English Dub Season Review: Love Through a Prism Season One

Overview:

Aspiring painter, Lili Ichijouin, attends an art school in England. She only has six months to reach the number one spot, or else she has to go back home to Japan to run her family’s kimono business. While there, she encounters the enigmatic Kit Church. Will love blossom between these two, or will life’s cruelties get in the way?

Our Take(Spoilers):

I’m going to talk about the one minor “bad” thing about this show. The voice acting at first is a little jarring because Netflix used a voice company in England, so all of the talent for the show are ya know… English. It makes sense, with this being a show taking place primarily in England, but hearing a Japanese girl speak with an English accent was a bit odd. But as I thought about it more, why would hearing them with an American accent be any better? Other than one part where the voice acting was bad, in my opinion, I got over it fast and enjoyed the show greatly.

The animation for this show is fantastic, and while I know that some people might not enjoy it when characters get that chibi aspect to them, I think it adds to the charm. It let me know when characters were being serious or not.

Speaking of characters, I loved most of the characters in this show. Some got more screentime than others, but all got a little time to shine. Of course, we spend the most time with Lili and Kit, but I really liked Catherine as well. Catherine is Kit’s fiancee so you can imagine she isn’t the biggest fan of Lili at first, and this might lead to a love triangle. I suppose, by definition, it is, but Catherine and Lili become friends, and their relationship grows as enjoyable as the main plot’s love story.

With this being a show about artists, you can imagine there is some artistic interpretation to the show as well. The best way to implement this is when Lili and Kit are separated for some time, because during that period, the show is entirely in black and white. Once they are reunited, the show is back in color. I loved this small touch to show how important they were to each other.

This wasn’t a show I was particularly looking forward to or excited to watch, but I ended up enjoying it a great deal. If you’re a fan of romance, history, or want to see an anime set somewhere other than Japan, then this is right up your alley. If you watched Moriarty the Patriot or Fena: Pirate Princess and loved those than I think you’ll enjoy this. The voice acting might take a little getting used to, but I highly recommend you give it a try because this was a beautiful show both aesthetically and thematically.