Hakushaku to Yōsei

'Hakushaku to Yōsei' (伯爵と妖精^?, "The Earl and the Fairy") is a completed series of light novels written by Mizue Tani and published in Japan by Shueisha. The story is serialized in Cobalt magazine and illustrated by Asako Takaboshi (Ayuko).

Shueisha has commercially released two drama CDs and a manga adaptation has begun serialization in The Margaret since the September issue in 2008.

An anime adaptation was broadcast from September to December 2008. A visual novel for the PlayStation 2 was released on April 30, 2009.

Plot

Story

The story, set in Victorian Britain, follows the adventures of 17-year-old Lydia Carlton, nicknamed the "Fairy Doctor" due to her interest and understanding of fairies. Her life takes a 180-degree turn when she meets Edgar J.C Ashenbert, the "Legendary Blue Knight Earl" and his crew on a sea voyage to London. Edgar hires her as an advisor during his quest to obtain a treasured sword that was supposed to be handed down to him by his family.

Characters

Kazoku

The Kazoku (華族, literally "Magnificent/Exalted lineage") was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947.

Origins

Following the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the ancient court nobility of Kyoto, the Kuge, regained some of its lost status. Several members of the kuge, such as Iwakura Tomomi and Nakayama Tadayasu, played a crucial role in the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the early Meiji government nominated kuge to head all seven of the newly established administrative departments.

The Meiji oligarchs, as part of their Westernizing reforms, merged the kuge with the former daimyo (feudal lords) into an expanded aristocratic class on 25 July 1869, to recognize that the kuge and former daimyo were a social class distinct from the other designated social classes of shizoku (former samurai) and heimin (commoners). Itō Hirobumi, one of the principal authors of the Meiji constitution, intended the new kazoku peerage to serve as a political and social bulwark for the "restored" emperor and the Japanese imperial institution. At the time, the kuge and former daimyo consisted of a group of 427 families.