Let it be said that you can learn just as much from an anime as you can anything else, so today I'll be reviewing Bottle Fairy, this won't be like the Snow Fairy Review.
The story revolves around four fairies named Kururu, Chiriri, Sarara & Hororo who live with a college student simply referred to as Sensei-San; the fairies are learning about Japanese culture with a little help from nosy neighbor Tama-Chan. There are 13 episodes that cover all 12 months on the calender along with a bonus final episode. (No Spoilers, Sorry)
Easy to follow premise, it's just your basic learning show and it is done really well; you feel at home with these fairies if your used to the likes of Lucky Star, K-On & Azumanga Daioh which also feature just a group of girls as the main cast.
A large part of the humor comes from the misinterpretations of the cultures they try to imitate, but it's entirely innocent and surprisingly human which I'll explain in a moment, the dub is passable but doesn't do the show justice as Japanese culture doesn't always translate well into English.
As for the fairies themselves you have a typical mix of female tropes, the happy one, the shy one, the tough one & the weird one; they all compliment each other nicely and create a good balance, no one really stands out as the main character so it's nice to see that the others aren't just there to support the lead.
Now to explain the human bit.
Bottle Fairy could easily pass for a young kids show as the content is easy for a child to understand but not really for anyone younger, the fairies role-playing isn't much different to playing house in real life, and their lack of understanding holds a certain innocence to it much in the same way an actual child learns a bit more each time they play, and that's where the show is at it's strongest. Very few forms of media for children show characters going through the learning experience, in fact I accuse the industry of making their characters too perfect with Nickelodeon & Disney the biggest offenders.
Final Verdict: It's a nice little series, it doesn't out stay it's welcome and you feel a little happier knowing that the fairies will succeed, just make sure you watch the subbed version for the best experience.
Bottle Fairy Review
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