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.
Well, I was suckered in once again. I was all set to talk about the fact that Earl and Fairy is a product of 90s shoujo, and that like a lot of 90s shoujo (and indeed a lot of manga and comics in general), it had a habit of snapping back to the default whenever anything important happened. I was ready to rage against no one seeming to have learned their lesson and everyone forgetting what happened the previous book. But no, it’s another stealth short story collection. Which means I can’t be really annoyed at Lydia and Edgar for behaving like they used to eight or nine books ago. There’s just one issue with this: I am annoyed anyway. Given that getting these two to meet in the middle and come to an understanding has been like pulling teeth, I feel no need to go back to the days where Lydia was stubborn and quick to believe the worst, and Edgar helped her along very well in that regard. On the bright side, the last story is terrific.
There are three short stories here, two of which were written for magazines and feature Edgar and Lydia towards the start of the series. In the first, a “stork fairy” arrives posing as a baby, and a delighted Edgar takes this opportunity to play as if he and Lydia are already parents… while Lydia tries to hook him up with his own maid, despite the fact that she sort of hates that idea. In the second, a nightingale (fairy version, not bird version) tries to get Lydia to fall in love, because otherwise she will perish, but runs up against the problem of, well, Lydia in general. The final story is new to this volume, and takes place after Book 11. A newly engaged Edgar and Lydia are having dinner with her father, Frederick, and he takes the opportunity to reminisce (to himself, Lydia has no idea) how he met her mother.
I have mentioned this before, but will bring it up again: The author is much better at writing action, suspense and supernatural intrigue than they are writing romance. The first story really rubbed me the wrong way, mostly as I had forgotten this is what most 90s shoujo was actually like. The 2nd was a bit better, and we did get to see Raven in drag, which was a lot more fun for us than it was for Raven. But no, the main reason this was a decent book is the back half, with the story of Frederick and Aurora. They meet cute, and you do get the sense that she falls for him almost immediately, but as the story goes on you see that’s not quite true. It also has some unnerving and scary bits. This is an insular community, and her father is unpleasant. What’s worse, her “second fiance” is abusive, and it’s hinted that if she doesn’t get away with Frederick getting abused will be her lot in life. It’s well known to the village that she’s a changeling, and not everyone seems at peace with that – though more people are than Aurora expects, leading to the sweetest part of the book.
I assume next time we’ll get a full volume. I also assume some fairy-related or Edgar’s past-related thing will get in the way of our heroes getting married, because that’s how this sort of series rolls. Less of past “always angry, always caddish” Lydia and Edgar, please.
