Saiunkoku Monogatari

Oh, Saiunkoku Monogatari. I will never understand why this show isn't more popular. But I digress.

Story: 10

At first glance, the plot may seem a bit shallow - a girl becomes the consort of a reluctant Emperor, let the silliness begin! - but wow does it become so much more. Essentially, Saiunkoku Monogatari is an engaging drama filled with political intrigue disguised as a simple reverse harem story. Even the simplest details connect to overall story and the plot becomes more and more developed as the show progresses.

Animation: 8

Not much to say here other than Saiunkoku Monogatari does have an overdose of bishies. Don't let ... that deter you though. None of the characters are there just for looks.

Sound: 8

Pretty well done score. Some of the highlights include anytime Shuurei plays the erhu and the OP/ED themes.

Character: 10

This show has a lot of characters, but they are introduced slowly and all of the major characters have their backgrounds fleshed out enough. Shuurei is easily one of the best female protagonists I've come across. She has a girl power! attitude that never comes off as obnoxious. Her interactions with the rest of the cast are entertaining to watch. She has a magnetic personality, but not to the point of ridiculousness (Honda Tohru comes to mind). Though truth is, I kind of like all of the characters. Some stand outs include Seiran (one of my top ten favourite characters ever) and Ryuuren with his crazy flute.

Enjoyment: 10

The plot twists, the characters, the everything. I finished this show some time ago, but I wouldn't mind rewatching it. It's the kind of show where you miss little details the first time around.

Overall: 10

My enjoyment of this show compels me to give it a 10. The story is just so much more than a little blurb of a summary. The characters really grew on me, the soundtrack added to the mood. The beautiful backgrounds always caught my eye. There's just so much substance to this show - it's not for someone looking for a simple story. Prepare to be sucked into the world of Saiunkoku Monogatari, I know I was.

Almost everyone who has seen Saiunkoku Monogatari has compared it to Fushigi Yuugi. Sure, there are similar elements, such as the ancient China setting, the characters\' appearance and of course the reverse harem. However, I think that the thing that links both series the most is that they\'re both really good.

The story focuses on Shuurei Kou, a resident of Saiunkoku. She dreams of becoming a government official and throughout the series, we see her chasing that dream, as well as juggling love, friendship and work at the same time.

I greatly admire Shuurei, as well as the other women characters in this series. She\'s definitely not ... like Miaka, personality-wise (she does look a bit like Miaka). She\'s smart, capable, and courageous; She carries with her all the virtues that women should have, and the story focused more on her qualities rather than her appearance (honestly, the boys are prettier than Shuurei). I believe that Saiunkoku Monogatari is one rare anime that portrays how women can make a huge difference in their societies. First you have Shuurei, who defied all odds and emerged superior in the end. There\'s also Sai Rin, who surpassed her male sibling and became one of the heads of the merchant alliance. There\'s Eiki, who refuses to have anyone tell her what to do.

Even with the slightly feminist theme, I do believe that Saiunkoku Monogatari can gain a male audience. The male characters are also very chivalrous and noble. My favorite would be Ensei and Seiran. Both of them are ready to give up their lives for the future of their loved ones. There\'s also Eigetsu, who is able to accomplish so much at such a young age. If you\'re not satisfied with that, there\'s always the chinese proverbs that are given in every episode (they double as episode titles).

Madhouse never fails to amuse me. I always say that anything Madhouse makes is automatically a must see for me. However, I am a bit disappointed this time. The animation for Saiunkoku Monogatari wasn\'t so impressive (but the last few episodes improved). I noticed that the movements weren\'t so smooth (Fight scenes need work), and I wasn\'t a fan of the color scheme either. It wasn\'t that bad, but it wasn\'t that good either.

Voice acting was very interesting. I actually had a chance to see clips of the voice actors working, and it was very entertaining to watch Houko Kuwashima (Shuurei) and Tomokazu Seki (Ryuuki). I think they did a very good job of portraying their respective characters\' personalities.

The music wasn\'t that impressive at first either, but in time I started to like it. I even had the lyrics to the opening and ending themes memorized. I guess I didn\'t like it too much because I usually prefer contemporary anime music, but it did fit the theme of the series very well. I think they even used Chinese instruments to produce the music.

Truth be told, I usually prefer anime series that are set in modern time and in the real world. The fact that it\'s set in ancient China threw me off at first, but by watching it I was able to see what a gem it really is. It was very entertaining, educational and even funny at times. Saiunkoku Monogatari was able to sway my preference because it is truly an inspiring tale and it should be seen by everyone (And I can\'t wait for the second season!).

TITLE: Saiunkoku Monogatari (The Story of Saiunkoku)

LIGHT NOVEL, ANIME: Saiunkoku Monogatari was originally a series of light novels written by Yui Sakino and illustrated by Kairi Yura. As of the time of this review, the series is still ongoing, with fourteen collected novels and three side story anthologies.

The anime adaptation of Saiunkoku Monogatari was directed by Jun Shishido (well-known for his work on Hajime no Ippou: New Challenger and as an episode director on Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad) and was produced by Studio Madhouse (well-known for their work on Death Note and Dennou Coil). It aired on Japanese TV from ... April 8th, 2006 until February 24th, 2007. It has been licensed Stateside, first by Geneon, who released it in individual DVDs before it went defunct, and then the license was picked up by FUNimation, who has released both the previously-released DVDs and new DVDs in box sets. The most recent box set to be released will be released on October 4th of this year, and will contain the complete series.

STORY: The new emperor of the country of Saiunkoku (a Japanese/Chinese-esque land divided into eight provinces under the rule of eight clans corresponding to different colors), Shi Ryuuki, has earned a reputation as being lazy, uninterested in the running of his country and of being completely uninterested in women. Meanwhile, Kou Shuurei, only child of the influential Kou clan, is having difficulties making ends meet for her family, and wants to work as an imperial official, which she unfortunately can’t, due to being a woman. Her life changes when the Emperor’s Grand Adviser comes to her household and offers a large amount of money, enough to keep her family in the black for quite some time, in return for her coming into the Imperial Household as a consort with her bodyguard, Shi Seiran (a young man who her father adopted into the household), for six months, and trying to make the Emperor a better ruler. The series details Shuurei’s triumphs and travails in the Palace and politics, along with her relationships with the men around her…

The premise sounds like a set-up for wacky reverse harem hijinx, right? Well, it’s actually a lot deeper than that. The wacky hijinx exist prominently for the first six episodes or so, but after that, mostly they take a backseat to the politics of Imperial life and running a country, and to Shuurei’s personal struggles, both to try and become an imperial official, and with her relationship to the two main men in her life – her bodyguard and the emperor.

Shuurei herself has to be one of the most well-characterized females I’ve seen in a series since Balsa in Seirei no Moribito. She is a woman, yes, but she is there first and foremost to do her job, be it making the Emperor into a better ruler or doing work in the Palace archives, and while she puts on a strong, bright, cheerful façade, she has her moments of weakness, which make her incredibly human.

There are also several major and minor characters in here, an incredibly large cast to keep track of in general, even over the space of thirty-nine episodes. However, each of them is given a distinctive character and enough screentime and basic development to for the audience to be able to recognize them when they’re on-screen.

The plot is incredibly well done in how it moves – each episode contributes some minute detail to intrigues in the Palace and the empire, and towards Shuurei’s larger goals of becoming an official, and almost every detail that one can think of is wrapped up by the end of the series. The detail of the world is also incredibly well-thought-out; the minutest details of governance are explored, even if they are pretty heavily based off of the Chinese/Japanese imperial systems.

However, the rate at which the plot moves can be so incredibly slow at times that it can drag along for several episodes, and can cause easily bored watchers to drop the series. I myself have a fairly high boredom threshold, but even I would have gaps of three to five days between episodes at times, because I simply didn’t want to watch it (mainly after eight to ten hour shifts at my workplace). Granted, staying with the series, even through the more boring parts, pays off in spades towards the end of it.

ART: The character design for this series is incredibly well-done. With such a large cast, each character has to be given a distinctive appearance, so that they don’t simply fade into the background. The design team does this quite well, in addition to producing well-drawn characters, and even had enough budget to give them all a few costume changes here and there.

Backgrounds obviously have a strong Chinese and Japanese influence on them, yet the background team manages to make them look reminiscent of existing styles, yet original enough for the backgrounds to stand on their own ground.

Very well done art, the kind of quality from a Madhouse production that I’ve come to expect.

MUSIC: The soundtrack for this series heavily features the erhu (or niko, depending on on whether you’re going by its Chinese or Japanese designation), a two-stringed instrument that the main character plays. Otherwise, the soundtrack is fairly Japanese-influenced, with a lot of native instruments, and pretty well done. It’s not anything I’m going to go out of my way to find, but it’s a solid soundtrack.

SEIYUU: The Japanese voice actors did a very solid job on this production; none of the voices were annoying, or seemed mismatched to a character. There weren’t any voices that particularly stood out, either, though.

LENGTH: At thirty-nine episodes, you do need to be able to be in for the long-haul on this. The length gives the plot room to breathe and for every character in the cast to get adequate development, but, as I said before, it can and will get boring at points, and if you have a low boredom threshold, you may find yourself wanting to drop it. However, I do recommend sticking with it, as it does pay off in the end.

OVERALL: A solid show with one of the best female characters I’ve seen in a long time, well-designed characters and backgrounds, solid soundtrack and Japanese voice actors, and a long length that allows for good character and plot development, but can, at times, get a bit boring.

STORY: 8/10
ART: 9/10
MUSIC: 8/10
SEIYUU: 8/10
LENGTH: 7/10

OVERALL: 40/50; 80% (B)

Many people say Saiunkoku Monogatari is like Fushigi Yuugi. I, however, find them very different. Fushigi Yuugi is more fictional and serious, while Saiunkoku Monogatari will almost always have you cracking up and is completely realistic. They do both have female main characters that work hard to achieve their goals though.
Speaking strictly about Saiunkoku Monogatari, there is an overall plot that contains many shorter stories within it. One of the best things about this series is that it seems spontaneous - one event leads directly to another. However, this shift is never fluid. There are always obstacles that the main character - Kou Shurrei - ... must overcome. In that sense, it's much like real life. One of the most consistent obstacles is her being a woman in the "men's world" of politics. Another main impediment that we can perhaps relate to better, is love. The many men that Shurrei comes across causes her to weigh the importance of work versus love. Being a 17-year-old girl, she is easily confused, and what she decides to do in terms of her relationships is quite a suspenseful part of the anime.
Saiunkoku Monogatari is hilarious, has a plot with amazing depth, components that everyone can compare to, and deals with serious issues in an entertaining way. It's quite ingenius, and quite frankly, I can't wait to watch the second season. ^^

At first I thought, "It's like a Harukanaru that doesn't suck!" Later I found that I was completely beyond caring about this show. The action sequences are terrible. This is no big deal with what the show does early on, but around 20 episodes in it starts to rely on them heavily. Worse still, the show starts doing a lot of the awful things that make shoujo manga repulsive. By the twentieth time it pulled the "she-was-forcefully-kissed-by-the-guy-she-just-met!" thing I was thinking, "Oh... kay... That might have been a little shocking the first time, ... maybe ... but now it's really getting old."

I rate the ... story as mediocre because it starts out very good and steadily descends into drivel land. The horrors I encountered later in the show were made all the worse by the promise it showed at the start.

I couldn't fall in love with this dull "romantic" anime. It was more about government than love, honestly I wouldn't watch this anime if you want some comedy and romance. It'll kill your vibe to watch anime for about two weeks. The characters are explained well, but the whole story was a bit above average because of some of the fighting/government scenes. Overall, it's not something I would recommend for starting anime watchers, but veterans who have nothing else to do.

Saiunkoku Monogatari... I actually watched it after seeing it so highly recommended on this site, but I think I was in the wrong genre :) I usually gravitate toward the action animes (i.e. Trigun), or the intense story-driven animes (i.e. Serial Experiments Lain) , but I think this anime is much lighter. I do enjoy light and fluffy fare sometimes, but this one was not for me.

I'm writing this review, I suppose, for both seasons. The first season I actually liked. The story was interesting enough, the characters were developing well, and there was enough plot that I stayed interested. The ... animation... well, this is not an action anime, so the animation was pretty stiff. Nevertheless, I was entertained, and found that the anime had its 'smile' moments. I found the music soothing, and actually liked some of the 'costume designs' - as they were unique. The characters had a 'wholeness' to them, that was also nice. I could sympathize with the main character, which is important for story-driven animes.

However, I found the second season to be a bit clumsy. What was nice about the first season - the character development and the inherent struggles experienced by the main character, and even the strange, twisting romance (and I'm not a romance fan) - seemed to disappear. The characters became flat, the romance became less-than-appealing, and the struggles turned into a shonen-esque 'She can do it because she's our hero' type escapade. Basically, it lost it's appeal, and I only finished watching the second season out of sheer stubborness to get through it.

I would recommend the first season for anyone looking for a lighter-type, story-driven anime. It's interesting enough to want to watch the next episode. Yet, I would only recommend the second season to those utterly entranced by the first.

I've just finished watching Sainkoku Monogatari, and I can tell that it was quite horrible....

The anime has nice artwork, good sound, and nice music, there's an interesting atmosphere, but....

The story ruins it all. The very first story arc was quite interesting, but once it was over, everything fell apart.

The biggest problem is that main heroine has a bad case of a "Mary Sue" syndrome. She acts in reckless and outright stupid fashion at any opportunity she gets, but is ALWAYS saved by some convenient deus ex machina. Every single time, someone mysteriously arrives, intervenes and saves Shuurei (main heroine) from another trouble she managed to ... get herself in. So instead of a story about a girl overcoming difficulties to achieve her goals, we have a whole world set up in such way that she simply can't fail. Everybody will fall for Shuurei, tell her how amazing she is, praise, etc.

Basically, it is only worth watching if you want to see some bishounen flirting with main heroine, but if you want interesting plot, believable story, then every episode past the first story arc is not worth watching.

This is one of the most disappointing anime I've seen this year, for sure.

I read the synopsis on a different website and it really intrigued me. I was told I'd be watching a show about an ordinary noble girl would be sent to the imperial palace and help knock some sense into the "idiot" king while they fall in love along the way. So I thought to myself, "Awesome! I'll get to watch a different kind of love story. This will be great!" 

It wasn't.

The first couple episodes were promising, they were just like what the synopsis said. But around episode six or seven (I can't remember) the main character, Shuurei leaves the palace and goes on her merry ... little way. The two main characters whom I thought were going to be "lovers" didn't even meet up until sometime later, and even then Shuurei tried avoiding Ryuuki because she didn't want to face him.

Once Shuurei became a government official, I began to grow bored of the show. I watched this show for romance, not politics, but if it's something you're interested in, go ahead.

Bad things about the show aside, the show had a lot of good comedy in it. The comedy was the main reason I didn't abandon the show because it was up on my level of humor and I always found myself laughing. 

Story- The story itself is amazing. A girl who wants to be an official, but can never become one due the rule that said girls can not become an official. Throughout both seasons she aims to help poor people or just ordinary people. It has a very deep plot and meaning to this story for those who haven't watched it yet. Some moments have key meanings with extras that leave you wanting so much more. In a way this is a harem (a main male or female character surrounded by the opposite gender), where Shuurei is mainly the only girl but there are a few ... more supporting characters.

Art- For an anime this is one of the best artworks I've seen. Not only does all boys look hot and girls look pretty and tough the way they are tough, no characters always look too alike or too different. Very unique character designs in which each person have their own personal style.

Sound- The sound I would guess is the background music and the characters voice. Both is awesome and everything but it's always the chinese instrument which sounds pretty but is kinda saddening. Sometimes it get boring but it's pretty interesting how it doesn't.

Character- Most of the characters have an almost fully exposed background. Well Shuurei at least does. Most of the guy characters (which mainly the whole cast) don't really have a background till the second season especially Shuuei. The character are pretty well played out and fits plot very nicely along with the main character Shuurei.

Enjoyment- I personally loved this series. First due to my culture of China and second I LOVE the ancient China theme cause i never got to know much about how it works, but thats not what this story is about i can assure you. Also if you don't think 'Well this looks pretty nice' you won't click on it.At first I just watched it because i mean it looks okay and everything is fine, but OMG best anime ever.

Overall- Overall due to mostly character and story along with sound I loved it. It is on the best list no question asked. Character is the best out of all the thing and art is nice. :) you'll like it as the story moves on towards the middle and beginning of season 2. At the end I wish you'll look back to episode 1 once and think at least "Wow, I've gone far too. From the story it developed so much."

I loved the meaning and potential of this anime. The story is amazing and deep but I found that it wasn't executed as well as it could have been, they missed many chances to make it more interesting. This is one of those animes that if you dont pay attention to certain parts, you'll get lost. lol I got lost in some parts. I expected more from some scenes and was disappointed. Plus they didnt do a good job in ordering the scenes.. Like they made a really high tension scene then switched to a low paced scene and it killed the mood. In ... season 2 they foreshadowed things way too early and Im almost done watching and I still have not yet seen what was foreshadowed, Im worried they took something that could have greatly deepened the story and half assed it into something small. From what I've already seen, I wouldn't be surprised. btw I love seiran x3 Hes now my anime crush. hehehehe -imagines myself as shuurei- *cough* welll anyway.... Though I was disappointed, this is an anime worth watching. While there is alot of historical-political things, I was lead to believe that this anime was a boring history lesson from reading other reviews- well its not lol. I highly suggest giving this anime a try.

If you are looking for a review pointing out reasons that might make you not like this anime, then you are like me and read reviews just to do that before watching it. You dont like reviews saying "it is good for this, this and this", you read reviews saying "if you dont like this, this and this, you wont like it".
That said.

First, this might be a quite boring series for most viewers. Since having more than 20 eps happening in only 3 buildings. To timings, since having a couple straight episodes lacking story action, to having basic timings not adding right. You will find ... these at some point.

Second, the animation was lacking in many ways, and by animation i mean the art, individually each frame are quite decent, pretty characters and all, but when it comes to movement, fighting scenes etc, its really lacks allot, the bits of movement it has are really poorly made and this scenes will make you sigh.

And even tho this anime relies allot on its dialogs and soap-opera-like development, it still uses in some cases quite unreliable reasons for some characters ending up doing some actions, leading to the desired plot.

About the design or drawing art, i'd rate it a '4'. Like i mentioned, even tho the basic drawing of the frames, characters and scene are pretty decent, the artists weren't able to draw in anyway any movement or action scene. Even when there is fighting involved, it really looks pretty basic, boring, lacking, basically all you see is one character pushing the other aside, you cant even call it a fight. It doesn't apply solely to fighting animations, any kind of animation in the hole anime is quite simplistic.

About the history i'd give a '5'. Because I'll also rate this section based on the genres appointed by MAL, since we can not judge a romance by its adventure, we cant rate an adventure as a romance. That said. Saiunkoku is rated both as romance, drama, comedy and adventure, and as such it fails in most of them. You might ask why, here then:
Fails being an adventure, like i said, 20 episodes all happening in 3 builds isnt the kind of history of an adventure, and even when they travel, once, isnt the kind of lively, adventurous felling you get from it. And even so, it only lasts a coupe episodes untill they reach their destination.
As for the Drama part, it ruins itself because some of the decisions characters take seem too forced by the anime creators in order to get this particular plot, it doesn't look natural at all.
Well, it is not all bad, it was an enjoyable romance on most episodes, even tho personally i'm not a great fan of romances, i did enjoy the first 15 (or more) episodes, but then the plot tries to reach other audiences and genres and fails in it, for the reasons already pointed out.

//Multilanguage Review (English-Español)//


English:

The story takes us to meet Shuurei and is set in a medieval China. Thanks to past events, in which they had monarchists wars and politic problems, Shuurei family suffered the consequences of this, because his family, one of the most famous aristocratic families of the country, helped many people at the time. This family offered to give food, water and shelter to those who need it, at the time when the monarchy was a mess, and because of that the economic condition of his family declined, leaving infertile trees and the rivers that furrowed her big house was dried, and anothers several ... additional problems.

One day is presented to Shuurei a palace member, and asked to be part of the Harem of the newly crowned emperor (ie, that is part of one of the concubines of the emperor). Seiran was also offered a similar deal (a servant and protector of the family Shuurei) which was to be a palace guard. This offer was offered to both, and if they fullfil it, they get a lot of money. Shuurei accept, because his house was in poor condition.

Shuurei hear strange rumors of the Emperor, that was that the emperor preferred men to women (which is denied in the course of the series) because he hardly ever saw him with one.

Soon after, she met the emperor Ryuuki, a young clumsy men, almost the same age of Shuurei and without the experience to be an emperor. In the course of history, the two are sympathizing and becoming closer, and Shuurei will influence the emperor in a good way, that is gradually taking the emperor has more maturity and experience to become a good emperor.

Shuurei's life gradually begins to change and the roads had decided to become more clear, that is, breaking the schemes of a society entirely made by and for men (wanted to be part of society's palace ), it is becoming increasingly accessible to reach thanks to Ryuuki, but that does not mean it's easy, Shuurei will have to face several problems in achieving his dream move.

I had discovered this anime for myanimelist (thanks myanimelist!) And had decided to see because I like the drawing and I like the plot. So I try downloading it and watch it, and did not disappoint me at all.

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Plot, setting and development

The setting and scenery surrounding this story were one of the things that catch my interest to see this anime because I love this kind of anime with medieval atmosphere (either East or West), with good characters and plot.

Another thing I liked about the story is that each chapter is taught something different, that is, each chapter title is a saying or phrase, and that saying is reflected in the actions of the characters in the anime.

The plot and setting liked me so much like I mentioned before. Another thing is the development, the development of anime in the beginning is good, that is, the make the chapters enjoyable and is not boring to watch. But as the anime progresses (as until chapter 30 I think) the development is star to begin slow. The story from that chapter does not advance much about the plot and at times hereinafter why.

This was I think the only negative aspect of this anime, the development, if would had been a better development, ie, a bit more balanced and not so slowly from the chapter think 30, I would put more points to this anime, maybe a 9, because I really liked a lot.

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Characters

This is an aspect that I liked, the characters, especially the protagonist and his bodyguard Shuurei Seiran (I liked more than the emperor)

Shuurei Kou: I quite liked her character, is stubborn, friendly, strong and determined to fight for their dreams, which in this case is part of society's Palace and break the pattern that had been carrying in these times, in which women were not entitled to this. She is also a focused and hardworking and not get so much distracted by love affairs that are presented. Although I think that she was quite distracted some times regarding this aspect.

Seiran: Another character that i like it. Seiran is a servant of the Shuurei family, which keeps many secrets from his past that are involved with the palace. In his past, he had found stranded and injured in a forest, the circumstances decided that Shuurei family would responsible for the him and the father of Shuurei make him a protector of Shuurei. Seiran have a tender affection to Shuurei since he was young but the anime not reveals so much about the feelings he save for her because in the anime almost entirely focused on the development and circumstances that Shuurei passes to reach his dream.

Emperor: A young emperor, which at first appears like a newly inexperienced emperor and clumsy. Then, when he meets Shuurei and being to sympathize with her, their good influence of Shuurei makes he change and mature a little more, making it a better emperor.

To Eigetsu: He is a young man comes along history to register to be part of society the palace. This young man accompanying Shuurei in several situations. Also it seems to have a double personality, and his other personality is shown when drinking sake (Japanese wine). His other personality is the opposite of him, that is especially useful in battles, that is somewhat aggressive and not very friendly.

Another character that involves the anime have importance in this series is the father of Shuurei and some more secondary characters.

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Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the anime is good. The ending is a quiet and gentle melody that I liked. And the opening ... I love the opening!, has become one of my favorite definitely openings, I love rhythm and melody, which also seem to me very much in line with the anime.

I also have quite liked the parts where Shuurei play a classical Chinese instrument (I love how this instrument sounds) this instrument also appeared in Akatsuki no Yona, which is played for the dragon Ki-ja.

Which by the way, this anime is similar to Akatsuki no Yona by the looks I mentioned earlier and the medieval setting.

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Drawing and animation
Drawing and animation is good, although the animation is 2006-2007 this animation save the professionalism of the detail in the scenes and characters.

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This anime has a second season that is the sequel, I plan to watch it soon. It should also be noted that this anime is based on a otome game of the same name.

Conclusion: I recommend this anime if you like Asian medieval stories (the Akatsuki no Yona style but without so much fantasy) good plot and characters. With a soundtrack and peaceful development, and a good drawing-animation.


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Español:


La historia nos lleva a conocer a Shuurei y esta ambientada en una China medieval. Gracias a sucesos del pasado, en el cual se generaron guerras y conflictos monárquicos, Shuurei y su familia sufrió las consecuencias de esto, debido a que su familia, una de las familias aristócratas más reconocidas del país, ayudo a mucha gente en ese entonces, que carecía de comida y demás cosas. Dicha familia se ofreció a darle comida, agua y refugio a los que la necesitaban en ese entonces cuando la monarquía era un desastre, y gracias a eso la condición económica de su familia decayó, quedando los arboles inferirles y los ríos que surcaban su gran casa secos, además de varios problemas adicionales.
Un día se le presenta a Shuurei los miembros del palacio y le piden que forme parte del Harem del recién coronado emperador (es decir, que forme parte de una de las concubinas del emperador). También le ofrecieron una oferta similar a Seiran (un criado y protector de la familia Shuurei) que era el de ser un guardia del palacio. Esta oferta que le ofrecieron a los dos se les prometió pagar, si la cumplían, una gran cantidad de dinero. Shuurei acepto, debido a que su casa se encontraba en malas condiciones.

Shuurei gracias a rumores extraños del emperador, se entero que el emperador prefería a los hombres que las mujeres (cosa que se desmiente en el transcurso de la serie) debido a que casi nunca se le veía con una. Poco después, Shuurei conoce al emperador, un joven de casi su misma edad algo torpe y sin la experiencia necesaria para ser un emperador. En el transcurso de la historia, los dos van simpatizando y volviéndose más cercanos, y Shuurei va influenciando al emperador de buena manera, es decir, poco a poco el emperador va teniendo más madurez y experiencia para convertirse en un buen emperador.

Poco a poco la vida de Shuurei comienza a cambiar y los caminos que había decidido tomar se van haciendo más claros, es decir, su sueño de romper los esquemas de una sociedad enteramente hecha por y para hombres (quería formar parte de la sociedad del palacio), se va haciendo cada vez más accesible de cumplir, pero por eso no quiere significar que sea fácil, Shuurei tendrá que enfrentarse a varios problemas para lograr seguir adelante con su sueño.

Había descubierto este anime por myanimelist (¡gracias myanimelist!) y lo había decidido ver porque me había gustado el dibujo y me había interesado la trama. Así que intente descargarlo completo para verlo, y no me decepciono para nada.

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Trama, ambientación y desarrollo

La ambientación y los escenarios que envuelven esta historia fueron una de las cosas que me llamaron la atención para ver este anime, ya que me encantan este tipo de animes con ambientación medieval (sea oriental o occidental) y fantasía, con buenos personajes y trama.
Otra cosa que me ha gustado de la trama es que en cada capitulo se enseña algo distinto, es decir, cada titulo del capitulo es un refrán o frase, y ese refrán se ve reflejado en las acciones de los personajes de la serie.

La trama y la ambientación me han gustado como mencione anteriormente. Otra cosa es el desarrollo, el desarrollo del anime al principio es bueno, es decir, los capítulos son amenos y no se hace aburrido de ver. Pero a medida que el anime avanza (como hasta el capitulo 30 creo) es cuando empieza el ritmo a hacerse más lento. La historia desde ese capitulo no avanza mucho con respecto a la trama y en algunos momentos lo adelante por eso.

Este fue creo que el único aspecto algo negativo del anime, su desarrollo, si hubiera sido un desarrollo mejor, es decir, un ritmo un poco más equilibrado y no tan lento desde el capitulo creo que 30, le hubiera puesto más puntuación, porque la verdad es que este anime me gusto bastante.

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Personajes

Este es un aspecto que me ha gustado de la serie, los personajes, sobre todo los principales, sobre todo la protagonista Shuurei y su guardaespaldas Seiran (me ha gustado más que el emperador la verdad) me han gustado. Mencionaré los principales:

Kou Shuurei: Me ha gustado bastante su personaje, es una joven terca, amable, fuerte y decidida a luchar por sus sueños, que en este caso es formar parte de la sociedad del palacio y romper el esquema que se venia llevando en estas épocas, en las cuales las mujeres no tenían derecho a esto. También es una joven centrada y trabajadora, que no se distrae mucho con los amorios que se le presentan. Aunque también se podría decir que algo distraída en algunas ocasiones con respecto a este aspecto.


Seiran: Otro de los personajes que más me gusto de la serie. Seiran es un criado de la familia Shuurei el cual guarda varios secretos de su pasado que están involucrados con el palacio. En su pasado, se le había encontrado varado y herido en un bosque, por estas circunstancias la familia de Shuurei decidió encargarse de el y asignarle ser el protector de Shuurei por la cual guarda gran cariño aunque no se desvela mucho los sentimientos que guarda para con ella, ya que en el anime casi se centran totalmente en el desarrollo y en las circunstancias que Shuurei pasa para poder alcanzar su sueño.


El emperador (Ryuuki): Es un joven el cual al principio se nos presenta como un recién emperador inexperto y algo torpe. Después, cuando conoce a Shuurei y le va tomando cariño hasta enamorarse de ella, su influencia hace que el cambie y madure un poco más, haciéndolo un mejor emperador.

To Eigetsu: Un joven que se presenta a lo largo de la historia para matricularse a formar parte de la sociedad de el palacio. Este joven acompaña a Shuurei en varias situaciones que tienen que ver con este aspecto. También al parecer tiene doble personalidad, y su otra personalidad se muestra cuando bebe sake (un vino japonés). Su otra personalidad es lo opuesto de el, es decir, siendo el un joven amable y tranquilo su otra personalidad es útil sobre todo en las batallas ya que es algo agresivo y no muy amable.

Otro personaje que involucra importancia en esta serie seria el padre de Shuurei y algunos más secundarios. Pero no los profundizaré ni los desarrollare ya que no hay mucho que contar de estos.

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Banda Sonora

La banda sonora de este anime me ha gustado, me ha parecido acorde. El ending es una melodía tranquila y suave que me ha gustado. Y el opening...¡El opening me ha enamorado!, se ha convertido en uno de mis openings favoritos sin duda, me encanta su ritmo y su melodía, que también me parecen muy acordes para con el anime. También me han gustado bastante las partes en que Shuurei a tocado un instrumento clásico chino (que me encanta como suena) este instrumento también apareció en Akatsuki no Yona, el cual lo tocaba el dragón Ki-ja.
Que por cierto, este anime se me ha parecido un poco a Akatsuki no Yona por el aspecto que mencione anteriormente y por su ambientación.


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Dibujo y animación

El dibujo y la animación me han gustado bastante, aunque la animación es del 2006-2007 guarda el profesionalismo del detalle en los escenarios y los personajes.

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Este anime tiene una segunda temporada que es la secuela de esta, que planeo ver pronto. También cabe resaltar que este anime es basado en un juego otome del mismo nombre.


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Conclusión: Recomiendo este anime si te gustan las historias medievales asiáticas (del estilo Akatsuki no yona aunque sin mucha fantasía) y con buena trama-personajes. Con una banda sonora y desarrollo tranquilo, y con un buen dibujo-animación.

Why this isn't one of the more popular Animes continues to leave me in shock.
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Saiunkoku Monogatari isn't some simple, one-two,half-heartedly done reverse harem Anime.
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The depth it takes with each characters background and personality make this politic romance drama so much more than any Anime has ever shown.
The characters. Personality. History. Storyline.
It's all so perfect. Nothing's rushed. Everything eventually gets explained.
A shame that the Anime series couldn't continue on.
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I'm no fan of historical Animes but this particular one got me hooked.

I am so glad. I orignaly thought that this was going to be a story were everyone either fall in love with her for no reason, or she is a mary sue who has everything handed to her and everyone talks about how smart, brave, and kind she is and how much they love her without her ever proving it. But in this story shuueri proves that she is smart, brave, and inteligent by her own actions, I would sing her praises more than anyone in the show. I also love the other characters, because they are characters, they do have some gimics like one ... persone get lost all the time, but that is not what happens all the time. Or that the king doesn't give everything to Shuueri just because he likes her romanicly, but puts is dutey as ruler of a country before his feelings and also respects the power imbalance in there realtionship and doesn't expliot it. Also the story is great and doesn't stay stagnete on one point but always changes. The action in this story is also excelt, some of these battles are more excieting than most action anime i have seen, not only that but the nogations witch should bore me half to death have me on the edge of the seat. I absoulutely love this show

I found this anime alot like Fushigi Yuugi or Hanasakeru Seishonen. But it was extreemly interesting, has a good plot line and has good character developments. I would recomend this anime to anyone who liked Fushigi Yuugi.

The story of this anime deserves a clean 10.
I like things that are based on history, and this anime is more historical than romantic.I like having a lot of serious themes and what is done quite realistic, but at the same time can be found on the whiff fantasies and unreality.
I do not like drawing, drawing was created as an echi anime, but the drawing is certainly not something that can destroy this anime.
Music is the middle level, nothing special.
Characters are thoroughly developed, while feelings of some characters are neglected.I am disappointed in what people have not noticed the quality of the anime.My overall rating ... of this anime is the 9. This anime is definitely worth watching and have in home collection. If you're a collector!
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mokunica burst with new feeling's
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i watched around 25-26 episodes, if you value your time then kindly don't watch this bullshit of an anime, long story short dont watch


only good in this anime is sound

im at around 26 episodes and it feels like the story only started moving in the last episode and till this episode they are just dragging the story with unnecessary activities and most of all the MC of this show is a woman and she is a b*tch

yes this is a reverse harem anime but still story revolves around great rulers and leaders with historic pride activities and these people managed to put in ... reverse harem, talk about disgusting.

BTW THIS IS MY 1ST TIME WRITING A REVIEW, when i has watched enormous amounts of shows and i liked so many series even could deserve 10/10 but i never written a review because GOOD STUFF DOESN'T NEED A REVIEW, IT'S ONLY THE BAD STUFF WHICH NEEDS IT.

i read reviews for this show and after getting a fair response i started watching this series cause i ran out of good anime and some one even compared this anime to KINGDOM and praised both. What a total BS KINGDOM MAY NOT BE OUTSTANDING BUT IS ONE OF THE FINEST ANIME EVER MADE, to compare such a good anime with this nonsense is laughuable.

If you want to know in detail about why is this anime so bad , go ahead watch the anime and regret.

I'm not joking this my first even review rather i call it whinning though lol, i just am really frustrated that i watched a garbage show which is labelled as good.

Decided up update my review of this anime. This might contain spoilers.

I like the story and the plot of the anime. The summary is mainly about what I consider the first arc of this season. Shurei has to help the new king become interested in politics so he can run the country. Since the position just fell into his lap due to family issues, he was not ready, prepared and really did not want the position.

The second arc is about Shurei's dream to be an official in the government, but that career option at first is not open to women. When it does, she faces ... a hard road of sexism from immature boys to realize her dream.

The third and longest arc is her journey to a city where she and another character are supposed to be co-governors.

That's the story. Now with the characters, I like all the main characters. This anime is one of few where the main heroine does not annoy me at all. Though she is difficult. This anime does not have a lot of romance scenes and Shurei is one of those girls who is single-mindedly focused on her career goal. She basically thinks romance and marriage would be the end of her career.

Ryuki is the new king who didn't want to be king but thanks to Shurei he changes and falls for her. He is the reason she was able to get started on the path to be an official. But as the anime goes on, he also has to continue his path to be a good king for his country.

Kouyu, unknown to Shurei who is clueless about most of her family history, is Shurei's adopted cousin. He is assigned to tutor the king, but Ryuki is always wandering around so no one can find him. I like Kouyu. What I don't like is his hatred of women and why it is never explained.

Shuei is head of the military and is assigned to guard the king if I remember correctly. He is a laid-back womanizer.

Seiran is Ryuki's older half brother but because he was banished, he has never been crowned king. Shurei's family adopted him, but Shurei does not know he is Ryuki's brother. He's really sweet and thoughtful but always seem to have these internal conflicts of not being able to protect Shurei which can kind of get annoying.

The only real problem I have with the anime is the fact that the third arc drags on for so long. Episodes twenty-two to thirty-seven they have to go to this city, be appointed as co-governors and then have to go back to their original city for a new years celebration. But still, the episodes in between are of her having to find two people, fight off the advances of some sadistic guy who basically drinks position on a daily basis.

And even though there are no scenes of her and Ryuki, you would think she had come to care for him even more because of the time she spent with the other guy, but it only teaches her not to friend zone people and be up front with them about her feelings. But Ryuki is willing to wait for her to return his feelings.

It's in some ways a refreshing kind of anime. It mainly focuses on politics and government. So if you are looking for an all romance, this is not for you. This is one of those anime where the main characters have a select few scenes that just brings them a tiny bit closer together, but not to the point where it drastically changes the plot or story.

Well, it's been a few years since I've finished Saiunkoku Monogatari and my memory's not that reliable but I'll do my best in reviewing this anime.

I've seen some reverse harems; from classics to modern ones, but let me tell you this: Saiunkoku Monogatari still tops them all. (If not, then it's one of the best out there.)

I came blind to this anime without knowing anything; the only thing I was expecting was for it to be underwhelming. But nah. It's good. Really good.

Story:

Saiunkoku Monogatari's premise about a girl from a fallen branch of their aristocratic family who is then offered 500 gold coins to join ... the imperial 'harem' for six months to straighten their unreliable emperor caught my attention. (Just so you know, I'm a maniac when it comes to governance,royalties,classics, politics etc.)

The story for me was a hit; but on the other hand what happens after that would be 50/50; either it goes on full-blown romance with the emperor or it delves into politics with some good-ol'-life lessons.

What did I get? Well I got a slow romance with some some politics (more on this on the 2nd season) bit more on life lessons about people,country and being a ruler. Not that I'm complaining, I mean it fits.

Character(s):

They aren't 'that' deep but the anime does give them background stories. It's just that there are MANY characters in the series to remember.

As for the romance, I've no complaint (Though in the anime, it takes a back seat but it's there.) I mean falling for Shuurei must be the most logical thing to do.

Music:

It's not memorable but it does fit the story with it's classic instruments playing.

Animation/art:

Well, the animation for this anime is rather stiff. You'd mostly see people talking. (Not that there should be more moving;this ain't action anyway) The art's is also good and simple.

Overall:

If you want to watch an anime with a strong female lead,slow paced anime, with romance present and with life lessons to boot then this one is for you.