By Mizue Tani and Asako Takaboshi. Released in Japan as “Hakushaku to Yōsei” by Shueisha Cobalt Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

I was very excited when Earl and Fairy debuted from J-Novel Heart, but I will admit that I underestimated the backlash that the series got from some areas of the community. This is an old-school shoujo series, and it stars an old-school shoujo love interest. If you don’t know what that means, look up “Black Bird” or “Hot Gimmick”. Though Earl and Fairy does not go nearly as far as those two series, it is definitely in the school of romance that is “he starts off as the worst, but gradually gets better due to the influence of our heroine”. And given this is a long-running series, it’s going to be very gradual. Edgar is not going to suddenly soften up and tell Lydia his deepest secrets. Moreover, given that he thinks Lydia would be perfectly happy to walk off and never see him again, don’t expect him to stop giving affectionate overtures that may be unwelcome. That’s how these series roll. Tender romance will be along in a bit.

Lydia has been hired by Edgar as his Fairy Doctor, meaning that she’s now living in London. Of course, this being a supernatural mystery series as well as a romance, trouble is following her around. Or, more accurately, following her employer around. A young woman has disappeared, and was last seen in a carriage with none other than Edgar. There’s a bogey-beast in the vicinity, and it’s not clear who its master is. Rosalie, cousin to the missing girl, is very much attracted to Edgar, and thus very annoyed that he only seems to have eyes for Lydia. The fog, always terrible in London of vaguely Victorian times, is even worse because of the threat of the Fogman. And possibly worst of all, Lydia is finding herself wanting to get closer to Edgar, and she has absolutely no idea why.

Lydia, I will admit, does suffer from some of the worst traits of a shoujo heroine. When she blithely walks into an abandoned warehouse with a girl that she already knows is antagonistic towards her, you will want to smack your forehead. She’s no shrinking violet, but sometimes that gets her into trouble as well – her desire to take quick and decisive action is what gets her soul trapped near the climax of the book. As for her relationship with Edgar, she’s not close enough for him to open his heart to, but that also means that she’ll never take any affectionate overtures he makes seriously. Nico, Lydia’s walking, talking, sarcastic cat (just throwing that out there for those who are still on the fence about this series) tells Edgar if he wants to win Lydia over he needs to stop lying to her. Unfortunately, Edgar has been hurt so much by so many people – and had nearly everyone who trusted him die – that this may not even be possible.

To sum up” great shoujo potboiler. Lydia is naive but awesome. Have patience with Edgar. Give Nico some tea and fish.

By Mizue Tani and Asako Takaboshi. Released in Japan as “Hakushaku to Yōsei” by Shueisha Cobalt Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

This may come as something of a shock to all of you, but I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to light novels. As such, you’ll need to simply smile and nod when I tell you that my reaction to hearing about the license of Earl and Fairy was not “oh my god it’s a 20-year -old series” or even “oh my god it’s 33 volumes long”. but rather “oh my god it’s a Cobalt Bunko title”. Back in the day, the main reason I became interested in light novels at all was due to an anime – based on a light novel – called Maria-sama Ga Miteru. That was ALSO published by Cobalt Bunko, Shueisha’s novel line for young women. For years, Shueisha light novels were in the “nope” category of license requests, and even after it opened up a bit Cobalt was still “nope”. This is a big deal, folks, and hopefully opens doors. The good news is that the book itself is a classic shoujo potboiler.

Lydia is a bit of an eccentric young woman. Leaving aside her red hair and green eyes (which in England in the time period this is set in means she’s a target of abuse), but she’s also a self-proclaimed “fairy doctor”, trying to follow her late mother. For the most part, no one believes anything she says. Then, when journeying to see her father in the city, she’s kidnapped – and then kidnapped again by a different kidnapper rescuing her from the first kidnapper. Her rescuer is Edgar, a handsome if somewhat jerkass man who not only is the chief suspect in a string of horrible murders but is also possibly the heir to an earldom that has connections to fairies. Only Lydia can help with her fairy knowledge… which Edgar doesn’t really believe in either.

The ‘category’ on my page says this is ‘earl and THE fairy’ because I reviewed the Viz Media manga of this series a long, long, time ago, and they translated it with the extra the. The whole series is old-school shoujo fantasy, and it’s all the more enjoyable for it. Lydia is quick-thinking and intelligent, doesn’t trust Edgar but feels drawn to him anyway, and thankfully is not a constant ball of aggrieved rage, which, frankly, Edgar sometimes deserves. He treats Lydia horribly, but we’re meant to listen more to his two servants, who note how nice and charming he’s being to her rather than resorting to his usual behavior (i.e. threatening to kill). He’s just as drawn in as she is. Also, this is definitely a fantasy, because spoilers, fairies really do exist. The mythology is actually very well done, and there’s nothing here that would scream “this is Japanese” at all. Which may be a good selling point in this era of “long title that is also the plot” books.

I urge people to pick this book up. It’s a good story, buying it means we’ll get more of it, and buying it even more means we might get more Cobalt titles in the future. Less Isekai’d dudes with swords more of this.

By Ayuko, from the light novels by Mizue Tani. Released in Japan as “Hakushaku to Yousei” by Shueisha, serialized in the magazine The Margaret. Released in North America by Viz.

Generally I try to give most Volume 1s a big review here, rather than pouring them into the ‘quick paragraph’ reviews I do with my colleagues for Bookshelf Briefs. That said, some Vol. 1s give me more to talk about than others. Let’s see what I can get out of The Earl & the Fairy, Viz’s new romantic fantasy shoujo?

3

The thing that struck me most while reading this first volume was how surprised I was that the author was Japanese. This reads like one of the Harlequin manga adaptations we see so much of on JManga these days. Pretty, spunky heroine abducted by handsome guy, rescued by another handsome guy, both linked by tragic, dark secrets… and fairies. OK, I admit, the fairies would probably be vampires if this were a genuine Harlequin adaptation. But still, there’s very much a sense of ‘romance novel’ in this series, as even the names are Western (which is a given, since it takes place in England.) This actually works quite well, giving it some variety that’s a long way from ‘girl in high school is trying to win over the boy she likes’ that tends to pigeonhole so much shoujo.

That said, while I’m not sure I’d go so far as my colleagues in calling it ‘a bit of a mess’, I do agree that the plot and characterization can be fairly unfocused at times. There’s a lot to lay out here involving Lydia, her family and her strange abilities, who Edgar is and his own past, the twin servants he has, who Huxley is and what his part in all this is, and still find enough time to have the heroine start to fall for the hero. Not to mention her magical animal familiar. (Oh please don’t let her power up into a magical girl, I beg you.) The pace is fast – some might say breakneck – but we haven’t really had time to breathe, and I sense that this volume will be best appreciated after the other three are out.

The author has done her research, though. There’s some interesting fairy lore here, and I liked the fact that the heroine considers her red-haired, green-eyed looks to be plain and unattractive – it’s the mid 19th century, when that type isn’t in style the way it is today. She manages to walk a fine line through the volume, being a damsel in distress much of the time, but manages to try to be independent anyway, and I like her banter with Edgar.

This manga is not really going to be much of a surprise to anyone who’s read Barbara Cartland or Amanda Quick. That said, it is somewhat of a change of pace for shoujo manga we’ve seen here (at least aside from the Harlequin adaptations of Western romances), and promises some intrigue in future volumes. I do worry that the twins will turn out to be evil, because that’s what tends to happen in these sorts of things. Still, a decent first book, and recommended for those who kept waiting for Edgar to be more of a pirate.