Snow White with the Red Hair Volume 7 Review

Volume 6 of the shojo series Snow White with the Red Hair saw Shirayuki kidnapped by fearsome pirates! Now having been rescued by Zen and Raj, our heroine makes her back to the kingdom of Clarines. With the release of Volume 7, we check in on the cast to find out what challenges await them now. 

After defeating the pirates, Shirayuki and her group are invited back to Kazuki’s home, a place led by the Lions of the Mountains. Here Shirayuki comes face to face with her estranged father Mukaze who left her with her grandparents as a child. This brief rest gives Shirayuki the chance to rekindle her relationship. Shirayuki discovers that it was her father who sent Kazuki after her, afraid that the reason she fled the kingdom of Tanbarun was due to some kind of danger. 

Now reunited, Kazuki asks if Shirayuki would like to stay with the Lions of the Mountains, beside her new friend and her father. Our heroine is quick to turn down Kazuki’s offer, proudly declaring that she has a home to return to in Clarines with Zen and her friends. Shirayuki is just happy to know her father is doing well. 

After their brief break, the cast return to Clarines, where the Kingdom is hosting a Palace Exhibition Day. As Shirayuki gets dragged into a play and Zen performs his royal duties, the two aren’t able to spend much time together. This begins to bug Shirayuki as she notices how wide the gap between their positions is and wonders if they can ever truly stand side by side.

After an action-packed storyline in Volume 6, this instalment of Snow White with the Red Hair is much more easy-going. There is still a lot happening around our cast, but it gives off the feeling of being more relaxed. 

The character development Shirayuki receives through meeting her father is welcome, especially since we know so little about the protagonists past until now. Meanwhile, the gap in social status between her and Zen is something the series has dealt with before, but it does feel like this is a fresh approach to it rather than retreading ground. 

As Shirayuki and Zen spend more time together they’re falling further in love and want to spend even more time together. When she was in Tanbarun our protagonist didn’t have time to think about her relationship with Zen, but now she’s back home it’s realistic that it would be on her mind. 

A prince and a herbalist would never normally interact with one another, and Zen and Shirayuki understand that if they wish to continue their relationship, it will mean that Shirayuki has to become a princess someday. With disapproval from Prince Izana (as we’ve seen in Volume 3), Zen still has a long way to go before he can pave a path he and Shirayuki can walk down together. For now, all he can do is reassure her that one day they can stand proudly beside one another in front of the kingdom’s people. 

Some readers may be beginning to grow bored of this back-and-forth with Zen and Shirayuki, but I’m invested enough where it’s not become a problem yet. Even if it’s the same core issue, I feel like progress is made every time it’s brought back to the focus of the plot. I do hope the series moves past this completely at some point, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens. 

Volume 7 of Snow White with the Red Hair comes to the West thanks to VIZ Media and continues to be translated by Caleb Cook. The translation reads well and there are no issues to speak of. This volume includes a side story focused on a young Raj and how he ended up becoming such a pampered prince. 

Overall, this volume of Snow White with the Red Hair offers our cast a chance to let their hair down and relax. Coupled with some character development for Shirayuki, it’s a solid entry but does begin to retread old ground.