Anirban Bhattacharya
‘Snow White with The Red Hair’ is a fantasy-drama-romance anime. The show is quite visually appealing with great animation and dynamic and vibrant color palette. The story follows Shirayuki (Snow White), a girl with red hair. She is bright, kind, cheerful and lives in the country of Tanbarun. There she works in her herbal shop. But her stable life loses balance when Prince Raji notices her. He decides to make her his concubine. But Shirayuki does not seem interested. She cuts her hair short and flees to the forest. There she meets Zen Wistalia, a prince from the neighboring country, and her two aides who rescue her. Shirayuki decides to repay her debt to them and sets her goals to becoming the court herbalist in Zen’s country.
The anime has a strong female lead who can make her own way in the face of adversities. If you enjoyed watching this anime and are looking for more shows that explore similar ideas and themes, then you have come to the right place. Here’s the list of best anime similar to ‘Snow White With the Red Hair’ that are our recommendations. You can watch several of these anime like ‘Snow White With the Red Hair’ on Netflix, Crunchyroll or Hulu.
5. Akatsuki no Yona (2014)
‘Akatsuki no Yona’ is one of the obvious anime that comes to mind when talking about ‘Snow White with The Red Hair’. Both protagonists have similar look having red hair that has been cut short. Also, they fall in a similar predicament and have to leave their homes. They meet a nice male character who helps them become much better. While ‘Akatsuki no Yona’ is more revenge oriented, ‘Snow White with The Red Hair’ takes a different direction.
The Kingdom of Kouka is a utopia where people live happily or at least that’s what Princess Yona used to think. When her life is in peril following a coup that led to her father’s murder, she has to flee the castle with her trusted friend and bodyguard Son Hak. It is then that she finds out about the true nature of her kingdom. Kouka is poverty-stricken and everyone is corrupt. It is not the ideal kingdom as she previously thought. This makes reclaiming her kingdom even tougher but it also makes her much more determined. This story follows Yona and Son Hak as they strive to get their kingdom back and try to make it a better place. The animation is quite good and the colors are very vibrant, making it visually appealing.
4. Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii (2014)
Though this next anime does not have a red-haired heroine, the other characteristics of the female protagonist do line up with ‘Snow White from ‘Snow White with The Red Hair’. Also, if a slow, romantic, slice of life anime is what attracted you towards ‘Snow White with The Red Hair’, then ‘Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii’ is an anime you should check out. In both anime, we have a male lead who belongs to a royal background and gets hooked up with the female protagonist.
Imagine never ever having heard of or felt the rain. That is something the citizens of the Sun Kingdom go through every day. Sunshine is a constant part of their everyday lives but rain is an alien concept to them. But you cannot miss something you haven’t even heard of, right? But they do hear it, and turns out, in the small kingdom of Rain Dukedom, people can make rain by singing. This intrigues Livius Ifrikia, the current ruler of the Sun Kingdom. He decides to marry princess Nike Remercier of the Rain Dukedom to bring this strange phenomenon to his kingdom. But there have been rumors about Livius being a tyrannical ruler. This makes Nike quite nervous and uncertain about her future. But when she finally meets her fiance, she meets a man completely different from all the hearsay. ‘Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii’ is a nice romantic anime that you watch anytime.
3. Saiunkoku Monogatari (2006)
We all like to see an underdog shoot for glory or conquer his/her dream. ‘Saiunkoku Monogatari’ sort of offers that theme, though here the underdog is the entire female gender. This anime puts us in an era when women don’t have many rights and cannot hold positions in the government. Again, we have a female protagonist who ends up in the vicinity of a royal male character and has to work with him while trying to achieve her dream. Here the male lead is a bit different than the previous two anime but the female lead sort of has a similar characteristic.
Shuurei Kou comes from a noble family. But even though the bloodline of her family is important, they are not monetarily strong. Her father holds a position in the imperial library. The job is quite prestigious but when it comes to the compensation, it is quite meager and thus Shurrei has to do odd jobs to help her father put food on the table. Shurrei wants to pass the entrance exam and hold a government position but women are barred from doing so. Then she receives an offer from a court advisor. He asks her to become the consort of the current prince and make him a better ruler. If she manages to do so, she will receive 500 gold pieces. She instantly agrees as she knows that the prince is interested in men and thus her virtue is safe. But by doing so will she sacrifice her dream? This anime is definitely worth watching if you enjoyed ‘Snow White with The Red Hair’.
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2. Romeo x Juliet (2007)
The next anime on this list is a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s classic. So obviously, there is going to be something sad, right? Well, that is for you to find out. This anime gets a spot on this list because of the similarities between the female protagonist of both the anime. Both Snow White and Juliet are strong female characters who don’t just sit and accept their fate but rather get up and do things. Both of them meet a male character from a royal family who becomes an important person in their lives and together, they try to achieve their dreams. Also, both these characters have red hair.
The romance factor in ‘Romeo x Juliet’ is quite heavy, as many of you might know (if you have read the original drama). Juliet Fiammata Asto Capulet hails from the noble Capulet family which was slaughtered by the Montague family. Juliet somehow escapes but after 14 years, she does not really remember what had occurred. But still, she tries her best to help the people of her kingdom by being a vigilante by the name of Red Whirlwind. She later meets Romeo Candorebanto Montague, son of the current tyrannical prince of the Montague family. Unlike his father, Romeo is a kind person and they fall in love with each other at first sight. But they do not know each other’s background. The anime tells the story of their undying love and the various obstacles that come their way. Will their love sustain the hardship or will it sway?
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1. Kemono no Souja Erin (2009)
Look, though Snow White meets a prince from the royal family, she was and is self-sufficient with or without him. She is strong, intelligent, and is very much capable of taking care of herself. In ‘Kemono no Souja Erin’, the protagonist Erin shows similar characteristics; she is a bright and intelligent girl to whom fate has been really cruel. But she stays strong trying to get back up at her feet and strive forward. If romance is your thing then this anime will not be able to meet your demands as this is a fantasy adventure anime. The show is quite entertaining and has a total of 50 episodes with each episode being 25 minutes in length.
The anime takes place in the land of Ryoza ruled by the Queen Shinou. In this land, men and beasts exist side by side and the Queen’s strongest general Grand Duke Taikou uses powerful war-lizards known as Touda in his army. In Ryoza, there are two provinces – Shin-Ou and Tai-Kou. Though they have been in peace for a long time tensions seem to be mounting which threatens the kingdom with a civil war. Erin lives with her mother, Soyon, in Tai-Kou. Soyon is a Touda doctor and takes care of the beasts. But their happy lives end when the best Touda dies under Soyon’s care. She is punished and Erin tries her best to save her but ends up falling into a river and being drifted away to Shin-Ou. Now, she is all alone in this hostile land with completely different people. She needs to get back up and adjust to her new life all the while trying to understand the relationship between man and beast as tensions rise between the two provinces.
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