Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Snow White with the Red Hair
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katscradle
Posts: 469 |
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*sighs*
I'm getting very sick of people ripping classic fairy tales when reviewing something. I voted for this show in the streaming poll too but, now I regret it. Like someone said... lots of versions to the story of Snow White. So can anybody talk about what they like about one thing without dissing something else? |
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kinghumanity
Posts: 365 |
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Question: Would us male viewers get anything out of this series? I don't think we're the target demographic.
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lys
 Posts: 1008 Location: mitten-state |
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@katscradle, from what I've read (of her reviews), Rebecca has a lot of background knowledge related to folk and fairy tales and literature in general, and she often draws on that material when writing about anime and manga. I enjoy that extra bit of information and perspective she brings to her writing, and I see it as a separate thing from the general recent trend of people dissing on fairy tales because it's "cool" to do so. (she probably likes the stories a lot to begin with, if she's spent so much time studying them?) In this review, it seemed like she was pointing out that Shirayuki is neither the passive helpless heroine stereotype that modern culture loves to hate, nor the Grrl Power gotta-be-stronger-than-all-the-guys heroine which modern culture ...loves? She's just a capable person with some idea about how she wants to live her life.
I think that beyond the name and the first episode's apple plot, there's not much that follows the original Snow White story, so the comparisons that bother you probably won't need to be restated in future reviews. (but speaking of fairy tales, the first page of each manga volume has a fun one-panel spoof of a different fairy tale: v1 is Cinderella, with Shirayuki already asleep on the night of the ball :) ) |
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lossthief
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 1392 |
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I'm a guy, and this is one of my favorites of the new season. I'm loving the fun yet understated characters, the gorgeous art/animation, and the well-delivered score. So if any of those spark your interest I'd say give it a shot. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18186 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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As a guy who only occasionally likes shojo series, I can assure you that this one is more accessible to male audiences than most, especially if you like capable heroines and don't require male-oriented fan service to keep your interest.
Rebecca is an English professor (and she can correct me if I'm not exactly right about that), so something like this is right up her alley. Last edited by Key on Mon Jul 13, 2015 11:19 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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T.Silver
Posts: 163 |
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A strong, smart, and independent female MC, I can get use to this. This is one of my favorites this season so far.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11349 |
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What with the art style and music, when those little songbirds flitted past in the opening scenes of episode 2, I half expected them to be coming to make her a dress.
 When they came back to her window, I waited for her to break into song. And when Zen mounts his horse to ride to her rescue, he can't just jump on and go, oh no, the horse has to dashingly rear on its hind legs with a whinny first (I think in adventure-speak, this is the equine equivalent of the sound your car makes when you turn the key and rev the engine before squealing the tires on takeoff). All these overtly Disney touches are really amusing to me.
That's not me being critical. I'm loving this to pieces so far. A Disney princess with a dash of MacGyver - what's not to like? |
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Merida
 Posts: 1945 |
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Not having been much of a fan of Yona, i was reluctant to watch yet another shoujo series with a redheaded heroine, but i'm enjoying this one so far. The characters are likeable and there's been a surprising lack of the usual clichés.
Though i might not last very long if she needs to be rescued by the prince in every single episode. Sadly, the preview for the next ep. didn't give me much hope that this pattern will change any time soon... |
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CeaseActivity
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Minor spoilers: spoiler[If you're looking for heavy drama, this show won't be for you. There will be internal conflicts if the anime follows the manga, but it's rarely dwelled on for too long and is usually resolved without too much fuss.] I'm actually surprised by how Disney-esque the anime is compared to the manga. The anime is way more sparkly and extravagant while the manga is more laid-back. I'm still a bit iffy on the anime's artstyle. The eyes and eyebrows are often positioned too far down in Zen' face, giving him a permanent smug look. |
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2606 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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@katscradle
Like Lys and Key said, I am an English professor, and I regularly teach courses on fairy tales and folklore. I didn't mean to diss "Snow White" but rather to work with the reference in the title. Believe me, I know many, if not most, of the variants of AT709 (I doubt if anyone really can know them all  ), but I thought it best to stick to the version(s) that most people are familiar with, which tends to be the German recorded (and altered) by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and the French recorded by Charles Perrault.
I actually get more "Donkeyskin" (AKA "Cinderella B") out of this show, but since it's not well known, I decided to leave it alone until the similarities become more pronounced. |
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vonPeterhof
Posts: 729 |
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On the other hand, unlike "Sakak", "Kik" or "Mitshid", Raj is a pretty common non-Japanese name that does get transliterated into Japanese as ラジ (personally I think ラージ would be a more accurate transliteration, but Japan never asked me what I think, so whatevs). Besides, as will likely be revealed in the episode with the herbalist test, there are other characters with clearly non-Japanese given names, so unless you've heard of an actual Japanese person named Raji it doesn't seem like there's an inconsistency with Funi's subs here. (BTW have you? Not trying to be sarcastic or passive-aggressive here, I'm genuinely curious) Edit: Well, never mind all that I wrote above, there turned out to be someone with that name in this site's very encyclopedia. Looking at other sources, apparently his name is written as 羅慈. |
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zensunni
 Posts: 1293 |
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So far this is one of my favorites of the Summer season. I love the main characters and their chemistry. I especially like that Zen, while clearly smitten with Shirayuki, shows no signs of trying to use his position to help her along. For instance, when he finds she is going out to collect medicinal herbs to aid her in studying, he wonders aloud why she is studying if she is already an herbalist, but doesn't offer a position as a royal herbalist or anything like that. He is simply impressed with her drive to improve herself.
There is only one fault that I found in the 2nd episode, and that is what Shirayuki failed to do when she had the chance when trying to escape... spoiler[When he had her pinned against the castle wall, but wasn't directly threatening her with his sword, she could have easily kicked him in the balls and run like hell. Sure, it might have made him mad and he might have caught her afterward, but if she put enough force into it, she would have been likely to have gotten away. In fact, she could have continued to put him out of commission after he was on the ground. I don't care how nice of a person you are, if someone is threatening to sell you off as a prostitute for your looks and hair, you take him out by any means necessary. A swift, firm kick to the groin, then a few well placed kicks or the flat or hilt of the sword to the head a few times, and she wouldn't have had to worry about him. She is probably too nice to do that, but she shouldn't be! He wanted to sell her body. He even threatened to keep her around until her hair grew in, implying he would use the merchandise while he waited for the value to go up. He deserved anything she did to him.] Other than that, great episode! |
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SilverTalon01
Posts: 2402 |
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I wasn't sold on this with the preview guide so I have a serious question: Is the series really like the review or is that just the writer over-emphasizing something that is important to her?
What I mean is that the majority of the review (in fact if you disregard the paragraph about visuals, only one story focused paragraph doesn't) constantly beats you over the head with 'she isn't a damsel in distress' and 'she is a strong, independent woman'. Now I don't have a problem with strong, independent, female main characters. However, based on the review it seems like that is the entire point of the story - watch Shirayuki as she goes around being strong, independent and not needing saving. I saw people comparing it to Yona which I liked, so I thought I might like this, but if that is what the series is about then not interested. I mean even without the action parts, the first 2 episodes of Yona had a lot going on and clearly showed that the series was interested in telling you a story. After the preview guide (and the name) I thought maybe it was suppose to have a romance focus which would be fine too, but that got a tiny paragraph about it in the first 2 episodes which makes me think that isn't really an important aspect of the show. So is the show really like the review? If so, can any manga readers tell me if it eventually does go somewhere with this (preferably without any specific spoilers past ep 2 which I already read about in the review)?
Every name will sound "Japanese-y" when you write it in kana... That doesn't mean it was intended that way. It is just that is the only way they have to write it. Ok, technically they could write it in English, but pretty much no one does that inside a manga. If the guy's name had kanji, then I'd buy your argument. It sounds like the manga used katakana though which is primarily used for foreign words and names (though not exclusively) so I think you're going to need a bit more to really show the intent was for it to be "Japanese-y." |
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lys
Posts: 1008 Location: mitten-state |
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@SilverTalon01, I wouldn't say the manga goes overboard with its depiction of Shirayuki as a capable person. She just is, and in-story it's not made into a huge deal (she's certainly not the only capable person among the cast, either :) ). I think people are commenting on it in the review/previews/forum because that subtlety and "just is"-ness (if that makes sense?) is refreshing and enjoyable in itself.
As a reader and big fan of both this series and Yona, I will point out that they're pretty different in their approach, despite both being fantasies about red-haired heroines. Yona's got a lot more action and plot and drama, while this one is a bit more slow-moving slice-of-(fantasy)-life-y? It's gentle and happy and has a feeling of sincerity that I appreciate in many of my favourite series. Both series are strong in their depiction of character dynamics and relationships (not just focusing on a main couple, but developing the supporting cast too, and making them all interesting to the reader). I feel like the relationships develop in an especially natural, original way in Red Haired Snow White, and it doesn't rely overmuch on the popular shoujo tropes to fill out its meandering storyline. Also I find the fantasy setting itself convincing and consistent (even if the names don't follow a set pattern and apparently they have matches, haha). But stuff like the characters' costuming and the architecture and decor all seem like they actually do come from the same world and time period (to me anyway), and even the way characters live and act and think gives me the impression of a shared culture that's distinct, not just dropping fantasy trappings on a cast that spouts the modern real-world attitudes of the author and readers. I wrote a lot more than I intended to... got carried away with my thoughts! But all of that is why I like this series so much! |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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I like this show well enough, but I was annoyed by spoiler[how Zen found Shirayuki] in episode two. There wasn't even a hint about spoiler[how he knew where to find her]. I realize this is a shoujo fantasy, but can't the writers at least make an effort to provide some plausibility?
Manga readers, did that sequence play out the same way in the manga? Was a better explanation given? |
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