Category: Saiunkoku Monogatari

The introductions for the upcoming arc are progressing quite nicely, if I have to say so myself. I’m not going to even bother writing a summary, due do my limited Japanese, and the fact remains that Impz is so much better at it. It looks like the main antagonists of the coming arc are counterfeiters, both with paintings and money. If I had to guess, then Riou isn’t behind it (after all, what would he gain from counterfeiting? It’s not like Shuurei is directly involved in it, so it’s not a good way to get her to where he wants), but I think that it’ll serve a nice purpose of setting the chess-pieces ready for his story. It’s also a bit awkward to see the comedy back again. The first season of this series was masterful in combining comedy with the main storyline, and it’s getting back again, especially with that new character (I’ll call him Tantan-kun for now, until I can confirm the guy’s name). Though I’m afraid to say it, but Ryuuki’s and Kouyuu’s quirks are starting to get old, especially since they’re mostly used for comic relief. I was hoping that these episodes would focus more on the relationship of Ryuuki and Shuurei, but it really looks like Ryuuki tries to avoid Shuurei at all costs.]]>

Rejoice! Saiunkoku Monogatari is finally back! This episode is indeed like I expected: lots of introductions, lots of talking, and lots of marriage-issues. Surprisingly, Kouyuu didn’t participate in it, but Shuurei got two marriage proposals (one by Santa from Kochou and one from a newly introduced character), while Ryuuki meets another new character in the form of an energetic old man who keeps bugging him about his own marriage. About Shuurei’s new admirer, it seems that his father is forcing him to marry just because of the money. God, I hate that guy already. The guy himself is strange though, in a god way. It seems he isn’t keen on marrying either, but he’s also reluctant to defy his own father. He also buys some strange gold and silver-tanuki-merchandize from a mysterious merchant who’ll probably end up important somehow in the next few episodes. Oh, and Tei Yuushun did something special, though I have no idea what. Too much talking for me to understand, I’m going to have to go with Impz’s summaries to try and understand what went on this. This episode wasn’t anything special. It wasn’t bad either, but at the moment, with so many quality-series about to finish, Saiunkoku Monogatari isn’t really on my list of priorities.]]>

Ah, finally. After five weeks of absence and recaps, Saiunkoku Monogatari finally returns with episode 57. Oh, how I’ve waited for this series to return; but first: another recap! So… yeah. There’s nothing much to say. While it’s awesome to see Shuurei back, a recap remains a recap. Thank goodness there were a few minutes of new material, which featured hilarious banter between Ryuuki, Shuuei and Kouyuu, but that’s all. I was also too lazy to take new screenshots, so those who paid attention will notice that I recycled a few from previous episodes.]]>

Before I start with the usual episode review, I’d like to make a prediction about the rest of this series. Saiunkoku Monogatari is going to have three major arcs. All of these three arcs can be divided into two sub-arcs. The first arc is about the rise of Shuurei. The two sub-arcs are Shuurei’s time as a concubine, and her struggles in the palace, to be accepted as a good government official. The second arc is Shuurei’s reign as a government official, and it’s by far the largest arc of the series, with more than forty episodes dedicated to it. The first sub-arc is about freeing the Sa-province from the clutches of the Sa-clan, the second sub-arc was about the disease and the cult. With this, some interesting things can be concluded. For example, that the mood of the first arc and the second arc was quite different. The first arc was relatively fast paced, due to its short length. Its strength came mainly from encouraging Shuurei not to give up, no matter how hard her trials were. In the second arc, she had to prove herself to be worthy of her position, and she did this quite nicely, though the strength of that arc lied in the immense amount of time it spent building up, and how the different relationships between the different characters evolved. The most notable were Shuurei vs Sakujun, and Kourin vs Eigetsu. Humour also played a major part in the first arc, where it was flawlessly integrated with the dramatic scenes, turning every episode in a real joy to watch. The second episode didn’t need the humour, and mostly used it in the more light-hearted moments, away from the drama, so that the drama could really focus on being as touching as possible. With this episode, the second arc has been closed and the building up for the third arc will start in the next episode. The third arc will be 20 episodes again, if the second season of Saiunkoku Monogatari will indeed take up 39 episodes, which means that it’s about the same size as the first arc. With two major sub-arcs, the pacing should increase a bit more with this. Eigetsu may live, I suspect that his role as a main character ends here. Same with Ensei, Kourin, and all others who remain in the Sa-province. We’ll probably see them a few times after this, but Shuurei’s now officially done in the Sa-province. Ryuuki, Ran, Seiran and Shouka will probably return as the main characters again, and Kouyuu will probably get a lot of screentime as well, as his story of marrying Shuurei will take the spotlights again. The next arc will probably focus around Shuurei and Shouka, as they deal with Riou, and his plans to go after the soul of Bara-hime. Sakujun will also officially return. If I had to guess, then the first sub-arc will explain Riou’s background, and why he’s doing what he’s doing, while the second sub-arc will try to resolve his case. About the atmosphere of the arc, I think that the scene in which Shuurei ran into Riou is the best indicator for this. I hope it will, actually, because I loved that episode to bits. Shurei has now been stripped of all her authority until further notice. I think that her next step will take place inside the Kou-family. About a year ago, wontaek hinted that Shuurei was indeed going to take over the position as head of the Kou-clan as the rightful successor, and I think that this is going to happen in the third arc, especially considering that she’s got Kouyuu after her. At least, these are just some speculations. It will be fun to see how many of them turned out to be true. Anyway, about the episode: it’s another one of those nostalgic ones. Nothing much happens, but we see Shuurei saying goodbye to the Sa-province. Even though there’s nothing worth noting, I really recommend this episode, as it’s a really light-hearted, heart-warming one.]]>

I’m not happy with the twist that came in this episode. Not happy at all. The rest of the episode was nice enough for an aftermath, but I found myself not caring because of that particular development. I really felt cheated, and this is the second time that Saiunkoku Monogatari pulls this off. I’m really getting worried about this, because Saiunkoku is developing a nasty habit that also plagues shows like Naturo and Bleach: the utter refusal to kill off its characters. Both the deaths for Sakujun and Eigetsu were beautiful. Both deaths were so awesome because they were backed up by a huge amount of building up. The fact that both of them live again due to an anticlimactic Deus ex Machina that popped up after they were supposed to have died really ruins the magic of these moments. I was able to ignore it once for Sakujun, but it’s going to get difficult when this anime tries to get away with the same stunt again. Anyway, about the rest of the episode, now that Seiran is busy again, we find Ryuuki wondering what his purposes might be. The next arc is also introduced, but I can’t say anything about that yet, because I couldn’t understand what was said. Oh, and we get to know the identity of another one of the eight sages: Yo-sensei. So that makes the known sages now: – Sho Taishi. – Riou. – Yougetsu, who now is sleeping soundly inside of Eigetsu. – Yo-sensei. – The one who was resting inside Shuurei’s mother (Bara-Hime), and now seems to sleep inside Shuurei. (thanks to a few commenters for that info) – And I wouldn’t be surprised if one was sleeping in either Shunki or Eiki, to explain the powers they have.]]>

Words can’t describe the awesomeness of this episode. Basically, it concludes the Cult-arc, but it’s so much more than just that. We finally learn why the leader looks so much like Doushu: it’s because he’s small Riou’s brother, and used magic and Doushu’s head to change his appearance. It seems that everything was a plan of revenge by big Riou to do something nasty and magical with Shuurei, though why did he make small Riou intervere with this plan? It also seemsthat his and Riou’s mother also needs to fit in the picture somehow, as she was the one who told him to get Yougetsu and Shuurei. Still, what do they hope to gain with them? Why does Riou want Shuurei’s spirit (at least, I assume that that spell-circle was meant to separate her spirit from her body). And why did Riou contact Shuuran, out of all possible people? And where the heck does Sakujun fit in with all this? Still, these events with the cult and all, they were just minor, when compared to the other major event in this episode. Eigetsu finally dies, and it was so sad to see Yougetsu run off with his body. Still, I’m glad to see that he did get the chance to say goodbye to Doushu in the end.]]>

If you have yet to see this episode: STAY AWAY FROM THIS ENTRY. Seriously, this is one episode you don’t want to be spoiled about. This is an extremely important episode in Saiunkoku Monogatari, featuring lots of major plot twists. This sentence is meant to fill some space on the blog-aggregators like animenano and animeblogger to prevent spoilers from showing up there. So, this should be enough. Sakujun lives!!! We’ve been given enough hints to suggest that this was the case, but now we actually see it confirmed. The question now remains: what the heck is he up to? He definitely made clear that he wanted to meet Shuurei, with his fake name of Li Senya. While this makes his death less beautiful, he could be providing some interesting scenes for the future, especially combined with Riou. Ryuuren gets to be the one to save Eigetsu. We also learn that he didn’t do that, just because Eigetsu was his bosom buddy, but because he actually felt responsible. After all, on numerous occasions he forced Eigetsu to bring out Yougetsu, without a second thought whatsoever. This is actually a very interesting development for someone like him, who acts as random as possible. Shuurei and Eigetsu have quite succeeded into “taming his personality. Also, the leader of the cult finally reveals his plans, though unfortunately I didn’t understand any of it. All I picked up was that his mother was involved, and he wants to do something with a strange body. And where the heck did small Riou run off to??]]>

Seriously, I couldn’t help but shed a tear at end of the episode. Now that the main focus of the anime has turned back to Shuran’s home village, and Eigetsu’s fate, it’s promising to be incredibly sad, and if the cliff-hanger was just a sign of things to come, then I can’t wait to see the next couple of episodes. Seriously, that was awesome, and most definitely one of the highlights of the entire series. Most of the episode spends its time building up. Shuuran and Riou tell the meaning of the kanji that’s used for their names (and Riou isn’t his real name, by the way). If I had to guess, then the home-base of the cult indeed is in that village, and “Riou” somehow ended up involved with them (after all, he did spend his childhood with Shuuran, that is a fact). We also finally get to know what happened to Kourin: she got captured, mistaken for Shuurei (again ^^; Shuuran also guesses that Kourin looks a lot like Shuurei). She then got locked up, along with about thirty people, suffering from the disease. Ever since, she managed to convince her guards to let her help them. Right now, she manages to escape with the help of Shuuran, and finally gets her teary reunion with Eigetsu! So sad. Oh, and Ryuuren returns again. Seriously, when I first saw episode five, in which he got introduced, I never thought he’d have any big role, but he did turn into a vital supporting character, who provided lots of support to both his bosom buddies #1 and #2. We also see him more serious than ever when he turns up, it seems that he went to the village as fast as he could (by the way, how did he know where Eigetsu was locked up? Did he ask people at Korinjou?) Anyway, it’s such a shame that the episodes only air once a week. I want more!!]]>

You know, I’ve been wondering… This show airs at Saturday, 9:00am, right? I wonder if it’s really the appropriate time to show a series with such disturbing footage, especially in this episode, when human bodies get cut up right on screen. In any case, the major focus of this episode falls on the doctors: curing the patients. If you liked the different doctors, this is the episode you want to look out to, as it’s finally time for them to put the things they learned to practice. And like expected, most of them are incredibly scared. But who wouldn’t? I mean, they know the techniques to properly cut in the body, but the fact remains that with one wrong move, they could kill somebody. This mentality doesn’t leave their minds soon, and it probably wasn’t the best idea to bring all of them to the first demonstration of a real operation. After all, every doctor is scared, and when you’re among others that are scared too, the fear just increases. When some of the doctors, however, left the castle, in order catch a breath of fresh air, things went well. Only then they realized that they could be the ones to save lives when people began to beg them to save their loved ones. After that, all things went well. Shuurei, meanwhile, hasn’t been standing still either, and she spends the episode, making sure that there are enough supplies to take care of the patients. I’m surprised that the people at such a time-period knew how important disinfecting is. The early European doctors could really have learned a lot of things from them. Near the end of the episode, the biggest threat of the disease is gone. The logical next step would be: find the mysterious Senya. It seems that Shuuran and Riou (the young one) want to come with them on this journey. Shuuran is quite the adventurous kid, and I also think that she’s seeing Shuurei as some sort of idol, and I can imagine that she wants to be like the person that saved her mother, and to be with her as much as possible. Her character is going to be really interesting in the future episode, and what the heck is up with Riou? What are his plans. Well, at least we know that young Riou and old Riou aren’t the same person, as the guy shows himself again. That was quite an amazing scene, by the way, as for some reason he decided to visit Ryuuki, and Ryuuki knew that the guy was coming. Also, his sword emitted a red light when the two of them met. What was up with that? Kourin remains gone from the episode, though we learn a bit more about the position Eigetsu is in. It seems that his kidnapper is after Yougetsu, and he’s basically waiting for Eigetsu’s time to run out. Meanwhile, he enjoyed himself torturing Eigetsu’s body. Probably because these wounds will remain on Yougetsu once Eigetsu dies. Also, surprisingly enough the guy is also after Shuurei. I can understand that someone would be after Yougetsu, but why Shuurei? This probably has something to do with the reason the cult blamed Shuurei for the disease. You could say that this episode marked the end of another arc, since the major problem that has been the focus of the past few episodes is as good as resolved. The next arc should focus on the cult, and I am SO looking forward to it, as it’s promising to be more character-centric than the arcs up till now. Bring on the awesomeness!]]>

It seems that the creators themselves also realized how similar Shuurei and Shuuran are, that really becomes clear with this episode. I must say, Shuran was awesome! For such a small child to stand up for her sick mother, believing very word that Eigetsu told her must have been a really scary thing for her to do. I sense another female official in her. The pacing of Saiunkoku Monogatari has really slowed down with the second season, and you can see that the creators are able to give the characters much more development. This episode again is about one thing: getting Shuurei in Kourinjou. With the usual pacing, I’d say that this could also have been done in just one episode, but the extra airtime was much appreciated. One thing I didn’t like about this episode though was that the feminism had gone a bit too much overboard. Sure, I love how this anime had addressed this issue so far, about women, rising in a male-dominated society, but this episode went too far. Basically, every man is rash and stupid, and wants to see Shuurei killed, while the women are the smart ones to bring their husbands back to senses. Also, what is Riou planning, exactly? Right now, he seems to be either a friend or brother of Shuuran, but he hasn’t done anything suspicious yet. This episode as well, we only see him suspiciously looking at Ensei and Shuurei trying to pass the walls of the castle and scolding Shuuran after everything was over, because she acted so rash. If he really is the other Riou, then why did he contact Shuuran in the first place, instead of looking for someone actually acquainted with her? It’s also aggravating: we see nothing of Kourin and Eigetsu this episode! I’m so interested in what happens to the two of them, but it seems that the creators are waiting for episode 13 for the major climax. Still, this episode was another great one. Especially Shuuran is not to be missed.]]>