Saiunkoku Monogatari – 52

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!!]]>