Fairy Cube – Kaori Yuki

Kaori Yuki is one of my favorite mangaka ever since I read Angel Sanctuary years ago. Her art is always beautiful and outstanding, and her stories are quite a trip of the mind. In Fairy Cube, there is no exception.

The protagonist, Ian Hasumi, seems to be followed around by a spirit that only he can see in the beginning of the manga. The ‘spirit’, Tokage, appears to try and be an influence on Ian and others around him–not a good one. I will try not to give too many spoilers in any of these pages, yet I will say that the title alludes to what you might expect: that there are faeries in the story. These faeries are not all friendly creatures like Tinkerbell, as you might expect. They take over dead human human bodies and are trying to take over Earth. They live in a realm called Otherworld alongside Earth with other supernatural creatures. You’ll see how the title ‘Fairy Cube’ and Tokage play into all of this if you read the manga.

Ian’s childhood friend, and crush, Rin, plays a large part as the main female in the story. There is a fairy who is in love with the human of an antique shop who goes on to help Ian, and generally speaking all sorts of mayhem and unexpected things happen. I’d categorize this series as a shojo manga. It is obviously fantasy. The art is lovely and I enjoyed the story and its twists and turns. Kaori Yuki does tend towards more serious themes and isn’t really geared towards younger audiences, yet I’d say Fairy Cube is one of her more toned down series. It still has a darker nature to it, like all of her work I’ve read up to date.

It is revealed early on that Ian’s mother left and his father becomes rather mentally unstable. He burns wing marks into Ian’s back to prevent him from also leaving. I really liked the character of the fairy who helps Ian, Ainsel. She’s feisty and cute, and the way she is possessive over the antique shop owner, Kaito, is also endearing. I very much enjoyed the series, and invite you to have a read and see what you think! Feel free to post in the comments about this manga or others like it you think I’d enjoy. No spoilers on them though, and if you post spoilers about this one, please tag ‘SPOILERS!’ at the top of your comment so that others won’t have to read it if they so choose.

Yours truly,

Tales of Souls