Snow Queen: Episode 01

I admit fondness for Hans Christian Andersen’s lovely tale. Yet an anime retelling does not elicit excitement for this casual admirer of the story. My lukewarm interest stems from the not-so-pleasant memories of watching anime adaptations of works such as ‘The Little Princess’, ‘A Dog of Flanders’, ‘Little Lord Fauntleroy’, etc. I’ve only seen the dubbed, but still…

Snow Queen does not dazzle viewers with stunning animation nor amazing music. But it manages to shape a world, awaiting for fantasy. Little touches such as creating little surprises and infusing aptly chosen music create a fitting atmosphere for this retelling. Although I acknowledge the slightly generic qualities of the OP/ED themes, I can’t help but enjoy the simplicity and its inherent cheesiness. And I really appreciate the artwork of the ED sequence. It looks as if these illustrations are lifted straight out of a fairy tale book. It’s very pretty. I like the pretties. ^__^

To my surprise, the show has snagged a high-profile actress to play the Queen. None other than Mayo Suzukaze, the voice of Kenshin (RuroKen). Not bad at all. But the one who captured my attention is the narrator. According to ANN, his name is Tooru Nakamura. However, additional information is not included. I must test my googling skills for this. Can we use the word ‘google’ as a verb?

I have my own misgivings when it comes to overtly family oriented shows. As long as it maintains the whimsical atmosphere and does not delve into the uber ‘after school special’ realm, I believe I might be consistently entertained with this series. My only regret is I started viewing this series weeks too late. And since ‘Snow Queen’ is not exactly a widely popular show amongst the English speaking anime community (at least to my knowledge), it is hard to scrape for raws of earlier episodes. T___T

On a totally fangirl-y note, I am absolutely crushin’ on the narrator dude. Err… More accurately, his voice. Man, what I would give to know which series he’d worked on. I can fall in-love with that voice alone. I can listen to his voice all day. Honey, you didn’t read this part, did you? ;p