Kusuriya no Hitorigoto 2nd Season Episode 23 Discussion

@moin_7083

@billybub I would say... .. but... but... anyways... I love how Loulan's voice is so different from Shisui... like deep and serious while Shisui is a bit more high pitched and playful. Salute to her VA.

Yes, that indicates they literally did *NOT* find her body after she fell off the Stronghold wall. And then just didn't search, declaring her dead. I'm just guessing, but he said it was the last he ever saw Loulan. Not that she was dead.

Can someone EXPLAIN the recent episode to me?! I love this series but for an anime viewer only.. I am getting extremely confused!

Honestly gonna cut against the grain here. I did NOT like this episode nor the ending of this arc. It felt way too much like a K-drama, with theatrics taking priority over the actual plot development. Shishou's death, while cinematic, felt empty. The angle that he was still trying to do good by rooting out corruption within the Shi clan felt empty and not properly introduced, as we never really saw any of this corruption first hand. It also clashes with the part of his character that was actively and genuinely plotting Jinshi's death. Loulan's 'death' too felt kinda pointless, as besides escaping the rear palace and aiding Shishou in kidnapping Maomao, she really didn't do anything wrong. Her actions were painted as some deep evil, in their appearance if not in their substance. Yet, the entire set-up of this arc was humanizing the Shi clan. In other words, besides cruel Shenmei and the hint of the Western ambassadors, we never see true villainy or evil. And, in both of these important deaths, Jinshi is just standing around and doing nothing. In both cases, Basen is overcome by rage and extrajudicially executes both Shishou and Loulan without ever asking Jinshi for permission. I get that the core of the show is less the politics and moreso the interpersonal drama, but executing the Shi clan leaders instead of properly trying them and making a scene of it as a show of force/authority is just outright stupid.

Don't get me wrong: I'm still a big fan of Kusuriya. I mean, Maomao is literally my profile picture lol. But, this was just a lacking conclusion compared to what it was built up as. For those who've read the LN, was there a lot of context cut out that would've addressed these points? I know there's a lingering feeling of censorship around this show because of the allusion to China (hence the opening content warning each episode) but there's now a prevalent sense of rose-tint that obscures the darker story elements from coming out.

@SolLamia true . And yes Asami Seto is a brilliant seiyuu

That's another good point. I was kind of rolling my eyes here.

The idea is fine, even if it's maybe a little bit cliche. But the execution was last-minute and I wasn't sold on it emotionally.

It would've been great if they introduced an actual character (or two) to represent this idea, like a slave-trader or a sleazy politician who's only in it to enrich himself, serving within the clan. Show them to us doing bad things, seemingly in league with Shishou, and then in this episode, reveal to us that those bad things were in fact carefully controlled and properly punished by Shishou.

Or, they could've had Shishou be responsible for actually horrible things, other than the assassination attempt on Jinshi. Turning a blind eye to his lackeys stealing from the poor, for example. Or even just mass casualties during the battle that day. He might've been telling himself that he's only participating in corruption for noble reasons, but he would have to come to terms with the fact that he has caused real harm.

At the very least, they should've given Shishou more screentime over a longer period of time, even if they don't explain his thoughts and motivations in detail. They didn't need to redeem him, they just needed to humanize him.

His past with Shenmei and the previous emperor was handed out much too late and much too abbreviated. And I believe we heard his inner thoughts only once before, a few episodes ago.

This arc could've hit hard for me, it's just a missed opportunity...


I didn't have a problem with this part.

As I understand it, in China (and Korea and Japan), treason was often punished by execution of the entire household. Some of them may be innocent, but it was about sending a message.

And Shisui isn't even innocent, because her leaving the rear palace could easily be interpreted as an act of treason, given everything that's happened since. Also, simply knowing about the conspiracy and failing to report it is already aiding and abetting.

Shisui seems to be written as a tragic character who was dealt a cruel hand, and she couldn't (or couldn't bring herself to) do anything until it was too late. There was no escape for her, unless she did something drastic like abandoning everything and living out her life in some distant mountains.

The episode is peak af, idk how tf S2 was rated lower than S1 until last week

Is Loulan really dead? I would be very happy if that happened.

Let me guess, she survived and will now pretend to be Shisui for the rest of her life, while Mao Mao can "resurrect" the children of her line using the agreement to spare the lives of those who "already died once", right? In that case, it would make much more sense than another Asian over-fatalism.

@Marinate1016 I swear if this was a movie series or an expensive dorama the showrunners would have made millions out of it. It's basically a Chinese Game of Thrones lmao.

She wanted to die as a villain, so her second request was to injure him since that's a crime punishable by death. Too bad Lihaku was also punished for it.

can someone explain the second "request" of lolan ?

can someone explain the second "request" of lolan ?

They say good bye with a dance, it has been established before.