#obizen

THANK YOU "SNOW WHITE WITH THE RED HAIR" FOR CREATING THEE POLYSHIP!

in my other post about ans chapter 59, @nokaru said this in the tags:

#this is super interesting thank u!#obizen#there has been the discussion about whatever the guys meant like as like as a friend or like as romantically before cause English can't just#convey that#love them sm

and if theres a discussion, i might as well put my own two cents into the mix haha

let's start off by translating these pages that end chapter 58 (too lazy to get screenshots of the official translation, but it should be more or less the same. also that would be a lot of pictures in one set):

オビ おまえ obi, you 俺の事 好きだろう like me, right? はい yes …即答か ...an instant answer, huh いいけどな though that's fine 訊いといて you asked... 白雪の事も？ and shirayuki? はい yes 俺は お嬢さんの事が好きですよ i like my lady

first, i want to point something out to anyone who has any basic knowledge of japanese who may be confused when they see them using "[someone] no koto ga suki desu" instead of the usual textbook sentence of "[someone] ga suki desu." when you add "no koto" to a person in a sentence, the literal translation stays the same. "ore wa kimi no koto ga suki desu" means "i like you" the same way "ore wa kimi ga suki desu" means "i like you". however, "xyz no koto" literally means "things about/of xyz," so very subtly, it can change the meaning from "i like you" to "i like everything about you" ie your appearance, your behavior, your personality, basically everything related to you.

what i also want to point out to everyone is that zen's question about himself is the same as obi's answer on his feelings for shirayuki. "ore no koto suki darou" [zen asking if obi likes him] vs "ore wa ojousan no koto ga suki desu yo" [obi saying he likes shirayuki].

so, really, another way to translate those sentences could be "obi, you like everything about me, right?" and "i like everything about my lady."

i don't think anyone reading chapters 58 and 59 would read obi's last line here and think of it as anything other than romantic in connotation. this is clearly obi confessing to zen that he likes shirayuki in a romantic way. the rest of the conversation just doesn't make much sense if you only look at it in a platonic way, since obi makes it clear he didn't want to hide something like that from zen, especially if he was going to go be with her while zen had to stay in the castle.

so... if you can really only read obi's line about shirayuki in a romantic way... and the same exact phrasing is used when talking about zen... wouldn't the simplest explanation be that obi also has the same romantic feelings towards zen?

now, yes, "好き (suki)" doesn't have to mean "romantic like." but when looking at the context here, i personally find it hard not to read the conversation about zen as anything but romantic in nature.

what i think the actual question should be is... is obi being serious when he answers zen's first question?

this would be the only argument i would accept as having enough merit to prove to me that this specific part of the conversation isn't romantic while the conversation about shirayuki is. we know that obi has said some flirtatious things to zen before this chapter. these occasions are pretty much played as a joke in the manga, a way for obi to tease zen mostly.

is he doing the same thing here? their little exchange after obi says "yes" could lend proof to that theory. i would say it's up to each person's own interpretations of obi's character on how sincere he's being.

as for my own answer?

well. i would just like to point out these two panels of obi's face. him saying "yes" doesn't seem like the only thing his responses have in common.

he's not fooling anyone

this panel is so so so important as a marker of Obi’s growth.

he starts by saying he wants to support Zen and Shirayuki. in his past he only ever focused on survival, but now he’s found people who make life genuinely worth living, and he wants to use his abilities to work towards a sustainable future with them.

he then adds on that he wants to do this for his own sake. Shirayuki and Zen both have impressed upon him that his desires and needs matter. he’s still working on accepting that at this point, but he can see how his wellbeing is important to them, and treats caring for himself as an extension of supporting Zen and Shirayuki.

finally he expresses his wish to stay, asks Shirayuki if that is also something she wants. up until now he has spoken on his previous inclination to flee once he feels like he’s being tied down to one place or people. however, now he feels lighter! this is because Zen and Shirayuki are allowing him this choice to stay, and supporting him through that decision. this is something he actually wants and isn’t doing so out of obligation or to get a paycheck. but he’s also keeping in mind what Shirayuki desires too; it’s only fair, and she and Zen have provided him the safety and space to explore his own autonomy without confinement or reproach. Zen has already shown that he wants for Obi to be with Shirayuki during her endeavor to make a place and name for herself in this career, and he even allowed room for Obi to choose this for himself.

Me, utterly emotional and impressed at how gentle Zen and Obi’s body language with Shirayuki is: