Netflix has quietly released Love Through a Prism, a 20-episode anime series that unfolds as a period romance set against the backdrop of approaching World War I. According to a review for Polygon, the show initially appears to be comforting viewing—a lush love story bathed in warm light—but its idyllic vision of early-20th-century London carries an implicit deadline.
The series follows Lili Ichijoin, a 20-year-old Japanese woman who travels to London to attend the world-renowned Saint Thomas Art Academy. Her overbearing mother has given her six months to become the school’s top student; otherwise, she must return to Yokohama and work in the family’s kimono business.
In London, Lili meets Kit Church, a brilliant blond artist who sketches beside the Thames. She is immediately enchanted by his talent but repulsed when he offers her a piece of bread blackened by charcoal—described as their dynamic “in a nutshell.” Though Kit resembles Satoru Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen, he is withdrawn and more comfortable expressing himself through his canvas than through conversation.
Their relationship is complicated further because Kit is the undisputed top student at Saint Thomas, making him Lili’s chief competition. If she cannot surpass him, her artistic career may end before it truly begins.
Art and beauty — and how these characters appreciate both — remain at the center of the story… Beauty itself begins to feel like emotional oxygen, and when it’s taken away, life doesn’t merely become sad. It becomes colorless.
The animation has drawn particular praise, lingering on wide shots of gardens, estates, and the London cityscape. The series was created by Yoko Kamio, author of Boys Over Flowers, and produced by Wit Studio.
The English dub has also been credited for its quality, with Leader Looi voicing Lili and Christopher Bonwell as Kit. Their “earnest tenderness” reportedly makes both characters feel strikingly real.
London itself functions almost as a character within the narrative. Set shortly before World War I, the series remains aware that its idealized world is living on borrowed time. What begins as competition between two ambitious painters gradually becomes a story about preserving love and beauty as history threatens to render both unrecognizable.
The approaching conflict reportedly changes not only the possibilities available to Lili and Kit but also the visual language of the series itself, making every peaceful garden and sunlit studio feel increasingly fragile.
The review suggests Love Through a Prism is best suited for viewers who enjoy slow-burn romance and historical settings. Unlike some anime romances that can become “outrageous,” this series maintains a more serious tone while still finding enough levity to avoid feeling overly somber.
“It’s a beautiful series,” the review concludes. “It’s also a painful one… Beauty cannot last forever, but that only makes the act of creating, loving, and truly seeing it more important.”
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