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]
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Comentários
NakeBenihime
Shirayuki, why are you so special and so loved by everyone you meet? This is the question I cannot help but ask with each episode I watch of this anime. The specialness of this very bland, boring, ordinary girl with a supposedly unusual hair color just goes way too far. If I'm not feeling it, then why are all of these idiots in her world? Those who claim this anime sidesteps the usual shoujo anime tropes couldn't be more wrong. It falls awkwardly and unawares into most of them and sloshes around in the ditch water like a pig wallowing in its own filth. We havea very cliched protagonist, Shirayuki, who is the Mary Sue of anime.
First, she has a very unusual name in any culture, "Snow White." If that doesn't scream "Mary Sue," then I don't know what does. Second, she has a rare hair color for NO story reason in order to force her to be considered special by the other characters, but it doesn't convince the viewer who is not impressed with this unrealistic display. Third, she is so special, the prince of her own kingdom wants to make her his concubine, but she decides to flee the country instead, only to run into none-other than the SECOND prince of the neighboring country. A coincidence for you, and one coincidence for YOU---coincidences for everybody!
But, wasn't Shirayuki escaping a horrible life when she ran away from home? That's why she ran, right? Well, no. In fact, she was very well loved by everybody in her own kingdom and she literally threw it all away simply because Prince Raj got horny and decided he wanted to pamper her like a wife without actually marrying her. I'm not saying this is okay, but there are worse fates out there.
So, now she's in the kingdom next door as the very special friend of Prince Zen, a young second prince she meets immediately upon leaving her own kingdom. Because she had already worked as an apothecary, she took naturally to this whole herbs business and easily passed the test to become the palace's apprentice herbalist. Well, nothing's hard for this girl, other than being so beautiful and revered. Life is hard, indeed.
And, that's just the problem. There really is nothing about Shirayuki's life that is a problem. She was happy before and she is happy now. She was pretty before and she is still pretty. She was hardworking before and she is hardworking now. She stood up for herself before, and she does it now, too. What is the point of even watching this anime when the story is nonexistent and she has so little conflict in her life?
It comes off like a wish fulfillment fantasy that gets so carried away with making the protagonist's life perfect, it's BORING AS HELL. There is no character development whether in Shirayuki, Zen, or anyone. You cannot have meaningful anything or anyone if you have nothing at stake. There is nothing at stake here, and it is a story about a really fortunate girl, with perhaps a bit too much fortune, finding a very fortunate love match. Perhaps this would be more interesting if there was some struggle and some real growth in Shirayuki and Zen, but it doesn't exist.
Watching this can be a way to pass the time if you're bored, but I found myself becoming bored while watching this. If a story about everyone getting along with everyone else and only having to deal with minor misunderstandings sounds like a blast to you, then dig in. I ain't got no time for this lightweight storytelling crap.
Stark700
Roses, tomatoes, and human blood. What do these all have in common? If you guess their color, then you would be correct. A certain girl with noticeable red hair also exists in a fantasy world where the colors of red decorates its colorful storytelling. Akagami no Shirayuki-hime (Snow White with the Red Hair) isn’t exactly a Disney tale where there’s just prince charming or Cinderella shoes. Rather, this show is what I’d envision as a unique fantasy story of vibrant coloring. Adapted from the manga of the same name written and illustrated by Sorata Akizuki, the series focuses on a young woman named Shirayuki. She isborn with her trademark red hair that catches the eye of almost anyone she meets. This unfortunately attracts the attention of a prince named Raji who wishes to marry her and in response, Shirayuki attempts to escape from the country. She later meets a young man named Zen and helps him with an injury. As prince Raji attempts to find Shirayuki, we see how her adventure begins not as a heroine who is on a mission to slay dragons but to obtain a rightful place in the world where she belongs. The series is noticeable that it’s a split cour (12 episodes) each. This review will cover the first cour of the adaptation by studio Bones.
As a fan of the manga, I was ecstatic to see that this anime adaptation became a reality. To get straight to the point, Akagami no Shirayuki-hime is a very classic fantasy. It takes place in the Kingdom of Clarines that is highly decorative. In fact, its first few episodes will make you see the world fiction that Shirayuki and the others are part of. Even the very few first scenes of the show will unravel what may be expected. The highly decorated castle, the scarlet red haired heroine, and a prince with a commanding presence all bring out the atmospheric shoujo setting. The premise also includes a poisoned apple which is a classic plot device used in the original Snow White story. But rather than Snow White being saved, it’s Shirayuki who does the saving. In essence, Shirayuki is an antithesis of the damsel in distress trope. She is courageous, intelligent, daring, and very compassionate with the people around her. She helps a stranger (Zen) with little hesitation and often puts others’ will-being above her own. What defines her as a strong woman also makes her independent as she relies on almost no one to achieve her goal. And in this story, her goal is to become a professional pharmacist.
The show executes its storytelling from many angles. The most prominent would be the relationship building between Shirayuki and Zen. The two already have a charming chemistry with their moments from the very first time they’ve met. Zen’s curiosity of Shirayuki is also interesting to see as he wants to know more about her each episode. Their social status in the show contrasts greatly but it’s shown that they are similar in a variety of ways. Both are confident in their abilities, skillful in certain arts, and often uses clever thinking to solves problems. They are also both sometimes stubborn with certain objectives such as when Shirayuki stood in front of a sword while risking her life to get a point across. Furthermore, it’s also shown throughout that Zen has grown fond of Shirayuki to the point that he sometimes feels dependent of her. In return, Shirayuki often looks after his well-being while developing a mutual respect for one another. And given the shoujo fantasy premise, there’s little doubt that romance soon blossoms between the two.
As a character driven story, the series also puts emphasis on the other people that we see. The two most noticeable are Zen’s aides, Mitsuhide and Kiki. The two has a strange relationship although it’s shown that they very close. Their sense of loyalty is also unparalleled each episode as they are willing to put their lives at risk to help Zen. Although we don’t learn much about them, it’s shown that they’ve also grown quite fond of Shirayuki’s presence. Other characters such as Obi makes the audience wonder what they may be capable of especially with what they make of their first impressions. Lastly, there’s also a bit of sibling drama that occurs in the show. Zen’s brother is shown to be manipulative individual who is hard to read; sometimes he is serious, other times he is playful. The siblings’ relationship often creates tension whenever they are on-screen together and it really makes the audience curious to see how their relationship develop in the present story.
For Shirayuki’s role, she undertakes challenges to prove herself as a capable pharmacist. While the show is predictable, it still manages to capture the interest of the viewers as we see how she is able to take on different challenges. The experience she shows in the series isn’t just by the actions she does but by how she does them. It’s interesting to note that Shirayuki’s confidence comes from willing to help others as a goal to become a pharmacist rather than just earning money or achieve fame. Her selflessness combined with courage and independence makes her stand out as an inspiring heroine.
While the series is very appealing, this might not be a show for everyone. For starters, this is not to be taken as an action theater. In other words, do not expect epic sword clashes, war drama, or political affairs that spans into complicated plot angles. Instead, this is more of an inspiring fantasy shoujo that classifies the characters and how they progress. The relationship dynamics makes this series very colorful while retaining the strengths of a classic shoujo. I do have to admit that not everything is captured by source material adaptation standards. Also at times, the story’s pacing feels sluggish in particular with the first few episodes. There’s also some forced comedy that occasionally appears although this can be neglected by the memorable dialogues. A fantasy adventure like this isn’t also without romance so expect some obvious direction that the story follows up with. Despite this though, the show itself stands alone as something unique. It’s not a reboot of Snow White but a colorful tale of red.
As one of several Bones’ series to premiere in 2015, Akagami no Shirayuki-hime is a powerhouse when it comes to visual arts. The show’s animation features vibrant colors combining elements of resourceful landscapes, architecture, and character designs. The Kingdom of Clarines is also shown to have fantastic features that is fitting for a grand castle along with its neighboring town. Shirayuki’s red hair is decorated as unique throughout the season. Her outfit gradually changes as her skill evolves and reflects on developed experience. Zen’s outfit is also fitting for someone with the status of a prince and alongside his aides, they make up a memorable trio. There is also virtually no fan service as the show makes its point to unravel Shirayuki as an independent heroine, a female character that doesn’t need to rely on looks to gain others’ attention. All things aside, I do have to admit that there are occasionally some sluggish animation issues with the character movements. However, the body language in the show is undeniable when it with ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ moments.
The word I’d describe the music for the show would be sweet. It’s lighthearted that isn’t hard on the ears but instead convey its fantasy shoujo feel whenever it needs to be. The OP/ED theme song are decorative and well connected to its atmospheric setting. Character voice mannerism comes from the strengths of the main leads. Shirayuki shows a lot of personality in her voice that shifts from confidence, humorous, and daring when she needs to be. Similarly, we also have Zen who displays a familiar nature as a prince. His voice sometimes does display inklings of stubbornness and even arrogance when interacting with his brother. That actually brings up to a good point as well. Izana is probably a character that I’d describe as the most hard to read yet. Just judging on his voice alone, there’s a lack of trustworthiness in his character. But overall in terms of character voice mannerisms, the whole cast is well portrayed.
So what else is to say about Akagami no Shirayuki-hime? It’s more than a tribute to the original Snow White story. We get a colorful cast of characters in a world where possibilities can become a reality. The show does a wonderful job when crafting its premise while staying true to it throughout the season. The character relationships are some of the key highlight points that makes the show worthy of its praise. And when it comes to its technical features, the series is a red scarlet eye candy of fantasy. In retrospect, Akagami no Shirayuki-hime makes you feel attached to the characters, story, and become a part of something almost magical.
samui26
There are anime series which excel because they have an original story (Clannad After Story, Stein's Gate and Madoka Magica) and there are those which soar due to well-written characters who carry an otherwise generic story. Akagami no Shirayuki-hime may be dismissed due to its straightforward nature which seems to religiously follow the shoujo genre but a deeper look reveals its characters that defy the tropes which makes it special. Story: 5/10 The legitimate weakness of this series is that its story does not stand out. We were introduced to Shirayuki, a girl who ran away from her home because their prince wanted to make her aconcubine then she met Zen, a prince from another country. The premise basically rings a familiar trope that was used too many times before (Disney, anyone?).
The first episode is very fairy tale like in my opinion with all the events being mirrored with the first few events of Snow White. We then follow her life and struggles after she made friends with the Prince. In all honesty, it can be tiresome at times since the first few episodes were made to look as if she was a princess in damsel and the prince has to rescue her just at the right moment.
Other moments involve Shirayuki taking an exam, being introduced to Zen's brother and so on but again, the story does not stand out which is a fair claim to naysayers to dismiss the series as just another shoujo show. This hurt the series considerably in its not so stellar episodes and might leave a stagnant feeling to the viewers.
DISCLAIMER: My praise to Akagami Shirayuki-hime begins here and it might border as if it came from a rabid fanboy but I will try my best to balance my review.
Art: 9/10
The artwork is highly consistent courtesy of Bones and is the prettiest looking series this season. It was as if the staff borrowed some of Shinkai's technique (the man behind 5 Centimeters Per Second) when it comes to the relaxing hues used in Akagami Shirayuki-hime. The artwork (lighting and the characters' expression) was also able to accentuate the heartwarming scenes in this series (Episodes 4 and 11 in particular) and along with the standout score, it elevated an otherwise generic moment.
As regards to character designs, these were cleanly made and these faithfully followed the mangaka's but modified them a bit to have a Bones feel to them. These also mark a departure from your typical shoujo fare where the typical characters are so pretty that you might be dazzled.
Sound: 9/10
Again, Bones is not a stranger in putting the right music at the right moment which makes the effect of crucial scenes in this series very potent to those who invested their time in it. Strings were used during climactic ones which elevated nondescript scenes to heartwarming events. It also knows when to stop during the show's most crucial moment (I am not going to spoil anything) to emphasize something irreversible with Zen and Shirayuki has happened.
For most of the time, the musical score is relaxing enough to complement this languidly paced series which is a very commendable job for Bones.
Characters: 9/10
Akagami no Shirayuki is a character driven show which has actual and relatable characters and a very strong lead reminiscent of Akatsuki No Yona. For what the story lacks, the characters in this show compensate.
Shirayuki defies the traits of a typical shoujo lead. She is socially capable, strong-willed, is not afraid to speak her mind and has actually has a brain which knows her limits. A viewer might expect a typical shoujo lead to go doki doki with her love interest but Shirayuki holds her own and yearns to seek position for her to see Zen as her equal. A crying main character trope because she was intimidated is also not present here but we are given a very rational one who thinks before she acts.
Zen, on the other hand, might err at times to your typical male shoujo character but a closer examination reveals that he is not. While he is kind, his past (a very painful one, mind you) reveals what made him like he is as portrayed. He might be likable and composed but his insecurity (or whatever that feeling is) to his much superior brother is palpable and shows its ugly fang when triggered but not to the point that he shows angst about it. He also narrowly avoided the sparkly main lead syndrome by toning down some of his traits and by not giving him a chick magnet role.
All other recurring characters were also given ample time to get some development. Mitsuhide and Izana benefited from Zen's flashback of his past so much that it can be also viewed that certain story was theirs and not Zen's. They were also elevated from plot device to actual characters which interact with the leads (and contribute to their future paths) without the feeling of emotional manipulation. Izana in particular might just be my favorite character in this show for his reasons and his peculiar ways of handling problems which antagonize him a bit.
Obi, on the other hand, is a very interesting oddball which complemented Zen's calm nature. He is quite perceptive and throws statements which drive the series to a positive direction. The confession scene would not have happened without him after all.
If you are a shoujo junkie and are looking for shoujo-esque moments every single episode, then I am sorry that you are looking for the wrong show. There are no overly complicated relationship webs (A likes B who likes C who likes D... yada... yada...) and we are only given focus with Zen and Shirayuki for as long as the shoujo nature of this show in concerned.
You will also not see Zen getting doki doki around Shirayuki (vice versa until the climactic moment in this show) just because it's the genre's trope. A crying lead being submissive to her love interest after an unfortunate event is also missing here. Instead, Shirayuki has her own resolve in the show's larger problems.
The main leads also prove that we don't have to go for two seasons of confusion and misunderstanding to get a very satisfying confession in the end. And boy, what a satisfying event that was.
Enjoyment: 8/10
There are episodes which fail to copy the oomph of the series highlights (Episodes 2 and 5 in particular can be erased and it will be better in my opinion) but I expected a generic love story upon hitting the play button. Then my prejudice in this show was destroyed in the first episode. This is how execution can make cliches to something special. A second season is coming in January which I hoped will live what makes this one a good romance title.
Eniie
This review will not contain any spoilers regarding the series. Story: Akagami no Shirayuki-hime's story is straightforward and simple, it's concept and how it is formed is something that is very common with the demographic that it resides in. So in that regard, it is not something that has not been seen before. Despite it being so simple and straightforward, it gives the feeling of being magical and soothing. How the events unfolds towards the character is incredibly seamless. While it may follow the specific tropes that come from the demographic, it tries its best to either break the trope and become surprising or execute it in away where it is appreciated. Many people may hate the 'damsel in distress' trope, but this series tries its best to avoid it, as much as the synopsis/first episode gives the impression of it occurring, the continuity of the series avoids it.
As the name of the show suggests, the show tends to give a feel of it being a Disney movie. It's charming, fuzzy and cute to watch through. The story is definitely light and focuses more about the dynamics of the characters, and how their relationships progress through the events that approach them.
Art:
The art and animation of the series is incredibly exquisite. As expected from a studio that is well known for it's gorgeous visuals, Bones. It does not follow the usual colorization that someone would expect from this type of show. Yet it fits it perfectly. The colors are bright and the animation is slick smooth.
It is easy to distinct between the characters and it highlights everything. The visuals are consistent throughout the entire series without a hint of drop in quality. Surprisingly, the visuals compliment the series atmosphere, considering how warm the content of the series is.
In this situation, the visuals play a factor in the enjoyment of the series, since it visualize everything that is needed.
Sound:
The opening and ending themes are not my favorite, but they're fine. They're not bad or amazing. They don't feel out of place, the sound is something to be expected from the type of show this is.
On the contrary the soundtrack for the series is fit and light. It does not overwhelm the atmosphere that the show is trying to represent. It does not stand out, but I'm under the belief that it is intentional, considering that it is not the type of show that the music should take the spotlight. It's only more evidently used in scenery focus moments to capture the feel of the place.
It may not be a great field on it's own, but that does not necessarily make it bad from my perspective. (Please note that both sound and art category are for most post completely subjective points; they're my opinion)
Character:
The relationship between the characters is what this show is all about. Or well, to be more accurate. It is what makes the show special and great to watch. Shirayuki is a fresh of air from the usual heroines that are commonly in this type of demographic. She's very clever, independent on what she does and holds responsibility of what she does and try to repay any favor that she may hold to anyone. She is not there to be saved and protected for romantic moments, she holds her on and tries her best to be in the same line as the male main lead. Her boldness and ability to solve situations on her own is nothing short of amazing!
The same falls for other characters. Most of the characters showed how multidimensional their characteristics are instead of being one dimensional characters. Character developments are thankfully still open for the continuation of this series,.
Enjoyment:
Akagami no Shirayuki-hime is an anime that is incredibly easy to watch through. It's light and warm as I have mentioned previously. The interactions between the characters are interesting and the dialogue rarely leaves the person to be bored or feel that it is being dull. It may have it's moments that feel "cheesy" on book, but the way it is approached is what makes it gorgeous and beautiful to watch.
If you're fan of the shoujo demographic and the Disney-like settings, with a strong-willed heroine, then this show should be right up the alley.
Thanks for reading this review, any feedback is appreciated on my profile!
morphinup
I’ve tried watching this anime twice now. The first time when it came out I got up to episode 5 before I stopped. The second time I decided to watch all the way through, because I rarely disagree with anime that are rated highly on myanimelist. I go through the anime on this site that are highly rated, when I'm wanting to watch an anime and have no idea to watch. This is actually the first time I have disagreed with the overall good rating of a show. I don’t get the hype. At all. Sometimes, even if I don’t like an anime, I can seewhy other people like it: It’s just not my taste. I don’t click with the characters. I’m not particularly fond of the art style. Etc etc. But I honestly just can’t understand why this show rated so well. In my opinion, there’s barely anything good about it.
I love fantasy anime. I especially love fantasy anime set up in a kingdom setting. Love shoujo and romance, so this should have been right up my alley. But it’s not.
This may contain the slightest bit of spoilers, but only because I can’t criticize what is wrong with it, without mentioning plot points. I will keep them as vague as possible.
Everything is so pseudo-melodramatic it’s irritating. The “problems” the main character faces are presented as super dramatic, even life threatening, blah blah blah, but then get resolved so easily it’s laughable. They try to make Shirayuki “different” from the typical damsel in distress in that she tries to solve problems on her own, but ultimately in the end, the prince always shows up at the last minute to save her.
Everyone is in awe of Shirayuki because of her red hair and because of her character, but all she does is act like a typical, normal person. She doesn’t do anything extraordinary. Everyone else acts weird and super stereotypical towards the archetype they’re created as, so her utterly normal actions get glorified like they’re wondrous/amazing/so odd and quirky and charming, when they’re just normal, human responses to problems. So many of the side characters and minor characters are irritating, judgmental insufferable idiots, so of course, Shirayuki, who is just a plain, nice person, is a hundred times better than they are. Anyone set up against those types of people will shine.
Seriously, it’s not an exaggeration. Skip this one paragraph if you want to avoid spoilers completely, because it will contain a slight minor scenario spoiler (but doesn’t affect anything about the story). In episode 4, a sick patient comes to get medicine. Yet, instead of being grateful to the herbalist he insults them horribly to Shirayuki. Like… how believable is it that a patient will show up to the doctor, then directly insult the doctor to one of the staff, instead of just getting the medicine they need. Like I said, side characters and even minor characters are set up to be so unbelievably stupid and rude so as to contrast with Shirayuki’s not-so-amazing character to make it seem amazing. And of course Shirayuki won’t stand for the insults and insinuations against her senior (as any plain, normal person wouldn’t) so she’s seen as super amazing and different and shocking when she takes offense towards the incredibly offensive comments.
So of course, since a normal, nice person is apparently the rarest of the rare in this world, the prince (and everyone else) end up being so utterly charmed and surprised by Shirayuki [insert massive eyeroll here]. It's really not amazing when someone doesn't want to be insulted or treated poorly, nor is it amazing when someone doesn't like it when their friends are insulted/treated poorly, but apparently, in Shirayuki, it's utterly amazing and unique and seemingly in this world, Shirayuki is the only person in history/existence to ever feel that way, so everyone is in complete awe of this aspect of her character episode after episode after episode. -_________-
Because of this, the story is lacking. It revolves around Shirayuki doing these “amazing” things, that really aren’t so amazing, so there’s nothing to build off of. We don’t learn much about the characters besides the prince. We don’t have a solid plot to follow. It’s just Shirayuki getting into predicaments, then she struggles with solving them, solves them a bit but then gets stuck again, then gets rescued by the prince. Then she encounters more new people. Some of these new people cause her problems, which then repeats the cycle. To mix it up a bit, they throw in problems that are ALWAYS plant/medical related, so unsurprisingly, Shirayuki as a herbalist, is always able to easily solve them.
They try to develop some side plots revolving around the prince and related royal conflicts, but they’re so shallow and laughably simple and barely concentrated on (and of course, following the pattern of this anime, easily resolved) it’s just an annoyance.
You never even have the slightest bit of worry that problems won’t resolve themselves because they’re so incredibly simple. It's marketed as a drama anime, but there's nothing dramatic about the story, just that things are presented in an overtly dramatic fashion.
Meh.
The best thing by far in this anime is the artwork and the setting/world building. Stylistically, it’s not the best or the highest grade of artwork, but it’s richly detailed and the details of the kingdom setting are nicely developed and pleasing to see. However, nice artwork can't save a show that is lacking in every other aspect.
So yeah, I don’t like it. Plot is lacking and undeveloped, and what is developed is always predictable. Problems follow the same repeat pattern over a over. Problems also lack any depth or complexity. Characters follow their stereotypes, so it's easy to "get to know" them, but that leaves them incredibly one dimensional and predictable.
I guess though, I could recommend it to people to watch if they’re in a really bad mood/having a bad day/week and want to watch something that is incredibly easy to follow and doesn't require thinking if you're exhausted, and everything predictably always works out so your day won't get worse than it already is. Like how adults watch simple kids cartoons sometimes when they're feeling bad, because it's simple and easy and you know you don't have to think or feel or see anything that might disappoint/hurt your heart/worry you, about the characters or story.
Ancrath
Okay the score is a little low but this is based on my opinion so everyone who's seen this and really liked it please put your knives down... Story 3/10: the main reason for the low score was the story, I had high expectations for this anime when I heard about it, a girl that has to run away from her kingdom because the prince wants her and all that, but when the anime aired I realized that the first episode was the only good one. It wasn't bad, it was just boring! I found a complete lack of plot, and the only thing it hadwas romance. I mean don't get me wrong I love romance anime but there has to be a scenario that can back it up.
Art 7/10: the art was what initially made me want to watch it, it's not something unique but that's not really a bad thing in this case, it's good art.
Character 5/10: well I liked Zen, the whole prince with a tragic past was nice and was at least making an effort for a storyline even though it failed, Shirayuki on the other hand was boring, she is a strong character which is a good change from the weak high school girl we usually see in shoujo, but I felt like she didn't really have a purpose in life, she was going on and on about a place to belong which would have been nice if her previous home was terrible and people there hated her, but she was really loved and apart from the thing with the prince she had a nice life there. Also the only thing that she seems to be interested in is alchemy which would have been nice if it wasn't ONLY centring around medicinal herbs.
So overall it is not the kind of anime that you will hate, and if have free time and just want to watch romance than give it a shot, but if there is something better in your "to watch" list then see that one.
SynthwaveCrusade
Akagami no Shirayuki-hime, the story of one Mary Sue and one Gary Sue, a tale of love and dreams, a story that Panders to the generic fanbase of 12 year old girls, the boring and uninspired tale of Snow White with red hair. [Story-3/10] Lets cut straight to the chase, Shirayuki-hime is the same thing I've seen in a thousands of different movies, anime, books, games whatever medium of entertainment you could ever indulge in, there is always going to be a Shirayuki-Hime, its been done to death, the nice prince and the peasant girl vice verse, while I would love to say that this show istrying to celebrate the ideas of old romance tales, I just can't, it feels too much like it's trying to be something different so It doesn't feel like its celebrating the cliches of the genre in which it subsides, but feels more like it wants to pander to the audience and the masses that will enjoy it because it feels familiar while also trying to be something different, it feels so conflicting with how it presents itself and makes for a lacklustre story and overall experience.
The story itself follows Our young Mary Sue (Who everyone unconditionally loves or comes to love), her name is Shirayuki and only Shirayuki, why she doesn't have a family name I'll never know, hell she even meets her father yet there's still no explanation for this, but whatever, enough pedanticism, were all waiting for the meat and crux of the story, basically massive douchebag Prince raj decides he wants a lovely female companion, and guess who he decides, why of course the very well loved Shirayuki, I mean who could ever hope to stand up against Shirayuki? Isn't she just fucking perfect?
[Side thoughts about - Shirayuki]
I should most likely write about Shirayuki in the "character" section of my review, but I just can't contain myself, Shirayuki is loved by everyone, everything goes well for her, even what seems like a curse is secretly a blessing in disguise, another thing I absolutely despise about Shirayuki is the fact that she is presented as the type of girl who don't need no man in her life, but this idea is constantly being contradicted with behaviour around characters such as Zen and Obi, if they wanted to present the strong female character then why the fuck does she always need to be saved by the prince, they very clearly want us to believe that Shirayuki is a strong female lead while also trying to make her some sort of wish fulfilment for men and women, its contradictory and fucking annoying to watch.
[side thoughts concluded. On with the show!]
So prince Raj, wants to marry Shirayuki, but being the strong female lead she is, she goes and says I'm out of here, of course she believes that price Raj doesn't care about her personality and only cares about her illustrious and stunningly beautiful red hair, so what does she do? She leaves prince Raj devastated by leaving him her hair, so where is our strong and independent women supposed to go now? Fend of by living on her own? Learning to accept her fate and unwillingly become a concubine? Continually hiding from prince raj and learning how to fend off in the wood son her own? Nah fuck that shit, lets throw in a hot guy, oh and lets make him strong and a prince boom problem solved no need for any of the other potential ideas, maybe instead of making Zen a rich prince, maybe make him a self righteous commoner boy who is just like zen but is held down by constraints such as poverty and famine, instead of making him the prince therefore eliminating all challenges in his way with his title, I would watch that anime instead of watching what we got with this show, anyway back to the story! Now despite what you might be thinking prince zen was suspicious of Shirayuki at first, that is of course until about 6 minutes into there initial meeting, some lite banter and a bit of Shirayuki pretending to be the the strong female character she so desperately does and doesn't want to be.
So this her Ladies and Gentlemen, is the failure of a story that was Shirayuki-hime, It may see like I have been absolutely shitting on this anime so far, but I would be reminisce if didn't say that I enjoyed some of it. As little of the political stuff we get to see, it was easily the most interesting part, I would have liked to have seen a more historical and political series but thats not what I came to Shirayuki hime for, I came for a good romance, and for the most part the romance is good, its very clear that zen and Shirayuki have good chemistry and are a good source of wish fulfilment, other than does few and far factors, Shirayuki hime story is a pitiful disgrace to humanity.
[Art-9/10]
Credit were credit is due, the art is very good, in fact I think it looks quite beautiful, while the character designs are nothing but absolute garbage , the art itself was very good, the animation wa Clean, polished and slickly made, no complaints about the art.
[sound-8/10]
sound was also very good, while the voice acting isn't all to memorable they all mostly did good jobs, the Ost was great, it brought a bit of life to each setting and character, the scores were very fitting and made the anime just a tad bit better, the openings and endings to the anime are slo very good, I think overall they deserve the score of 8/10. Well done.
[character-4/10]
I've already said what I wanted to say about Shirayuki so I'll just quickly skim over each major character.
Shirayuki- typical Mary Sue with no real personality.
Zen- Cute anime boy
Obi- Cute anime boy, but this time the boy is less righteous and a bit more rough for all you naughty girls.
Mitsuhide- stereotype number #456712, he's basically your average and run of the mill, "must protect the master" type of character.
Kiki- Copy and paste Shirayuki but give her a sword and do what Shirayuki wanted to be, Kiki unlike Shirayuki actually is independent, why wasn't she my dear Fräulein instead.
Ryu- SHOTACON!
Garack- MILF!
my point is, it that each of these characters aren't characters, there shallow cutouts of a character, while I can skip out on the fact that characters in series like Jojo and Hellsing are shallow and two dimensional, in those shows it seems to add to the enjoyment while here it makes the show crumble.
[Enjoyment and overall score-4/10]
I have no more words to describe how I feel about this show.
1. I basically said all wanted too
2. i'm tired of writing about this
so boom,
4/10 bad anime don't watch.
NaraClan
I am reviewing this show after the final episode that aired a few days ago. Akagami no Shirayuki-hime, translated to Snow White with Red Hair in English, was a romance anime running in the summer anime season of 2015. It was the only romance anime running in the season, or at least the only noticeable anime to have romance as its main genres. This I believe is the reason the show got the kind of views that it did, as it was the only choice this season for the romance enthusiastic. Let's get started. This time around there will be four categories that I will scoreseparately and collect their averages to give a final score out of 10. The categories are, Story, Characters, Production and Enjoyment. I decided to remove production from the bigger category of Enjoyment, because I feel like it deserves its own section and also because, just because the production value of an anime is high doesn't mean it is enjoyable. Please tell me if there is anything else I should change, this structure is still a work in progress.
Story: 3/10
There was no overarching story in Akagami no Shirayuki-hime, referred to as Akagami from now onward. Each episode or a pair of episodes has its own conflict that in the end builds up the characters as individual characters and their relationships with other major characters.
Though having episodic stories does not automatically mean that the anime is bad with story, though to have it done right, a very unorthodox method of storytelling has to be used. I am referring to the classic anime Mushishi when I say this and the exact opposite would be that thing called Nisekoi, in which episodic stories do not work out, even with an overarching story line. Akagami however did not tell its tale in the way Mushishi did and did not have a main plot. Everything just happened, one after another.
There almost isn't a story for me to score, and in all honesty I gave the story a score of 1 when I first started writing this review. I increased it after realizing that the main focus of this anime is to build a relationship between Zen and Shirayuki.
The building of Zen and Shirayuki's relationship is actually kind of weird. The relationship itself is actually very nice but the way it developed, and how the writers decided to play it out, is a bit wobbly. I have to assume that there are a lot of timeskips in the 12 episodes of this anime. Though there is no significant mention of them, it did feel like a lot of time had passed after each side arc. The way that played out, was quite confusing, and it would have been better for them to state how much time had passed in some way after each event that took place.
This actually ended up causing a bit of problems for me when it came to character and relationship development. I did not know for how long had Shirayuki and Zen known each other for by the time Zen ended up confessing his feelings. I would assume that it was months, but no information was given and because of that I couldn't asses the type of relationship Zen and Shirayuki were having.
I could talk a lot about how bad the story component of this anime is, but to put it simply, there was no clear cut story to this anime. It was episodic, in the type that Slice of Life anime are written.
Characters: 8/10
I knew that the story of this anime was going to be very... shit, at around episode 5, but I continued watching the show for two reasons. One being the characters and the other being the production value, which I'll talk about later. There are three main characters of the show; Prince Charming, Disney Princess and Obi the G.O.A.T.
Shirayuki, is the lead character. At first glance and at an overall look she is an extremely generic Disney princess type of character. Ordinary village girl, that happens to be very beautiful and kind, and ends up having the prince fall in love with her.
But the thing is, Shirayuki's character is so extremely generic that at this point it is done on purpose. You would expect here character to be just your average damsel in distress type of character, but then all of a sudden she does something unpredictable. For example, the time she jumped from the top of the tower into the water below, or the time she made a good escape attempt from her kidnapper.
This makes Shirayuki a very interesting character to watch. Not only that but in nature Shirayuki is a normal girl, she jokes around, she gets angry, learns new things, gets embarrassed and basically behaves like a normal person would. Which also makes her a likable and relatable character for some.
Then there is her Prince Charming; Zen. He is again a typical Disney Prince, that likes being out of the castle exploring rather than sitting in his castle signing papers and being served high class tea. Though unlike Shirayuki, Zen doesn't throw loops in that character structure of every Disney Prince. Instead Zen is like Shirayuki, a likable and relatable character.... most of the times.
But of course, Obi is the best character of the show. Not only because he is absolutely hilarious, loyal but he also doesn't give a shit about any thing at all. There is a lot of mystery left unsolved for Obi by the time this season ends, but I do expect it to be explored more in upcoming seasons.
What's really amazing about Obi is that he is slowly falling in love with Shirayuki. But it's different than Zen. Originally it seemed as though Zen fell in love with Shirayuki for her looks, which isn't something I would want to complain about, but the fact that Obi is falling in love with Shirayuki slowly because of her actions, puts shame to Zen (sorry this is just me talking about my favorite ship).
The supporting characters in this show are surprisingly good for only 12 episodes running time. That's mostly because they were all made to be likable characters and most of them follow tropes in anime that everyone sees quite often, and because of that we can fully understand the character's personality without even seeing much of them.
There were no characters that I felt needed to be explored more, which I feel is always a problem in short, seasonal anime. Each character was given enough time for what they were worth and how interesting they were. Obi being the only exception, who didn't get enough development, but I am fine with it because it adds mystery to his character and gives me something to look forward to in new seasons of this anime.
Production: 8/10
The animation for Akagami was amazing. Even among the marvelously animated shows running this season, I always get impressed by the art style and animation that Akagami offers every episode. The art style in the first episode reminded me a lot of a Hayao Miyazaki film, especially the way the backgrounds were drawn, but it slowly faded away from that and everything started looking more computer drawn, though still well done.
The VA for Shirayuki was the only VA that stood out from the show. The way she handled the comedic scenes vs the serious scenes always matched the type of character Shirayuki was. And if you already didn't know the VA for Shirayuki is Saori Hayami who has also done some other amazing voice acting roles and is also the one who performed the anime's opening theme.
The opening and ending sequences for the show are just average, nothing that stands out.
Enjoyment: 6/10
Because of the episodic nature of the show, there was a point where everything became boring. There is a point in the show where you realize that everything that is happening is most likely irrelevant to everything and will never be mentioned again. Also the redundant use of Shirayuki's morals about her path, got to the point where it was annoying to listen to.
Other than that, I did feel the need to come back to the show every episode. To enjoy the characters and the beautiful animation that Akagami offered.
Final Scores:
Story: 3/10
Characters: 8/10
Production: 8/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Total: 6.3/10
Firechick12012
I'm not gonna lie: the anime industry isn't what it used to be. Now, I don't mean to sound like one of those crotchety old people who say "back in my day things were much better!" However, there's no denying it: anime now just isn't as good as it was years ago. True, there were some duds, but creators back in the 70s, 80s, and even 90s were able to churn out many episodes of whatever the heck they wanted, loved doing it, put a lot of effort into them, and as a result, many of them are well known and beloved, with some titlesbeing Rose of Versailles, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Gundam, the World Masterpiece Theater, Pokemon, Sailor Moon, Digimon, etc. There's a reason they're all so well known and loved, and that's because people back then did everything they could to write passionate, riveting stories with three dimensional characters, and were able to utilize their time and tell the story they wanted...most of the time, that is. Now? Anime only get 11-13 episodes, with the occasional DVD episode here and there, and most of it is just wish fulfillment, self-insertion fare full of cute girls with big boobs, bland guys who get harems for no reason, moe stereotypes, phoned in voice acting, panty shots, questionable writing, stupid plotlines, etc. They make the most money now, and unless the industry changes somehow, I don't see the trend ending anytime soon. However, this doesn't mean quality anime don't exist anymore. There's fewer in number, yes, but they're still popping up despite the lack of success. One of those shows is Snow White with the Red Hair, or Akagami no Shirayuki-Hime...and I'm not gonna lie: this is seriously one of the best anime to come out in YEARS.
The story centers on a young woman named Shirayuki, who is well known for her work as a herbalist and...her red hair. Nobody in her country of Tanbarun has such red hair, and this makes her the center of unwanted attention. When the moronic Prince Raj falls in love with her and wants to make her his concubine, she refuses to let herself be subjected to a cruel fate, so she gives him the middle finger by cutting her hair and runs away to the next kingdom, Clarines, as she has nowhere else to go. While traversing through the forests, she finds herself befriending the crown prince of Clarines, Zen, who offers to let her into his kingdom to protect her from Raj. She isn't quite sure what his intentions are, but she does want to pay her debt to him, so she becomes a court herbalist in his castle. With this, her adventures in the Clarines kingdom begin.
From what I hear, Bones is a very well liked animation company. I've seen some of their works, such as Angelic Layer, the Escaflowne movie, and Ouran High School Host Club. But I wouldn't consider myself a big fan of them. However, I can tell you that the popularity Bones gets is 100% justified, as their work on Shirayuki-Hime has to be one of the best I've ever seen from them. The series has a soft, shiny, serene animation style that blends perfectly with the low fantasy setting, and the architecture design is great. The fluidity of the characters' movements, bird wings flapping, and other things are absolutely sumptuous. Even little things such as a character's hair swaying in the breeze, and tears flowing from someone's eyes are animated with such tender loving care that you can almost feel it. Seriously, Bones. You've earned my respect.
Both the opening and ending theme songs are wonderfully sung and animated, with the first one simply telling its story in little time as opening themes should, and the ending theme adopting a more artsy, Art Nouveau style that still matches the story's serene atmosphere. Both art styles compliment the series well, and the music does its job. The soundtrack itself isn't anything home to write about, but it fits the setting just fine, and I didn't find any pieces that I didn't like. Everything seemed to just fit into place. I did notice one thing about the soundtrack: it's always mellow and subtle, never bombastic, even during compelling fight scenes (and there's only ONE action scene in the entire series, which says a lot about the series and what its like for those new to it). I think the music composers did a good job in keeping the soundtrack like this, as even though Shirayuki-Hime is a fantasy, its more political and character-oriented in nature. There's no slaying dragons, no warring kingdoms, no princesses with magical powers, etc. Nobody said having those things was a bad thing, but nobody said NOT having them is bad, either. Shirayuki-Hime knows what it is: a mellow fantasy story about a commoner girl and a prince who has to deal with his responsibilities.
I know I praise the characters a lot in my reviews of anime, but for me, if an anime doesn't have good characters, then it doesn't win any points for me. Thankfully, Shirayuki-Hime's cast is fairly well rounded and great in their own right, and defy many stereotypes in shoujo manga. Shirayuki is friendly, kind, brave, and not afraid to do what she wants, but this trait can also get her into trouble, and she still has moments of vulnerability throughout the series that keep her from being perfect. Zen is a slightly mischievous and playful prince, but unlike most princes, we see him having to deal with his responsibilities, such as going to territory under his jurisdiction and making peace between countries using whatever methods he can. He is constantly under pressure, and his status as a prince is both a blessing and a curse, as a tragic event in his past involving a person whom he thought was a friend made him realize being a prince has both benefits and drawbacks for not just himself, but others. Seriously, how many cartoons in any country even go into this kind of stuff?! The only shows I can think of that also tackle the issues royalty face are My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and Rose of Versailles. For someone who doesn't know much about how royal business goes in the real world, I think the show did a great job in showing the trials and tribulations a prince (or princess) have to go through in order to fulfill their duties. The other characters like Mitsuhide, Kiki, and Obi are also wonderful in their own right. There's even two guards who sometimes pop up every now and again who have very funny scenes and play off of each other very well. Even minor characters are given complex personalities and serve a purpose in the show, while still managing to come off as...well, people! I wish I could write characters like this.
I personally couldn't find anything the show that I actually hated or put me off. But I know some episodes are very character driven and slow paced, and this isn't a show for people who like high octane action or constant melodrama going on. Everything is presented in a down to earth manner, and there's no dragons or magic or alchemy or anything like that. Plus, I liked the soundtrack, but I wouldn't consider it the greatest soundtrack ever. Not only that, the show is very short, having only 12 episodes so far. I say so far because, wonder of wonders, it has a second season coming up, so it'll be able to explore more of its story! Though from what I hear the manga is still ongoing, with 12 volumes out, so the anime, even with 24 episodes, probably won't be able to tell the entire story. But nonetheless, I still find whatever it does tell to be very enjoyable.
If you're looking for a gem in a sea of excrement, Shirayuki-Hime is the anime for you. It's not perfect, but it's a diamond in the rough that deserves all the love and appreciation it can get. You won't regret watching it...but you do require patience and appreciation for atmosphere.
Tomm01p
"Most shoujo female protagonists tend to be weak, so let's make ours the strongest willed person to ever walk across this god-forsaken world." I guess this was roughly the general idea when creators were coming up with the premise of Akagami no Shirayuki-Hime. And I'd gladly support that under normal circumstances. Having a female character who doesn't blush every three minutes does spark a lot of interest and promise in an otherwise very average piece of fiction. Sadly enough, the show is not able to capitalize on its strong premise and instead gives us a world full of empty characters and meaningless emotions. Which is ashame, because this anime really wasn't doomed from the start.
It doesn't take a lot of time to realize that the supposedly strongest aspect of the show, that being Shirayuki, is actually the one bringing it down the most. Why? Well, let's start the actual review, shall we?
Shirayuki is absolutely perfect. She's strong-willed, intelligent, beautiful, caring, kind, brave, considerate, moral, gutsy, useful, cute when drunk, cool and I don't know what else. Everybody is obsessed with her. It doesn't matter if it's a kid, old woman or a prince of a country, everybody is astonished because of how perfect of a person she is, and how uniquely red her hair is. The first prince fell in love with her just after hearing about her beautiful hair. That's right, he hasn't even seen her at the time and he already knew she was the prettiest girl alive. The second prince fell for her just after a first glance at the striking red of her hair. Random people casually show up out of nowhere just to kidnap her because her hair is just that fabulous. I really do throw around the word 'hair' a lot. Well, watch the show and see for yourself, there is legitimately not an episode that would go without someone admiring Shirayuki's bEAUtIfUl hair.
Back to her characterization as a whole, I thought she was a pretty endearing character at the start. She is different than most females in shoujo romances, and that is a welcome change. It really seemed like the creators genuinely cared about making her a strong character. However, it only took a handful of episodes to realize that it was just a tricky bait. Shirayuki's writing goes nowhere. She's presented as strong in will and never in any other way. Basically every single episode adds just another positive personality trait to her already admirable arsenal. She's never portrayed as a character who's struggling, never makes a bad decision, always comes up with solutions for problems. She is just that amazing. Maybe she could be considered a 'strong' character if we were to talk about her strength in personality. However, she is not a strong character when it comes to writing. Strongly written characters are believable, which means they have flaws. Every human being has flaws. Shirayuki doesn't. She's perfect in every sense of the word, and I find that disgustingly sickening.
Well, now that we got the main point of this show out of the way, you could basically look at any other shoujo romance review because the originality of this show ends exactly when you stop talking about Shirayuki.
Her male counter-part Zen is, surprise surprise, the manliest male in the world, exactly how it tends to be with shoujo characters. Just like Shirayuki, he's perfect. Almost everything I said about her can be said about him. He's also an amazing prince who genuinely cares for all his peasants even though every other politically active character is presented as arrogant and greedy. He's amazing, absolutely flawless. Even his obsession with Shirayuki, which could technically be considered a flaw, or at least weird, is made to be a positive trait in this case because why would the writers of this anime want anyone to have flaws?
Well, that's a pretty convenient question actually, because once we move aside our main 5 characters (of which 3 are not even worth talking about) suddenly its pretty normal for people to have them. Almost every episode presents multiple characters that could be thrown into a pile called "horrible people". Shirayuki gets kidnapped by evil guys on daily basis, people who act selfish and arrogant are that much more normal. The point is, these people only exist so that the main two characters could seem that much more incredible. There's someone acting like a douche? Well, be sure that Shirayuki is close enough to start yelling at him and show her strong demeanor. There's someone talking bad about Shirayuki? Well, be sure that Zen is close enough to hear all that and start protecting his end-all-be-all love. It's ridiculous just how perfect the two main characters seem compared to everybody else. I've legit never seen a show so bad at portraying evil. Random people showing up doing bad things with zero IQ just to serve as a foundation so the main characters can act cool and complex for a while. Pathetic writing honestly.
In which we get to a very important point of Shoujo romances, or just romances in general. That is, of course, relationship development. Well, nothing to write home about here either. Okay, fine... I admit. It's true that the show creates a lot of space for Shirayuki and Zen to properly develop feelings for each other. Good job there. However, the way it goes about it feels very artificial, at least from Zen's point of view. He gets obsessed with Shirayuki basically the second he sees her. It's not rare for him to go out of his responsibilities just to see her pretty face. It doesn't matter if he has tons of paperwork to do as long as Shirayuki is close to chat. It's like that all the time. Whenever Zen pleases, he goes to see her, while never caring about his responsibilities as a prince. Speaking of that, he sure has a lot of time to play around with his love for someone who is part of a royal family. I always thought people like that would be short on time, but apparently, it's no problem for Zen to visit Shirayuki like 15 times a day or spend the night with her somewhere. It's also no problem for him to start freaking out every time she gets into trouble and such. My point is, that this "love" doesn't feel anywhere close to reality. I've been in love, I know how things go. Sure, you do think a lot about the person in question but responsibilities always come first, even more so when you are in a position Zen is. There is absolutely no subtlety in his feelings because all he ever thinks about is Shirayuki. We never see him getting involved in royal matters, we never see him doing casual things, all we see him do is talk to Shirayuki or think about her. Now that I think about it, we know basically nothing about him besides how much he loves her. If that's what's called 'raw emotion' nowadays then I'm probably very old-dated for my own generation.
Shirayuki's emotions are, in this matter, much more respectable, as we see her engage in more things beyond just socializing with Zen. That bit of humaneness on her part is enough for her feeling to be justifiable and no matter what I'd said about her as a character, her side of the relationship growth was pretty decent. If the show kept some time to portrait Zen's life the same way as Shirayuki's maybe I could view him as something more than just "a guy who likes a girl with red hair".
To not come off as a douche out of this, I also need to mention some of the things I like, though they are pretty modest in numbers. Shirayuki's character was really interesting the first three or four episodes, it's sad that her writing and development later on was shit. Animation remains fairly decent for the most part. I also like the half fantasy/half historical setup for whatever reason. Two midsection episodes containing flashbacks of Zen's past are actually not bad at all. Sadly enough, they are also the only two episodes in which Zen becomes a real character and actually develops a bit, which once again proves how horrible at writing characters people who made this are. You simply cannot throw a couple of flashbacks onto a shallow character and expect him to look better. Development shouldn't be happening in the past. It should be happening in the present.
That about wraps it up. It has been a long time since I last wrote a review for a non-seasonal show, but I guess that perfectly shows just how frustrating of an experience this anime was for me. What started out with tons of promise quickly faded into generic nothingness. Perhaps that is a sad fate for all shoujo anime.
----
Akagami no Shirayuki-Hime is really good at one thing. At tricking people into thinking that it's better than other shoujo anime. The sad part is that it really could've been one. If the interesting world and intriguing female lead got supported with good development and writing, I don't think I would be sitting here writing this negative review. The bitter taste in my mouth won't go away for a while.
Bad shows are just bad. Bad shows which wasted its potential are a general disappointment.
Andely
Akagami no Shirayuki-hime has been riddled with so many plot holes it had hurt my eyes. I tried for a few years to just get past the first half of the first episode and it took me until my fifth time through to get through just that. I found myself always pausing to rant about a certain plothole or just how stupid and contrived a situation was. All throughout the first half, I saw ranting and screaming at every stupid situation that was presented to us. Every situation is supposed to build up the main character Shirayuki who is so stagnant as a character thatit melts the mind. The whole appeal is that you get this cute love story between a prince and a commoner and it just makes me want to hit my head step of the way. I genuinely thought that only one seen had been competently executed because it was actually cute and made some sense, however, my praise for that one scene cannot be shared with the rest of this show.
Moving on I find that perhaps my main problem with this is that I thought the show would be what the description says. A show where a girl with red hair runs away from a kingdom, however, I find that I was sorely mistaken as the problem we are presented within the description is solved in the first episode. That is how every episode plays out as well, the problem is presented and then the problem is solved and every time I want to scream because I as a viewer do not care about the problem that is presented in that episode so every conclusion is duller than the last.
Also, I don't find myself sharing the same praise for the art as many other people have. Starting off the character designs are competent but hardly new or impressive. Every character is just so bland I couldn't even consider it good. Secondly, we get these janky close of shots of characters and sometimes it's so unappealing to the eye's I get wildly frustrated. I am a firm believer that if we get a close-up more detail should be involved however this show rarely adds extra detail when doing said close-up. The only place I can find praise in the art is with some of the backgrounds. Some backgrounds are super pretty and look really nice and it adds a feeling of depth compared to the rest of the show.
Overall I found the show boring and in lack of competence.
KaiDestinyz
Before I start, I'll have to disagree with megaan about some of the points mentioned, and that giving this anime a score of 4 is the biggest insult in anime history. First of all, to state that the characters' personalities are outright flat and that their conversations with each other are boring already showed glaring flaws in the review. Akagami no Shirayuki-hime is not your typical anime nowadays that over-dramatize everything to invoke humor/or just to bring a point across. This anime focuses on its more relaxed nature and keeping its innocence. It's like giving a bad review/score for a romance anime because it doesn'thave good fighting scenes. Her review is just flawed in that sense. I will only agree that the plot is abit on the bland side, though a well tradeoff to preserve its relaxed innocent nature.
If you were looking for an action-packed anime like Shingeki no Kyojin, then this isn't the anime for you. And perhaps meegan reviewed this based on that.
However, if you are into romance and slice of life genre then I'd recommend this to you.
Akagami no Shirayuki-hime Review:
Akagami no Shirayuki is unlike your typical cliche romance anime whereby girl meet boy, goes crazy for boy or is only there for ecchi bullshit cliches. It focuses on its calm and more relaxed nature as suggested by its bgm even at the very start of the first episode. Its romance sets them miles apart from your typical shoujo.
Over here, the romance is very pure and innocent. Our beloved characters can hold proper conversations without any cliche moments/ecchi fanservice. The interaction between the characters are very refreshing in that sense. The scenes and conversations are well-crafted and thought-out and sure knows exactly when to be romantic as hell when the appropriate moment arises.
Every episode makes you go "awww" and leaves its viewers a warm fuzzy feeling inside. The love between the protagonists, Zen and Shirayuki are so pure and lovely. Truly the best couple of 2015.
Akagami no Shirayuki-hime is the epitome of romance and truly a gem in anime history of its genre.
GonzyChan
Like many Shoujo shows, they are sweet. Sweet as in they are sugar-coated in ingredients that entice people who quickly go for anything similar. Not that people who follow Shoujo are easy to impress, but it's a genre that many are akin to when they do not want a complex story or complex characters. There are some exceptions to this, and they have become classics in their own right. However, others try to do this formula, such as Akagami no Shirayuki-hime, and come across as painfully average. When I say that it is average, I mean that parts of it work tremendously to help prevent theanime from being bad, but other rusted parts feel unstable and slightly bring it down a notch. If you do not fit into the demographic that this show typically panders to, most of the problems might not be an issue for you. Nevertheless, if you're like me and want to be surprised by an anime of any genre, there are many things to pick out of Akagami no Shirayuki-hime that range from positive or negative.
Let us start with the positive aspects, beginning with Akagami's main heroine, Shirayuki. As far as female characters go, she is what many would figure out as the perfect example of a strong female character. But do not be discouraged if you think the show will rub it into your face about how strong she is. Shirayuki's intense charisma and optimism feel very natural and less tack-on to be in league with many other strong anime females in the past. Voiced by the always lovely Saori Hayami, she adds an excellent level of innocence and personality that gives Shirayuki a likable presence along with her actions. They even play with the damsel in distress plot arc and give it a nice twist that makes her capable and true to her character arc. Not that she is a woman because she does this, but because she just so happens to be female and succeeds in doing so is where Akagami flourishes.
Like many Shoujo anime, the art style usually fits the characters to look relatively minimalistic and less overblown, to which Akagami is no exception. However, the art style has little tidbits that give it a pleasant pastel atmosphere from the character designs and how the world is drawn. I would not say that it is precisely like a Studio Ghibli production, but various elements seem like inspirations to the studio. The character expression all feel very natural and fluid. The saturated colors of the characters and backgrounds feel almost as if they were done with a paintbrush, giving it a 1980s aesthetic in modern times.
That is where all of the positives grind to a halt. Most of the problems lie in the plot. Is it poorly written? Do the characters not have enough development? Is it boring? I can answer all of these questions with yes, yes, and yes. It is poorly written from the prospect that the plot feels very bland and not well-thought-out. From the halfway point into Akagami, I found myself numb to what was going on because the story has nothing to it other than we're just watching Shirayuki try to fit in with this new town that she is living in. And while I do love Shirayuki as a character, nothing else that she does that tries to further the plot does nothing to resonates with me with it.
On top of that, another big crux to the plot is the other characters besides Shirayuki. It was almost as if the writers took most of their time to focus on how great she is but forgot that there were other characters to shine as well. Her knight in shining armor, Zen Clarines, is a prime example of this where hers entirely overshadow his entire personality. It comes down to how Zen is portrayed as a knight hopelessly in love with her, and the lines and things he does, unknowingly, to win Shirayuki's heart is about as cliched as one can get out of a Shoujo anime. The other characters that fall into the same spectrum as Zen, such as Obi and Rouen, are just as dull and uninteresting as he is, so much so that I had to look up their names to write them down in this review.
As I mentioned about Zen being overshadowed by Shirayuki, their relationship that reaches its climax by the end of Akagami does not heighten my positive reflections of Shirayuki or lower my perception of Zen. It feels like your typical romance relationship that does not feel surprised by the time you reach the last two episodes. It goes about as you would expect if you are familiar with this story. Not that I wanted a new way of telling this type of romantic story, but if it wants to do something similar, at least give Zen a better archetype that helps keep this from being monotonous.
While Akagami no Shirayuki-hime boasts one of the best female characters this year, the plot does not win the best of the year. If it were not also for the magnificent art design, this would have been an extremely forgettable anime to pick out. It was a polarizing experience that could have been more than what it already is if time had been spent writing better supporting characters. Akagami was a missed opportunity to be unique, no doubt. It cannot seem to pass the curse of being another generic Shoujo anime.
Grade: C
Midnight-clown
I'll tell you the problem in the first episode. You see it , you've seen the whole anime .there is NO change I'm their characters ,story, relations that's what's the problem Also shirayuki is supposed to be a very different and against all the stereotypes (so ironical) but you find her doing what literally every disney princess do As you can get from the name of anime (snow white with red hairs) ..she is special because she have red hairs( special enough I guess , whole first EPs is about it ) and SO ,prince raj wants her for that. She had 2 choice go to princeor to run away, which is a hard choice for her
Shirayuki cuts her hairs (till shoulder length) for prince raj and runs away and it is extremely painful do her since it's her homeland
My question was if she is so determined to tell prince hair means nothing to her , why not go bald , that would be different , that would be more challenging then for prince zen (who falls in first EPs *eye rolls*) to fall for shirayuki (here I gave a good plot) but she cuts half and runs away what's so surprising ?
There is no comedy , romance is even faster than disney movies (but reactions of shirayuki makes it SO irritating) , villains are typically made , friendship ( I don't even wanna start on it) is just about going places together ,and they all start smiling suddenly* (creepy) over a lame line like "I hope to look straight forward to you all in future " (and my brain is like drop it, drop it, I can't look straight at it now)
I loved the character of Obi , his and shirayuki story is more developing and changing with each EPs rather than "I love you always " of prince zen and shirayuki
Prince zen is rather irritating than charming ,he is made way too predictable, there isn't any kind of character development in him or in any other character cause all of them are made as perfect as possible ,no one's got a problem they can't cope up with , it looks really easy to solve and move on and make new friends ,get liked everywhere , shirayuki still special( yes) , still in love with shirayuki (yes ) , still loyal and trustworthy friend of zen( yes)......there is no fukin change or twists in story so it's not my type of anime . People who like this must be very simple minded (sigh)
Only intriguing character is Zens brother Izana ,I like the parts he is focused on.
See it if you are free and don't like much brainwork , and wanna just pass time :)
Darklighted
A nice anime to watch if you want something chill with beautiful and peaceful scenes and with nice characters. You won't find here action, adventures, absurd "school plot twists" out of nowhere, and other cliches specific to most anime. Yes, because Shirayuki is disliked by almost no one, the plot feels a bit forced. The relationship between Shirayuki and Zen also feels the same because of how flawless it was all the time. On the other hand, not having random jealous characters like in shōnen anime feels more natural and more pleasant to watch. Maybe we just got used to having always some kind of dramain anime and life?!
Shirayuki has some specific traits, a reason why she is liked by many. Some might think that there is too much attention paid to her red hair. Well, if we'd lived in a world where no one had natural red hair, we'd probably do the same as all characters when seeing Shirayuki for the first time. Don't forget, it's not the reason why she is at the center of attention. It's her character, her kindness combined with a strong will and the ability to be independent. In almost every episode she's working hard to help people, finding ways to help when others gave up.
At the same time, she's not overpowered with knowledge or skills. There are herbalists more knowledgeable than her and yet younger, and there are people stronger than her. This makes the anime feel more natural.
The side stories are also nice to watch.
It's not a masterpiece, it's not an anime that would bring something new to the genre, and yet it's a very well-done anime that many would enjoy watching.
7.5/10
Jineko
This anime is so bland and so shallow. I hate it when they serve romance in a silver platter without even any particular backstory or challenge. In this anime, protagonists: Shirayuki and Zen just suddenly fall in love with each other for no particular deep reason. Just, for some reason they're attracted to each other and for some reason they're suddenly inseparable and the best of friends. This anime has no particular solid plot whatsoever. I have picked up this anime just because it was recommended as something similar to Akatsuki no Yona. Believe me, it's a real disappointment. True enough, Shirayuki has balls ofsteel, can fend for herself and all that and has red hair just like Yona, but it's just that. No other similarity. Anime has other characters you would barely care about as they don't have any particular back story and would leave you without any attachment to any of them thus wouldn't care about their existence in the first place. I don't get why this anime even got a second season at all.
Cauthan
(This is a spoiler-free review adapted for this site) [Synopsis]: Shirayuki(Hayami, Saori), a strong-willed girl with exceptionally rare red hair, led a normal life as a town herbalist in the kingdom of Tanbarun until her beauty attracted the attention of the first prince Raji (Fukuyama, Jun) who requested that she become one of his concubines. Unable to outright refuse his demand due to her social status, she fled the kingdom and had a chance-encounter with a stranger by the name of Zen (Osaka, Ryota) who, after curing him of a poisoned apple meant for her, is discovered to be the second prince of the kingdom ofClarines. In Zen's company, Shirayuki continues on to Clarines and attempts to start her life anew.
[Characters]:
Shirayuki, the protagonist of the story, offers refreshing enough characterization - she is intelligent, kind-hearted, and resourceful but her uniqueness resides in how she interacts with the rest of the cast. She avoids the majority of the character tropes associated with the romantic lead and female love interest through her conviction and at times assertive personality both of which I found to be compelling character traits. Moreover, while she may not exemplify the traits of the more typical romantic lead, she does offer a number of instances where she operates within a role-reversal between herself and prince Zen. Though she does not become masculine in this way, her actions more closely resemble that of the a male-lead. An explicit example of this reversal was when she climbed a tree to visit Zen on his balcony. Perhaps my only and most notable qualm concerning Shirayuki is that she exists too closely to a character paradigm and doesn't offer much in the way of character flaws or moments of weakness - her character very purposefully exists in order to overcome the obstacles that would make other typical female characters stumble and in this way is a shade too 'perfect'.
The lack of complications does not solely reside in Shirayuki and is also present in a decent number of the other cast members. The lack of this trait actually accounts for what I believe to be one of the shows major stumbling points in that, by nature of all of the main characters being goodhearted, sincere, and supportive the tone of the show becomes quite flat. Though they contribute greatly to the feel-good romance nature of the show there aren't all that many diverse characters within the cast. Even someone like Obi who initially was more of a scoundrel-esc character quickly becomes homogenized after his introduction.
To speak briefly about Zen, there was one major area in which I felt his characterization was quite interesting and well done. He represents a pretty typical depiction of the prince of a kingdom - dashing, good-mannered, and kind and there isn't much else that infringes upon this however I found it remarkable that despite Shirayuki receiving a good number of role reversal scenarios that he was not weakened or made less dominant within their relationship because of it. He possesses equal to or greater agency to anyone else in the story and his resilience and integrity of character in this regard was quite compelling as it, along with Shirayuki's role in the relationship, resulted in something slightly more unique than i would have expected from what is otherwise quite a typical Shoujo romance.
[Art/Animation]:
The art and animation of the show was delivered in top form and avoided any and all noticeable quality drops throughout its 12 episode run. There were a great many uses of dynamic lighting which added significantly to the more important scenes and the scenes of greatest import were visually delivered quite beautifully. While the character designs were enjoyable by themselves I did find the presence of a fairly dynamic wardrobe to be a decent visual bonus as it made the show feel a bit more alive.
[Story]:
While Shirayuki offers a handful of uncommon character traits the story fails to follow suit and plays out in fairly predictable and typical ways with perhaps the exceptions where it attempts to specifically highlight Shirayuki's characterization. One fortunate thing to note is that the story does offer plenty of romantic progression and so it avoids the route of starving the viewer while simultaneously tantalizing them each episode; in this area the pacing is good. The story initially exhibits some folk-tale influence through the use of poisoned apples and a snow-white-esc premise however this element seems to quickly be forgotten and I think it would have perhaps been more interesting had there been a greater number of allegories or references in this way.
Akagami's story most likely falters for me due to its character reliance. Because the show is less concerned with offering an engaging plot or exploring the world being present and more focused on developing its main two characters both as people and as a romantic couple it comes off as highly reliant on the success or failure of its cast. With that being said, the cheerful and supportive tones in each and every one of the main characters makes for pretty bland and unexciting dialogue. The story doesn't drag but is a bit uneventful outside of furthering character relationships and so not only does it proceed quite typically in the form of many other shoujou romances but offers very little to break away outside of its main character.
[Music]:
The music fit the show really well and while it didn't blow me away I think it added significantly to the show. The soundtrack was used especially well to play up key moments of the show to better dramatize them. I think this element of the show could be described as working well for the show while falling short of being interesting in an objective sense.
[Final Thoughts and Rating]:
At the end of the day Akagami plays out as a typical feel-good romantic show while offering several areas of interest such as its protagonist. Shirayuki's characterization and avoidance of tropes was delivered in a bit of a hamfisted manner however this also allowed the show to more directly parody the stereotypical romantic relationship and so I am of the mind to forgive it in this way. I think the show still offers plenty of potential going forward into its upcoming second cour where the characters could very well better diversify themselves and a more interesting plot might develop. I remain hopeful for the show in the future.
Rating: 6
I gave Akagami a 6 because, while it was uneventful in many regards it also avoided being forgettable. Shirayuki and Zen carry the show to a degree and I feel that it's worth watching almost solely because of how it plays with the dynamic of their relationship though it doesn't offer a great deal beyond this. It was a decent show and certainly may turn into something more engaging in the future though ultimately there are better romance stories out there though few that play with its characters in this specific way.
[Recommendations]:
I would recommend Akagami first and foremost to those interested in the romance genre, more specifically to those who prefer shows that don't spend their time endlessly dancing around the subject of romance but instead are frequently involved with it and see fairly frequent relationship progression. There are a handful of action scenes though they mostly exist to reinforce the setting rather than add to the show's actual diversity of tone and so I don't think it exhibits anything special in this regard. The show is fairly light on drama though some does manifest by means of the romantic tones and so while some drama exists Akagami falls a bit short in terms of quantity to actually exhibit the genre fully.
HabitPlays
Akagami no Shirayuki-hime follows Shirayuki a beautiful red head girl who lives in a town called Tanbarun was she was raised and grew up living. In this town she worked in a herb shop where she made medicines and remedies. Until one day the king of Tanbarun was looking for a beautiful bride the most beautiful girl in his kingdom and one of his guards mention a women with red hair which is very rare in there country. So him being the king and wanting to have a item that most people don't have he sends his guard off to snatch her up she getsaway and cuts her hair leaving it and her old life behind to start a new one. She ventures away from her hometown for the first time and after going far away from this place she starts walking through a forest as it starts to get late she is tired and hungry and finds a house she goes up to this house but no one answers she falls asleep on the front lawn of this house. The next day she is woken up by people running through the forest one of these people is Zen the second prince of Clarines. They obviously don't trust her Zen gets a cut and she tells him she is a herbalist and can help him. Obviously him being the prince he does not believe her so she puts this ointment on herself to show it is not poison. This is how they meet and throughout this story there friendship becomes something more with him bringing her to the castle and a lot of hardships a long the way she becomes a herbalist for the kings court, and later on the two of them fall in love obviously it is very hard on them coming from completely different worlds but they will try to make it work. Wow this series was incredible I had to watch through the whole thing at once I couldn't help myself I fell in love with this series from the first episode. With the amazing story, fantastic beautiful artwork, and characters to die for this is a must watch!
PakiUSA
STORY: 7/10 CHARACTER: 10/10 ART: 9/10 SOUND: 9/10 ENJOYMENT: 9/10 OVERALL: 8/10 Like everybody else I was expecting a Snow-white anime but was surprised at the misleading title or so I thought since the MC’s name Shirayuki translates to Snow-White! In addition, the 1st episode drops a few hints from the original show too. Shirayuki’s flashy red hair gets everyone’s attention including the Prince of the country (Prince Raj) who intends to make her his concubine! Shirayuki escapes and meets with Prince Zen who happens to be the 2nd prince of the neighbouring country and that’s where the story progresses. She accompanies with Zen where she practices to become a skilledherbalist and must accommodate living around with a prince and his world. And amid all this, an adorable romance springs up between Shirayuki and Zen! For a fantasy genre, it’s fairy tale aspects are weakly portrayed but whatever they get by feels right! The show also doesn’t shy away from its clichés but since they own it, I can’t complain much. I still would have preferred more of grey villains rather than the corny one’s here. Moreover, I really hated the ridiculous attempt at the forced love triangle that’s probably going to be touched in the next season because it totally comes across unwarranted, included just to introduce cheap love drama! Now the good stuff and the 1st best thing about the show is its representation of romance which is beautifully grasped, taking a mature route with the 2 leads fully realized relationship. Comedy is lightly sprinkled throughout the course of the season but gets its job done. (Especially those 2 guards!)
The 2nd strength comes in its character’s depiction, for they are wonderfully realized. Shirayuki could have easily been turned into a Mary-Sue but thankfully they refrain from it! Instead we get an awesome person who’s very likable with her positive hard work ethics, strong yet infectious personality, all in all a badass with bright red hair! They pull this off by not OPing her but rather showcase her exuding confidence in one sided fights, making her that much more attractive. Furthermore, her strong stand on achieving her goals without taking any short cuts just further proves how motivated she is as an individual. And she’s wholly supported by Prince Zed who once again, thankfully wasn’t utilized to a one note, paper thin character. With distinct set of skills, he was well-defined to the result of personable and likable. His love for exploring his city and mingling with the crowd solidifies the existence of his big heart! Zen has a strict yet kind, though direct behaviour who honorably sticks to his promises and this made him the perfect partner for her! Aside from them, we have good side characters too. Kiki and Mitsuhide relationship with Zen is well defined, especially Mitsuhide who gets his own arc later in the series.
The animation is very welcoming, with its colourful backgrounds and vibrant overall nature of the anime. With the addition of music, they naturally set a romantic tone to the entire show which I appreciated. The dubs were great here, both the voice actors for Shirayuki and Zen do justice to their characters, never leaving them out of field.
The romance really is well handled, coming across downright adorable due to the amazing chemistry between the two! They have you rooting for the 2 leads at episode 1 itself! The build-up was patiently worked out, starting off as good friends and getting to know each other, then the playful banter between them, going on adventures while sharing those sweet and tender moments with each other and finally the confession. I also liked the fact that the show doesn’t play around with the romance arc, they get right to it with the leads speaking out about their feelings. So please, please and please, don’t tarnish all you have accomplished with a terrible love triangle! I also took notice of the times where Shirayuki needs to be saved but they are done in a way where she doesn’t come across as weak. And when the story calls for it, you get pretty good action too. I was pleasantly surprised with this anime even when it’s not my type of thing! I do hope though that Shirayuki grows her hair back in s2! Definitely recommend this, great for anniversaries or Valentines too!
