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Obi Colored 02
 Kanji オビ
 Romaji Obi
Characteristics
 Gender Male
 Age 21-23
 Height 179 cm (5'10")
 Weight 65 kg (143 lbs)
Professional Status
 Occupation Knight
Bodyguard
Assassin (formerly)
Messenger (formerly)
 Title Zen Wisteria's Immediate Knight
Messenger for the Second Prince of Clarines (formerly)
Personal Status
 Friendships Zen Wistaria
Shirayuki
Mitsuhide Rouen
Kiki Seiran
Ryuu
Torou
Debuts
 Manga Chapter 3
 Anime Episode 3
Portrayal
 Japanese Voice Nobuhiko Okamoto
 English Voice Austin Tindle


Obi (オビ; Obi) is the tritagonist of Akagami No Shirayuikime, and is currently an aide of and knight directly answering to Prince Zen Wisteria, along with Mitsuhide Rouen, and Kiki Seiran whom he has befriended. Unlike Zen's other aides, Obi often serves far from his master as he carries out duties as a messenger or as Shirayuki's bodyguard.

Obi was formerly a mercenary and assassin who first encountered our protagonists when he was hired by Lord Haruka to prevent Shirayuki from entering the castle and meeting Zen and furthering her relationship with the prince. Surprised by her wit and bravery, and mildly curious about Zen, he hands himself over to Zen calling him "Master". Soon after, Obi is hired as Zen's attendant before being officially raised to being Zen's personal messenger and placed as Shirayuki's personal guard with an official Wistal Castle ID. He is later knighted by Zen as Zen Wisteria's Immediate Knight and given the position and duty as Shirayuki's guard in a more official capacity. He is confirmed to have romantic feelings for Shirayuki.

Appearance

Obi-concept

Obi's concept art for the anime.

LaLa May 2020 Obi

Obi in the manga.

Obi has short deep brown hair, yellow cat-like eyes, and a scar on his forehead above his left eye that is usually partially hidden underneath his hair. His preferred clothes in his earliest appearances include a dusty sand yellow headband that wraps around his head and covers his ears, khaki-colored shirt, black long-sleeved undershirt, neck wrap, black pants, boots, and gloves. His clothing choices become more dignified and formal over the course of the story, though he always prefers darker colors to better sneak around in at night and a neck wrap of some kind.

When Obi is conducting official business as messenger for Prince Zen Wistaria, he wears either a black buttoned official uniform that is long-sleeved or light unbuttoned colored official uniform with short sleeves and a black undershirt with long sleeves. However, he also wears the latter with a loose neck warmer when he has no official business and simply loitering about the castle.

When Obi comes to Lilias, he wears black underclothes and a white tunic over the top, a fur-lined neck warmer and a cape that covers his right shoulder and arm.

Personality

Obi is a rather aloof character, and whilst he holds Prince Zen Wistaria and Shirayuki dear to him, he holds them at a distance not wanting them to know very much about his past. Obi continues to utilize the skills and knowledge from his previous line of work to find information to protect Zen, Mitsuhide and Shirayuki, and to pursue those that seek to harm them and threaten his new lease on life.

It is shown that prior to meeting Zen and company, he maintained no relationships or friendships that could tie him down, and was considerably more aloof and seldom relied on others for help. However, since being with Zen and company, he is shown to rely on those around him and has the motivation to protect and watch those around him flourish.

Obi has a preference for being alone outside in the night and describes himself as nocturnal. He has unconventional ways of moving around buildings, often preferring to enter through the window or through a balcony rather than through the door. He is a nimble and skilled fighter, able to switch modes of combat quickly from swords to hand-combat with the ability to stand on his hands and use his feet to extract and fling his opponents' sword away. He also carries shuriken on him.

History

Whilst not much is explicitly told about Obi's past prior to the main story he does at one point claim, possibly facetiously, to have met Shirayuki sometime during her childhood. If he was telling the truth it would have been in the mountains of Tanbarun before she was sent to live with her grandparents as he tells Shirayuki and Zen that he had met her before in Tanbarun though he had never been to the Capital before.

Obi's traditional line of work involved carrying out various 'jobs' that could be considered too high risk or too tedious for ordinary people to take. He has admitted these jobs were illegal in nature, and it has been implied that they involved assassination. Obi was heavily injured in a high-risk job with a large wound across his chest and then disappeared into the woods when a fellow comrade, Torou, went to check on him. Following this job, Obi lay low and other members in this 'line of work' passed rumors that Obi had either died or quit and settled down with a family. His final job in this line of work was given to him by Haruka to target and remove Shirayuki from Wistal Palace to prevent her from returning and meeting Prince Zen Wistaria.

Quotes

"My master and the little miss have been in the forest for a while now. What are we going to do if they decide to elope, just like that?" —To Kiki and Mitsuhide
"If it's for you and mistress, I'm willing to head anywhere." —To Zen
"Whatever direction you're heading, I'll be sure to follow along by your side." —To Shirayuki
" I'm home! I've returned safely, young miss." —To Shirayuki


Trivia

  • Given Obi's history and previous line of work, he has heightened senses, advanced combat skills, and keen eye to detect change, though prefers to keep his face hidden to feel more at ease.
  • Aside from his combat skills and nimbleness, Obi has exceptionally good memory which he uses several times to the advantage of Zen and Shirayuki.
  • Obi has a high resistance to alcohol and can be matched by Mitsuhide and Kiki, though not Zen.
  • Obi has a dislike for formal clothing and carriages as they restrict his movement and senses.
  • Obi likes to use the name "Nanaki" as an alias when he does not want to reveal his name.
  • Obi is a good cook and has a preference for spicy food.
  • When asked what his type was, Obi claimed not to be too picky. As long as they are not too childish or spoiled. (Ch. 45, p. 33)
  • Obi is confirmed to be in love with Shirayuki.
  • Obi was ranked 3rd in the character poll. He was ranked 3rd in the shipping poll with Shirayuki and 4th in the shipping poll with Zen.
  • Obi shares similarities with Karma Akabane from Assassination Classroom, whom he shares both voice actors with. Similarities include:
    • Excelling in parkour.
    • Considered the best out of the main characters at hand-to-hand combat.
    • Proficient with knives.
    • Knowledge of assassination.
    • Enjoy making jokes at other people's expense.
    • Involved with violence and rarely formed close relationships prior to the series.
    • Strange eyes, Karma's are noticeably dull and Obi's are catlike. Coincidentally, Karma's eyes are occasionally drawn with slits when he is angered.
    • A preference for spices and spicy things.
    • Officially introduced in chapter three and episode three of their respective series.
    • Dueled one of the main characters.
    • Scored very high in popularity polls.
    • Introduced as antagonistic.
  • Obi is fond of pranking people by waking them up while wearing a mask.
  • When forced to state his favorite trait of Obi's, Zen answered that it was even if someone were to intrude in Obi's room, Obi would still give up his bed for them.
  • Obi appears to like sleeping anywhere besides his own bed.
  • The word 'obi' is not actually a name, but a sash worn around a kimono.

Gallery

097 Cover Chibi Obi


Click here to view the gallery.

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