Fairy Cube

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Fairy Cube
妖精標本
(Yousei Hyouhon – Feari Kyuubu)
Genre Fantasy
Manga
Author Kaori Yuki
Publisher Flag of Japan Hakusensha
Demographic Shōjo
Serialized in Hana to Yume
Original run February 19, 2005 – 2006
Volumes 3

Fairy Cube (妖精標本 フェアリー キューブ Yousei Hyouhon – Feari Kyuubu?) is a fantasy shōjo manga created by Kaori Yuki in 2005. This short series, originally serialised in Hana to Yume, is composed of 3 volumes published between October 2005 and July 2006. The author took inspiration from celtic mythology and especially gaelic mythology to set the world, plot and characters of her story. Viz Media has licensed this manga, and the first volume has been released in English.[1] A preview of it was included in the April 2008 issue of Shōjo Beat.

Contents

[edit] Story

Ian is a special boy - he can see fairies. He seems to have a twin called Tokage who can only be seen by him and a pair of wings on his back. This pair of wings, his father scars to prevent him from 'flying away' as his wife, Ian's mother left father and son. In the city he is in, a number of grisly murders occur. These murders are known as the Fairy Murders as the victims have backs slit open, with blood pouring out in the shape of a butterfly's wings. Ian's childhood friend returns and Tokage gets him into trouble, and slowly Ian begins to unravel the past and realise who he is, and solve the Fairy Murders.

[edit] Characters

Ian Hasumi (羽住衣杏 Hasumi Ian?)
A boy, one of the protagonists of the story. From very early on, he has been able to see fairies and similar beings. After his mother Kureha, who he remembers to have looked just like a fairy with green hair and red eyes, left his father, Ian has to endure a lot of pain. There are marks of a pair of butterfly-like wings on his back. He loves Rin because she is the only one who believes in the existence of the fairy world and she can give him the strength to go there. Constantly followed by his other self, Tokage, until he dies and Tokage takes over Ian's body. Ian's soul now has to find a body to take revenge and get back everything that belongs to Ian.
Tokage (トカゲ Tokage?)
A boy with green hair and red eyes, named after the green lizard (tokage means lizard) Ian once saw as a small boy. He hates Ian and does everything to hurt him and cause him trouble. He can fly; appears and disappears whenever and wherever he wants to. After Ian gets a Fairy Cube from Kaito, a strange mark stretches from his right cheek across his right eye to his forehead, the same mark the lizard in Ian's Fairy Cube is bearing. When Ian dies, Tokage takes over Ian's body and life, his green hair and red eyes invisible to human beings. He's Ian's twin brother who died in the womb. When he died, Kureha, their mother, left him in the Fairy world, where spirits can live. His real name is Isaiah.
Rin Ishinagi (石椛鈴 Ishinagi Rin?)
A black-haired girl. Her father is a workaholic, who seldom comes home when her family still lived together. He tried to protect Rin from her mother who constantly beat her, but failed. Childhood friend of Ian's. He showed her the fairy world and his butterfly marks on his back. When Rin's mother found them, they were separated. Ian's father fired Rin's father who was his editor so Rin's family had to move. Only recently, Rin moved back and transferred to Ian's school. Her parents got divorced in the meantime, so Rin's surname changed from 灰田/Haida to Ishinagi. Her mother still beats her a lot. She feels bitter about her parents and adults in general. She trusts and believes Ian, just like she did when they were still children. With her powers, Ian can show her the world of fairies. Because her real life holds so much sadness and violence, she wants to go and search the entrance to the world of fairies.
Ainsel (エインセル Ainsel?)
A cute fairy who was saved by Kaito from being chained to the Demon Door. He told her he'd fallen in love with her beautiful wings, and so she fell in love with him and would do anything for him, even kill the person who poses a threat to Kaito. She looks frail and pretty but is rather unpleasant and ready to use her Glamour when someone wants to hurt her master, Kaito. The only problem is she can't really control her powers so, as Ian soon finds out, it's quite dangerous to be around her when she's angry. She can't use her powers at all, or they all come lashing out of her, resulting quite often in overkill. In the fairy world, she is careful and senses danger much earlier than Ian. After their visit to the Other World, Ainsel is impressed by Ian's determination and wants him to become his Partner.
Kaito (界外 Kaito?)
The antique shop owner. Handsome and mysterious. Has long light hair which usually hides his right eye that's also covered by a patch. It's later revealed it was slashed out by a monster. This happened after he was expelled from Knockma Castle, after being found sleeping by the Queen and expelled. Raven defended him, and told them how the Queen had seduced Kaito, who had never wanted to do it. They were abandoned, after which Kaito broke down and begged Raven not to leave him. Shortly after, they were attacked and Kaito lost his eye. After returning to Raven's home village, it appeared that Kaito seduced Raven's fiancee, Canary, who died of heartbreak. Before that, the villagers begged Kaito to go to her, and he replied he would if Raven replaced the eye he lost. Without hesitating, Raven pulled is eye out and presented it to the other man. Since then he has covered up that eye. Appears on the scene of one of the "fairy murders" and takes a cube from the dead body. Ian suspects him to be the murderer. Gives Ian a Fairy Cube with a lizard inside and tells him about the curse of the cube. Kaito seems to be able to use Glamour with his right eye and transports Ian and Ainsel to the Fairyland. Has been trying to find a body strong enough to accept Ainsel. Uses the dead bodies of those who weren't adapted to a fairy living inside them for experiments in his lab and gives Ian's soul the body of a young blonde boy.
Kazumi Hasumi (羽住一巳 Hasumi Kazumi?)
Ian's father. Has an aura of coldness and slight madness around him. Once a famous writer and the favourite son of the literary world, he now works as a Japanese teacher at Ian's and Rin's school. His writing skills left him with his wife, Kureha. He told his son Ian that she looked just like a fairy. He fears that his son is too similar to Kureha; he burned Ian's wings with a candle so he can't flee like his mother did.
Kureha (呉葉 Kureha?)
Ian's mother who disappeared when he was still a baby. Ian's father told him she looked just like a fairy. And Ian remembers how she held him and that she had green hair and red eyes, just like him. Later, it's revealed that she wasn't holding him, but Tokage. She was a leannan-sidhe, otherwise known as a "muse". They seduce human men, and breath in the "foison". In exchange they inspire the man's art. This was the reason Kazumi was such a great novelist. However, doing this would eventually have killed the man. Kureha actually fell in love with her husband, and so left before she could kill him.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Comic-Con International 2007 - Viz Media. Anime News Network (2007-07-26). Retrieved on 2007-07-29.

[edit] External links