Mitsuhide Lowen is one of the main characters of the Snow White with the Red Hair anime and manga series.
He is voiced by Yūichirō Umehara in the Japanese version of the anime and Ian Sinclair in the English dub, both of whom have also voiced Kureno Sohma from Fruits Basket.
Appearance[]
He is relatively tall and pretty much always dressed in his uniform with his sword hanging down from the side of waist in its sheath. Between the manga and anime, the exact colors of his hair and eyes deviate a little; his hair is blue in the anime and graying black in the manga, and his eyes are brown in the anime and hazel in the manga.
Personality[]
Mitsuhide generally comes off as a very kind and caring individual who is very supportive towards anyone he considers a friend. He is also very straightforward, reliable, and often comes off as calm and composed, aside from when he's worrying about Zen or being teased, in which cases he can get easily flustered and/or embarassed. He is rarely ever seen without accompanying Zen due to his strong sense of loyalty and devotion to him. At times, he can be overprotective towards and dot on him the way a parent would, especially whenever he accidently injures himself, even if it's minor.
However, while his occasional tendency to overreact and worry too much about Zen annoys him from time to time, it is also made clear that not only is he willing to respect his need for space when he needs it, but that Zen highly values his friendship with him, because it is revealed in flashbacks that since being assigned by Izana to be his lieutenant, Mitsuhide was one of the first people to value and appreciate Zen for who he is as a person, rather than see him just as a prince. Therefore, particularly by the present, the two tend to interact with another in a very casual manner, with Mitsuhide occasionally teasing him in a lighthearted manner, though even more frequently, he tend to be on the receiving end of similar teasing from him, Kiki, and especially Obi due to how easily flustered he is. It is also revealed later on that although he can act flirty at times, he doesn't actually have romantic feelings for anyone, including Kiki, to the extent of turning down a marriage proposal from her.
When he temporarily inhales the contents of a bottle that cause certain repressed parts of his personality to surface, he temporarily acts even more overprotective towards Zen than usual, to the extent he refuses to leave his side even temporarily, as well as acts more overly formal with him, which drives Zen crazy. It also throws him off since he usually values his relationship with him for the fact that he doesn't treat him like a prince, whereas at that point, he was doing exactly that due to the excessive formalities and constant reminders of what his duties as a prince entailed. He is also more openly flirty with Kiki during this period.
History[]
Very little is known about his life and relationships before he was appointed by Prince Izana to watch over Zen. At first, Zen acted very cold and unfriendly towards him since he already felt restricted as it was due to his responsibilities and lack of opportunities to have friends, and being given an attendant only made him feel even more restricted in addition to suspecting that Mitsuhide was only doing this out of obligation and that he truly desired to be Izana's aide, not his. However, Mitsuhide surprised him when he directly noted that Zen's remarks were hurtful towards him, which Zen didn't realize, and because he wasn't used to anyone being so open and honest with him since most soldiers and retainers weren't like that. Additionally, while he didn't want to say anything to Zen directly about it since he feared he would be hurt by it, he was also suspicious of his supposed best friend, Atri, an archer at the castle that he would spend a lot of his free time with.
Eventually, he and Izana figured out that Atri was indeed a spy for Lido and was using his supposed friendship with Zen to lure out Izana so he could help some rebels from Lido enact their revenge on him for exposing and overthrowing a corrupt feudal lord of their country that was associated with them. One night, he and Izana confronted the rebels just outside the walls to prevent them from hurting Zen right after he discovered them there and Atri's association with them. They engaged them in combat and took many of them out, with Mitsuhide also being forced to fatally wound Atri when he tried to shoot and kill Zen. This discovery and incident had a profound impact on Zen, which motivated him to be a prince that earned the loyalty and respect of those around him, with Mitsuhide being impressed with this resolve and vowing to stay by his side as he grew into the role. Needless to say, this whole incident also played a big part in bringing the two of them closer together.
In the present, he is first seen alongside Kiki accompanying Zen on one of his usual excursions outside of the castle, during which he first meets Shiraryuki just outside an abandoned house they occasionally use. He is also present when Zen eats a poisoned apple that Prince Raj Shenazard sent to Shirayuki so he could immobilize her and take her back to Tanbarun to be his concubine, which is the very reason she fled her home kingdom in the first place. However, shortly after they travel back and Shirayuki gets ready to accept being this in exchange for him giving an antidote to Zen, Zen bursts into the palace room to object, revealing that in order to protect himself from the enemies he would inevitably make as a prince, he was built up an immunity to poison. It is also shown that Mitsuhide and Kiki defeated and immobilized the palace guards to help him reach her. He is then present as Zen reveals that he's the second prince of Clarines to Raj and threatens to make his unscrupulous actions public knowledge, which could result in war between their kingdoms. When Raj tries to deny that he was any proof of him poisoning the apple, he and Kiki assure that they have plenty that they can present when they make an official inquiry, which terrifies him into submission. However, Zen vows to keep it private as long as he promises to leave Shirayuki alone, which he quickly agrees to. He is then present when Shirayuki and Zen converse after the whole incident is over and she subsequently accompanies them back to Clarines.
Throughout the series, Mitsuhide is often seen with Zen trying to advise him on the best decision to make in various circumstances, as well as accompanying and supporting him with on several occasions when he ventures outside the castle and travels to other places for varying reasons.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- As noted by Obi, Mitsuhide does not tend to speak in serious situations unless necessary; so that Mitsuhide's words are taken seriously.
- His Japanese voice actor, Yuuichirou Umehara, is best known for voicing Seiya Ryuuguuin from Cautious Hero: The Hero Is Overpowered But Overly Cautious, Goblin Slayer from Goblin Slayer, Goro from Darling in the FranXX and Siegfried Kircheis from Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
- His English voice actor, Ian Sinclair, also voiced Brook in One Piece, Mezo Shoji in My Hero Academia, Yu Kanda in D.Gray Man, South Italy in Hetalia, Ginei Morioka in Rosario + Vampire, Daikoku in Noragami, Baldroy in Black Butler series, Akane☆Hoshi in Soul Eater NOT!, Kazuichi Banjou in Tokyo Ghoul series, Juzo Sakakura in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School series, Lawless in Servamp, Whis in Dragon Ball Super, Lawless in Servamp, Kureno Sohma in Fruits Basket, and Dandy in Space Dandy.