Snow White with the Red Hair volume 7 is a very relaxing read, but it’s not much of an interesting one.
First, the volume wraps up the pirates arc. And it’s revealed that the leader of the Lions of the Mountain, Mukaze, is Shirayuki’s father. It’s an unsurprising fact to Shirayuki, as she had spotted him at her grandparents’ bar one time and knew he was alive. His reveal is treated with little fanfare, and his story is also delivered in a casual and somewhat confusing manner. Shirayuki’s mother was engaged to Mukaze’s uncle, he stole her back, and then he was disowned. So Shirayuki is a noble? Or can you own land without a title? But would a commoner family be so upset at who married this woman? This whole scene is treated as casual as two classmates bumping into each other on the weekend, and it feels like it needed some type of fireworks or “dun dun dun” moment. The author mentions that this arc ran just a little too long to wrap up in one volume, but with this anticlimactic wrap-up, I wish she could have just ended it in volume 6.
The rest of the volume’s plot wanders around and ventures into repeat territory. On a national holiday, Shirayuki ends up in a play. Mitsuhide inhales a drug and becomes even more of a loyal knight. Then Shirayuki is given her official “Friend of the Royal Family” title and thinks about her role in Zen’s life. We already know Mitsuhide is very loyal to Zen, and I thought we had previously established Zen and Shirayuki are aiming to be together. If she wasn’t prepared before, what was she expecting by confessing and accepting Zen’s feelings earlier? Snow White with the Red Hair has had a tendency to keep bringing in previously-introduced characters, but I’m a little concerned about it bringing in previously-introduced plots.
Plus, Zen gets injured by a dropped rug. I mean, seriously? What a bizarre way to be hurt and, even more bizarrely, be unable to move your head from side to side as a result.
But if you are only interested in cute scenes, volume 7 dishes up several sweet scenes. In fact, one of these moments caused Zen to be distracted enough to be hit by that flying carpet. Obi and Raj strengthen their bonds with Shirayuki as well, but of course the highlights involve the main couple. There are some humorous moments as well, like the diary Obi and Kiki were keeping of super loyal Mitsuhide’s best lines to embarrass him with later. The comedy and fluff, combined with the fact that even the serious scenes make way for more humor and romance, make it a nice casual escape from the world.
But if volume 7 wanted to be filler, that’s one thing, but I’m not exactly sure what Akiduki was trying to accomplish in these chapters. If you’re going to have some significant revelations, make them big and significant! If you want to have more character interaction, make them different from before! Snow White with the Red Hair has too good of characters to be treated so lackadaisically.