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EP. REVIEW: Fairy Ranmaru


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Bisuketto



Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 153
Location: Middle America
PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 4:59 pm Reply with quote
With all due respect, but calling people cowardly for not choosing your particular "favorite" is a bit uncouth.

I am sure a majority of people never even heard / knew of its existence.
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 02 May 2011
Posts: 2930
Location: Email for assistance only
PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 5:13 pm Reply with quote
It's a joke.
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a_Bear_in_Bearcave



Joined: 14 Jan 2019
Posts: 482
Location: Poland
PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 5:20 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, I wasn't wowed by the first episode, and the season is so stacked merely good or too odd shows suffer more then usually, but now I might give the show a chance. As soon as I finish week's backlog of watched shows anyway.
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RenRen94



Joined: 08 Jul 2018
Posts: 221
PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 5:50 pm Reply with quote
Gosh, I had way too much fun reading this. A+ review, Lynzee. Is it true that Fairy Ranmaru didn't do well in the poll, or is that still the joke? I voted for it, and I'm glad it's getting reviewed. Also, Takara (bar master) is super shady, as pointed out already in the show. The queen doesn't trust his reports, and he broke those Fairy Laws as soon as they arrived, so I wonder what his deal is.

I'm glad I watched episode 3 with no interruptions because:
1. There aren't enough words in the dictionary to explain Uruu's transformation sequence
2. I almost spit out my food in surprise at Uruu's transformation sequence

I really need to stop watching anime while eating, one day I'll literally choke on it...
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Peebs



Joined: 07 Dec 2005
Posts: 419
PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 6:35 pm Reply with quote
I dropped this show at episode 2. I may have to watch episode 3 out of curiosity.

Also, I feel that this show is laying on the "herp derp you can ship them together...and also with you" shtick too thick. Like, who doesn't ship a sausage fest? And now they're hitting me over the head with it?! Good gawd. Besides, fairy twinks do nothing for me.

Hilarious review, though. Very well done.

Edit: I'm back. I thought my eyeballs were going to melt. Or maybe it was Uuru's porno poses. I can't tell. Anyway. No amount of bulges or nipples is enticing enough.
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 12:06 am Reply with quote
This show is a fever dream for fans of fujoshi stuff and otome stuff, which I imagine share a lot of space on the fandom Venn diagram. It’s almost surprising that “they’re only allowed to be with each other...but they might be into *you* as well!” isn’t done more often!

Thank you for explaining the Buddhist context and history of the Fairy 10 Commandments!
My first thought on that weirdly specific “no romance and no sex with members of the opposite gender” rule was that the Fairy Queen is a fujoshi, so she made straight relationships literally against her religion! Laughing My second, more practical in-world theory was that the Fairy Queen doesn’t want Fairy Guys accidentally or purposely making babies with *human* women, specifically. After watching episode 3, it seems clear that even in the Fairy Realm, people are assigned designated arranged marriage partners from their clan, so any romance or sex outside of that is forbidden.

Which brings us to the theory floating around Twitter and Reddit today: Child Uruu’s biggest trauma was walking in on his mother having an affair, probably with Homura’s father.

That would explain Uruu’s unusual even-for-fairies disgust with romance and desire, the sin that Homura’s father was punished for committing even as he defended his actions and passion, and Takara alluding to another reason that Uruu and Homura don’t get along beyond being water and fire. It leaves the question of whether Uruu’s mother was punished, too (she seems to have a higher status in Fairy Society than Homura’s father, so I’m thinking she could have gotten out of it), and what the fallout was for both boys families.

It’s amazing how this wacky, over-the-top fairy show is leaving me theorizing!

Loved the battle against moe in episode 2! I didn’t even catch all the explicit Shonen Jump references, that makes it even better!

I’m of two minds about Shoji, the bad boyfriend pop star, coming out at the end of episode 3:
On the one hand, I hope LGBT+ representation on this show isn’t relegated to side gags, considering all the gay subtext.

On the other, I liked how his complaints about his relationships being “painfully confining” comes across in hindsight as someone who may not even have realized that their heterosexual relationships felt like “obligations” to them. In the end, he was able to come out in every way—as gay, and as happily committed to a partner (who was modeled after Freddy Mercury! Nice!) despite his management wanting him to keep all relationships on the down low. Screw management companies that try to control their creative talents’ personal lives!

And the obsessive gf got over it and became a makeup influencer. Good for her, too!

I’m all in on this ridiculous camp fest! Favorite gag: episode 1’s news report about the Fairy lady admitting she “sinned” and extolling the virtues of pot. Go Pot Fairy! Hope we meet up with her! (in Amsterdam or something!)
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15433
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 1:28 am Reply with quote
I am a little confused by the end of episode 3. Was he always gay and just in denial the fairy stuff? Because it otherwise felt like it was some kind of a joke and meant to be punishment at his expense for being unfaithful or something. It otherwise would have been nicer if he was just in denial that there were more clues that he just wanted to sleep around, but women in general were not doing it for him.

I just came out of the episode thinking that it was saying the unfaithful boyfriend was punished into being gay with a big more masculine guy, and that would not exactly be good for a show that was already using fujoshi stuff.

As it was, I was thinking that the girlfriend character was being the even weirder one by doing things to try and shove her connection with a popular idol in the faces of others, and buying up all the books to stop other women. That she was doing it while their chemistry was maybe waning and thought that she deserved him when he was with someone else, before she was one who had the fairy to get her what she deserved.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
Posts: 2501
PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 1:28 am Reply with quote
Ms Loveridge wrote:
...when voters proved themselves too cowardly...
octopodpie wrote:
It's a joke.
The wording made it hard to judge whether joke or not, but I for one fearlessly voted for it and was overjoyed that Fairy Ranmaru is being covered! Absolutely loved the sly commentary in the rundown of "former fairies" and got a kick about one of the sins being "degeneracy" defined as "undisciplined" (??). Maybe I've been a degenerate all these years and didn't know it? Anyway, like Agent355 I'm all for this show and look forward to the reviews... Smile
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
Posts: 5113
Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready...
PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 1:40 am Reply with quote
DuskyPredator wrote:
I am a little confused by the end of episode 3. Was he always gay and just in denial the fairy stuff? Because it otherwise felt like it was some kind of a joke and meant to be punishment at his expense for being unfaithful or something. It otherwise would have been nicer if he was just in denial that there were more clues that he just wanted to sleep around, but women in general were not doing it for him.

I just came out of the episode thinking that it was saying the unfaithful boyfriend was punished into being gay with a big more masculine guy, and that would not exactly be good for a show that was already using fujoshi stuff.
.


That was my initial thought, too, and I really hope that’s not what the show was implying. Also, as I reflected in my comment, Shoji’s rant about how limiting and oppressive his relationship with his girlfriend was sounded like it could be coming from a place of a person who felt pressured or forced to have relationships with members of the opposite sex despite not enjoying them. He sounded like he was genuinely in pain and denial, and might have been “acting out” by going out with different women (who were fans flattering him), but that didn’t make him happy, either.

The girlfriend was also obsessive and had issues in her own right, which didn’t help.
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bonbonsrus



Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 1537
Location: Michigan, USA
PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 7:29 am Reply with quote
this review = gold

This is a show I have no idea why I watch and I can't figure out who exactly it's aimed at, but I'll keep watching. Clearly I should always read the reviews first, because this review made me care a bit more about the show than I would have otherwise. I was clearly missing some information that would have been helpful in context or at least enjoyment of the show.

Thanks for the great review and information on all the episodes! I'll look forward to these reviews even if I maybe never quite look forward to the show as much as that last transformation sequence...
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Violet Park



Joined: 18 Jul 2018
Posts: 115
PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 6:53 pm Reply with quote
The transformations and fights get crazier and hornier every episode, but even without them, the plot and lore are genuinely interesting. Did Homura's dad and Uruu's mom have an affair? Is Ranmaru an artificial fairy? Why does the opposite sex rule exist? Is the queen evil? I can't wait for the answers.
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yeehaw



Joined: 09 Sep 2018
Posts: 420
PostPosted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 5:57 pm Reply with quote
I paused and looked and the only thing we see reflected in Uruu's eyes is his dad and mom making out. I don't know if they were doing something else as well but it would be pretty funny if seeing his kiss traumatized him. And was the idol a closeted gay or was he turned gay as punishment for being a jerk?
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15433
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:50 pm Reply with quote
If episode 3 had a questionable moment for possibly having someone punished by being turned gay, episode 4 kind of just did full on slut shaming, which is one of the worst parts of idol culture.
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Violet Park



Joined: 18 Jul 2018
Posts: 115
PostPosted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 10:02 am Reply with quote
I never got the feeling that the guy in ep 3 "became" gay as a punishment. During the fight a lot of emphasis is made that he felt trapped in his relationship, yet he doesn't dump his (frankly shitty) girlfriend. It comes across more like getting purified helped him to come to terms with his sexuality and pursue a relationship that actually made him happy. And for the idols in ep 4, it was more a hard work vs dirty tactics, though I agree they should have done it differently, maybe with them buying votes or something.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15433
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 6:01 pm Reply with quote
Violet Park wrote:
And for the idols in ep 4, it was more a hard work vs dirty tactics, though I agree they should have done it differently, maybe with them buying votes or something.


The episode was called Degeneracy, and it felt like the episode was trying really hard to make the other idol to look bad for doing sex stuff, by making her say that she was somehow getting that guy to buy a lot of CDs, and making the main idol so innocent that she doesn't think she herself is cute. I would think dirty tactics would be something like sabotaging, but that wasn't what she was caught up in.
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