Snow White with the Red Hair

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, what anime is among the most romantic of them all? Could it be one where the protagonist is a girl with hair the color of apples, and she falls in love with the second prince of a country that is not her own? Oh my, I'd say that's very romantic! How could I have encountered it other than it being among the July 2015 anime I missed out on and deeply regret doing so? More importantly, now that I've watched it, what do I think of it?

Well, you shall find out by reading my review of season one of Snow White with the Red Hair, known in Japanese as Akagami no Shirayuki-hime.

Snow White with the Red Hair follows a girl named Shirayuki (meaning snow white), who is an herbalist with bright red hair. She ends up catching the attention of Prince Raji, the prince of her country of Tanbarun, and he tries to make her his concubine. Shirayuki responds by cutting her hair and escapes to the neighboring country of Clarines. She ends up meeting the second prince of Clarines, Zen, and his two aides, Mitsuhide and Kiki, and she ends up being saved from Prince Raji by them. It is then that Shirayuki decides to become a court herbalist for Clarines. As Shirayuki aims for a new life in Clarines and Zen tries to become a worthy prince, they support each other, and a romance blossoms between the two.

I should start by saying the animation is among the most beautiful I've ever seen. Bones has done great animation before, like in Space Dandy, Noragami, Ouran High School Host Club, and more, but the animation in Snow White with the Red Hair is definitely up there with the best. I've fallen completely in love with the opening theme, "Yasashii Kibou" by Saori Hayami, and the ending theme, "Kizuna ni Nosete" by eyelis, is a very good song, too. I watched this anime's English dub, and I'd say that Funimation has nailed yet another dub. The voice actors had performed very well, especially Brina Palencia as Shirayuki and Josh Grelle as Prince Zen.

The story was quite an easygoing one, but it definitely provided a lot of character development. Speaking of characters, this anime had a lot of great characters. Shirayuki is a strong protagonist, and it's admirable how she always works hard. Zen is equally as likable, if not more; it's clear that he really cares about Clarines and its people. I honestly didn't know how to think of Obi, who works for Zen, at first, but I eventually grew to like him. There are also a lot of interesting side characters, but I think the side character that stood out to me the most was Mitsuhide; I really liked his friendship with Zen.

What could be the best part about this anime, though? Well, it doesn't take a detective to figure out that I'm talking about the romance between Shirayuki and Zen! They had a very strong bond as friends, but whenever they would have those tender, romantic moments, I just can't help but smile. This is probably going to be a bit of a spoiler, but the best part is that they actually confess their feelings for each other instead of letting it drag on for too long! ....Okay, I lied; it was very late in the season when they confessed. Hey, thank God for the currently-airing-at-the-time-of-this-review season two, right? This means we'll actually get to see them as a couple, albeit in a different season.

Overall, Snow White with the Red Hair is off to a fantastic start. I'd recommend it to anyone who is in the mood for a great romance anime. Be warned, though, not to bite into the apple that makes you think it's anything like the fairy tale "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", because although there are two references in the first episode, it's poison not to think of it as anything less of its own story.