Guardian Fairy Michel makes no qualms about its target audience: It's for children, pure and simple. As such, it suffers from a number of the usual problems that plague children's shows: very blunt morals, some simple plots and characterization, the occasional flimsy logic-inducedPlot Hole, and other minor issues that can be assembled from bits and pieces of the above (like an instance of someone being Easily Forgiven, which is kind of a combination of blunt morals and simple characterization). Combine in a rather stilted English dub (which most of its target audience would probably watch, given that most kids don't go in for subtitles), and you might start to wonder what's so remarkable about this show.
And yet... despite the awkward dub and the childish plot, this series manages to be surprisingly fun to watch. Kim is a refreshing heroine who manages to hold her own in fights, and who has some interesting backstory and a sweet weapon. The fairies themselves have absolutely adorable designs, and their monster forms are often surprisingly awesome and, in a few cases, probably a little terrifying. Michel's usage of their powers is cool too, though the fight scenes often seem to be too short to show them off. But when they get their chance to shine, they're more epic than you'd expect, and are exciting and engaging.
While some of the plots are simplistic, there are a few that manage to be rather deep and interesting as far as kids' shows go. Several have the potential to be quite touching, even. Although most episodes revolve around one-off characters, some of them manage to tug at your heartstrings and make you really root for them before the episode's done. Even the bad guys get their chance to be heart-tuggers.
It may not be perfect, and it stoops to a lot of the usual kid's show copouts. But the cool powers, neat monster designs, and surprisingly sweet plot lines make it worth checking out if you like anime. And hey, if you know any kids who like fantasy-action shows, they'll probably dig it too.
Animation A bit childish, but surprisingly entertaining.
Guardian Fairy Michel makes no qualms about its target audience: It's for children, pure and simple. As such, it suffers from a number of the usual problems that plague children's shows: very blunt morals, some simple plots and characterization, the occasional flimsy logic-induced Plot Hole, and other minor issues that can be assembled from bits and pieces of the above (like an instance of someone being Easily Forgiven, which is kind of a combination of blunt morals and simple characterization). Combine in a rather stilted English dub (which most of its target audience would probably watch, given that most kids don't go in for subtitles), and you might start to wonder what's so remarkable about this show.
And yet... despite the awkward dub and the childish plot, this series manages to be surprisingly fun to watch. Kim is a refreshing heroine who manages to hold her own in fights, and who has some interesting backstory and a sweet weapon. The fairies themselves have absolutely adorable designs, and their monster forms are often surprisingly awesome and, in a few cases, probably a little terrifying. Michel's usage of their powers is cool too, though the fight scenes often seem to be too short to show them off. But when they get their chance to shine, they're more epic than you'd expect, and are exciting and engaging.
While some of the plots are simplistic, there are a few that manage to be rather deep and interesting as far as kids' shows go. Several have the potential to be quite touching, even. Although most episodes revolve around one-off characters, some of them manage to tug at your heartstrings and make you really root for them before the episode's done. Even the bad guys get their chance to be heart-tuggers.
It may not be perfect, and it stoops to a lot of the usual kid's show copouts. But the cool powers, neat monster designs, and surprisingly sweet plot lines make it worth checking out if you like anime. And hey, if you know any kids who like fantasy-action shows, they'll probably dig it too.