeping a list made me somehow feel obligated to finish shows I didn’t really like. I stopped keeping a list; I started dropping more shows – and I’m enjoying anime a lot more again. There’s a danger to being overly positive (= more than you feel it), and that’s that you eventually forget how to like things, and that’s replaced by a sense of what sort of things you should like. Not sure if you’re susceptible to that, too; I’m speaking from my own experience (and not necessarily only anime) – and it’s stressful.

            1. “There’s a danger to being overly positive ”

              Oh, absolutely! I agree with you there.

              My experience, though, is that once I go down that path, I don’t come back easily! So I’m trying to stay positive, which translates into I actually end up neutral on shows like this one. The three moments I pointed out as my favorites? They’re honestly my favorites, so I’m not sugar-coating anything.

              “I’m speaking from my own experience (and not necessarily only anime) – and it’s stressful.”

              I appreciate the insight, and agree with you here, too. If a show gets to the point that I actually dislike it, then I’ll drop it. I dropped a few this season (like YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world), so I get what you’re saying.

              Bummer you had to delete the MAL entries by hand! That sounds like a real pain.

  2. I’m still hopeful that Sweety can save the series. If only they’d assassinated the Prime Minister, that would have shaken things up a bit. They seem to want to take too long on boring and mundane stuff like the bar scene, but rush through the assassination attempt or the standoff at Gilbert’s manor.

    1. “I’m still hopeful that Sweety can save the series. ”

      She’s doing what she can! She on top of the leaderboard right now…

      “If only they’d assassinated the Prime Minister, that would have shaken things up a bit.”

      That would have been interesting, wouldn’t it? Something to force our characters to deal with sudden and potentially catastrophic change…

      That’s one way to describe drama, isn’t it?

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