First of all,this is just my opinion and this rambling will contain spoilers! So now that I have cleared this, let’s get to it cuz this is gonna be LONG
I don’t hate ZenYuki. It’s a decent pairing, they have cute moments and stuff and at first it was my main ship in AnS. But then came ObiYuki and at first I didn’t think any of it. But then chapters came out and as the manga goes forward I feel like there isn’t any contest between obiyuki and zenyuki for me.
I finished rereading the whole manga about a week ago. And my first point about zenyuki is going to be it’s start. That damn kiss. I hate it.
Zen kissed Shirayuki without permission, without confession without anything. Hell, Zen even says he did it without her consent! And if Shirayuki was so in love with Zen and stuff imo, she wouldn’t have reacted the way she did. She was startled, embarrassed, confused etc. And she seeks protection from Obi!
On that day, she could have rode back with Kiki, Mitsuhide or even Zen if she asked. No, she chose Obi. He was neutral, she felt the safest with him out of all people. Which is huge! And then the almost hand touch. In this chapter so far Shirayuki is stressed cuz of the kiss, then we see she rode with Obi back, he tries to get info out of her what happened, Zen is on prince business and then Obi almost holds Shirayuki’s hand. After the kiss between the male characters Obi a side character gets a moment like this. And then Zen appears, Shirayuki hides behind Obi! She seeks comfort and protection from him. And he understands and helps her. After ZenYuki did that bad kiss we have moments like these with ObiYuki. So yeah, ObiYuki > ZenYuki for me
Little later we have the Tanbarun arc. Which is for me mainly ObiYuki. For me Zen being a prince is bad for ZenYuki. Say what you want but many times Shirayuki has faced prejudice for her connection with Zen, she has to deal with Izana’s mind games which make her uncomfortable, she has to “behave properly” like dance classes and stuff. It’s stress, getting into royal enviroment as just a normal person and living with these things.
So Shirayuki is sent to Tanbarun and even if Zen wants to go with her he can’t. Obi senses the distress and has his own feelings growing too, so he and Zen have a duel.
Obi has nothing holding him back. No royal title, nothing. This line does it for me and I don’t think it only stands for the coming arc. Obi will always protect Shirayuki in Zen’s place. If something were to come up like a royal arranged marriage or they were to break up Zen can always count on Obi being by Shirayuki’s side. This is a lifelong promise from Obi.
Then in chapter 20 we have Shirayuki thanking Obi for coming with her to Tanbarun, Mitsuhide picking up that maybe Obi has developed new feelings, Obi complimenting Shirayuki in her dress, her wearing the hair ornament that she got as a present, adjointing rooms scene. You know, lots of stuff for a non canon pairing in just one chapter.
And this arc is just full of important moments like the library scene, the balcony scene. Obi and Shirayuki are together in Tanbarun and the author is just throwing romantic moments at us. If I didn’t know about Zen then ObiYuki sure would look like the main couple. And there wasn’t a confession or a kiss.
Then Shirayuki gets kidnapped and Obi is nuts. He shows a dark side of him. He is really angry, dangerous and has a dark aura around him almost all of the remaining arc. Even when Zen and the others show up and he puts his mask back up you can still see he is tense. He is really affected by the kidnapping and not just cuz this was his duty. He made a promise and on the first chance where he is guarding Shirayuki this mess happens.
And at the end of the arc, we have Shirayuki and Obi talk after she is saved. Obi feels like a failure, he is sad, he won’t listen to her apologies. But Shirayuki still trusts Obi. She wants to go to Tanbarun, her special homeland, with him and this means so much to Obi. It throws him off that someone puts so much faith into him and shows so much kindness towards him after experiencing being kidnapped.
Obi never really got attached to people. In one of the coming chapters Torou who known him in the past mentions this too. Obi was always moving, never staying in one place long. I think that’s why he doesn’t really use names. If he did, it would make things more personal.
But here he is so overwhelmed with affection that he almost says her name. This moment means a lot, I think this is the hight of the whole arc. Throwing Shirayuki and Obi together, showing how they click in their time, how other characters pick up on it, how Obi starts to realize things after the balcony, how he fails and yet how Shirayuki still accepts him and doesn’t push him away. For me this arc was the birth of ObiYuki.
And of course there isn’t a better way to end this beautiful arc with a not so pretty ZenYuki kiss. After witnessing obiyuki sweetness, Zen kisses a sleeping, unconscious girl. Shirayuki may be strong but the events got to her. And here we have Zen, whose first kiss was without consent, again kissing a sleeping Shirayuki. Just no. If he kissed her on the forehead or something it would have worked but for me this way it just deals damage to the pairing.
After the Tanbarun arc comes the Lyrias arc. We get new characters, a new main place in the manga. Jumping a bit forward, a sickness breaks out. And when Obi and Zen appear, who gets to stay and help Shirayuki? No, not the main love interest, the prince charming. It’s Obi who also flirst with Shirayuki in front of Zen and Izana. Real smooth.
After Zen leaving because of his duty and Obi staying with Shirayuki this arc like the last one shows obiyuki together, how they solve the case. Zen is out of the picture, Obi is in the middle of it. The manga isn’t even trying to hide obiyuki. They spend time together, go through this hardship together, work together and understand each other more.
Here Shirayuki saw through Obi’s act. She is touched by his kindness. The way they look at each other is just precious. From Obi okay, but from Shirayuki who is already head over heels in love with Zen I think it means a lot.
After the Lyrias arc we get smaller moments but still important ones. The one in chapter 47 where Obi lightly touches Shirayuki’s hand to support her, Obi finding her after she fell asleep with a fever, waking Obi up, cooking together. Just small moments so we don’t forget that Shirayuki is together with Zen and she doesn’t have a growing other relationship…
Chapter 57-58 are killers. Till these chapters nothing was confirmed. We could, hardly but still, pass these things off as platonic things. Close friendship. But then Shirayuki is sent to Lyrias for 2 years and everyone is shaken a bit. Everyone gets a hug, we get an obiyuki hug and foreshadowing.
This is more important than the hug! Why? Cuz Shirayuki says smiling that she thinks Obi will follow her, that he will be there with her. Not Zen, but Obi who she has spent more time with. Obi is always there with her, watching her. Shirayuki feels that if she goes somewhere Obi will be beside her. This is really beautiful and Obi is surprised too. And luckily, they will meet up in Lyrias a few chapters later.
This is the point where I went to heaven. His smile, his confession are just so beautiful. He admits it to Zen that he likes the girl that his master loves. And that he didn’t want to go be with her for 2 years without Zen knowing his feelings. That’s what I call being fair and honest. Obi respects Zen and his relationship with Shirayuki, he doesn’t want bad feelings between him and Zen. Obi is just too good for this world.
The moment Shirayuki sees Obi her face lits up and she blushes. What she said came true and she feels happy to have Obi by her side.
And chapter 62 is just gold. They talk and Obi asks if it’s okay for him to stay with her. And he is nervous too you can see it. But Shirayuki just says of course and her expression surprises Obi. No wonder.
Try to convince me that this is just meant for a friend. If you say that Shirayuki doesn’t love Obi like she does Zen I can accept that. At this point. But her feelings are growing, her relatopnship developes with Obi. And nobody can deny that.
After chapter 62 it’s mostly adventure time. For me the next big moment is the silent goodbye that they have in chapter 80.
No words are said or needed. They have built a connection. Obi looks back at her and Shirayuki looks strong. She isn’t teary eyed or anything. She is worried sure but her eyes say she expects him to return to her. She from past experiences knows and feels that Obi will come back to her side.
Their reunion will come in chapter 88 which sadly I couldn’t find yet, just the spoilers. But in the spoilers Shirayuki has a warm smile and says welcome back and she meets him first before Zen.
In my opinion ObiYuki has more development than ZenYuki. Obi and Shirayuki started as strangers then became friends and are growing stronger together while supporting each other. For me zenyuki is still the same charming princes common girl crush on each other. Many times Obi stands by Shirayuki’s side cuz Zen can’t because of his social status. And thinking about it, does Shirayuki want a royal life? If she marries Zen she will be expected a different behaviour, she will have to adjust to a whole different lifestyle. What she has now, working in Lyrias suits her much more than dancing and balls and such. We have seen she can’t dance, doesn’t know sometimes how to properly behave with other nobles and such. I think a royal lifestyle would burden her more than would help her.
I think Shirayuki’s first love is Zen, but that doesn’t mean she can’t fall deeper for someone else. Being liked by a prince as your first time experiencing love is unique and thrilling. But I think what she has is a crush. Despite wanting to be by Zen’s side she spends more time with Obi. I think she is more free with Obi. You see their development in the manga while I can’t really name a big change for Zenyuki. He loves her, she blushes they kiss that’s all. That’s first love. But not the one. Obiyuki feels more developed, natural, comfortable, relatable. The manga puts them together a lot maybe that’s why. But why if they are not the main couple? For bait or for something more? No matter the ending, ObiYuki will be always special for me, more than ZenYuki. Obi and Shirayuki built an amazing relationship no matter the outcame and I will always smile when I see these two dorks together.
