Saiunkoku Monogatari – 35

Short Synopsis: Last episode left us with a dangerous game between Seiran and Sakujun, this episode continues this, and closes with a surprising, but tragic twist. Good: Oh my god… that was one amazing plot twist! Bad: Seiran has become rather useless, hasn’t he? Overall Enjoyment Value: 9/10 Even though shows like Kanon have ended, the shows that I’m currently watching still have a few episodes to go. If these episodes are going to be as good as this one, then I’ll be in for a huge treat. The previous episodes were all good, but for some reason I felt that they all lacked something that the first three arcs did have. But with this, I totally take back my words. Sakujun was too amazing this episode. So we start the episode with the little gamble between Seiran and Sakujun. As suspected, none of them are willing to just put their lives on a 50/50 scale. Seiran notices that Sakujun’s eyes got a strange colour, so in combination with the alcohol he got inside of him, he just destroys the table and attacks Sakujun. Sakujun, in his turn, used a very strong liquor that would bring any non-human-gorilla within minutes. Seiran feels this as he starts to move, so Sakujun escapes, saying that Seiran is not the person he’d lose a bet to. But then Shuurei runs into him, and oh my god… the reason he kept asking her to brew Gan-Lu tea for her suddenly becomes clear! He actually put a slow-working deadly poison in the hot water Shuurei served him, while the Gan-Lu tea contained the antidote for it. Shuurei, however, refused to give him the Gan-Lu tea in the end, which means that he lost the bet he started on his own accord! Talk about tragic deaths. And to make things even better, not all things have been resolved with Shuurei and Sakujun, unlike most deaths. Shuurei has never called Sakujun by her name, and she also never had the chance to brew Gan-Lu tea for him. She actually left him in order to get help, and he didn’t die in her arms, like you would expect. Also, Shuurei will never know this plan. All the dialogue we hear is in his head. Shuurei will never really know what really happened. Sakujun’s last words of “Shuurei” also were too cute. It’s true, I never really realized it, but he never mentioned Shuurei by her name as well. Almost never have I seen a story between two people in which a name was so important. With this episode, I forgive this series for being a bit lacklustre at times. This episode definitely made up for so many things. The question remains, what will be featured in the final four episodes, and more importantly, can it be of the same quality of this one? I most definitely hope so!]]>