Humanity has Declined Archives

What are my favourite anime with fairies?

Midnight Occult Civil Servants anime with fairies

While starting his new job, Arata finds himself dealing with creatures called Anothers and as the only one who can understand them he ends up having to negotiate with these beings on numerous occasions. One of my favourite groups that turned up from time to time throughout the stories were the little fairies that lived in the park. Whether they were mad because the humans messed up their offerings or allowing themselves to be bribed for directions with cookies, these little creatures were always cute when they showed up.

I genuinely couldn’t have made this list and left The Ancient Magus’ Bride off of it. This one gets points for being very detailed in its folklore and taking a more traditional approach to fairies and their rules. While they may not be as cute as some of the other entries, the attention to folklore here gives this one a well-deserved place and while the anime ended up dragging on a little bit, the magic and magical creatures were definitely a highlight and worth watching for.

This may well be one of the most hated of all the SAO arcs and yet while the end of this arc brings us a psycho villain whose motive and actions are entirely flawed, the game that this arc is set in looks beautiful. The different fairy races that the characters can choose from, the flight mechanics, and the magic are just brilliant and I’d honestly love to play this game (provided it wasn’t being run by a made person using it to test mind control on people).

Here’s a different kind of fairy. These ones I’m never really sure if they are actually fairies, leprechauns, or something else entirely but it is a fun take on the story and the girls are all quite fun to get to know. Used to fight beasts with magic weapons and slowly losing control of their powers or losing their memories, the story here is tragic and yet quite compelling for the most part. If only the mid-season had managed to hold up its end this one would have a lot more discussion around it.

How on Earth could I not have put these adorable and incredibly creepy fairies as the number one on the list. The story takes place as humans are declining and fairies have returned. The main character has the job of liaising with the fairies as they pursue new entertainments. They latch on to any idea and go crazy with it but just as quickly move onto the next thing (kind of like watching the progress of the internet in fast forward really). Whichever way, these little guys are a must see.

And that’s my list this week but be sure to let me know what your favourite anime with fairies are.

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Karandi James

Humanity Has Declined Overview:

In search of a decent way to explain the plot from Humanity Has Declined I kind of gave up and let Wikipedia do the heavy lifting:

Humanity Has Declined is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the human civilization has regressed and humanity keeps decreasing in numbers. The story follows an unnamed girl who acts as a mediator between humanity and the “fairies” who are small elf-like creatures attracted by sweets and happy things, but also have the habit to cause trouble to her with their powers in their endless search for amusement.

Humanity Has Declined Review:

I had heard of this series but hadn’t given it much thought but when I came across it on HiDive at the same time as I was looking to see how the app went streaming to my TV, this seemed like a good test series and so I gave it a go and was soon joined by a friend who stuck his head in just to see what was up with the overly cute song and stayed, intrigued by the truly surreal viewing experience that the first two episodes of this show become.

See, the first two episodes are essentially the end of the story (because for the sake of being gimmicky each two episodes tell a story and each story occurs before the one you’ve just watched until you kind of get the start of the story with the final two episodes).

What that means is you are dropped head first into a world with references to events you have no context for and some truly, truly bizarre things occurring (even by anime standards). The ridiculously cute fairies that have an incredibly dark view of life that they deliver dead pan while grinning psychotically (although that actually appears to be their standard expression), the assistant who thinks a joke involves a story where everyone dies (although my friend and I nearly fell off the couch laughing), oh and the revolution of the synthetic, sentient, skinned chickens.

Can’t forget that last part, it is kind of important particularly if you want to get the Hitman parody in the final few minutes of the episode.

So yeah, the first two episodes are pretty brilliant if for no other reason than you cannot look away as this strange and quirky tale unfolds. None of the characters have names but are usually referred to by their job or relationship. The main girl is regularly the granddaughter or referred to as a human by the fairies and the assistant is only ever called assistant.

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Attack on Titan – Levi (Re-run)

There is one episode far later down the track where the girl attempts to name the fairies but like most fads the fairies get caught up in, this one doesn’t stick and is well and truly forgotten by the first two episodes which I guess are actually the end of the story.

I don’t actually have an issue with non-linear narrative or even stories that want to be told backwards, I just want there to be a point to it. The only thing the reverse order added in this case was that those first two episodes are fantastically novel and interesting and they do leave you wanting to know why something happened and what it was that happened to lead to something else. And that is pretty standard through the series as each story will mention at least one previous event that we will later see unfold.

Otherwise, it really adds nothing and what it really means is there is no satisfying resolution to story and we never go back far enough to find out why humanity are in decline other than they are. Not that it really matters because this show is making observations of life and parodies of other shows but doesn’t seem to be overly concerned with thematic continuity other than the ephemeral nature of life.

The opening song is ridiculously cute and boppy and when I first started watching I nearly hit the stop button but there was something slightly fascinating about it and so I kept watching. By the final episode I couldn’t stop my toes from tapping along even as my head was screaming about how wrong it was. Basically it is infectiously fun.

The fairies remain the selling point of the series. Their observations and random questions always make for an intriguing mine field of thoughts that will never really get an answer but at least get you wondering. The only issue being that the fairies remain an enigma. Their purpose, other than to seek out fun new experiences (and sugar), is never understood. They build some marvellous things throughout the course of the series and they almost all crumble within the instant.

I had fun with this series but like with a lot of shows that rely on comedy and gags, the fiftieth time you see a fairy respond with something that seems really quite dark in an overly cute way it doesn’t have quite the same impact. And none of the later episodes ever held up to the sheer enjoyment the first two gave. Still, if you haven’t given it a go, it was certainly worth the time to watch.