Synopsis
This is the story of Shirayuki, a pharmacist with unique bright red hair who attracts the attention of the prince of her land who wishes for her to become his concubine. Not wishing to enter into that kind of fate, Shirayuki cuts her hair, leaves the locks behind and makes her escape to the Clarines. In her escaped however, she encounters Zen, and his friends Mitsuhide and Kiki.
Followking a set of events Shirayuki soon discovers that Zen is in fact a prince and following her being able to escape the notice of the foolish prince, her adventures begins in becoming a royal pharmacist for Zen and the two’s blossoming relationship.
The Good
In comparison to many shoujo works involving a romance between a prince and female of lower status, this series takes a nearly realistic portrayal of the main leads transition from friends to lovers and even after the realization of their feelings for one another, the series continued to properly develop their relationship while also integrating their situations into the mix, creating a well-rounded couple that left many romantics sighing.
The art style and animation has its own quirks that suite the anime and the music also brings a good mood for the series as well. The plot itself works well, with the beginning presenting what had seemed to be a general fairy tale with a new look turned into its own story with a truly intelligent and independent female lead.
This brings another good point to the series, the characters, many female leads who have a prince as a male lead seem to turn lax and many times a damself in distress. While Shiroyuki does have times as one, she doesn’t wait, rather she fights her way to escape her situation if needed and is smart about things. The prince is also more than the stereotype and many times seems very human and understandable for the viewer.
The Bad
While the characters are good in their own ways, there are also moments when they could have been better than what they were. Shiroyuki has displayed her cleverness and strengths in different situations throughout the series but at the same time she seems to have to be saved by Zen much more when she could have been taught to defend herself. There also stories that could have been executed better and shown more about them such as Kiki.
The art style while good in certain ways, does not really stand out when placed beside other more recent shoujo works. The animation as well has certain misses in the series that made certain scenes seem somewhat off when it comes to scenes involving crowds or ones where there are more than a few characters in a single location.
Conclusion
This is a series that won’t make you want to scream at the couple to simply kiss but also goes beyond the realization of feelings and into the highs and lows of a relationship, which is not seen often enough in shoujo works. The plot itself is interesting enough and makes you want to know what happens the next episodes. The characters are also enjoyable and the side characters even have their own pieces to which they become more than extras seen with the main leads. Overall this is a good royal love story of a shoujo series with well enough rounded characters and an interesting plot to keep the series going for two seasons.
Rating: 8/10