Akagami No Shirayukihime! Wiki
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From the Small Hand, a Burgeoning Concerto Resonates
 Kanji 芽吹きの協奏曲響く, 小さな手
 Romaji Mebuki no Kyousoukyoku Hibiku, Chiisana Te
Theme Songs
Anime Chronology
 Previous Episode 3
 Next Episode 5
 Dubbed January 8, 2016


Episode 4 was originally released on July 27, 2015 in Japan. Funimation made an official subtitled version of it available on their official site as well as other popular viewing sites such as Hulu, Crunchyroll, and AnimeLab.



An English dub was released by Funimation on January 8, 2016.

Episode 4 covers the events from Chapter 4 & 5 of the manga.

Summary[]

The time for the herbalist exam arrives. Shirayuki and Zen are locked in one of the greenhouses by an unknown figure but Shirayuki becomes more concerned about a potentially poisonous flower found with other plants.

Plot[]

Garrack, the Chief Pharmacist at the palace, sits in her office while Ryuu finishes a paper. He hands it to her and she consults her assistant Yatsufusa, they agree it will be an interesting exam subject for new apprentices and she is glad she asked Ryuu to design it. Meanwhile, Zen, Mitsuhide, and Kiki read the sign announcing the examination begins today within the palace, and Shirayuki enters the grounds with the other examinees.

Told that the test is not yet ready, the applicants are free to roam the grounds. Shirayuki spots Ryuu and runs after him, curious. She comes across a large outdoor herb garden where Ryuu is kneeling, gathering ingredients for what she believes is a cold remedy. She catches his attention as she talks to herself about what ingredients he lacks. He is shocked by her hair color, which reminds him of his favorite herb flower, Yura Shigure.

As Ryuu runs off, Zen and the others arrive and greet her. Zen asks her if she is nervous, to which she replies not much and then grabs his hand. After holding onto Zen's hand for a moment, she jerks her hand into a fist, pumped as though he has given her the confidence to tackle the challenge. Zen is embarrassed by this and flushes.

At the exam, Garrack welcomes the newcomers to the castle. She explains the road to becoming a Court Pharmacist begins with apprenticeship and from there will become more difficult until they are fully fledged. Applicants will each look after one of the herb gardens on the castle grounds for three days, because that is mostly what an apprentices job consists of. Obi sees Shirayuki walking below the window he is sitting in and mentions how she is working hard.

In the evening, Zen sits at his desk reading until he notices the time. As he puts his book away he sees one of the herb houses lit despite the time. Curious he makes his way there where he finds Shirayuki working. He watches her from the outside. Shirayuki is examining the aqueducts which she has never seen before and is very impressed by them. After seeing some dirt shift through the water, she runs to get some more soil. Meanwhile Zen hears someone in the bushes and moves inside the door suspicious. Shirayuki notices him, distracting him from the intruder, and nervously tries to play off his appearance.

As Shirayuki begins to come to Zen he lunges forward to keep her from the door in case the person outside is armed but as he does the door slams shut. He tries to pry it open but the door refuses to budge, they are locked in until morning when Garrack comes to check Shirayuki's work. Zen points out that it will be bad for her if he is found in there with her during her exam. Shirayuki however is more curious why Zen is there at all.

Zen asks Shiryauki why she is up so late, none of the others are in their herb houses. She explains that this is a great opportunity to see plants she has never had access to and has been taking notes. She then notices one of the herbs flowers are facing downward even though they should bloom upward at night. She tastes the water from the lower aqueduct and finds that it is sweet. The upper however after tasting is normal. She explains to Zen that there must be toxins in the water to which he panics because she just drank it. Surprised as he he grabs her shoulders and shakes her, she clarifies it is only poison to other plants. Zen relieved collapses to a bench.

After examining the plants on the lower platform, she notices the shigure plant. It was planted as a Akegi Shigure, however it may be Yura Shigure. They are impossible to tell apart before they bloom. If planted and raised as the wrong type it would emit a poison from it's roots. She uproots one and bites the root. It is sweet, meaning it is poisoning all the other plants. Certain they will all wilt and become useless, she asks Zen to help her replant them all. Zen warns that it may hinder her goals, if he is caught helping with her test, but she assures him this is the most important task at hand.

Together they spend the whole night replanting everything in the lower portion of the herb house. In the morning, Garrack and Yatsufusa arrive to find and exhausted Zen covered in dirt and Shirayuki awaiting their arrival. She sees that Shirayuki has replanted everything with fresh soil and water and realizes she had to have help from Zen. She warns Shirayuki about her friendship with the prince and when to rely on it, but Zen assures her it was his own fault he was there. Shirayuki defends her decision saying that the herbs they saved together could one day save his life. Garrack was unable to keep a straight face at this and busts out laughing to Yatsufusa's dismay.

Garrack asks Zen why he doesn't just tell her to hire Shirayuki, being the prince, she would have to obey. Zen explains that if he tried that Shirayuki would never set foot in the castle again, that she wants to make her own way and he wouldn't hinder that. Shirayuki expresses her honored feeling and Garrack burst out again while Yatsufasa begs her to be more professional. They agree that Shirayuki passed the test with flying colors because she was only supposed to identify the issue yet she remedied it. Shirayuki is given one of the two positions for apprenticeship.

On Shirayuki's first day, along with Higata the other new apprentice, Garrack explains that they will have overseers. Shirayuki is given to Ryuu and enters the room with extreme respect and many honorifics in her speech. Ryuu is very unhappy and tells her not to act that way even though he is her superior because he is just a kid. An ill person comes into the pharmacy asking for medicine but when Shirayuki calls for Ryuu he shies away. Ryuu notices this refuses to make him medicine.

The patient is relieved when Ryuu leaves the room and admits he is afraid of taking anything that boy makes. He tells Shirayuki how he only studies poisonous plants and always needs test subjects. Shirayuki explains that poisons created by plants to protect themselves are often used to cure illness in humans. He tries to justify his statement but Shirayuki suddenly slams her fist on the table, yelling that he cannot judge based on something he doesn't understand. She demands him to take back his statement about Ryuu. Terrified the man agrees.

As she returns to Ryuu's room, he tells her she doesn't need to get so worked up because he is used to it. She angrily tells him not to say such "foolish" things and storms out. Ryuu sits in shock having never been called foolish in his life. Zen pops in through the window and the two go for a walk together. Ryuu tells Zen he doesn't understand people, possibly because of his early high intellect. He worries he made Shirayuki angry, but Zen tells him if he wants to know, it's best to just ask. Then the clock tower rings and Zen has to go to sparring leaving Ryuu to think under the tree.

Meanwhile Garrack gives Shirayuki Zen's medical history to read over, both because she is with him the most out of the staff and because she believes Shirayuki will want to see them. Shirayuki flips through the first of the two books, seeing minor injuries, such as a sprained ankle from falling off the castle wall. IN the second however she finds childhood "poisoning symptoms and their progression". As she reads, she finds that Zen has been purposely poisoned through out childhood in an attempt to build immunity. As she reads the horrible symptoms he develops before finally being given antidotes after hours of suffering, she breaks into tears.

Ryuu see Shirayuki crying over the documents from the doorway and is unsure what to do so he runs to find Zen. As Mitsuhide and Zen spar, Ryuu runs desperately into their practice yelling for Zen. Exhausted from running, Ryuu manages to tell Zen that Shirayuki is crying alone in the office and he doesn't know why.

Still reading when Zen arrives in the window, Shirayuki refuses to face him. He asks her to look at him and sees her eyes still full of tears. He calmly takes her by the shoulder, pulls her to himself, and embraces her. As she continues to cry he assures her it is over now, and that he will stay with her while she finishes reading it. Ryuu sits on the ground in the training area while Mitsuhide and Kiki try to offer him more food and water. Shirayuki comes running around the corridor.

She runs to Ryuu and asks if he ok afraid she scared him. Ryuu wonders why she cares because he thought she was angry with him. She offers to tell him if she is angry if he uses her name, which hasn't done since they met. He shyly says her name and she gives him a warm smile, thanking him for running for her. The wind picks up and blows her hair, reminding him instantly of his favorite flower so suddenly that he accidently says the flowers name out loud.

Shirayuki asks Ryuu why the Yura Shigure is his favorite flower, and he admits because it is pretty and red. Zen cuts in saying he wants to see the flower since he is the only one who doesn't know what it is. Mitsuhide and Kiki whisper agreeing that Zen got jealous and that's why he interrupted Ryuu and Shirayuki's bonding moment. Shirayuki however offers to go and see the blooms with Zen sometime.

Character Appearances[]

Character Debuts:[]

Characters in Order of Appearance:[]

Trivia[]

  • Ryuu's test risked a good portion of the herbs; which would cut the amount in the green houses. Shirayuki managed to save the herbs she was in charge of.
  • Garrack is actually impressed Shiryuki valued saving the herbs and had Zen help; even if it was assistance, Shirayuki thought more about saving herbs that can be put to use later than the exam. This alone showed her dedication.

Quotes[]

"It's not like I can beat the people who spent time studying with the actual plants..." —Ryuu


"Poison! You drank that?!" —Zen to Shirayuki


"This girl will never come back to the castle again. I don't want to anger her voluntarily." —Zen


"Don't say foolish things." —Shirayuki to Ryuu


"Because it's pretty and red." —Ryuu about the Yura Shigure herb flower.


"-Is he jealous?"
"-Yeah, he's jealous.
" —Mitsuhide and Kiki about Zen


Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

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