I’m so glad that Shadow managed to finish her translation of episode eighteen. For some reason, I felt that it wouldn’t be a good idea to let my sub-par Japanese loose on Saiunkoku Monogatari 18, and after seeing the episode, it seems I was right. There’s so much going on, not to mention that entire speeches are given, at which you do need to know what they mean.
Anyway, about the episode. It was awesome. I had such a great time watching this. Not only because of the very interesting political affairs which went on, but also because the creators threw in some very nice jokes. I especially loved all the fuzz around Kijin’s mask. XD
Basically, the episode consists out of a debate between the government officials and Ryuuki and Shuurei, trying to get to the court in time and in one piece. We start with the commotion about Reishin. Ryuuki reveals to the officials that he’s the head of the Kou-clan. Sai gets a bit uncomfortable because of this. We then turn to Shuurei, who’s ready to leave for the palace. Seiran then brings Shuurei the make-up kit she got from Kochou.
Back to Ryuuki, he starts accusing Sai of a number of things, including that he was one of the people who was completely against women being permitted to take the national exam. Sai then tries to blame this on Ro, though that backfires when it seems that Ro had no problems with women being permitted, and was rather on friendly terms with Reishin.
We then switch to a rather interesting conversation between Reishin and Ro. It seems that Ro has assigned Eigetsu and Shuurei to tasks such as cleaning the lavatories and polishing shoes in order to build their own confidence, and the confidence of the other officials in the two of them. Most people in the royal court have heard about the tasks they were ordered to do, and they’ve seen them work hard. This shows them that they’re capable of doing much greater things, which will be extremely beneficial in the future. It also seems that Reishin got the same treatment. His murderous look towards Ro at that time was hilarious. ^^
In the end, Reishin manages to “blackmail” Ro into accompanying him to the court. For some reason, he wanted the two of them to go together. Shuurei and Seiran, meanwhile, get hunted by some of Sai’s henchmen, trying to prevent them from attending the inquiry. Though they should know better than to think that this would be able to stop her. ^^
Meanwhile, in the palace, Kijin holds a little speech about the financial businesses regarding Sai. A lot of money went into useless causes. It also seems that Eigetsu’s money, which he sent to his home village and somehow disappeared seems to have turned up in Sai’s pocket. It seems that there were similar cases like this in the past, so Kijin had the carriers being observed in secret. Sai then starts coming up with some desperate attempts in order to defend himself, and he then claims that Kijin might be an impostor, wearing Kijin’s mask in order to not be discovered.
The situation takes a very strange turn when Kijin suggests to take it off and suddenly some officials start begging him not to, with fear of their lives. It seems that Reishin has spread some rumours that his face would cause flying ravens to fall down unconscious. Things get even weirder when Shou Taishi suggests Kijin to take off his mask, while everyone else is looking in another direction. Ryuuki wants to see too, though suddenly he’s forced away by some desperate officials.
Say, is this how all government officials spend their time? ^^;
Back to Shuurei, the number of thugs keeps increasing until she and Seiran eventually get cornered. They get rescued by Ryuushin and the other citizens. They also reveal their reason for ignoring her. Government officials are important people. Whenever they’re seen, talking to ordinary peasants, their reputation drops. And Ryuushin is an exceptionally good fighter for his age. That, or the thugs are just a bunch of whim’s. ^^
They then arrive at the palace, and get a bit of help from Hakumei and Ensei in order to move past the pesky, ignorant guards.
Back to Kijin, the reason he always wears a mask suddenly becomes clear. It’s indeed able to make ravens drop from the sky. Not because it’s so horribly ugly, but because it’s so horribly beautiful. It’s also clear why everyone had to turn away, as Sai immediately gets hypnotized by this, allowing Kijin to get a confession out of him.
At that time, Reishin arrives. He rather abuses his powers in order to finish Sai. It seems that Kouyuu was rather insulted at one time by him, and Reishin hasn’t quite forgiven him for it. To top things, he reveals that the long lost ring of the Sa-clan was hidden under Sai’s wig, of all places. You’d wonder how he found out in the first place. Still, Sai then starts talking about Shuurei, and starts accusing her of all kinds of things. But then, Shuurei arrives, the inquiry begins and Sai can probably kiss his status goodbye. The bastard. ^^;
In any case, I love how Saiunkoku Monogatari manages to effectively blend comedy with such a strong story. The combination of these two elements really works great.
Just one thing. What happened to Kourin?
>>> What happened to Kourin?
She was hidden in somewhere safe.
>>> To top things, he reveals that the long lost ring of the Sa-clan was hidden under Sai’s wig, of all places.
That ring was also a fake, but it was so close to the real thing, that most layman would not have been able to tell the difference. The trouble for Sai is, government office is not where you would find common lay people.
The animated version deliberately omitted the part about Kijin’s voice. They added scene about palatial guards hindering Shuurei, and added a bit about questioning of Shuurei. I liked the omission of Kijin’s wonderous voice: It is too far a stretch of reality and utterly needless. I liked the King’s final question to Shuurei: That went to core of what this series is about. I did not like palatial guard involvement within the palace: No way Sai’s influence could have been that great. Now we are moving to book 4 where Shuurei gets thrown out of frying pan into fire.
Quote: “Just one thing. What happened to Kourin?”
I’m not sure if you mean why did they cut her out or where she really is?
She was only important in the First arc in which Shuurei was the high consort. After Sa Enjun (grand guardian sa or sa taihou) died Shusui escorted here to the Brown province where she now lives with Sa Enjun’s wife. This is explained half way through episode 9 (about 12m 30s into)
Warukyure: I know, but the later episodes show that she was travelling back from the Brown Province along with Ensei, in order to meet up with Shuurei. When Ryuuki ordered their arrival to match Shuurei’s inquiry during the previous episode, I assumed that she had some important role in this arc. I guess I was wrong.
Wontaek: Ah, thanks for explaining. The guards were indeed a bit unrealistic, I agree. By the looks of it, the fourth book should prove to be awesome.
I was just wondering where is Shadow’s sub of ep18. I checked animesuki and even Shadow’s official site but it doesn’t seem to be released yet.
You’re indeed right about that one. I’m using her translation of episode eighteen, not her sub. You can find it on her website (website, not blog).