Saiunkoku Monogatari – 56

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.]]>