2015 fantasy romance, shoujo manga adaptation in 12 episodes:
AniDB, vt
"Snow White with the Red Hair". Shirayuki the herbalist flees the
unwelcome attentions of the prince of her country, only to meet Zen,
the junior prince of the next realm over.
It's nothing to do with the Snow White fairy-tale, at least so
far. This is a sweet, perhaps over-sweet for some, romance with very
light touches of fantasy, and a female protagonist who while she's
somewhat constrained by her social status (more than by her sex) is
determed to carry on and achieve her goals. Meanwhile Zen has trouble
believing that anyone could be interested in him rather than in the
power and prestige that he represents. The prince's loyal retainers
know how the romance is going to go well before Shirayuki or Zen
realise it themselves, which helps when the audience knows it too.
It could turn into angsty soap opera, but it doesn't. It could make
the heroine into a prize for whichever man is strongest, but it
doesn't. It seems strange to praise a show for what it doesn't do,
but so many shows get this obvious stuff wrong that it's a relief when
one gets it right.
As this is a manga adaptation, there's nothing like a complete story
here, though there is at least a sense of overall progress through a
narrative, with Zen and Shirayuki gradually getting closer as various
tribulations and opportunities impinge on them. This season ends at
the end of a book rather than the end of a story.
A second season is being broadcast in the spring 2016 slot.
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