Saiunkoku Monogatari (Season One)

First Season of Saiunkoku Monogatari

Episodes: 39

Manga written by Sai Yukino and illustrated by Kairi Yura

The Story of Saiunkoku (or Tale of the Land of Coloured Clouds) tells the tale of a smart, ambitious and hardworking girl named Shuurei. Because her father does not earn enough money to make ends meet, she has to do odd jobs. Her dream however was to pass the National Exams and become a government official. Her chance to get a shot at her dream came unexpectedly through an offer of becoming a concubine to Emperor Ryuuki. She was tasked however to teach and motivate the emperor to participate in court discussions and become a better leader. Lured by the prize money, the young lady from the Kou clan accepted the advisor's offer. The young man Seiran who has a mysterious past went with her to the palace with a temporary assignment as her bodyguard.

While spending time with each other, Ryuuki became fond of Shuurei. Her perseverance finally paid off and Ryuuki became interested in court affairs. But soon they learned that he was only acting that way because he believes he is taking care of the throne only while his elder brother is away. Ryuuki later finds out that his long-lost brother is Seiran. But Seiran has no desire of becoming Emperor.

Later the Emperor proposed that women be allowed to take the National Exams. Shuurei then started working at the palace but has to disguise as a boy. When the proposal was finally passed, Shuurei took the exam and finished third. But because the concept of women working as government officials was new, she had to endure all the insults she got from everyone. Eventually Shuurei was accepted and was given the post as co-governor of Sa province.

Getting to Sa province was not easy however. She and her co-governor had to devise plenty of tactics just to get there alive. This was how she met Sa Sakujun who grew fond of her as well. She gets entangled in the problems within the Sa clan in the process. With a lot of help from friends, they finally made it in time to the swearing-in ceremony and even put a stop to the Sa clan's manipulations. Sakujun tried to get Shuurei to make kanro tea for him but he failed. But not doing so made the poison he secretly used, lethal to himself. Shuurei blamed herself for the man's death.

In the final episode of the first season, Shuurei goes home to attend the new year's celebration and meets Ryuuki once again.

***

Although Shuurei was a nearly-perfect character, I think she's better and more likeable than most girls from any anime. There are times however when the other characters praise her too much that other people might find it too patronizing.

Character development was decent. However some events that involved some of the minor characters seem to be unnecessary and a little bit confusing. The occasional appearance of ghosts is expendable. There are several references to the kingdom's history as well as the history of clans and families that others might find confusing.

The animation is really good but there are inconsistencies in the outfits as well as the layout of the kingdom if one were to compare it to medieval China.

One thing I've noticed as well is that there's too much tea. In most episodes, one can find at least two scenes where the characters are having tea, although there was not one where the actual brewing of the tea was shown.

The fight scenes were mediocre and the main characters never seem to get injured. It's a good thing though that characters actually die (unlike most series).

I wish that there were more developments between Ryuuki and Shuurei but this is just the first season so it's still something to look forward to. Would have been better as well if there were rivals other than Sakujun. Overall it's a light and funny series. The story is decent and most of the characters are worth remembering. I'll give it a 6 out of 10 rating.