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| definitely a more complicated case than i imagined! i was nearly 80% sure it was a heavy metal toxicity case, but i entirely forgot about arsenic retarding corpse decomp. metalloids (often toxic to vertebrates) like arsenic have been used historically in pigments. but they have to be so finely ground and the suspension solvents perfectly refined; that a pale goldenrod yellow like in this episode was more often made with the spice turmeric. which unfortunately turns orange too easily for the red tones to be ignored. sulfur works better for this yellow but stinks too much for most artists. it also is so soft that powdering it without making lumps of compressed sulfur isn't easy. |
just an ol school American otaku enjoyin the life. don't sass me kiddies, i've been otaku probably since before you were born. leave me in peace and i won't bother you either.  |
Reply to SybilJesso
@Darkzepheran This is so helpful thank you for breaking this down
| @SybilJesso no worries :-) |
"Deceive yourself in every last detail... Deceive the world. Do this, and victory is assured. Best of luck to you, old friend. El... Psy... Congroo." -- Hououin Kyouma  |
| Ambitious smol Anshi realizing Pedo Emperor's preferences in women: "Fufu~ Bad luck, big sis~" :smugface: Man, gotta love Noto Mamiko voicing characters with messed up backgrounds. But seriously, how come I didn't get the hint of Anshi revenge-raping Pedo Emperor? I solved the un-decaying corpse case in record time but couldn't connect the dots while seeing a vengeful half-naked woman straddling a terrified man in his bed? Come on, baka me... Oh well, at least that explains the significative age difference between the current Emperor and his younger brother. OK episode. OST was particularly stellar this time. Especially the track that played during the sequence with Xiaomao revealing the painting. |
| mother and son? It was cool too!!! kekeke |
Reply to eddiec90
@Darkzepheran You just saved me and a whole bunch of people a lot of research and rewatching, so thank you.
Chinese palace stories tend to use flowery wordings to camouflage the true meaning, but add that with the Japanese art of word play and subtlety? It can become quite a puzzle lol.
Either way, Jinshi being the true son of the Emperor but being raised as his brother and having to be a Eunuch to remain in his position/place is a whole pot of messy drama.
Just to confirm, does Jinshi know everything about his birth parents? And does the current Emperor know too? If so, it must be a crazy complicated relationship between the two....
Chinese palace stories tend to use flowery wordings to camouflage the true meaning, but add that with the Japanese art of word play and subtlety? It can become quite a puzzle lol.
Either way, Jinshi being the true son of the Emperor but being raised as his brother and having to be a Eunuch to remain in his position/place is a whole pot of messy drama.
Just to confirm, does Jinshi know everything about his birth parents? And does the current Emperor know too? If so, it must be a crazy complicated relationship between the two....
| @eddiec90 I´m sure he knows something is up but isn´t 100% at this point in time. If I remember correctly in one of the last few episodes he does mention the idea of living in a complicated lie and is tired of all the deception. Maomao does mention the idea of why would the emperor have a favourite eunuch? and be in charge of such an important place, not to mention his traits remind her of ex-concubine Ah-duo. I´m sure he must have heard rumours or something the like. You gotta remember only a handful of people know the actual truth maybe Jinshi overheard one of them and began to have doubts, plus he must notice how favourable the emperor is to him and yes the emperor knows. |
| "Deceive yourself in every last detail... Deceive the world. Do this, and victory is assured. Best of luck to you, old friend. El... Psy... Congroo." -- Hououin Kyouma |
Dreadogastus_F said: Marinate1016 said: Love the little mother-son esque bonding moment at the end. Anshi peeping that Jinshi clearly has a thing for Maomao.. maybe this’ll make him a bit more aggressive with her going forward. 😋 good on Anshi not letting the fucked up shit in her past make her give up on life. Even with all its ups and downs it’s still worth it. I don't see Anshi as some delicate flower. She understood why her father sent her to serve her older sister. And when the opportunity came about, she made her move. 16:33. I imagine that knowing the score, she ingratiated herself to the late emperor. Anshi would gain luxury, wealth and power. But it did not go that way. When she grew older the emperor dropped her without a second thought. I make no moral judgements here. This is simply what I see in the story. You’re entitled to your opinion I disagree |
 |
Dreadogastus_F said: I imagine that knowing the score, she ingratiated herself to the late emperor. Anshi thought she would gain luxury, wealth and power. But it did not go that way. When she grew older the emperor dropped her without a second thought. I mean, she still got - and still has to this day, luxury, wealth, and power. She gave birth to the former emperor's son, who became the emperor upon his father's death. She is the empress dowager, mother of the emperor and in effect mother of the nation. That would never stop mattering unless there was some sort of political upheaval which overthrew the current state and abolished the monarchy, disinheriting and dispossessing the whole royal family of their wealth, status, and property. She still had a luxurious and safe environment in which to raise her son with all help from palace staff, could live in the palace with all its opulence and furnishings, and in current times seems to effectively have the run of the place and a lot of influence and sway. Especially because she is the current emperor's mother and assuming their relationship is at least decent, he probably lets her do whatever she wants and have all the servants, parties, services, etc. desired. So I don't think deprivation of wealth or power was ever her source of frustration or sadness later in life. It was being emotionally shut out by the former emperor and not having a real relationship with him continue into adulthood, when he stopped visiting and calling upon her and cut off sex or even acknowledging her by presumably around the time when she became a late teenager. That would lead to most people in the same situation feeling duped and used, but in reality they used each other in a way. But many would still place the greater burden of blame or responsibility on him because originally he was the adult and she was the (quite young) child - not even going to get into the male vs. female dynamic of the sexes and how males are more readily cast and perceived in the role of predators. But in reality I think in spite of all their mistakes and ill treatment both did still genuinely care for each other in some form until, respectively, either the end of their life (former emperor) or to the present-day (Anshi). She would have never initiated severing things with him and even now she reminisces about some of the positive memories and feelings seeing him through her beloved Jinshi, like he is in part living on through him. And he still painted her and probably just couldn't get over the psychological hurdle of dealing with adult women due to his own trauma and complexes, or properly vocalize or articulate his true feelings before his mind went. I can't see anyone in that story as villains or victims. That'd be really over-simplifying and dumbing them down. |
WatchTillTandavaMar 19, 11:39 PM
| The last Emperor was very messed up. Maomao solved that case quite easily though. |
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| I only really cared about the Jinshi lore in this episode. I learnt a lot more about him, which is always welcomed. However, cannot say I enjoyed watching the pedo emperor and poor Anshi backstories and how the late emperor was just a puppet (not giving him a reason for what he did though). Anyway, it seems like everyone now knows to just ask Maomao for help, and she'll get it done. |
 |
| The late Emperor's issues aren't making the nerves any better, at least not for Lady Anshi. And Maomao staying over in the Jade Pavillion alongside Lady Suiren, one peculiar box comes to mind that's filled with children's toys from Jinshi's childhood...and a particular pebble which reeks of poison, Maomao may be one step to getting closer to the truth about the late emperor's "curse". Barring the building that once used to be his house is getting torn down, it's best to get any evidence Maomao could, and one such painting made through pigments of orpiment, explains the non-decay through arsenic, for the one idiot emperor who didn't see himself becoming one of such dignified position. Of course, this does not provide any comfort to Lady Anshi, who first had to serve people of different relations, until she had to become a concubine to him to allay his fears. That affected Luomen (and Maomao to come), as the late emperor heed no sight of Anshi and only continued his parade of being a pedophile, until she confronted him and that was the moment he shut himself down to his own isolation. Thus, the only picture that stood still of young Anshi, as well as the orpiment stone, it's a secret that Anshi only knows and will take this to the grave. Pretty messed up stuff, considering that Jinshi is also a child of immorality. |
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| Not really interested in the past of that pedophile emperor no matter what psychological mental bullshit he had, but I guess we have to know him and his connections to the main characters. Also there it is again, somehow someway poison is again involved lol |
 |
| Jinshi's past has already been told to the audience in every way but words. I'm unsure if outright saying his familial relations is even a spoiler. The episode highlights one of Kusuriya's strengths: it's ability to cover the darkest of subjects well. There's no flippant humour, no quips, no patronising judgement on how the audience should think. It presents a story of a sheltered, weak paedophile who was subsequently raped. Most anime would not be able to cover such a thing with any degree of tact, either resorting to outrage or shock value. But the people in Kusuriya feel like real people. The emperor did evil things, not because he was malevolent, but because he was weak. He was too easily intimidated by all but the weakest - those being children. His mother was overbearing, not pushing her son to improve, cloistering and enabling him to become this man. Had his brothers not passed, he probably would've developed into a timid, but socially functional, creative man. Anshi is portrayed as a noble woman, but she raped the emperor out of spiteful position from a spurned feeling. She's both contrite and vindictive, yet such feelings haven't hollowed her out. Anshi is very much able to continue in her position fine. She simply lives with her actions in a way a real woman does. Anshi still has much to live for, people to live for. |
| Hmm interesting episode |
| I need somebody who can love me at my worst No, I'm not perfect, but I hope you see my worth 'Cause it's only you, nobody new, I put you first And for you, girl, I swear I'll do the worst If you stay forever, let me hold your hand I can fill those places in your heart no else can Let me show you love, oh, I don't pretend, yeah I'll be right here, baby, you know I'll sink or swim |
Reply to MenchiK1
Yeah poison pigment, not too original. I enjoyed the Empress dowager's story more. I guess Jinshi's apple doesn't fall far from the tree as far as his interest in lolis go. Maomao would have been a top girl if she had been born back then.
MenchiK1 said: I guess Jinshi's apple doesn't fall far from the tree as far as his interest in lolis go He is one year older than Maomao, what the hell are you talking about. Most people wouldn't watch this shit if "Jinshi's apple" didn't fall far from the tree I hope you were not trying to normalize anything |
| see you, space cowperson . . . |
Reply to MenchiK1
@Sorvarin
LOL geez dude don't get your panties in a bunch, Maomao is a loli, I didn't make her character design. Plenty of full grown women to compare her to on this show and compared to them she looks like a little girl. That is a loli, how long have you been watching anime?
Jinshi is 6feet tall and full of muscles, she is 5 feet tall and skin and bones with no curves (she said so herself). Even if she is 18 or 19, she still looks like a little girl. That in anime IS a loli. Get over yourself.
LOL geez dude don't get your panties in a bunch, Maomao is a loli, I didn't make her character design. Plenty of full grown women to compare her to on this show and compared to them she looks like a little girl. That is a loli, how long have you been watching anime?
Jinshi is 6feet tall and full of muscles, she is 5 feet tall and skin and bones with no curves (she said so herself). Even if she is 18 or 19, she still looks like a little girl. That in anime IS a loli. Get over yourself.
| @MenchiK1 16 y.o. is not a 'grown woman' ew, and while I do agree that her design is kinda pandering to the wrong crowd, she and Jinshi are one year apart, and he fell for her not because of her looks. these are just facts and idk what are you even trying to argue about (and why :s ) |
| see you, space cowperson . . . |
| what a fucked emperor... but it got portrayed well and sent the message. |
| Yeah that was definitely messed up for the emperors but well things were dark back then... though no matter what, the painting on the wall looks beautiful |
 |
| It's kind of cute that Gaoshun has always been by Jinshi's side. He tried to calm down the little Jinshi when Suiren took away his favorite toys. There seems to be a lot of comparisons to Maomao being like Jinshi's favorite toy. Also, I guess little Anshi knew what she was getting into with the emperor; it kept talking about her ambitions. I suppose she understood she would go up in rank and that is what she wanted. |
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