English Dub Review: Fairy gone “Wheel-Stopping Castle”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Members Klara, Serge, Free and Marlya of Dorothea are escorting Ray Dawn (aka the Duke of Kal-o) back home via train when a bridge blows up, causing damage to the train and making them unable to go further. They camp out at an abandoned castle but soon get company when artificial fairy soldiers of Arcame show up to fight.

After defeating the fairy soldiers outside, Marlya and Free head into the castle to protect Ray Dawn. There, they find Wolfran and Ver duking it out. While Free and Wolfran battle, Marlya goes after Ver, who she saves from drowning. In the end, both Wolfran and Ver escape, but at least the day has been saved for now.

Our Take:

Holy smokes, is Fairy gone actually good? Almost everyone (myself included) was pretty disappointed with how the first season turned out. But here we are two episodes into season two, and this seems almost like an entirely different show. Instead of long monologues and boring political drama, we’re getting actual characterization and plot development. Plus, the battle scenes are beautifully rendered and even the CGI fairies don’t prove too much of a distraction this time around. But my favorite part of all had to be the Marlya and Ver scenes.

Yup, after an entire season of content, this is really the first time these two have sat down and talked. One of my biggest criticism of the first season was how removed Ver was from the main plot after being introduced as a main attraction in the first episode. Marlya’s entire character drive seemed to hinge on finding Ver, and she was so absent from most of the season one that things felt a little pointless. Sure, Marlya made friends in Dorothea and moved past solely needing to focus on Ver, but it still felt like a broken promise from the show. That’s why I absolutely loved this episode. It feels like what should’ve happened in the first season, with Ver tracking down Ray Dawn and Marlya having to choose between her loyalties to Dorothea and her former friend. Maybe that’s why this couldn’t happen sooner because Marlya had to grow into someone who was capable of protecting Ray Dawn based on her own morals. One of the hardest-hitting moments comes when Ver laments that Ray Dawn took everything she loved. “I’m still here,” Marlya tells her. It’s kind of heartbreaking. I can’t wait to see how they work this thing out. I definitely ship them.

The rest of the episode is pretty solid in its own right. From traveling on a train to crashing at an old abandoned castle, we got plenty of cool, moody aesthetics that really enhance the mood/feeling. The fight in the courtyard between the Arcame fairy soldiers and the human soldiers of Dorothea was brutal but exciting to watch. The show doesn’t spare the reality of carnage, with most of the men dying and even Serge getting wounded. Fairy gone might be full of, well, fairies, but it’s also fairly realistic when it comes to other things like mafia groups and struggles for political power. The show fell apart when it tried to balance these differing tonal qualities last season, but it’s off to a much better start so far.

The dub sounded awesome, with a stellar, emotional performance from Jill Harris as Marlya. “Even if you get revenge, the past won’t change.” Marlya learned a lot last season. Now if only she can teach it to Ver. “Most inconvenient.” Ray Dawn’s reaction to almost dying killed me. “What are you protecting? Your country? Your comrades?” Wolfran is giving Free a lot to think about. The political implications could be interesting to explore later on.