Chicchana Yukitsukai Sugar

I love this anime so much I have the whole series. Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar is just too cute for words. And yet, despite it's adorable factor, I can honestly say this anime made me cry at the end. Basically, to sum it up, the story is of a young, punctual, planning girl named Saga who, much to her dismay, happens to encounter upon a small fairy known as a "season fairy" (and it's not so long afterward until she meets others). The first little season fairy is named Sugar, and apprentice to become a great snow fairy. Now, you can't say Saga is the mosthappy to find Sugar. Actually, she's anything but. She doesn't want anything to do with these crazy <i>things</i> she's stumbled on-- they're absolutely ruining her plans! But soon enough, Sugar beings to live with Saga after the magic seed was planted in Saga's mini toy piano in her room. Now Saga has to deal with Sugar as she tries to find the mysterious "twinkles" to become a full-fledged season fairy! What's a girl to do? Okay, so maybe the story isn't amazing, but it's wonderfully adorable, and I love the interactions between all the characters. Some parts of the stories have a few flaws, but never enough to distract the viewer. One thing I adore about Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar is it's beautiful backgrounds. That's the thing, it doesn't take place in Japan; it takes place in Germany, which I find refreshingly different and appealing to watch. The backgrounds are gorgeous watercolors. Also, the character designs are by Koge-Donbo (author of Pita-Ten and Kamichama Karin) which makes the expressions extra adorable, especially with Sugar and the other faires. The opening song is very catchy and chipper, contrasting with the more sweet and melancholy sounding ending theme. The music in the background is low-key, consisting of mostly piano and string instruments. Saga and Sugar's personalities clash which makes their interaction all the more interesting. Saga is orderly and mature and Sugar is spontaneous and energetic. I'd have like to see Ann and Norma more developed, as well as other characters, but Greta makes up for that, as she is a nicely developed minor character. Greta constantly wants to be Saga's rival, although as you see as the series progresses, she actually just wants to be friends with Saga (though she'd never admit it). Not all would enjoy Tiny Snow Fairy Sugar. Many might be put off by the title alone. However, despite the sugar-coated exterior it is actually a sweeter, more-heatfelt anime that will make you relate to its characters and have you enjoy each episode's antics.

Like the name of the titular character, this anime is so sweet and cute that you will probably forgive any fault that you see in it. The best thing in this anime is the characters. The fairies Sugar, Salt and Pepper are so cute, but not in the annoying way. Choro-sama, the elder fairy, will also make you laugh with his silly antics over his obsession with Ginger - a fairy obviously so much younger than him! Basil and Cinammon are also characters who, despite their bratty and rascal ways, will worm their way into your hearts. And if you watched Card Captor Sakura, you just mightbe in for a surprise. The artwork is so similar but the Tomoyo-looking character is the frenemy (friend/enemy) of one of the lead characters - Saga (patterned after Sakura). I found this to be very funny - seeing a totally different Tomoyo. My only complaint about the artwork is that the characters probably wore the same outfit all throughout the series, in stark contrast to Card Captor Sakura\'s numerous costume changes. The story is simple, but still quite complex. It won\'t let you look that hard for questions about your life, but it will make you wonder if you found your own Kirameki - whatever that is.

Atmosphere is one of the most important components when crafting a good show. If a show has weak or inappropriate atmosphere, it can potentially tarnish any chance of having emotional resonance with the audience, even if the script and acting are great. There are some anime fans that have a hard time enjoying a lot of horror anime for this very reason, because some of the scenes that were meant to be scary can come off as comedic instead if done poorly. Then you have those rare shows which have a certain aura to them. Maybe the characters are a bit corny and the plot isn’tvery engaging, but despite that, they still manage to pull some emotion out of you. A Little Snow Fairy Sugar is exactly that type of show. What it lacks in subtlety, it more than makes up for it with sincerity. The first thing that immediately struck me about Snow Fairy was its soundtrack. It’s easily the highlight of the entire show and largely consists of lovely and nostalgic-sounding piano pieces which play throughout the episodes. Sometimes the show will just sort of stop for a moment and let a character play an instrument for a bit. It can be quite bizarre and jarring at times, but endlessly charming nonetheless. And that’s really how I would best describe the show as a whole. It’s very charming and endearing. With character designs from Koge-Donbo of Di Gi Charat fame, it is unmistakably “of its time” in the best ways possible. The legendary Shichirou Kobayashi is also on the team and he does a fantastic job bringing this world to life with his beautiful backgrounds. Overall, the show is a treat to look at and listen to. However, while the artwork and music are both incredible, the characters and writing can leave a lot to be desired. The plot itself is rather unremarkable and the dynamics are all over the place. Saga and Sugar's friendship do have their wholesome and heartwarming moments together, but a decent chunk of the series is spent with Sugar getting in the way of Saga's everyday life and they end up fighting quite a bit which can take away some of the emotional weight those wholesome scenes could've had because the character progression is very inconsistent. If you’re the type of viewer who prefers getting super critical with what they watch, then maybe stay away, because Snow Fairy doesn’t exactly try too hard to be too deep with its themes and you'll probably end up getting bored and thinking it's stupid. But at the end of the day, Snow Fairy exemplifies a lot of the qualities I love about this time period in anime history. A lot of the industry started converting over to computers and it gave more people the chance to create niche anime that may not have been approved or fully realized before. And while a lot of series from this era can often be rather weird or clumsy, you can often feel that raw passion shine through. Snow Fairy may be far from perfect, but I also don't think I'd want it any other way.

I can not express words how good this anime was. In fact, the anime itself delivers message that is unique for each viewer. Do not let its prominent shroud of childish folly trick you into thinking it is another anime for children for it is entirely in reverse. However, the kiddies are still more than welcome to watch it with you as this anime rarely has any adult contemporary in it. What holds this anime up to very high standards is that, not only did it deliver a very overwhelmingly-good storyline, but all of this was entirely original and not based off a manga which destroysany complaints against whether or not it "stayed true" to such a thing as it is non-existent here for this original anime possesses a very strong and innovative story. If the characters are too cheesy for you to tolerate, then perhaps the beautiful piano symphony will make up for that. With the budget that they had for it, the music comes off as no surprise that it is excellently composed and each song in the anime conveys a different style where nothing falls under repetition; a quality that is very rare to find in an OST of an anime. The production value of this anime is so high that it feels like you are watching something in the late-thousands despite it existing around the early-thousands. The animation, voice acting and music all feel like they are half-a-decade or more ahead of their time. So if one of your peeves with thousands anime is its quality not being too good, think again with this one. What you get here is a story that is unforgettable, WILL make you tear up towards the end and will all be done in resplendent classical piano throughout the whole ordeal. Well normally it would come off as tedious if all you hear is piano, the songs you will listen to are all unique. If you need something different from your usual fare, A Little Snow Fairy Sugar has it.

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