Political play and classism rear their ugly heads.
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Sorata Akiduki
Translation: Caleb Cook
What They Say
Shirayuki begins her duties as a court herbalist apprentice, but her mentor is a bit odd. He’s quiet, shy, moody and…a child? Her first official duty is to quell an illness going around one of the forts that house Clarines soliders. Will she be able to discover the cause of the outbreak in time?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Shirayuki, after having passed the court herbalist exam (one of only two who did) is issued her palace identification. She’s finally authorized to be in the palace, and she’s given a mentor for her studies as well. That mentor, however, is a 12-year-old boy prodigy who is terrible with people but excellent with medicine.
No sooner has she settled in then the head herbalist sends her off on an errand to pick up some herbs. Her destination lines up with Zen’s trip to a fort that he oversees and the small entourage departs. What Zen finds at his destination is a fort laid low by a mysterious illness. Lucky for them a very good herbalist isn’t far away.
The story picks up when everyone returns to Wistal Palace. The introduction of Izana in this volume makes the first-in-line come across as arrogant, manipulative, and an utter villain for Shirayuki and Zen. Moreso than he appeared in the anime adaptation. His callous desire to punish his brother for straying from disinterested royal detachment is palpable. It really makes me want to punch him in the face. By the end of this volume, he’s plotting to break-up the friendship Zen shares with Shirayuki, possibly by selling her back out to Raj.
While Shirayuki does everything in her power to behave correctly and does a fantastic job saving the soldiers of the fort, her actions aren’t enough for some. Her very close relationship with her prince and his retainers mean that she’s coming under scrutiny from the court. Shirayuki spends much of this volume working herself into exhaustion on multiple occasions.
The real focus of this volume falls on Zen. We get a good idea of just how smitten with Shirayuki he is, although he tries to keep it hidden. Zen’s informal behavior in the face of his soldiers makes him a charismatic leader, but it upsets the protocol. We also get to spend more time with Kiki and Mitsuhide, and are reintroduced to Obi, who has ended up becoming an unofficial retainer of Zen’s. (Obi, who is still extremely sketchy, worms his way into the group and is only tolerated by them. Except for Shirayuki, whom developes a repetoir with the spy.)
I’m not sure if it’s my copy or just the manga in general, but sometimes the tones applied to the art come off as dark and muddy compared to other titles. It might just be that the manga uses darker, fuller tones that I’m used to seeing, but it makes small details seem to fade into the background on the rough paper stock Viz uses.
This volume closes out with a short story which was the second one the author had published. She bemoans the artwork in her afterword, and you can see how far she’s come as an artist. The story itself is about friends moving on after death, and it’s probably supposed to be hopeful but instead is more than a bit melancholy.
In Summary
Shirayuki gets a rude reality check when Prince Izana returns to the castle. She already had to prove her worth once, but now she’s under attack again and this time from a member of the royal family. There’s no doubt that Zen isn’t crushing hard on the herbalist, but romantic feelings are distant from her mind. Neither bothered to stop and take into account what their close relationship might look like from the outside, and Izana appears to want to make his brother uphold the status quo. It looks like Shirayuki will have to keep proving herself for the time being.
Content Grade: B +
Art Grade: B +
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: July 2, 2019
MSRP: $9.99 US / $12.99 CN / £6.99 UK
