Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj where today we continue our look at Akagami no Shurayuki. After the first season ended, it was announced that a second season was going to be aired at the start of 2016 with the same cast and studio producing it. Fun fact, this anime was the start of what I like to consider Bones’ golden era. Bones was already a great studio at this point but it was around this time that people really started to pay great attention to them and put them on the same level as Madhouse. It was during this year that they were releasing AOTY candidates such as Mob Psycho 100 and My Hero Academia and Akagami no Shurayuki was the one that got the ball rolling. Let’s unleash our inner fangirl and take a look at Akagami no Shurayuki S2.
Opening and Ending Theme
Our opening for the second season is “Sono Koe ga Chizu ni Naru” by Saori Hayami. Once again we get another slow song that matches the atmosphere and setting of the anime really well. Saori sounds great too. It’s hard not to get swept away in her angelic voice. Is this song better than the first opening? Personally, I like the first one more but this song is a good follow up as well.
The second ending is “Page ~Kimi to Tsuzuru Monogatari~” by eyelis. This time the song is more slow-paced and feels like it belongs as an ending song. I do like the beginning of the song with the piano only for the violins to come in and take over. That was a nice touch. It’s a tough call but I think I like this ending more than the first ending.
Episodes 1-4
So the second seasons starts off on a nice sunny day in the kingdom (I can’t wait to see what the kingdom looks like in the winter). Everyone is going about their business, Shirayuki is helping reorganize the medicinal herbs in the office, Zen inspired by Shirayuki’s hardwork gets to work on signing documents, Matsuhide is doing his own self-study, Kiki is training the guards, and in a surprising event Obi and Ryu actually bond with each other (interesting. I like it). Things start to get interesting at night when Mihaya the noble who tried to kidnap Shirayuki in the first season has returned to the castle (they let him out of jail? They let him into the palace?). It turns out he has information that concerns Shirayuki (speak then worm). Some handsome boy by the name of Kazuki is searching for her. We don’t know his reason but apparently he wants to take Shirayuki to a place more suited for her (Disney?). As if that news wasn’t shocking enough Shirayuki and Zen get called to meet Izana who has received a letter from Raj who has invited Shirayuki to a ball happening within a week. Shirayuki reluctantly agrees to go but Zen wants to send Matsuhide as her escort in case something happens (smart choice. I get the feeling Obi might try something).
So in episode 2 Shirayuki gets proper training to prepare for her trip back home while Zen and others hope to find this Kazuki guy (shouldn’t be too hard. How many girly looking boys can there be around the port?). They have no success and this worries Zen as the next day Shirayuki is leaving and even though she’ll be gone for only 7 days in truth factoring in time and travel she’ll be gone for a month (a month without seeing Shirayuki and that beautiful red hair of hers? I feel so sorry for Zen). That night while Zen is training by himself Obi picks up a sword and challenges him to duel where if Obi wins Zen will allow him to be Shirayuki’s bodyguard for the trip (no, don’t trust the ninja. He seems shady). The two have a short but impressive fight where after disarming Zen, Zen admits defeat and allows Obi to be Shirayuki’s bodyguard (scene here: https://youtu.be/1RebVG2QEls, hope you know what you’re doing Zen). Later on Zen and Shirayuki share a moment together and talk to each other (scene here: https://youtu.be/JFReCk1IzJw, any moment when these two are on screen together and alone is always great in my opinion). The day comes and they leave for Tanrabuan and arrive where Raj is wishy-washy on Shirayuki’s presence (it seems like he’s happy she’s here but at the same time terrified that she showed up).
In episode 3 the awkwardness continues as Raj can’t seem to find his footing around Shirayuki (it likes he’s trying to dance around fire) while Shirayuki tries to meet him halfway and start a conversation with him hoping to improve their relationship with each other (you guys need to find common ground). Raj decides to show Shirayuki the castle’s greenhouse but on their way there they notice all the spectators who have come out to see them (it’s not everyday they see their prince get up and do something decent with his life). In order to avoid the spectators Raj takes them to the underground passageway where they get lost and have to find their way out. As Raj continues to get them lost Obi senses the presence of someone watching them from the shadows and chases after them. He catches the one or should I say two people who were watching from the shadows. The two are the twins Rona and Eugene the younger siblings of Raj who were curious about Shirayuki since she caused such a change to occur in their no good deadbeat brother (yeah it’s nothing short of magic). Eugena leads them out into the greenhouse where Raj apologizes to Obi for what happened to them shocking the twins greatly since Raj rarely apologizes for anything (it’s the magic of Shirayuki). Back with Zen and the others they finally get a spotting of Kazuki.
Nothing much to say about episode 4. Raj tries to act more princely in the hopes of getting Shirayuki to give him praise by studying in the library with her. The twins also show up once again believing that Raj likes Shirayuki (maybe) so Rona makes plans with Eugene to get the two together at the ball. While that’s going on, back with Zen and the others, Mihaya tried to catch Kazuki by himself but failed however he discovered that he’s working with someone else and they know where Shirayuki is. Once Mihaya tells Zen this Zen quickly sends a message to Shirayuki and Obi and tells Izana that he’s going to Tanrabuan to protect Shirayuki because he wants to marry her (you are not alone my friend). This shocks Izana for a second and he tells Zen to go however he warns him that if he does something that requires him to step in he should give up on Shirayuki and not bring her back (he’s basically saying that if you can’t protect the person you love with your own power than stay away from them). Back with Shirayuki it’s the night of the ball and Kazuki has infiltrated her room (I was half-expecting him to wear a dress).
Episodes 5-8
So in episode 5 Kazuki and some other guy named Itoya invade Shirayuki’s room. Despite Obi’s best efforts to defend Shirayuki he gets knocked out and Shirayuki gets kidnapped (Zen is so going to kill you). He wakes about an hour later pissed that he couldn’t protect Shirayuki (and after all that talk) so he heads out by himself to see if he can find them. While that’s going on Zen and the others arrive at the palace where he finds about Shirayuki’s kidnapping and instead of getting mad at Raj he instead blames himself for not telling Raj the whole story on what was going on (interesting. However, I think he’s holding his rage back because of his position. Zen may be playing it cool now but trust me, in his mind, he’s ready to go crazy on someone just like Kylo Ren when he destroyed those monitors). Zen gets permission from the king to search for Shirayuki and Raj says he’s going with them. Back with Obi he manages to find their trail and follows it back to them however he only finds Itoya who tells him that Kazuki and Shirayuki were kidnapped by other kidnappers (kidnapception?). Obi forces him to take him to their leader and then we cut to Kazuki and Shirayuki who are now in the clutches of Umihebi leader of a group of pirates known as the Claw of the Sea.
Moving on to episode 6 Obi meets the Lions of the Mountains the people Kazuki and Itoya work for who also want to get rid of the Claw of the Sea (than the enemies of my enemies are my friends. For now at least). Zen and the others manage to catch up with them using the birds (they solve everything just like in Lord of the Rings) and arrive in the outskirts of the port town where Obi does reconnaissance and confirms that the pirates are in the town. Kiki comes up with a daring plan and that’s to get herself taken prisoner aboard their ship as a slave and get taken back to their base where Zen and the others will mount an attack and destroy them once and for all (nice to see Kiki get a turn to shine for once). Once on board she finds Shirayuki where she calms her nerves by telling her that Zen is here and that they will save her. We also find out why Kazuki wanted to kidnap Shirayuki. It turns out that Kazuki was once a slave sold off by a noble in Tanrabuan. After hearing how Shirayuki went through a similar experience he got the impression that Shirayuki was sold by Raj to Zen and forced to be his slave. Not wanting her to experience the same stuff he did Kazuki decided to take it upon himself to save her(while that’s nice of you I do have a few questions? Did you ever stop to ask what she wanted to do? Did you tell her why you’re after her? Did you just take her by force without hearing her out or did you just not give a damn?).
Episode 7 is epic! First off Raj does something princely and gets all the merchants at the port to help him block Umihebi’s route (wow look at you Raj). This forces her to steer the ship into the Blue Vortex a series of malestorms in the sea which if you don’t know the current you could get your ship destroyed. Umihebi’s ship passes through okay and enters a cave to hide out for the time being thinking Raj and the others won’t follow them. However, Raj’s manages to make it through the vortex (he’s really coming along) and he crashes his ship into their ship destroying it (ohh~ I hope you have insurance. You guys have insurance in this world right?). Zen and the Lions of the Mountains show up where they attack Umihebi and her crew saving Shirayuki and the others in the process. We get a nice and tender moment between Zen and Shirayuki before he goes back to fight and once he returns he and the others take out the remaining members of the Claw of the Sea and capture Umihebi (and surprisingly Zen didn’t go berserk on them. Kind of shocking I really was expecting him to go crazy especially after seeing that scratch on Shirayuki’s face). The episode comes to a close with the most shocking news in the anime so far. The leader of the Lions of the Mountains is Shirayuki’s father.
In episode 8 the group arrives in the village of the Mountain Lions where Shirayuki’s dad (aka Shira) tells them his backstory. In the past Shirayuki’s mom (aka Yuki) was originally going to be wed to Shira’s uncle which he couldn’t accept so he eloped with her (must have been one hell of a woman). They were pursued by their families and took shelter with the Mountain Lions where they got married and had Shirayuki (who obviously inherited her mother’s beauty). Unfortunately, Yuki passed away a few years after Shirayuki was born and Shira wanted Shirayuki to be raised in a safe environment, so he gave her to his parents and occasionally came to visit her in secret from time to time as she grew up. After hearing that backstory, the whole village celebrates the defeat of Umihebi. Shirayuki goes to confront Obi who has been avoiding Shirayuki because he blames himself for what happened to her. He apologizes for not being able to protect her but she says it’s okay and that she wants him to be her bodyguard the next time she comes to Clarines again which he accepts. We get a funny moment between Zen and Shira where we see he’s totally okay with Zen dating his daughter (he’s royalty and he risked his life to save her. Sounds like a good man to me). As the party dies down Zen and Shirayuki talk a bit where she falls asleep and Zen gives her a kiss goodnight (*sequels*). The next day they return back to the palace and have that banquet from a few episodes ago (man, these guys really wanted to party). We don’t stay long and just get to see Shirayuki and Raj share a dance with each other. After that the episode ends the next day with Shirayuki and the others heading home.
Episodes 9-12
Episode 9 is actually a relaxing episode. As the group is making their way back to Clarines it begins to rain and they’re force to take shelter in a nearby inn (hopefully it’s not haunted like the other inns I’ve seen). It’s here that we get our first bath scene (it’s short but still it’s the first bath scene in the anime) along with a few laughs here and there. At night while Obi is out stargazing (if your wishing for Shirayuki to be yours than you might want to stop yourself) he gets approached by a girl named Trow who just like Obi is a ninja. The two used to work with each other in the past and she asks him for help in finding a young noble who ran away from home and is recklessly spending his heritage (when he gets back home he’ll be getting a whipping that’ll make him think his name’s Tobi). He agrees to help and they manage to find and capture him easily but Trow gets hurt fighting one of the noble’s bodyguards and gets saved by Obi in the process. She asks him if he would like to come back and start working together again but he says no saying he enjoys being around Zen and the others. Which speaking of Zen and the others they managed to track Obi’s movements back to the noble’s hideout because they were all worried about him. Zen tells Obi to start being more self-aware of his surroundings and how his actions can make the people who care about him worry (awww~ he cares about him). After Shirayuki tends to Obi and Trow they continue on their journey back to Clarines.
In episode 10 the group finally arrives back in Clarines and things return to normal for everyone. Shirayuki returns to assisting Ryu where we hear talk about her apprenticeship being over soon (time to hire her full-time) and Zen gets forced to do a marriage interview with potential candidates who want to marry him (just go public and tell everyone you’re dating Shirayuki. They’ll love it, they’ll go crazy). Even though Zen doesn’t want to do this he manages to find a candidate that he can talk to who he knows he won’t marry and won’t upset Shirayuki, Kiki. Yep, Zen decides to do a marriage interview with Kiki who we find out is actually the daughter of a count (last known whereabouts on Sesame Street counting stuff) who hated the whole noble daughter role and chose to become a retainer for Zen where Matsuhide mistook her for a boy (wow~, https://youtu.be/yytbDZrw1jc). After the interview, Zen makes plans to tell Shirayuki after all his work his done, but Obi tells him that she already knew about the interview (and surprisingly was staying very calm about all of this. When a woman is calm about something you know she should be upset about that is when you should be scared the most. A few days ago, I accidently ate all of Isis’s expensive ice lemonade she imported from Italy. For the last few days she has been walking around the house normally and smiling like nothing happened. I once fought against a demon-possessed Hollywood director. Yet never before in my life have I been afraid of something about to attack me as this). Once Zen hears and finds out that Obi didn’t tell Shirayuki that it was Kiki who was the candidate he rushes out to find her and explains the situation where she’s relieved because this really was bothering her she just didn’t want to lose her cool and trusted Zen feelings for her (Zen you better marry her by the end of this series. If you don’t you are the biggest idiot out there). After sorting things out with Shirayuki he goes back to work where it soon turns night and receives a visit from Izana where Zen re-confirms his intensions to one day marry Shirayuki and never leave her behind. Seeing the determination and resolve in Zen’s eyes, Izana tells him that he will support their romance from now on (big brother approves).
Nothing much to say about episode 11. After accidently being exposed to a medical plant Matsuhide’s personality changes completely. He becomes more obsessed with Zen’s protection by sticking close to him every minute and isn’t afraid to act smooth and straightforward with Kiki (just what kind of plant were they studying?). Eventually Shirayuki is a given a plant to nurture which should help return Matushide back to normal. After studying and researching it, Shirayuki manages to create an antidote for Matsuhide returning him to normal. Not only that but she also passes her final exam meaning her internship is over and she’s now an official court herbalist at the castle (really? I was always under the impression she was already hired full-time because she’s so awesome at her job. Longest internship ever).
In the final episode we start off with Shirayuki receiving a special title from Raj, Friend of the Crown. This means that Shirayuki can come to Tanrabuan anytime she wants, and she’ll be treated as a Guest of State (she just keeps pulling down achievement after achievement). After receiving her title Izana asks her where she wants her relationship with Zen to go to which she has no reply. While Zen tells her there’s no need to rush she really does feel bad not having an answer and starts to think about it quite a bit. Early in the morning after talking to Obi a little she finally has her answer and Obi goes to fetch Zen for her. They meet in the flower garden where Shirayuki tells him she wants to be by his side as someone who can give him strength and he says that’s more than enough for him. As the sun rises he gives her a hickey (what are you a vampire, go for the lips you fool) and kisses her on the lips (there you go). This causes her to lose all feeling in her legs so Zen carries her (bridal style. Scene here: https://youtu.be/2E886DvJ9Sw) through the castle avoiding the guards and takes her to a private royal garden on top of the castle (man this castle just keeps getting better and better). Zen then tells Shirayuki that someday he’ll pop the question to her and he kisses her once again on the cheek (the lips man! The lips). After that they all return to work ending the anime on a happy note.
Final Thoughts
So that was Akagami no Shirayuki. This is hands down one of the best romance animes I’ve ever seen. The story is good, the characters are great, and just love every minute of it. Shirayuki has got to be my favorite girls in anime. She’s smart, beautiful, independent, speaks her mind, and does things her way. Her relationship with Zen is so cute. Every time they have a moment together you get swept away in it and can’t help but squeal. Their feelings for each other are real and genuine. They love each other and want to be together. The other characters outside of our two leads are alright. While they don’t play major parts in the story they all have a personality and affect our two leads in some way. The only one that really seems to stand out is Obi as it’s hinted that he’s also developed feelings for Shirayuki but knows that her heart belongs to Zen. The other one is Izana who in his own way is looking out for Zen. He wants him to be happy and find love but also wants him to remember his position. He’s royalty and the one he marries will have to carry that burden with him. He wants Zen to find someone he can trust and will stay by his side no matter what.
The animation is very beautiful. The backgrounds just look like a story book has come to life and the music is breathtaking. It matches up with the scenes well, sets the tones, and the violin in most of the pieces steals the show for me. While the anime may not be big on action, the fight scenes that they do show are passable and the comedic moments are funny and well-placed. While I prefer the sub to the dub I thought the dub was good and actually had some funnier lines than the sub in some parts.
Final Score
Akagami no Shirayuki earns a 8.5/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. A great romance anime that anybody can pick up and enjoy. If you have a girlfriend or boyfriend you’re trying to get into anime, definitely watch this with them. As of now there’s been no word of a third season but I’m staying hopeful that Bones will do a third season as it got a lot of positive feedback from anime watchers and manga fans. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
*Nitsuj gets up and heads down stairs to grab a drink where Isis is waiting for him*
(Isis): I’ve been expecting you. Please, sit.
*Nitsuj sits down across from Isis*
(Nitsuj): Alright Isis. You’ve been very quiet these last few days. How do you plan to punish me? If death is what awaits me, I shall encounter it like a bride and hug it dearly.
(Isis): Braves word for a such a simple man.
*Doorbell rings*
(Isis): That will be for you.
*Nitsuj gets up and answers the door*
(UPS man): Package for Nitsuj.
(Nitsuj): That’s me.
*Signs paper to confirm delivery*
(Nitsuj): Thank you.
*Nitsuj closes door and sets the package down to open it where he sees a copy of UQ Holder*
(Nitsuj): Oh no!
(Isis): Oh yes!
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