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I 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~
( more thoughts and opinions )
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~
( more thoughts and opinions )
