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lucathiaI marathoned both seasons of Saiunkoku Monogatari last week. I only took this one screencap:
Those pandas were so random but so cute. Ryuuki too.
The series was entirely not what I was expecting! I enjoy intricate plots, but this time I was actually hoping for some silly shoujo romance. Saiunkoku Monogatari looks to be a reverse harem, but it's totally not. There's none of the usual cliches except for the first few episodes when Shuurei is sent to be the emperor's consort (even then, she's there to educate him). I grinned so much during those first few episodes where Shuurei pretended she didn't know Ryuuki was the emperor. Ryuuki was just so cute. And then, of course there's Seiran, and the Black Wolf, and all those revelations! *flails* Everything happened quite quickly with identities revealed, hidden plots stopped, and all that which made me wonder what else was in store for this series.
That's when the series turned into one about female strength and overcoming discrimination. Really, the series is about Shuurei's quest to become equal to the men around her, along with all the connections she makes. One conspiracy is taken care of only for another obstacle to appear. This series sure doesn't give anyone an easy way out, nor is there much room for romance. It's quite a complicated series that still has much more to say, since the light novels the series is based on is still ongoing. I'm very tempted to acquire those novels and plow my way through them...but then, all the politic stuff in Japanese without any translation will surely fly over me.
If you haven't seen this series before, I recommend it. :) Lots of plot. Cool Chinese influences. (I quite like what's been done with the imperial exams! I wish there was more about taking the exams.) Doesn't hurt that there are lots of good looking bishounen too. If you know the series and have any recs (fanart, fic, and such), that would be much appreciated. I'm dying for more~
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The scene that touched me the most out of the two seasons was when the little girl Shuuran said that she wanted to be a government official just like Shuurei. It's just a small moment, but I felt it made Shuurei's efforts worthwhile. The second most touching scene for me was actually with super minor characters...when one of the doctors couldn't stand surgery and was on the verge of running away...but came back and declared that he was a doctor when he saw the villagers coming to him for help.
One thing that struck me as absurdly funny (it's not at all supposed to be funny, haha) was when Shuurei was thinking about Eigetsu and his fate and how he was always rushing through life...and this one static image of Eigetsu comes up. It's not bad the first time (certainly not Eigetsu's nicest look, but not bad...) but when Shuurei thinks about Eigetsu again later on, IT'S STILL THE SAME PICTURE THAT COMES UP. Let me screencap the pic. Here it is. Haha.
That aside, I really really adored Eigetsu and Yougetsu and wasn't expecting such a background to their story. Makes me wonder how it'd be like if Yougetsu had decided to stay in Eigetsu's body...probably no one would have ever seen the green-haired boy again. Though, it'd make for an interesting story if Yougetsu decided to live out Eigetsu's life as Eigetsu would have lived it. I really loved Ryuuren too, ESPECIALLY when he rushed to save Eigetsu. Ryuuren is usually so eccentric, but for his bosom friends, he can be quite serious. Still, his turnip flute is just so much fun. Gotta love the way he calls his brothers too. XD;
Kouyuu. Not enough Kouyuu. I mean, the fact that he was pretty much adopted by Reishin because Shouka had adopted Seiran around that time...that just demands some Kouyuu and Seiran interaction. Kouyuu seems to be well liked by what I've seen of fandom so far. Lots of fic of him about!
Now, the new addition in the 2nd season, Tan-tan is just hilarious. ♥ He's quite unmotivated and lazy and realistic. Shuurei does need his dose of reality.
Ryuuki, surprisingly, doesn't get much screentime in the second season (but then, he and Shuurei are apart after all and Shuurei's the focus of the series) until the last few episodes with his sudden desperate journey to get Shuuei back. Being emperor sure sucks. I kept thinking that none of all these intricate plots or heartaches would have happened if Shuurei had just stayed and become Ryuuki's official wife. Of course, that would have been an entirely different series then!
Ah man, I can continue rambling a lot more about this series. Mm, I should consider writing something for the Saiunkoku fic battle, but I don't think I have a strong grasp of the characters.
Those pandas were so random but so cute. Ryuuki too.
The series was entirely not what I was expecting! I enjoy intricate plots, but this time I was actually hoping for some silly shoujo romance. Saiunkoku Monogatari looks to be a reverse harem, but it's totally not. There's none of the usual cliches except for the first few episodes when Shuurei is sent to be the emperor's consort (even then, she's there to educate him). I grinned so much during those first few episodes where Shuurei pretended she didn't know Ryuuki was the emperor. Ryuuki was just so cute. And then, of course there's Seiran, and the Black Wolf, and all those revelations! *flails* Everything happened quite quickly with identities revealed, hidden plots stopped, and all that which made me wonder what else was in store for this series.
That's when the series turned into one about female strength and overcoming discrimination. Really, the series is about Shuurei's quest to become equal to the men around her, along with all the connections she makes. One conspiracy is taken care of only for another obstacle to appear. This series sure doesn't give anyone an easy way out, nor is there much room for romance. It's quite a complicated series that still has much more to say, since the light novels the series is based on is still ongoing. I'm very tempted to acquire those novels and plow my way through them...but then, all the politic stuff in Japanese without any translation will surely fly over me.
If you haven't seen this series before, I recommend it. :) Lots of plot. Cool Chinese influences. (I quite like what's been done with the imperial exams! I wish there was more about taking the exams.) Doesn't hurt that there are lots of good looking bishounen too. If you know the series and have any recs (fanart, fic, and such), that would be much appreciated. I'm dying for more~
-----
The scene that touched me the most out of the two seasons was when the little girl Shuuran said that she wanted to be a government official just like Shuurei. It's just a small moment, but I felt it made Shuurei's efforts worthwhile. The second most touching scene for me was actually with super minor characters...when one of the doctors couldn't stand surgery and was on the verge of running away...but came back and declared that he was a doctor when he saw the villagers coming to him for help.
One thing that struck me as absurdly funny (it's not at all supposed to be funny, haha) was when Shuurei was thinking about Eigetsu and his fate and how he was always rushing through life...and this one static image of Eigetsu comes up. It's not bad the first time (certainly not Eigetsu's nicest look, but not bad...) but when Shuurei thinks about Eigetsu again later on, IT'S STILL THE SAME PICTURE THAT COMES UP. Let me screencap the pic. Here it is. Haha.
That aside, I really really adored Eigetsu and Yougetsu and wasn't expecting such a background to their story. Makes me wonder how it'd be like if Yougetsu had decided to stay in Eigetsu's body...probably no one would have ever seen the green-haired boy again. Though, it'd make for an interesting story if Yougetsu decided to live out Eigetsu's life as Eigetsu would have lived it. I really loved Ryuuren too, ESPECIALLY when he rushed to save Eigetsu. Ryuuren is usually so eccentric, but for his bosom friends, he can be quite serious. Still, his turnip flute is just so much fun. Gotta love the way he calls his brothers too. XD;
Kouyuu. Not enough Kouyuu. I mean, the fact that he was pretty much adopted by Reishin because Shouka had adopted Seiran around that time...that just demands some Kouyuu and Seiran interaction. Kouyuu seems to be well liked by what I've seen of fandom so far. Lots of fic of him about!
Now, the new addition in the 2nd season, Tan-tan is just hilarious. ♥ He's quite unmotivated and lazy and realistic. Shuurei does need his dose of reality.
Ryuuki, surprisingly, doesn't get much screentime in the second season (but then, he and Shuurei are apart after all and Shuurei's the focus of the series) until the last few episodes with his sudden desperate journey to get Shuuei back. Being emperor sure sucks. I kept thinking that none of all these intricate plots or heartaches would have happened if Shuurei had just stayed and become Ryuuki's official wife. Of course, that would have been an entirely different series then!
Ah man, I can continue rambling a lot more about this series. Mm, I should consider writing something for the Saiunkoku fic battle, but I don't think I have a strong grasp of the characters.
