Hakushaku to Yōsei Episode 1

Kidnapped Girl + Earl wannabe= match made in heaven.

When the new fall line-up was first announced, I looked over the list and jotted down ones that looked interesting. Hakushaku to Yōsei did not make the list. There was limited information on the series and the brief description that was given with the series made it seem rather boring. I watched other shows and blogged about them instead. Last night, I was reading several blogs I try to stay current with and most of them mentioned Hakushaku to Yōsei in a positive way. Deciding that perhaps I had been a little too judgmental, I gave the show a chance.

MMMM judgmental.

Click to read about this episode

The series starts off with a dark scene. Edgar has kidnapped a man and is integrating him about the location of an object. The man claims not to know where it is, but tells him of a girl who does know. Edgar thanks him for the information and we are left thinking he killed the man. Cut to Lydia Carlton, the self proclaimed Fairy Doctor. She tries to convince several people who pass by her house that fairies are real. No one believes her and the talking cat in the tree laughs at her. Lydia receives a letter from her father, asking her to come to London. After the opening song, Lydia's father gives a little background dialogue. There was a man named Lord Ibrzel, Earl of the Fairy Nation (nickname Blue Knight Earl). That person was very important to England and Fairy Nation. Then there are people called fairy doctors, sorta of like go betweeners for the humans and fairies. Both his wife and daughter are fairy doctors, thus he believes this all. Back in real time, Lydia arrives on the ship, but is made to switch rooms. Upon the switch, a man sneaks up on Lydia and tells her he is being held hostage and he needs her help to escape. Believing his story, Lydia and the man manage to get off the ship. Lydia wakes up later greeted by the man, now donning blond hair and introduces himself as Edgar. Edgar and his servant Raven get Lydia all dressed up, as she is now on a DIFFERENT boat and is expected to attend a fancy dinner. Ticked off, Lydia attends the dinner and due to a silly confession on her part, she learns that Edgar claims to be the descendent of the Blue Knight Earl. Later, Edgar confronts her on the deck and tells her he is not being recognized at the Blue Knight Earl, as he has not inherited his family’s powers nor does he have Noble Sword of the Merrow. He got captured on purpose just so he could meet up with her, as she can help him find the sword. Given that Lydia is on a boat going who knows where with NO money and that the sword might end up in the wrong hands (be that Edgar or the people who kidnapped him), what real choice does she have?!

Our lovely heroine.

And here is the straight laced hero.

I was pleasantly surprised with this episode. I had really low expectations, what with pitiful and misleading plot summary. This was the summary listed on the Fall Anime Preview 2008 list: “The story is set in 19th century England and centers on a "fairy doctor" named Lydia (other sources state: Lydia Carlton, who is nicknamed the "Fairy Doctor" due to her interest in fairies). Her life takes a 180-degrees turn when she meets a legendary blue knight count named Edgar and his crew. He hires her as an adviser during his quest to obtain a treasured sword that was supposed to be handed down to him by his family”. That summary is very misleading. With both sources using quotations, I assumed that this girl was making fairies up, that she just called herself a fairy doctor because she was crazy. It could have been explained better in the summaries stated “Lydia, the Fairy Doctor, often sees things that normal people don’t”. That is often a story line in animes, there was no reason to imply she was a fairy doctor due to her interest in fairies. In anime, anything can happen so BE SPECIFIC! Now, she does not MEET Edgar on a voyage, she is kidnapped! Big difference there people! Also, she did not get hired as an adviser, she is basically held hostage and is forced into the job. Perhaps the light novel is written this way, but this is the description for the anime! People really dropped the ball on this one. People often judge an anime by its description and art. Hopefully people will look beyond the deceptive information out there and give this show a chance.

Misleading articles do not amuse us!

With that all said…..Lydia is still slightly special. Chalk another one up on the naive girl list. Yes, she has it tough with most people not believing her fairy seeing abilities, but that does not mean you have to go around trusting strangers. Work on your people skills girls! Thankfully she wises up…after she ends up on a strange ship, but she does wise up! She is weary of Edgar’s claim of being the Blue Knight Earl and doesn’t seem to want to help him on his mission. So she is a mixture of too trusting nice girl and and burnt heroine working with the “bad guy”.

What is not to trust about this situation?!

Is Edgar the heir to fairy land or is he really a murderer? Lydia learns in an earlier scene about a young man fitting his description who runs around murdering people. The viewers see Edgar holding someone hostage and a gun goes off. Yet he pretends to be this refine man in public and in private he is trying to obtain a sword to be acknowledged as the Blue Knight Earl. Can murderers rule over fairy land and bring peace to all? Are the stories about him fake and a set up by the other people after the sword? I will not be swayed by blond hair and beautiful eyes. For all we know, he could be trying to obtain Fairy Land so he can conquer the world. Edgar seems very con artist like, so viewers should watch his moves very carefully.

Are we watching Special A again?!

This episode isn’t jammed packed with other characters. It only introduces us to a few as to not overwhelm the audience. Nico is the talking cat who claims not to be a talking cat. He lives with Lydia and gives her advice and drinks liquor. Edgar has a very fine man servant named Raven. And yes, I did imagine a yaoi scene when Raven was being protective over his wounded master. That is just how I operate. The viewers are briefly introduced to a man named Huskley. He was acting as if he worked on the ship Lydia was on originally, but Edgar claims he is after the Star Sapphire in the Noble Sword of the Merrow. So there were some supporting characters set in play, but not too many that my brain is mush.

My cat likes a drink after a long, hard day.

Can't he be the main character instead?!

When reading the description of the show, I thought fairies meant…fairies. But apparently anything can be a fairy; the talking cat is a fairy cat. When the father is giving his background information speech, the Earl is shown with several animals/creatures as if they were from the fairy nation, but then a girl is shown (either Lydia or her mother) with more traditional fairies. I will have to take the word fairy to mean mythical being instead of what my preconceived notions are of a fairy.

Are these faeries too?

These fairies seem more girl friendly.

There are a few disappointing things with this show. It is only scheduled for 13 episodes thus far, so that is a little bit scary. 13 episode shows and me usually do not mix. There was a scene where the mail man did not see Nico the non cat fairy, yet other people can see him? Perhaps I am just being dense and the mail man did see him, but then Nico commented on how people can’t see fairies if they do not believe. Then Edgar can see the cat, but he claims to not have the power to see the fairies…so that was a little bit confusing. And I found Lydia reading the news paper article about Edgar just too convenient. Can’t writers find a better way to inform a character of impending doom?

Now are these the eyes of a killer!?

At this moment, I’m glad I gave Hakushaku to Yōsei a chance. Given the right twists and turns, it could have an interesting plot. I enjoy a show with a bad boy for a good guy instead of the sickening do gooders. I am sure Lydia will fall in love with him, despite his bad past. I just hope there aren’t TOO many scenes that she needs rescuing in (as she nearly fell off the boat in the first one…). Perhaps if the show does really well, it can get extended into 24+ episodes, as those seem to do the original work more justice. For now, the series seems just fine in my book. Get back with me in a couple of weeks to see if Lydia’s “youthful” cluelessness wears me out.

Dashing off until next week!

Thanks for reading!