Mariya isn’t the only one who might have to fight a former friend.
— Alright, so Mariya is different. Everyone else has to undergo a surgical procedure that begins with harvesting an organ from some poor beast. Our heroine, on the other hand, is currently possessed by a fairy. At the moment, however, the show is content with drip-feeding us info about how the whole setup works, so there is still very little to know or understand about fairies.
— For instance, during the war, there were artificial fairy soldiers, but what does the word “artificial” really mean here? They do seem organic in some form or fashion. They don’t bleed red, but they bleed something. But are they alive? Do they have thoughts? Later in the episode, Free tells Mariya not to hesitate against the artificial fairy soldiers, so one would normally assume that these things aren’t technically alive. Then again, humans are known to be callous to anything that doesn’t resemble them.
— Anyways, we delve a bit more into Mariya and Free’s backstory — mostly Free’s. With the girl, we just learn that she’s apparently bad luck. Nevertheless, she continues to pursue Veronica for reasons that I can only speculate. If she truly believes she’s bad luck, wouldn’t she also ruin her friend’s life?
— As for Free, one of his comrades had to sacrifice their life for him. This scene might be emotionally resonant if the guy’s proportions didn’t bother me so much. Look at him. Then look at the guy standing beside him. C’mon, is he like a giant? I dunno, this just seems oddly sloppy.
— Also, I really do not care for the designs of the fairies. They’re all so darkly-colored so you can’t make out any details. The show already has that sort of washed out look, so this just makes it worse.
— Back in the present, Free’s superior don’t quite know what to make of the idea that Mariya is somehow fairy-possessed. As a result, she crumples up his original report and tells him to fabricate a new one. Hmm. Like I said, with our lack of information, all we can really do is go hmm. A show like this needs action… to a certain point. I also need to be emotionally invested in these characters, which has yet to occur.
— As for Mariya, it doesn’t seem as though she’s had much of a hard time fitting in with her new organization. Maybe they’re a friendly bunch, maybe they’re not. Who really knows because the story isn’t really showing us much of anything… other than that the girl is a crackshot with her rifle.
— Elsewhere, there are some shady black market dealings. Someone’s buying up a whole bunch of artificial fairy soldiers, so this leads us to Free and Mariya’s first mission together as partners. She’s the rookie, he’s the vet. And… well, that’s really it. There isn’t much of a dynamic to their teamwork at the moment. The show is just… lacking in personality. And this is funny, because anime tends to overexaggerate in order to hammer the point home. With Fairy Gone, it seems we’ve swung far into the opposite direction.
— C’mon, you can’t tell me that those silly legs are somehow superior to plain ol’ wheels.
— Someone has a rather cute frog fairy. I bet it’s a girl.
— Yep, it’s a girl. Girls get cute stuff. Guys get ugly, tough-looking fairies.
— So I suppose the frog fairy has some sort of infrared vision. I’m just surprised that the vehicle next to these two men is so cold.
— Free eventually pursues the buyer who just happens to be one of his former comrades in the war. Y’know, the blond guy who looked like a midget next to Jet, the dying dude.
— Wolfran is now working for the mafia for unknown reasons. In the episode’s epilogue, he visits a gravesite for two people. It must belong to his late wife and daughter, so their deaths is likely why he’s with the bad guys now… if you can even separate the two sides into good and bad. This is the most plot we’ve gotten all episode!
— But for the most part, we just get yet another action-filled second half. Free fights against Wolfran’s fairy and vice versa. Then Free fights against a trio of artificial fairy soldiers. This isn’t as bad as, say, two individuals walking around each other in a circle and spewing exposition at the audience. But like I said, at some point, I need to be emotionally invested in these characters. Watching this fight play out, I couldn’t really care less who won.
— I neither love nor hate the soundtrack. It’s just… there, I guess.
— Like the frog fairy, Mariya’s summon isn’t completely black. Maybe only girls are allowed to have summons that aren’t super edgy.
— ‘Cause I mean, get a load of this guy’s fairy. It’s so ugly and monochromatic.
— This episode only serves to introduce Wolfran, so after an arbitrary amount of time has elapsed, he makes his escape. In his wake, all witnesses are eliminated. And well, that’s it. That’s our episode.
— It’s very, very early in the season, but so far, I can only say that Fairy Gone is average.