Feelings that Connect and Reach

Synopsis

Shirayuki wakes up still drunk from the previous episode and walks around spouting nonsense with Obi guarding her.

The first evidence of Shirayuki’s popularity increase appears as one person is secretly writing a report on her whilst she was drunk, but is captured by Obi.

It turns out that Shirayuki was going to head to Laxdo in her drunken ‘rage’ to check on everyone, but they’re doing fine, and Obi hands her a report from Laxdo fort on how everyone’s doing. She then collapses again.

Zen then heads out to see her as soon as he hears about this.

It seems that Zen kept the arrow head from Atri’s arrow that nearly killed him.

Zen meets up with Obi and they get Shirayuki safely back to her room. Whilst there they have a drink and Zen gives Obi his own palace ID. And they drink into the night as Zen vows to become better at seeing who’s most important to him.

Thoughts

I was wondering if Shirayuki would be hungover when she woke up, but that question was swiftly answered as Shirayuki shows us her drunken antics. This leads to an interesting conversation between Obi and her. I think whilst this episode doesn’t show much, it greatly advances Obi as a character. From a guy who looked to have just been a hired assassin of sorts under Haruka, he is now a trusted friend to the prince and a trusted guard to Shirayuki.

In Shirayuki’s drunkenness she somehow develops a strong urge to see how everyone at Laxdo was doing, and luckily Obi went by earlier and coincidently has a report from them. This felt like an important moment for him as due to his return and his care for Shirayuki, it has probably put him in everyone’s good book. I for one wasn’t sure where they were going with Obi when Zen took him in, but here, he made the right choice to trust him. And to show that, Obi needn’t stay in the shadows anymore with his own ID.

The episode carries nicely over from last episode’s story and shows exactly how Zen has progressed himself since those times. It was nice to see him drink with Obi like old friends would at the end of the episode. I also have a feeling of relief for Zen that he was able to move on from those times which guided him in the right direction. He easily could have plunged into the darkness of locking away his heart and not befriending anyone ever again for fear that his position could hurt someone again. But luckily he didn’t, sure he’s kept Atri’s arrowhead, but I feel that’s more there as a reminder to move on rather than something that pulls him back to his old self.

Again we see how the rumours of Shirayuki affect the rest of the castle and Zen. But Shirayuki herself was drunk and so didn’t really get the chance to notice. At one point this kind of attention must be enough to make her say something. Especially the constant stalking. I don’t think anyone would feel comfortable with tem. Still, with Obi by her side she will feel safer but I’m sure they’ll have to face the ‘problem’ at some point. And it’ll be an interesting confrontation then as perhaps by then the rumours could be true…

Also, if you aren’t up to date with anime news, then let me tell you that the second Akagami no Shirayuki-Hime season starts next Jan. Which is nicely time for when I complete my penultimate set of exams. So I will be able to fully enjoy those episode and likely pick it back up to blog too.