Shirahime-Syo: Snow Goddess Tales

Did You Know?

• The group lacked time to research a time period for costumes, so costume trends differed per chapter to suggest different eras.
• Diluted ink was used instead of screentones, creating time-consuming difficulties during the plate-making process.

Plot

The manga opens with a man wandering in a blizzard who meets a woman waiting in the snow; he advises her to seek shelter and tells her the snow is the tears of the snow princess. In "On Wolf Mountain", a girl named Fubuki seeks revenge on a black wolf that killed her father, but after the wolf saves her from mountain dogs, she becomes attached to it. "The Ice Flower" follows a man who leaves his lover Kaya waiting by a cold lake; returning years later, he finds her frozen in the lake unchanged. In "Hiyoku no Tori", a soldier lost on a snowy mountain shoots two herons while heading home, only to learn they were guiding him. The collection ends with the woman revealing herself as Shirahime, who ascends with spirit wolves, saying the snow is human tears.

Development

Clamp began Shirahime-Syo after the editor of Kobunsha's manga magazine Bar Pretty asked the group to create a manga for the company. The group had previously watched an episode of the television show Manga Japanese Legends, which impressed them. A preview poster appeared in the March 1992 issue of Bar Pretty, the magazine's final issue, depicting Shirahime; at that point the characters and story type were undecided, though the concept was set. Shirahime's design had earlier been used on a postcard in the group's newsletter, and they had considered using the character in a future folklore story.

The group viewed Shirahime as not quite a yuki-onna but more like Osama Tezuka's Phoenix character, a vital supporting figure existing outside the individual stories. Due to a tight schedule, Clamp had ten days to complete the artwork, which was done with brush and ink to evoke a folktale atmosphere and because they lacked time for pen inking. Rough drafts were nearly nonexistent; diluted ink replaced screentones, though this caused difficulties during plate-making. Mokona drew the calligraphy on the cover.

Release

Kobunsha published Shirahime-Syo under their Haru Pretty imprint on June 10, 1992. Kadokawa Shoten re-released it on their Asuka Comics DX line on August 1, 2001. Tokyopop licensed the English translation, issuing a hardcover on December 9, 2003, and a softcover on June 15, 2004. After Tokyopop's North America branch closed in 2011, Viz Media republished the manga digitally on January 13, 2015. Translations also exist in French by Glėnat and German by Egmont Manga & Anime, and in 2007 it was licensed in Indonesia by M&C Comics.