SUGAR APPLE FAIRY TALE

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA AdventureGinzatoushi to Kuro no Yousei: Sugar Apple Fairy Tale
NOVEL AdventureSugar Apple Fairy Tale: Ginzatoushi to Kuro no Yousei
MANGA AdventureSugar Apple Fairy Tale
NOVEL AdventureSugar Apple Fairy Tale: Ginzatoushi to Ao no Koushaku
NOVEL AdventureSugar Apple Fairy Tale: Ginzatoushi to Shiro no Kikoushi
ANIME AdventureSugar Apple Fairy Tale Part 2

REVIEWS

• 

  Mcsuper

  60/100
  A Colourful And Vibrant Show, Marred By Shallow Conflict

  This show was a colourful and vibrant fantasy that had some good ideas, but also showed us another shoujo series where the romance just isn’t all that interesting. Sure, I could go for the low-hanging fruit and criticize the slavery themes, or the age gap in the romance, but I’m not going to focus on that. Instead, I want to highlight how modern shoujo anime follow a very similar formula that just isn’t all that engaging.

  Granted, I’m not very familiar with shoujo anime, so if you disagree with what I say, feel free to enlighten me on the subject, but from the ones I have seen, there’s always a somewhat ditzy female protagonist, who ends up liking a “pretty-looking” male protagonist. Now, I get the aim of shoujo anime is to get us to “squee” when there’s a bit of fan service, but sometimes, I feel that the fan service is quite over-done, to the point where it just detracts from the fantasy elements and world building that the time could have been used to do instead.

  Another problem that it has is incredibly shallow villains, whose very existence is just to trip the protagonist up with no real substantial reason whatsoever. For example, in this show, for anyone who has watched it, knows that Jonas is a very hated character by many. The reason why he became the antagonist was so dumb and shallow, which only made it worse. The other villains just don’t have motives other than being discriminatory or rude for no apparent reason other than sexism.

  The other problem I find with modern shoujo anime is the contrived misunderstandings, as many of times, the “drama” revolves around the protagonist seeing their love interest in an “out-of-context” situation, and get down in the dumps because of that, even though they have no idea what is going on. It just doesn’t feel like drama that goes anywhere, rather, it gets solved quickly, and doesn’t feel fulfilling when it inevitably gets solved. This show has these issues as well.

  With the problems out of the way, I also found this show to be quite rich in world-building and creative in some ways, with building sugar confections as the main theme. Ann Halford, the main protagonist, strives to be a silver sugar master, like her late mother, and seeing her improve her craft and believe in herself while facing hurdles was nice to see. The backgrounds and colour palettes really give a sense of a fantasy atmosphere, and it had some beautiful shots. Some of the animation was a bit limited, but it didn’t take away from the plot. Overall, the production was not bad at all. I do wish the soundtrack was a bit more noticeable though.

  There were some questionable themes around slavery that I must mention, but I won’t dwell on it. In this kingdom, for many years, humans enslaved fairies by keeping one of their wings. The other main protagonist, Shall Fen Shall, is a warrior fairy, and gets bought by Ann to be her bodyguard. As you can expect, there were some romantic developments as well. I’m glad the slavery aspect became less of a theme as we went along, and it was more of a fantasy/adventure show more than anything else.

  Overall, there were some highs and lows, with the animation and world building being the highs, and the characters being a bit of a weak part, especially the antagonists. It’s as sweet as its namesake, but my only wish is that future shoujo anime get a little more creative with how the drama unfolds.

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• 

  fairytales

  80/100
  Sugar Apple Fairy Tale is Dramatic, Angsty, Beautiful and SO Shoujo.

  I have arrived in defense of one of my favorite releases of the season. Sugar Apple Fairy Tale is dramatic, angsty, beautiful and SO shoujo.

  

  As someone who is a massive shoujo consumer, be it in manga or anime form, I can with confidence say that it has been a while since we got a shoujo adaptation that had a big budget and where the studio didn't seem to give up on it halfway through the season. This is a massive plus in my book because shoujo deserves GOOD adaptations as much the shounen and seinen demographic (don't even get me started on josei because we live in the trenches).

  The story of Sugar Apple Fairy Tale is very dramatic but at the same time also very slice of life. Personally, I think that they balanced these two very well. There are some extremely annoying characters in this, but also some lovely characters. Our MC Ann is a flawed protagonist; she's a hypocrite at times, she's idealistic and she's very stubborn. These characteristics, however, are what make her interesting and multidimensional. We still have a lot to learn about Shall, as of now he's mostly a mystery to both the audience and Ann. I'm excited to see more of him in July. The side characters are less developed, but they all have their own quirks and motivations that we slowly see throughout the season. Mythrill Lid Pod might have been my favorite character of this series, his presence is delightful, and he brings lots of happiness to the show.

  The art and color palette are beautiful. The animation is smooth, and it is one of the best we have had for shoujo in recent years, J.C. Staff did an excellent job.

  

  Certain aspects of this show, such slavery, are for sure problematic. Nevertheless, there's also commentary on these topics and they aren't just brushed off and never brought up again. Most characters are very flawed and the villains are sometimes just too corny. I do like how the story touches on e.g. sexism and misogyny, even if it is a fantasy setting.

  [SPOILERS FOR EP 12] The finale was definitely bittersweet, I may or may not have shed a few tears. This just shows that I have grown to really love Ann and Shall these past few months. I'm going to be honest, if this show didn't receive a 2nd cour it would have affected my opinions on it a lot. For now, I'm hopeful and look forward to their reunion. Based on what we have seen from Ann we can definitely expect her to not give up on Shall!
  

  

  Overall: I can 100% recommend this to fellow shoujo & josei fans and if you are new to the demographic, I hope you can watch this without bias. I'm so happy that the shoujo demographic has received a worthy adaptation, and I can't wait for the return of this show!

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• 

  FenrirBlack22

  65/100
  Sweet with a bitter aftertaste

  A classic story of a girl desperate to achieve greatness in a sexist society and finds a reluctant ally in the form of a fairy slave which they form a genuine bond. It's sweet, fluffy, and more than often cliche. To understand this series, we have to break it down by its individual parts.

  (Spoiler warning)

  Part 1: This is the part that was the best of the three. Its classic take on the reluctant warrior protecting the rambunctious and strong-willed love interest is a tale as old as time. What I liked about this is that at no point during the first few episodes did any chemistry between the two seem to take place. By the time feelings formed it felt genuine and earned. No love at first sight, no awkward nonsense, but only Anne's commitment to earning Challe's respect. Jonas was an excellent third wheel up to the point of his eventual and obvious betrayal. Even how they introduced Hugh Mercury was a nice touch leading to the reveal of his prominent role in the kingdom. It was a slow burn leading to an emotionally fueled betrayal, heartbreak, and resolution before we reached our climax. To say the least, a near perfect story. If the show ended there, I would have given the series a higher rating.

  Part 2: Let me start off by saying while this part was very emotional and heartbreaking, it was weak in numerous ways. It started off with an interesting side story as we are introduced to Keith and his shop. From a storytelling perspective it was a good way to break up the acts with a minor but still important story after the emotional rollercoaster of the first act. It was afterwards when we enter the Duke's story that things take a sour turn. The story relied heavily on recycled story elements from numerous other works and itself. Jonas once again being a jerk felt unneeded in this act and could have easily been replaced by a stronger newer character. The introduction into the kingdom's politics felt out of place rather than interesting world building. The only strength in this act was the heartbreaking tale of the duke and his lover whom he was obsessed with reunited with. I cried but was also unswayed in my opinion that this act was exceptionally weak.

  Part 3: More drama surrounding Jonas and the Radcliffe clan. To the series credit, Jonas was a minor character in this act and even began on the path to redemption which would have been stronger if he hadn't sunk so low in the previous act. This act's strength came from the world building. This time we got good world building as the kingdom's sexism is now on full display as well as some interesting and tragic lore surrounding the human's relationship with the fairies. Unfortunately, the story again relies heavily on villainous cliches and eye-rolling romantic drama now that Anne and Challe are one step away from being an official item. Misunderstandings and betrayal abound and while each were resolved quickly and painlessly, their inclusion in the first place does hurt the story overall. The ending was the most bitter of all with a cliffhanger that only feels justified knowing that the story continues onward.

  While the story was the weakest part of the show, the animation was the best. Beautiful watercolor backgrounds, gorgeous sugar sculptures that I only wish could be real, and the subtle strokes of animation during the crafting scenes that show how much care went into the creation of the sculptures as well as highlighting their importance to the plot. Anne and Challe were the other highlights of the series. Both strong characters with a romantic relationship that felt earned and nurtured over the course of the show that is only strengthened by their rough beginning. Enemies to lovers may be a frowned upon trope among many critics but I personally will never tire of it when done well. The other characters range from okay to great to cringey at best. What the show needed was a strong antagonist because the ones we saw were as fragile and dull as the sugar sculptures they created. Their motivations were simply " a girl is better at making sugar sculptures than me!" Sucks to suck.

  Final thoughts, not the best fantasy romance but it was one that I watched from start to finish solely to watch Anne's dreams come true and to watch her and Challe's relationship continue to grow and blossom.

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