Based on the light novels of the same name by Mizue Tani, Earl and Fairy is a combination of cute, romantic, and dangerous. Set at some point in the last quarter of the 19th century (judging from the clothes and technology), the story is part romance novel, part folkloric fantasy, a combination which works quite well. While this series from 2008 doesn't hold up particularly well visually, its story does, and as an added bonus only the first of its three arcs matches up with the manga adaptation Viz released in 2012, so those who were left wanting more of the story can now finally get it.

The tale follows seventeen-year-old Lydia Carlton, a young Scottish woman with the ability to see the fair folk of British and Irish mythology. While her father is in London, Lydia lives in a Scottish village with Nico, a fairy who takes the form of a cat, possibly a Cait Sidhe. (As a note, the word “sidhe” is pronounced “she,” an Irish word for fairy.) She is feared and teased by the locals for her habit of talking to fairies that they cannot see, and generally lives an isolated life until she is summoned to London. On the way there she runs into a young man named Edgar, who claims to be the descendant of the Blue Knight Earl, a fairy lord granted status in England. In order to prove his heritage, he must obtain the Merrow Sword from the merrows (merfolk) who have guarded it since the last known Blue Knight Countess' death, and he needs Lydia to help him. Although she is dubious, Lydia agrees, and helps him to obtain the sword. His heritage now secure, Edgar hires Lydia as his personal fairy doctor and proceeds to do his level best to convince her that he really does love her and that she ought to marry him. Lydia, burned by past interactions with men specifically, is not convinced, paving the way for lines that could have come directly from a grocery store romance novel. If cheesy lines cause you secondhand embarrassment, consider this your warning.

A lot of the story runs a bit like a romance novel, to be honest. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, and there is still a strong supernatural/folkloric plotline and some action scenes, but this is a series largely driven by the dialogue between its characters. Edgar quickly finds that he has a rival for Lydia's affections in the form of a kelpie (waterhorse, a shape-shifting creature from Scottish mythology who preys on humans, either by eating or drowning them), who has actually proposed to Lydia in the past. She rejected him too, but he's not about to give up, and Lydia's suitors see themselves as not only fighting for her heart, but also for her allegiance to either the fairy or the human world. Fortunately for the show, all of this dialogue is total ear candy, especially for people who were anime fans in the 1990s, because Hikaru Midorikawa voices Edgar and the kelpie is played by Takehito Koyasu. (Newer fans will be happy to know that Mamoru Miyano is also present, playing the primary villain.)

As might be expected, there are a lot of references to traditional fairy mythology within the series, from Nico and the kelpie to better known creatures such as banshees, actual winged fairies, and brownies. Also playing a part is a coblynau, a Welsh gnome associated with quarries, and a selkie, the seal-people of the Northern UK and Iceland. Mention is made of the Unseelie Court, which is the group of fair folk who go bump in the night; while we don't officially meet many of them, a few are present and the show does a good job at showing how dangerous they are. Interestingly, kelpies are often a part of this darker group of fairies, making his role as a protagonist unusual. Of course, as far as his attitude towards Edgar goes, Kelpie himself is a villain, as he is not above trying to take out his rival in any way possible. Despite this, he has a very easy, comfortable relationship with Lydia, which serves as a nice contrast to her unease around Edgar, helping to show how torn she is on the subject of human relationships. When she prefers a member of the Unseelie Court to a human, you know that she's had some bad experiences.

Folklore isn't the only place where Earl and Fairy is faithful to its setting. The story and details are also relatively close to the Victorian period, with nice background details of knick-knacks, carpets, and other decorations, and clothing more true to the era than we typically get in anime. The hair is perhaps the least researched (Lydia's ought to be up and the men's slicked back), but this is more than made up for by the fact that this may be the only show besides Emma to know the difference between a butler and a valet. The language used in the subtitles is generally good at evoking the time as well, with words like “blackguard” and “scoundrel” used and contemporary slang only really creeping in towards the end of the series.

While the pacing in general feels faster than the manga's, it is still clear that we're only getting a fraction of the story, which has upwards of thirty novels. There is no definitive ending, although it does feel more final than the one we got in the manga, and there's very much the sense that things are being left out even in these three story arcs. Just who “The Prince” is remains unclear, as does his possible relationship to “the king ousted in the Glorious Revolution” (James II, if you're curious; he isn't named in the show), and while manga readers will know who Ermine is, her past here is largely left untold. While I don't think it is fair to say that the TV series is strictly an advertisement for the novels, it does seem that viewers were expected to have read them, and though you can certainly enjoy and understand this with no prior experience of the story, I have no doubt that it is even better if you've read it. Despite some dated artwork – Kelpie looks like he escaped from a Chiho Saitō manga – and animation that relies heavily on still shots and dialogue scenes, Earl and Fairy is a charming show, blending historical romance with dangerous fantasy well. It does feel like it leaves out some information that would move things along better, but it also is an enjoyable twelve episodes, expanding the story beyond what English-speaking audiences previously had legal access to. If you enjoyed the manga, this is definitely worth watching, and even if you haven't, the fairly good period detail, use of folklore, and generally interesting storyline make this a shoujo treat for fans of the genre.