I do love a good Fantasy/Romance Anime, and this one is adorable. Definitely not long enough (only 12 episodes?? COME ON) but seriously adorable nonetheless.
Nothing irritates me more than watching a so-called “romance” anime and having little to zero romance until the last episode. So I was pleased with Shirayuki; while the couple didn’t technically get together till the last few episodes, the majority of the show is spent on their relationship.
Shirayuki was born with hair as red as an apple, which is extremely rare; people are always commenting on it, and as she gets older, the comments become more dangerous. The Prince of her land wants to take her as a concubine, so she runs away, only to run into the mysterious and 100% dashing and swoonworthy Zen, who helps protect her from the Prince. The two immediately have an obvious connection, and Zen is as likable as can be from the get-go.
Then we find out that Zen is actually the Prince of a neighboring kingdom; Shirayuki agrees to move to the town his castle is in, and she even gets a job as a court herbalist in the castle. I loved that Shirayuki was a skilled heroine; sure, Zen helps rescue her from time to time, but more often than not, Shirayuki is taking care of herself and Zen comes in on the tail end of things. And there are plenty of people who want to cause problems for her, many times because of her striking red hair.
I loved the relationship building between Zen and Shirayuki; there were plenty of adorable moments like this one:
The two really come to rely on each other; but I also really liked that they had separate lives. I mean, Zen is a prince, he’s got lots of other things to think about. And then Shirayuki is very busy working as a court herbalist. Anyway. There’s lots of fun action/adventure with a good dose of romance every episode. The art style is very shojo/romantic/fantasy, and I absolutely adored all of the character styles and costumes.
There’s a big emphasis on friendship that was also sweet, and not judging others by their appearance. I really enjoyed all the characters developing deeper friendships and I wish there were more episodes to get to know some of them better.
This is a very clean, sweet, light, fluffy shojo fantasy romance; I highly recommend for any anime fans that enjoy shojo.
4.5 out of 5 stars
Content: no warnings here. A little kissing. A little violence. Zero sexual character designs. I have no reservations about this one.
I watched the first episode of this and fell in love but haven’t had the time to keep up! Glad to see someone else really likes it !
Sam Frost recently posted…5 Star Review: The Bane Chronicles
It’s so cute the whole way through!! I loved it!
Jessica recently posted…{ARC Review} And I Darken by Kiersten White
Oh man I can’t believe I forgot about this show! I watched like 2 episodes earlier this year and thought it was super cute (and gorgeous animation). I think I just got busy with other shows & life. I really need to go back and finish this one. I didn’t realize it was 12 episodes though. I mean I can do 12 episodes! 😀
I don’t even remember how I came across this one, but it was so sweet and like you said has lovely animation. I haven’t actually found that many animes that are like this one. Definitely recommended!