Anyone watching Saiunkoku Monogatari?

[SnEptUne]

Hi people,

Have any of you watched Saiunkoku Monogatari? The first season, not the second one, mind you.

I particularly liked the romance of the story about the peach haired villian (what's his name again?) who tried to rape her. Ironically, Shurin seems to fall for him as well, even though she will not get involved into a relationship as that will mean giving up her dream.

That's one of the sadest and realistic romance I have seen. There is no pretense of being manly or what not; there is no premise of happiness. Quite the contrary, lust, jealousy, hatred, angst, power, all mixed in one called "romance", but I wouldn't want to spoil the story of people who haven't watch it.

But then again, am I being sadistic?

[minakichan]

YAAAAAAH I LOVE SAIUNKOKU!! I love Shuurei, she's the coolest heroine ever... I think it's great how she's more concerned about fulfilling her own dreams of politics than of finding love; she could be called a feminist in her belief in gender equality, but she cares more about making the world a better place than of beating the guys. I think that's so admirable!

The guy you're thinking of is Sa Sakujun. I kind of don't believe Shuurei really fell in love with him as much as she was attracted to his personality.

Also, I don't know if I would even categorize the series as romance, considering how one-sided Ryuuki's interest is and the fact that his affection plays so little role in the actual series. I would be more inclined to call is a josei political drama with romance, comedy, and fantasy elements. ^^

[Roy Mustang]

I have heard of it, under the name The Story of Saiunkoku.

But no, I haven't watch it and I guess will not get to watch it untill someone else picks up the rights to it again for North America.


[color="Red"][font="Book Antiqua"]Col. Roy Mustang[/font][/color]

[Doubleshadow]

There was another thread about this series somewhere.

I love the anime as well. I've noticed anime based on novels seem to retain more complexity. The realism in that love and life aren't simple is refreshing. All the characters are complex, have their own lives, thoughts, ideas, opinions, motivations, histories and hopes, and that these factors make life complicated and conflicted is much more true to life than the notion that two empty-headed people fall in "love", and any sense of duty, responsibility, or even fairness to others gets tossed out and the window but society is somehow okay with this.
Shuurei is my favorite anime heroine by far, I loved it when she chewed out the emperor for making a fool of her. He thought she'd automatically fall for her because he said he liked her and she let him have it for playing her all that time. Go Shuurei!

[SnEptUne]

[quote="minakichan (post: 1193364)"]YAAAAAAH I LOVE SAIUNKOKU!! I love Shuurei, she's the coolest heroine ever... I think it's great how she's more concerned about fulfilling her own dreams of politics than of finding love]

I see. But then again, it is hard to define romantics love. Anime that bases on novels are indeed more interesting and complex. And it is josei novel, which tends to be more ... enlightening and political.

Feminism isn't about beating guys either, at least it isn't for me.

I am reading a novel called "Pride and Prejudice". Shuurei is the exact opposite of most of the ladies in that novel, in which the entire book is about how in that period, it is the women's duty to find a husband with money. Needless to say, it is a satire :p

[MyrrhLynn]

I watch it and I love it. It's got one of the best female leads I've seen in a long time. I like that it give a flavor of the culture of the society and doesn't just focus on comedy and romance to take up all the time. And as Doubleshadow mentioned it's nice that all the characters are complex and have decent development. There are whole sides that haven't even been touched on yet though! Like what are all the color clans up to? Where are all the guardians that used to serve the very distant past emperor?

[SnEptUne]

I watch it and I love it. It's got one of the best female leads I've seen in a long time. I like that it give a flavor of the culture of the society and doesn't just focus on comedy and romance to take up all the time. And as Doubleshadow mentioned it's nice that all the characters are complex and have decent development. There are whole sides that haven't even been touched on yet though! Like what are all the color clans up to? Where are all the guardians that used to serve the very distant past emperor?

I think the so-called guardian is only supposed to be folktale. But as we can see, there are certainly some supernatural elements in the shows, so it could be a foreshadowing. In a complex story like this, it is hard to tell if something is a foreshadowing or just a background setting.

I am more interested in how each character develope than what is so special about the noble clans. I am sure there is a story for each clan, and how they come to serve the emperor, but with only 32 episodes in the 2nd season, I would rather they focus on Shuurei, her friends/relatives, and the political implication of her status.

[MyrrhLynn]

The guardians are a folktale? Umm did you even watch the first season? I don't see how or you wouldn't be saying that. o_o

And I think the color clans have more to do with the different areas of the country and each one was assigned a different color from the guardians. That is why the royal family = purple which is area where the capitol is.

So for the 2nd season has been more of the same, with a interesting plot that keeps having little suprises pop up all over the place. And I really like watching Shuurei grow more and more into her role. I'm starting to think the romance side of things may never be "solved" in this show. Not that I consider that a bad thing though.

[Doubleshadow]

The guardians are a folktale? Umm did you even watch the first season? I don't see how or you wouldn't be saying that. o_o

Yeah, really. Go watch it again. XD

And it has been licensed and released stateside, Roy, but considering it's linked to Geneon, who knows its fate? Kelly Sheridan plays Shuurei, but I didn't recognize the rest of the cast.