English Dub Season Review: Sugar Apple Fairy Tale Season One Part 2

Picking up from the previous season, Anne achieved her lifelong dream thanks to Challe sacrificing his freedom to the weirdly unhinged and obsessive Bridgette to foil the plans of misogynists, but Ann now has to track him down so she can free him again. Luckily, Elliot just happens to be Bridgette’s husband and recruits Ann to help him return the Paige Workshop to its former glory with the hopes of reuniting and getting Challe back…

On the technical side, much of the same staff from the “first half” are carried over here and continue to be produced by J.C.Staff and directed by Yōhei Suzuki, with scripts written by Seishi Minakami, character designs handled by Haruko Iizuka, and music composed by Hinako Tsubakiyama. The opening theme song is “Surprise” by Rei Nakashima, while the ending theme song is “Door” by Nao Tōyama.

The action, while not frequent, is very good in this course. There are a couple of battles between Challe and the main antagonist that reminded me this show is by JC staff. With all the slice-of-life fluff at times, it’s easy to forget, but this team is very capable and came through when it mattered. The art continues to look gorgeous and colorful to appropriately fit the fantasy setting where humans and fairies exist even if the world they live in isn’t perfect.

At its core, this is still Season One but split into two parts with Part Two taking center stage and taking a somewhat darker more serious direction that has a slow burn at first, but once it picks up, it starts to raise ethical questions about what it truly means to be free and whether or not your leaders have your best interest at heart. The gradual build-up to the reveal of the villain kept me engaged and once he got on screen and started putting his fiendish plan in motion I was locked in.

There’s some pretty dark direction compared to the first one’s plot and I believe it added a degree of gravity to the story that was missing before. Even before the final arc, there are deaths, sadness, and characters having to overcome the loss. There’s blood and some uncomfortable scenes. This just feels like a much more mature story compared to before.

In addition to the storytelling improvements, when the shit started to get real I think when Challe’s character growth started to become compelling. This time around, he’s now revealed to be a fully realized character with ambitions, fears, and hopes just like anyone else. This comes at the forefront with Challe’s arc when he encounters someone from his past who offers him the chance to rule with him as a “Fairy King” with his cult/army, but last time I checked, cult leaders were never known for taking criticism very well. And to secure his future, he has to confront his past and while it leaves things open for a possible continuation, the climax is pretty damn satisfying to watch.

Overall, while the first part of the first season does seem a bit more contrived, the 2nd part more than makes up for it even if it stumbles in places with certain characters that feel like they only exist to start shit with Anne and Challe for one reason or another. But you kinda expect that with Sugar Apple Fairy Tale. Anne and Challe’s relationship is truly put to the test and their bond grows much stronger in this one, and feels like everything is leading into something which in a show with only 12 episodes is crucial. If another season somehow happens, I’m curious where this could go next.