Fairy Idol Kanon is a 2003-2006 manga series created by Mera Hakamada. UDON Entertainment licensed all four volumes into English throughout 2009-2010.
The story follows three 10-year-old girls from Hinoura Elementary School—Kanon Kohinata, Marika Amano, and Kodama Yagi—who meet a fairy from another world that relies on the power of music. Princess Alto has come to the human world from the Kingdom of Sound to find pure singing voices to help save her land, which is in danger due to a lack of them. Wanting to help Alto, the three girls decide to form an idol group and spread the power of their voices throughout Japan.
Tropes in Fairy Idol Kanon include:
- Alpha Bitch: Julia.
- And the Adventure Continues: Even after Alto leaves, the three girls continue to sing as an idol group.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn:
- Beauty: Kanon is kind-hearted and wants to help others in any way she can.
- Brains: Kodama is quite knowledgeable about celebrities.
- Brawn: Marika is easily the most aggressive of the three.
- Big Fancy Castle: Alto's home in the land of the fairies is this, but at night, traps are everywhere and even ghosts can be seen dancing around. These "tricks and illusions" (as Alto puts it) were put there by Alto's ancestors.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Alto's aunt Forte, who tries to find subtle ways to take Alto's takt away from her so that she could take over the throne.
- Bittersweet Ending: After the three girls save the Record Champions ceremony from dark energy, Alto appears in a dream to Kanon, showing her that the land of the fairies is starting to recover and that Sharp and Forte have made up with the family. Alto then bids a tearful farewell to Kanon. The girls never see Alto again after that, but they will remember her in their hearts and keep singing.
- Childhood Marriage Promise: Marika made one with her much older neighbor Yuichiro when she was 4 years old. Her friends don't think too much of it and Kanon even tries to tell her that people don't take such things seriously (before being stopped by Kodama). But Marika takes it extremely seriously, as she gets seriously distressed when she hears that Yuichiro is now getting married 6 years later and seems to have forgotten about her promise.
- City of Adventure: There are a couple of times where the girls go to Shibuya, more specifically Harajuku.
- Cooking Show: Marika's mother, Manami Amano, is a celebrity who has her own cooking show.
- Costume Porn: Pierre Yamada, the girls' agent, never seems to run out of clothes. Sometimes he changes into full-blown costumes instantly without Alto's magic. Sue, the president of the record label that Kanon, Kodama, Marika, and Julia are signed under, shares his friend's love for fashion. The series in general also gives the main three plenty of outfits.
- Cross-Cast Role: Kanon, Kodama, and Marika get an opportunity to be part of a Snow White musical. Julia is there as well, and to sabotage the group, she tries to poison some drinks in hopes the three girls will drink them. Unfortunately, the actor who was cast as the prince, Shun Nakamura, takes one of the drinks and becomes ill, causing the director of the musical to replace him with Kanon!
- Crystal Ball: Forte uses one to watch her niece and Kanon.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Turns out Kanon can be a pretty clumsy dancer.
- Dark Is Evil: There are fairies known as Dark Fairies that use black magic to harm others, and have tried to attack the Kingdom of Sound in the past in order to achieve their goal of having their "Land of Darkness".
- Drama Bomb: Practically most, if not all, of volume 4.
- Disappeared Dad: We get to see Kanon's mother, Marika's mother, and even Alto's mother, but no fathers are present.
- Kodama's case is both this and Missing Mom, as the only family member of hers we see is her 19 year old brother Yamahiko.
- Dream Intro: The story starts with Kanon having a dream where she is singing in the middle of outer space. She then hears a voice calling her name for help, wanting her to save them with her song, and then the dream ends as she wakes up in her class. Later after school, Kanon hears the same voice again before she and her friends find Alto lying on some nearby grass. Turns out Marika had the same dream and heard Alto's voice as well, though it seems it wasn't the case for Kodama.
- Edutainment Show: As expected for a manga aimed at kids, many chapters have some kind of moral or meaningful theme within them, such as teamwork, expressing honesty and kindness despite the situation, expressing happiness through what you do, and showing your appreciation for others when they feel down. The story also introduces some aspects of the music industry such as record labels, ad-libbing, and indie bands.
- Enchanted Forest: The Sealed Forest in the land of the fairies.
- Evil Diva: Hanne.
- Evil Twin: Though not actually twins, Sharp looks very similar to Alto.
- Fairy Companion: Kanon and her friends have Alto, while Julia has Sharp.
- Fangirl: Kodama literally squees at the sight of Shun Nakamura, a celebrity who appears in one of the later chapters.
- Genki Girl: Kanon.
- Girlish Pigtails: Marika. Though Kanon sometimes has them too.
- Humanity Ensues: After being betrayed by Julia, Sharp decides to use forbidden magic to transform herself into a human named Hanne. She becomes an incredibly popular idol in no time and uses her dark magic to steal energy from humans to fill her Black Orb, though her transformation shortened her life span and continued usage of magic further cuts it. It ends up being so serious that she eventually becomes unable to physically move before Alto changes her back.
- Idol Singer
- Invisible to Adults: Fairies like Alto and Sharp. The exception is Hanne, who can see fairies, but you could argue that it's because she was originally a fairy herself. Though chapter 26 have some cameramen catch Alto on camera, confusing her for a bug.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Marika can be pretty aggressive and have downright selfish motives at times, but she doesn't have any malicious intentions and can be supportive, especially towards her mother.
- Lady of Black Magic: Hanne.
- Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Alto is a more cheerful and innocent fairy, while Sharp often has a devilish smirk and malicious intentions.
- Magical Incantation: Alto's "Magical Healing".
- Magic Idol Singer
- Magic Music: The harmony that Kanon, Kodama, and Marika make are so powerful that it's able to heal Alto and even cause her takt to evolve. Kanon's voice is especially powerful, as it alone is able to dispel black magic at times.
- Magic Wand: Alto and Sharp use magic wands called "takts". Alto's takt, the "Princess Takt", is a rod with an orb with stars and some bells attached to it (it eventually evolves into a star rod with an orb that has a music note on it), while Sharp's takt is a rod with a crescent moon on it.
- Meaningful Name: Kanon's name, if written in kanji, contains the characters for "flower" and "sound".
- Mind-Control Eyes: Marika in chapter 20, after Sharp uses the Staff of Manipulation on her.
- Musical Theme Naming: Each of the unique fairy characters except for Alto's mother, whose name isn't known.
- Alto is named after the term for a high-pitched singing voice.
- Sharp is named after the term for a higher pitch.
- Forte, Alto's aunt, is named after the term for a loud/strong dynamic.
- Flat, the High Priestess of the Temple of Rejuvenation and Alto's grandmother, is named after the term for a lower pitch.
- Only Smart People May Pass: On the way to the Temple of Rejuvenation, Kanon and Alto are stopped by some statues who demand that they solve a riddle.
- The Power of Rock
- Princess Classic: Alto is a straight example... aside from her singing.
- Purple Is Powerful: Sharp, as well as her human identity Hanne.
- Really 700 Years Old: When Alto and Kanon visit Alto's aunt Forte, Forte remarks that it's been 50 years since she last saw her niece, making Kanon realize that she never thought to ask Alto how old she is. Her exact age is never stated in the whole series.
- Makes you wonder how old Sharp is considering she's Alto's older sister and that she knew Julia's mother when she was around Julia's age.
- The Rival: Julia is this to Kanon and her friends, while her mother Hijiri was once this to Marika's mother Manami.
- Teen Idol: Julia.
- Transformation Sequence: Alto often transforms the girls' clothes with her magic.
- Trapped in Another World: While she was at school, Kanon hears Alto, who was in her home world at the time. In response to Alto's call for help, Kanon decides to jump in the school pool after remembering that Earth and Alto's world were connected by water. She then shows up in Alto's world and proceeds to help her go through the Sealed Forest so that she could fix her broken takt at the Temple of Rejuvenation, which takes up several chapters. Marika and Kodama eventually come over to help too.
- Uncanny Family Resemblance: Alto and Sharp. Julia also looks a lot like her mother did when she was her age, but with dark hair instead of blonde.
- World of Technicolor Hair: Marika and Alto both have blue hair, and Sharp has purple hair. In Alto and Sharp's case, it's likely justified since they're fairies rather than humans.
