Akagami no Shirayuki-hime

Although her name means "snow white," Shirayuki is a cheerful, red-haired girl living in the country of Tanbarun who works diligently as an apothecary at her herbal shop. Her life changes drastically when she is noticed by the silly prince of Tanbarun, Prince Raji, who then tries to force her to become his concubine. Unwilling to give up her freedom, Shirayuki cuts her long red hair and escapes into the forest, where she is rescued from Raji by Zen Wistalia, the second prince of a neighboring country, and his two aides. Hoping to repay her debt to the trio someday, Shirayuki sets her sights on pursuing a career as the court herbalist in Zen's country, Clarines.

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime depicts Shirayuki's journey toward a new life at the royal palace of Clarines, as well as Zen's endeavor to become a prince worthy of his title. As loyal friendships are forged and deadly enemies formed, Shirayuki and Zen slowly learn to support each other as they walk their own paths.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Shirayuki Main

Hayami, Saori Japanese

Obi Main

Okamoto, Nobuhiko Japanese

Wistalia, Zen Main

Oosaka, Ryouta Japanese

Seiran, Kiki Main

Nazuka, Kaori Japanese

Rouen, Mitsuhide Main

Umehara, Yuuichirou Japanese

Ryuu Supporting

Sanpei, Yuuko Japanese

Wistalia Clarines, Izana Supporting

Ishida, Akira Japanese

Shenazard, Raji Supporting

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Gazelt, Garack Supporting

Kaida, Yuuko Japanese

Toghril, Kiharu Supporting

Saitou, Chiwa Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Matsuda, Akio Producer

Fukuda, Jun Producer

Ogisu, Hirotsugu Producer

Reviews

May 8, 2024

Joe_Devaney

Recommended

Note: This will be a review of both seasons.

Overview:
Despite what the name might imply, "Snow White with the Red Hair" has almost nothing to do with the classic fairy tale, barring a few references in the first episode. It has no dwarves, no evil queen who's secretly a witch and pretty much no supernatural elements to speak of despite taking place in a medieval fantasy world. Instead, what we have is a lighthearted romantic drama about a lonely girl struggling to find her place in the world, and while the end result may be less than magical (in more ways than one), it's nevertheless worth ... a look if you're a romance fan.

Story (7/10):
"Snow White with the Red Hair" tells the story of Shirayuki, a young girl who works as a herbalist in the kingdom of Tanbarun and was born with highly rare red hair. Unfortunately for her, her hair ends up drawing the attention of the immature, pompous Prince Raj, who demands that she becomes his concubine. Shirayuki, however, refuses to become what's essentially a slave, and flees Tanbarun in order to escape the prince. While out in the woods, she bumps into a man named Zen Wisteria, and shortly after that, she discovers that he's the second prince of the neighbouring kingdom of Clarines. Once the matter with Prince Raj has been settled, Shirayuki decides to accompany Zen to Clarines and start a new life, which begins a strong friendship between these two people that may result in something more down the road.

Similar to "Kamisama Kiss", "Snow White with the Red Hair" starts off episodic, but soon develops an arc format, with the transition from one to the other happening roughly halfway through the first season. The first few episodes mostly introduce us to all the important characters and cover how things work in the world, and things gradually get more dramatic until the storytelling peaks in the arc of the second season, which feels like everything the previous episodes were building up to and delves into Shirayuki's origins, resulting in a very intriguing and personal story. Another good point of the series is the relationship between Shirayuki and Zen, as we clearly see the two of them getting closer and closer with each passing episode, and they have to struggle with the obstacles wedged between them due to their differing social classes, which makes for some nice storytelling.

Unfortunately, the story does have a number of big problems. For example, I found Shirayuki's hair colour being such a major plot point pretty hard to take seriously for one simple reason- unusual hair colours aren't that rare in the series! In the main cast alone, we have a guy with white hair (Zen) and a guy with blueish-green hair (Mitsuhide), and yet it's Shirayuki's hair that's the subject of everybody's awe and curiosity, even though red hair is not only possible in real life, but actually quite common. It wouldn't bother me so much if it wasn't for the fact that people commented on it every other episode (sometimes multiple times an episode) and it's the main reason why so many people come after Shirayuki. Even beyond that, however, the main drama of season 2 is resolved little more than halfway through, and afterwards the series returns to the episodic format of early season 1, wrapping things up with a bunch of self-contained stories during which pretty much nothing of consequence happens. It's hard to come up with the word to describe that because honestly, I don't think "anti-climactic" is strong enough.

Art & Animation (8/10):
"Snow White with the Red Hair" is animated by Studio Bones, so naturally good visuals are to be expected. That being said, how good the series looks really depends on what part of it you're talking about. The character models are very well-drawn and detailed, as are the general environments, but the backgrounds could use a little work, often looking like half-finished paintings. There's also a few very noticeable jerks in the animations, often resulting in characters looking much less impressive than they usually do for a brief moment. For the most part, however, the series looks great.

Sound & Dialogue (8.5/10):
The soundtrack is fine, but not anything special. It fits the tone and genre of the series, but there aren't that many notable tracks I can think of. The opening and ending themes of the first season are great (especially the ending theme) but the second opening and ending themes are entirely forgettable. The voice acting is great- Brina Palencia and Jessie James Grelle (at the time known as Josh Grelle) deliver great performances as Shirayuki and Zen, respectively, and the series features a strong cast that includes Austin Tindle, Ian Sinclair, Jamie Marchi, Eric Vale and Monica Rial. All in all, I would consider this to be the highlight of the series.

Characters (7.5/10):
In early episodes, while not outright stated, Shirayuki is implied to be something of an outcast. This is evident by the fact that she didn't have any real problems with leaving Tanbarun behind to avoid becoming Prince Raj's concubine or moving to Clarines shortly afterwards, implying that while she was civil with the people in Tanbarun, she wasn't really close to anyone. In general, Shirayuki believes that people should be defined by their strength of character, and has no tolerance for people who think their birthrights make them inherently superior to others. As for her actual personality, she is generally very kind, friendly and forgiving, but also rather proud and determined to earn her place rather than having it handed to her, something she could very easily do due to being close friends with a prince. Her pride is evident by the fact that if she gets kidnapped, she doesn't wait around for somebody to save her, and if she can free and save herself, she will, which is especially impressive for someone with no real fighting ability. That said, I found her narrations at the start of each episode to be highly repetitive and frankly completely unnecessary, since they don't really reveal anything about her character or provide any exposition about the world. They basically just amount to her talking about her path over and over and OVER again. As a whole, however, she is a very likeable character, and her arc will certainly be relatable to anyone who's struggled to find their place in the world.

Despite their drastically differing social classes, Zen is in many ways a lot like Shirayuki, in that they're both kind, determined and hard-working individuals who want to follow their own paths in life. In general, it's pretty easy to forget that Zen's a prince, since he generally acts very modest and casual and has no problem with talking to or befriending a commoner like Shirayuki. Even so, he is very realistic about his position and even admits to Shirayuki at one point that he can't guarantee that there won't come a time where he'll have to put his duty before her. He's also far from gullible, which is evident in his very first scene when he refuses to accept medicine Shirayuki offers for his injured wrist because he didn't know her at the time and, as such, she could've been an enemy or deranged killer who wanted to poison him with the medicine, and he has already suffered multiple assassination attempts in the past. Overall, however, I found him to be rather static in comparison to Shirayuki, with most of his character development having already happened in his past, with a flashback detailing how he became who he is today. This isn't a huge issue, though, and I did ultimately like his character.

Of course, Shirayuki and Zen aren't the only characters in the series, even if they are easily the best ones. Joining their group fairly early on is Obi, a former assassin who fights like a ninja and initially appears as an antagonist, but quickly becomes an ally of the heroes, with Zen hiring him to act as his messenger and Shirayuki's bodyguard. He has a good personality, being generally lighthearted and prone to teasing the others, as well as more than reliable in a pinch, but very little is revealed about him in terms of backstory. There's also Mitsuhide Lowen, Zen's best friend who's been his bodyguard since he was a young teenager. He acts as one of the main sources of comic relief in the series, with a good number of the show's funniest moments involving him in some capacity (if they don't, they usually involve Obi instead). Personality-wise, he is generally kind, but also surprisingly willing to get his hands dirty, especially for Zen's sake. The final member of the core cast is Kiki Seiran, who unfortunately seems to be just there to round up the group's gender ratio, since almost nothing is revealed about her backstory and there aren't many times where she directly contributes to a situation, with her generally just being in the background and making the occasional comment, though her cool-headed nature means she makes for a decent straight man if nothing else.

Besides the main five, "Snow White with the Red Hair" features a pretty large and varied cast of characters, some of whom are friendly from the beginning, and some who start off as antagonistic but eventually become allied with Shirayuki and Zen. There are exceptions to the rule, however, with one character in particular being a special kind of evil that you would not expect to find in a series like this. Unfortunately, the handling of the characters leaves something to be desired, with a number of interesting characters not getting as much screen time as I would have liked and a few others getting too much screen time, despite them being not all that interesting or just plain unlikeable. What's more is that the rather weak ending means that very few characters are given any real closure, though it certainly doesn't help that the manga is still ongoing even to this day.

Enjoyment (7.5/10):
While the characters do tend to get into a lot of trouble, at its core "Snow White with the Red Hair" is not an action series, meaning that conflicts tend to be resolved quickly and Zen and his retainers rarely get a chance to show their swordsmanship (or in Obi's case, his ninja abilities). But while it may not be the most exciting anime around, it is very touching and heartwarming, particularly as we see Shirayuki and Zen's relationship gradually develop from one episode to the next. It can also be very funny at times, though this tends to be specific to certain episodes.

Overall:
Ultimately, "Snow White with the Red Hair" is yet another anime that doesn't stand out in any particular way, but doesn't fall short in any department either. It has a well-paced story held back by fatuous plot points, likeable but unremarkable characters, above-average visuals and a soundtrack that varies wildly in quality. Romance fans should definitely enjoy it, but sadly I won't be able to blame you if you end walking away wanting more.

Score:
7+8+8.5+7.5+7.5=38.5/50=7.7/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Dec 1, 2022

Jeans_lily

Mixed Feelings

I can give this one a pass because I like the way the main girl Shiriyuki, when faced with being forced to do something she did not want to do, she stuck to her resolve every time. Granted my expectations were low since there was a "princess" in the title, being associated with the soft spoken snow white, I was pleasantly surprised when she voiced her opinions to not take crap without a fight.
That being said, she needed help...a lot. She never really got herself out of trouble but she tried I guess? She always seemed to have a friend who had the exact ... skills she needed in that moment coincidentally. So shes not a badass in anyway, just a charmer, in that "Oh I guess im pretty and smart but i never noticed because im so humble about it" kind of way, which i can see why that would turn a lot of people off of this one. Someone called her a mary sue, and yea i can see that. She could have done with another flaw or two but she was a damsel in distress in a story titled after another famous damsel in distress waiting on a prince to provide a happy ending so you can connect the dots and sort of see where this anime is going. The rest of the characters are just as predictable, still likable, but predictable so if your looking for something new you shouldnt look here for much. So if you go in with high expectations youll not like it, but if your the type that doesn't care and just like to see anime with romance in a regal kingdom setting, this is your time passer. Just turn off your brain and itll be aright.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Mar 26, 2024

FLASHY_WOLF_

Not Recommended

Hear me out!!This anime is not bad but it can be really predictable and tough to watch plus there is nothing to look forward, everything is crystal clear from the start,how the characters will end up, how the show will go forward etc.This is the type of romance anime I would recommend for new anime watchers who are seeking to watch a romance anime to watch. As for me I found the show to be too much predictable, but this is definitely the kind of anime I would have loved to watch when I just started watching anime, instead I got recommended to watch Sword ... art online, which I really regretted.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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