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 the anime 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