Fairy Ranmaru, a straightforward story with much to give
Fairy Ranmaru got to my attention through KrisPNatz’s video about it’s MAL rating. I was between watching Fairy Ranmaru or XEros, settling on the former just because. Magical boys anime are few in between, and as someone who loves magical girls anime and Super Sentai/Power Rangers, magical boys are an unusual treat. It’s an interesting, underdeveloped genre that I have little expectations going into, so I appreciate every piece of content in it.
Fairy Ranmaru is, like I mentioned, a combination of magical girls tropes mixed with Super Sentai and fantasy elements. The plot is straightforward: Five young fairies from the biggest clans are sent to Earth to gather “attachment”, some sort of human emotion, to revive their kingdom. From this information, Fairy Ranmaru could be a slice of life/adventure or a serious story, but the anime takes neither approach. Instead, from it’s magical boys/girls roots or from Cute Earth Defense Club (it’s previous series), it’s introduced as a “monster of the week” where they help girls battling with some external issue. At the same time, it builds up an overarching plot with a mysterious antagonist, peppered with episodic subplots with each of the main characters that serve as introductions and their development.
As intriguing as talking about Fairy Ranmaru’s plot is, the elements that truly captured my attention are unrelated to the writing. In the music department, it has a fantastic opening, and each episode features the character song and transformation scene from the respective main character of focus (they transform from human form to their fairy/original forms). There’s so much effort put into their muscles and outfits that I would love to spend five minutes taking in all the details for each. Perhaps this is why others have mentioned JoJo’s Bizzare Adventures as a comparison. The boys’ fairy forms represent a variety of body types from twink to heavy weight.
However, the characters are more than their bodies. Each character has their own story and are battling through personal issues. The manservice is there but there’s plenty of character and development to accompany it. Thus, I wasn’t only watching Fairy Ranmaru to look at some cute boys but I was also looking forward to their transformation scenes to see their cool battle designs/outfits (something I enjoy a lot in magical girls/boys anime).
One a short sidetopic, I noticed that most of the humans the boys helped were girls. I can’t speak for the female audience, the hetero-aligned to be specific. I can only guess this factor would appeal them because the idea of having a cute boy help you when you need it seems appealing. The girl and the character of focus kiss for the fairy boy to transform (hetero content for the hets).
The final element that I enjoyed the most was the LGBT+ representation. The gay romance is simple, uncomplicated, and straightforward. In other words, no drama nor homophobia. This applies to both the side characters and main characters. Surprisingly, or maybe not, it peacefully shares its space with het romance presented. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
On the last short note, I find Fairy Ranmaru’s finale fantastic. Because of its 12 episode run, each episode builds the overarching plot. I would rather not talk too much about it because it could be spoilery.
In summary, Fairy Ranmaru’s may not be anything special in the intellectual department, but it kept me engaged with its music, visuals, characters, LBGT+ elements, quality manservice, and amazing ending. Perhaps these are what makes Fairy Ranmaru great; they are definitely its strongest elements. Fairy Ranmaru made me consider the magical boys genre can also cater to an action-oriented audience and those who prefer character designs that more common in shounen series, LBGT+ audiences, and hetero people.
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