Hakushaku to Yousei
The Earl & the Fairy

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There’s nothing overly complex about The Earl and the Fairy. You have a fairy doctor whose sole occupation is helping fairies, whether it’s with internal fairy conflicts or their conflicts with humans. Then you have a mysterious Earl who seeks her assistance for some tricky nobility contentions. The two formulate a unique friendship, one that is constantly questioned by a sassy, bow-tie wearing, whisky-drinking kitty cat (upon seeing said feline, I was totally sold).

The characters, although quite entertaining, are nothing overly special, but they are a pleasant step away from the quintessential shōjo traits, which make themselves apparent early on. The portrait of young girl ... (named Lydia) in blossoming adolescence with a cheery perception of a profession of which she has no experience would be the very first thing the reader is presented with. But you’ll note that she’s not a student, she’s not ditzy, and she’s most definitely not a boy-crazy harlot searching for self-worth in the opposite sex. This was a delightful change of pace from the norms of shōjo. Her intellect and kindness make her very easy to become smitten with. Then we have our dashing Earl, who is (expectedly) flirty and charming, yet regardless of his fun personality he comes off as rather enigmatic, and you soon recognize that he’s not your standard prince-type. While the male protagonist is very stereotypical, the two characters have a tasteful chemistry in the way they interact that just feels great to read. My favourite character is the fancy feline friend of our darling fairy doctor (no surprise there, right?). He is an absolutely enchanting little critter. With a snarky tongue, a taste for the finer things in life, sophisticated attire, and cute compassion for his comrade, his presence really rounds off the cast nicely.

My favourite characteristics of The Earl and the Fairy probably began when the references to Celtic lore were introduced. I have always admired fantastical creatures like mermaids and any folklore stories pertaining to them is almost like porn for me. When the plot of this series took us to an island off the shores of Ireland, called Manan, all because of some mer-tails (ha, see what I did there?), the fangirl within me squealed with excitement. The execution of the adventure and the expression of these Irish fables were wonderfully winsome.

The usage of supernatural qualities continues throughout the four volumes, however, the quality of suspense begins to lack momentarily in between the two different story arcs. Because The Earl and the Fairy is so terse, there is limited space for filler material; actually there is none to speak of. While this can be an appealing aspect, it also hurts the writing. The conversion of plot as the story unfolds is left feeling abrupt and rushed. It’s almost tangible as you begin to feel this hastiness at certain key parts of the story. When you finally approach the finale, there is a slight taste of emptiness upon the tongue. Questions loom above your head, dangling from threads of curiosity.

The brusque nature of the plot notwithstanding, The Earl and the Fairy was an enchanting serial to sit through, especially due to the art. The clean and polished nature of the artwork draws your attention to the page, the details fine and shadowed with articulate care. Even if the pages are brimming from corner to corner, your vision never feels overwhelmed. It is comfortable to the point that it compels you to take a moment or two to truly admire the fine lines and thick strokes that illustrates the story. While at first glance it seems standard, the longer you read it, the more you realize how lovely it is.

If you are a fan of fantasy and supernatural traits with an appetite for the shōjo genre, then I recommend this to you. It’s different from your standard high school drama but in all of the best ways. While it’s not the greatest thing out there, it definitely doesn’t disappoint. My rating for The Earl and the Fairy consists of seven brownies outta ten.

I was expecting this manga to be a light-hearted fantasy shoujo manga, but I was wrong.
The story was interesting. There are only 16 chapters, so the story progresses quickly and advances continuously in each chapter. The end of the chapter had enough suspense to make you want to start the next chapter. The story was easy to follow and wasn't complex, but it was interesting enough to make you want to finish it. Though it was a short manga, it didn't feel rushed, but the ending was not satisfying. There wasn't an ending. The story doesn't finish, and we don't exactly know what happens ... to the characters after it just stops.
The art is crisp and well done. I think the art style suits the manga, and the effects were nice. The manga panels were fluid and easy to follow, and the art was still noticeable in the small boxes. The backgrounds felt pretty simple and average. Each of the characters was unique and didn't look similar to each other. Their clothing suited their personalities well and matched each character's personalities.
The characters are very frustrating and hard to relate to. Most of the characters are flawed, and it is shown throughout the story. They made stupid decisions, and it was confusing to figure out why they did things the way they did. The way they reacted to certain situations was frustrating and unrealistic at times. Throughout the story, the characters pretty much stay the same. There weren't any villains in the story, and the antagonist felt like they were there for the plot, and that's it. I think the author intended to make some of the characters dislikeable because they don't show any signs of ever changing. But even though the characters are flawed, they are simple and not that memorable.
I did enjoy this manga, but to be honest, I was glad to be done with it. I feel like others will not really like this manga, though. It's pretty short, the story feels incomplete, and the characters are very dislikeable. This manga was definitely a one time thing, and I don't see myself rereading it in the future.

When I was younger, around the year 2008, I watched an old anime called Hakushaku to Yousei, commonly known in English as Earl and Fairy. I remember watching it all the way through and liking it as a teenager, but after that, I just forgot about it. Earl and Fairy actually started off as a light novel series by Mizue Tani, completed in 2021 at a total of 32 volumes. The light novel series hasn't been licensed, and originally, the anime wasn't either until Discotek Media put it out in the US in 2017. However, Viz Media picked up the manga adaptation in 2012, and ... only just now have I managed to get around to actually reading it. It helps that it's complete at four volumes and cheap copies of the paperbacks can be found online pretty easily. So now that I've finally checked out the manga...unfortunately, I wish I could like this more than I do, because even by light novel adaptation standards, Earl and Fairy's manga is pretty dull.

And it so shouldn't be, because the premise is actually pretty interesting! In an alternate 19th century England, fairies are said to be the stuff of myths, but Lydia Carlton, a 17-year-old girl living in the town of Edinburgh, knows them to be real. She is a fairy doctor like her late mother, and her job is to speak with fairies and solve problems. Unfortunately, regular people can't see them, so most people think she's insane. But Lydia is determined to carry on her mother's work and give aid to fairies and humans alike. A trip to visit her researcher father leads to her getting kidnapped, but is rescued by a rogue claiming to be named Edgar Ashenbert, also known as Lord Ibrazel and a supposed descendant of the fabled Blue Knight Earl. Edgar needs Lydia's help to find his ancestor's sword, and as much as she really doesn't like him, Lydia has no choice but to help him in his quest.

Having seen the anime in high school, kid me would have absolutely devoured this series. But reading the manga as an adult...I really hate to say it, but this manga adaptation is actually pretty dull. All the characters are really bland and one-note, little more than amalgamations of shoujo cliches you've seen in many other mangas before this one. But the main reason the characters are so dull is that the manga continuously violates "Show, Don't Tell." The manga is very wordy and full of exposition that could have easily been better off actually being depicted on the page. Many characters shill Edgar as being this troubled yet kind man, but the problem is that he's not actually written or depicted in a way that communicates any personality beyond vague smarminess or scheming manipulator, and he's constantly using other people, Lydia included, for his own means, not caring about how they'd feel about being roped into his schemes, something Lydia frequently calls him out on.

Another contributor to this is the manga's ridiculously fast pacing. It jumps from one plot point to the next without much in the way of a break, and a lot of details are just info-dumped by various characters rather than having things play out organically. While I normally like it when something actually strives to tell its story rather than dawdle around with needless filler, Earl and Fairy just rushes through its plot and expects its readers to care about it while making no effort to really flesh everything out. Plus, considering this manga is only four volumes long, it doesn't even have time to resolve all of its plot beats anyway, ending on a really open-ended note with a lot of the big mysteries never getting wrapped up in any way. This is further compounded by the fact that Ayuko, the illustrator for the manga, says in the author's notes that she was forced to leave out a lot of details from the novels, so was unable to adapt all of what was available at the time of publishing. It's a shame that she wasn't able to adapt the light novels in a way that did the source material justice. Whether it was due to time constraints or executive mandate, who knows? Plus, I remember the anime having several characters and subplots that don't even exist in the manga, so her claim that she wasn't able to adapt everything from the light novels definitely has merit to it!

The only positive thing I can really say about Earl and Fairy is that the artwork is, at the very least, competent. The character designs are faithful to those of the light novel, but are still pretty generic by themselves. The backgrounds and the fairy designs fare much better, as they're given the appropriate amount of detail, and many of the fairies are given very fun, creative designs. I really liked the way the Merrows were drawn. That being said, the panels and their placements are very cluttered, paired too close together to the point of it feeling suffocating. The pages are often very crowded, and the visual flow between panels is stunted, making it hard to follow what's going on at times, especially when there's motion and action involved. So yeah, Earl and Fairy as a manga is generic, cliche, devoid of personality, and doesn't do the source material justice. It's really a shame, because in better hands, Earl and Fairy's premise could have been amazing. But it's not likely to enchant readers any time soon. If I ever get around to rewatching the anime, I hope to God it's somewhat better than the manga.