I like Zenyuki
Jan. 6th, 2026 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brittlegirlI think the last chapter I read was 130-something a couple years ago, I had more to say about the relationship between Zen and Shirayuki when I was younger but now that it's been a while since I last read the manga, I don't feel confident forming a full fledged opinion on their dynamic. From what I know and remember, they are probably the healthiest relationship in all the shoujo I've read/watched to the point where some may find them too 'vanilla' or 'boring'. Their relationship settled itself very early into the series and their wasn't much conflict or direct threat to their feelings for each other. Though the only problem in their dynamic is that Zen is a royal, so his involvement with a commoner is of bad taste. And if I'm correct, Shirayuki is moving up in her career to be a respected pharmacist and Zen is working to take his mothers place in leading a portion of the Clarines Kingdom. Eventually both of them will have made a good name for themselves, enough to be able to marry without other kindgoms viewing the Wisteria family in bad light.
What has irritated readers the most though, is the distance between the main couple especially after their relationship had been solidified and we knew that they were fully committed to each other. I'll admit I was a little taken a back...like Zen and Shirayuki had made it official, and then suddenly she's shipped off for two years, like, wow! Disappointed initially, but I fell in love with the other characters that were introduced in Lilias and Wilant, not to mention how cruel the mangaka is with giving the second ML, Obi, an abundance of attention despite how he'll never be end game! Loved it for me though, all those illustrations and interactions between him and Shirayuki, it's like crack to me. I'll have to make another post rambling about Obi but all I want to say for now, he is my favourite second male lead, and I need him to be a main in his own story. Despite liking Obi more than Zen, I love the dynamic between Zenyuki too much for any sort of intervention, they're wholesome as well as mature for a shoujo, I would hate for a love triangle to form unless all three were into each other.
I don't blame people for going into the series expecting heavy romance because that's sort of how the synopsis advertises itself, but personally I don't mind the switch to political drama and I enjoy how the characters are pursuing their goals at the expense of distance because I know that they'll see each other again. It's realistic, your life is not set in stone in your early 20's, people move around due to their career and academics all the time despite being in a relationship, or this could just be how I cope with my long distance. Again, I don't mind the long distance that happened between them and I'm pretty sure the manga is slowly getting wrapped up now that Shirayuki has been moved to Wilant, so we'll hopefully be seeing more Zenyuki content.
I wish I could write more about their interactions but I've genuinely forgotten most of it so I'll have to pick the manga back up again.
What has irritated readers the most though, is the distance between the main couple especially after their relationship had been solidified and we knew that they were fully committed to each other. I'll admit I was a little taken a back...like Zen and Shirayuki had made it official, and then suddenly she's shipped off for two years, like, wow! Disappointed initially, but I fell in love with the other characters that were introduced in Lilias and Wilant, not to mention how cruel the mangaka is with giving the second ML, Obi, an abundance of attention despite how he'll never be end game! Loved it for me though, all those illustrations and interactions between him and Shirayuki, it's like crack to me. I'll have to make another post rambling about Obi but all I want to say for now, he is my favourite second male lead, and I need him to be a main in his own story. Despite liking Obi more than Zen, I love the dynamic between Zenyuki too much for any sort of intervention, they're wholesome as well as mature for a shoujo, I would hate for a love triangle to form unless all three were into each other.
I don't blame people for going into the series expecting heavy romance because that's sort of how the synopsis advertises itself, but personally I don't mind the switch to political drama and I enjoy how the characters are pursuing their goals at the expense of distance because I know that they'll see each other again. It's realistic, your life is not set in stone in your early 20's, people move around due to their career and academics all the time despite being in a relationship, or this could just be how I cope with my long distance. Again, I don't mind the long distance that happened between them and I'm pretty sure the manga is slowly getting wrapped up now that Shirayuki has been moved to Wilant, so we'll hopefully be seeing more Zenyuki content.
I wish I could write more about their interactions but I've genuinely forgotten most of it so I'll have to pick the manga back up again.
