ATU510A, better known as cinderellais one of the most widely circulated fairy tales in the world. It is present in most different cultures on every continent, from the ancient world to modern retellings. (its lesser-known counterpart, Also a donkey [ATU510B]has also been widely disseminated. ) For many modern readers, its popularity hinges on the fantasy of moving from a terrible life to a better life, but if you delve deeper into the genre, you’ll find that it’s not about a passive princess being rescued. It’s the story of a young woman who realizes she has worth and takes steps to get herself out of trouble. A prince is a means to an end, not a prize.
Engaged to my sister’s ex-husband is a mixture of modern perspectives cinderella Another read about a girl’s escape from a difficult situation. While on the surface it may seem like Mary was only saved by Kairos, the story is equally about her realizing her own worth and shaping Kairos into Prince Charming and Fairy Godmother. While Mary’s journey to realizing her own worth can be a little sad at times, ultimately the story is about finding the courage to accept what you deserve—and to give back to others them deserve it.
The story revolves around Marie Shaderan, the second child of a minor aristocratic family. Mary may be her parents’ biological child, but that doesn’t stop them from treating her like a servant – her anxiety and red hair combine to make them despise her, and her mother repeatedly denounces her as “unfortunate” or “cursed” because of her skin color. They gave management of the estate to Mary and forced her to sleep in a garden shed while lavishing affection on her sister Anastasia and brother Cedric. They even held a ball on Mary’s birthday, not for Mary, but to find Anastasia a husband. They will definitely be on display in the Horrible Parents anime gallery.
But they could not prevent Mary from meeting the much higher-ranking nobleman Qairos Granado. Kairos fell deeply in love with Mary, both for her appearance and her apparent intelligence, and he soon wrote a letter proposing to Anastasia, by mistake. The tragic Anastasia is transported to the wedding but dies in an accident on the way and Mary is sent as her sister’s “replacement”. Astute viewers will note the age-old “if no body, no death” trope, which in no way affects Mary’s belief that she has as much value as a human being as her sister does.
This is not an easy thing to achieve. While Kairos’ almost insane devotion to her is just for laughs (and he yes Interesting), the story is primarily about people overcoming difficulties imposed on them by others. Mary’s problems are multifaceted: she has no idea how smart she is or that men might find her attractive, and she doesn’t believe she deserves anything good. Meanwhile, Kyros experienced prejudice growing up due to his biracial heritage and the fact that his mother, Liu-Liu, was not his father’s first (legal) wife. He was used to being wanted for his money and status, but what attracted him to Mary was her No Care about those things. Meanwhile, Anastasia is burdened with her parents’ expectations that she be their perfect daughter doll, with no regard for what she wants or that she is a human being with a will of her own. While not all of these episodes are given equal space in the series (Mary’s precedent), it’s important to put them all there because it shows there’s a pattern: abuse within Mary and Anastasia’s families, and systemic racism throughout the kingdom. This isn’t a political statement to say that these two elements drive the characters’ actions and beliefs, making them more grounded than what sometimes happens in fantasy works.
Even though the show has a lot of predictable plot points, what makes it successful is Mary’s continued growth. It may have taken her the better part of twelve episodes to realize that Kairos truly loves her and allows her to be happy, but she does show progress throughout the process, and at a believable pace—it’s a two-steps-forward, one-step-back situation. The supporting cast isn’t just there for color, with Kairos’ friend and employee Mio being the standout. Mio is frankly the best character in the series, pulling the strings both behind the scenes and in front of them, taking no crap from anyone, and making sure things move in the right direction. She’s a force of nature and easily one of the show’s best characters, if not the best character of the year.
Art and animation are a bit of a mix. For some reason, someone decided to always outline Mary’s red hair with electric lime, but that definitely didn’t work. But we made a real effort to show her with and without makeup in a more realistic way than we usually see her. The animation can be stiff and awkward, and then suddenly features some of the only proper ballroom dancing I’ve ever seen in a non-ballroom animation. It’s very uneven. Fortunately, the voice cast is even richer, and special mention goes to Kimura RyoheiIt was the sycophantic, smug Prince Louis-Fon.
Engaged to my sister’s ex-husband It’s not a perfect show, but it’s still a good one. Split into multiple cinderella It uses folkloric elements in a uniquely anime way, even taking care to ensure that the villains in the work are understandable, even if they are cartoonish. Mary is supposed to go to the ball – and the series lets her do that with the help of the prince.
