Snow White with the Red Hair S1 E1

## Plot

Those of you who know me know that I love fairy tales and anime. Heck, the reason I started watching Idolm@ster: Cinderella Girls is because I thought it had something to do with the fairy tale Cinderella. It didn't, but I kept watching it because I liked it anyways. And *that* made me decide to look at the original Idolm@ster show. This show was one of the suggestions to me courtesy of YouTube and it's endless recommendations. It's amazing how much of this is connected to something else. I owe my sister *big time*. And being insanely bored during late March for some reason. This may sound cliche, but this is my calling, I'm sure of it. Anyways, plot! The story is about a girl named Shirayuki who's a herbalist living in her home kingdom/country of Tanbaron. Red hair is an extremely rare trait in this world, even more so than it is in real life, and people often gossip about her. News of her beauty reaches the eldest prince of her kingdom, Raj, who orders her to come to the palace to be his concubine. Basically, his mistress, who would live in the palace but still have a lower social status than him. She decides to flee the kingdom and cuts her hair, leaving it behind in her shop. He *did* only like her because of her hair. Near the border, she comes across a manor, but no one will come to the door, and she thinks it'd be rude to enter without being invited in first. The next day, a guy jumps over a stone wall, trips and ends up bruising himself. In true stereotypical romance fashion, they fall in love at first sight. His name is Zen, and his friends Kiki and Mitsuhide were following him. She offers to help with his bruise, but he refuses since it could be poison. She earns his trust by bruising herself and using her own medicine on herself first. The manor is abandoned, but Zen and his friends come out there to hang out sometimes. Zen can tell that Shirayuki ran away from home, and makes her tell him why. He's appalled to learn that she would've been forced to become a concubine. He tells her that the color red is supposed to represent fate. Someone from the palace tracked Shirayuki down and delivered a basket full of apples, along with the ribbon her hair was tied in. Zen learns that it was Prince Raj who wanted her to become his concubine. He's heard of him and isn't exactly a fan. The apples are starting to go bad. Zen takes a bite out of one, but he collapses. The bruise like spot was actually an indication that it was poisoned. A guard shows up. The apple was meant for Shirayuki. If she wants the antidote for her new friend she has to go back to Tanbaron. Raj will only give her the antidote if she agrees to become his concubine. She agrees, but slaps his hand away, saying that he should know exactly what he's getting first. Suddenly, Zen bursts into the room, none the worse for wear. He's spent the past few years building up an immunity to different poisons. And he's no ordinary teenager. He's the second prince of the kingdom of Clarines. And since Prince Raj poisoned him, even if it wasn't meant for him, war is a very real possibility. Zen scares Raj senseless, and makes him promise to never go looking for Shirayuki again. He gives Zen the antidote just to be safe and everyone leaves. Shirayuki can now choose her own path.

## Review

I really like Shirayuki. She's an interesting character with an interest in helping people and in plants, especially herbs. I actually liked her ponytail, but her short hair is cute too. Yes, she and Zen are obviously in love, but I like how they start out as friends and have to work towards a romantic relationship that we get to see develop. You see, this type of anime is a romance one and often marketed towards young girls, but this one at least has a sizable male fanbase as well. See? You don't need constant fighting or sexy women to get boys interested in a show. You also don't need romance or hot guys to get a girl interested in a show. Admittedly, the flowery narration can be a little ridiculous, but that's just a minor complaint. The theme song is cute, but I do prefer something more energetic. The visuals are great though.