Saiunkoku Monogatari Season 1 Review

Saiunkoku Monogatari's main love story is between Shuurei (left) and
Ryuuki (right)

I'm usually not a fan of bishonen anime, but recently I had the chance to watch the first season of Saiunkoku Monogatari, and it was quite impressive. Sure, there were plenty of handsome lads for viewers to ogle, but what was nice about the show was how this seemed like icing on the cake, and not its central aspect. What really made this show great was its fantastic story. There is a nice love story at its core, as well as plenty of political intrigue, and watching the characters grow and overcome adversity was a real treat.

At the center of Saiunkoku Monogatari's cast of characters is Kou Shuurei, a girl from a prominent clan in the Kingdom of Saiunkoku. The story starts with her living a relatively simple life (her father isn't interested in getting involved with the rest of the Kou clan) until one day she is invited to temporarily come to the imperial court and be the consort of the kingdom's young, newly crowned emperor, Ryuuki. She doesn't have to take part in any hanky panky, but Shuurei does spend time with him, and while he was once irresponsible, and aloof, she somehow ignites something in him that makes him want to start becoming worthy of his position in life. It also helps that they both start to slowly fall in love with one another.

Ran Shogun and Kouyuu are two of
Ryuuki's most trusted officials

Things just keep getting better, though, as Shuurei is also quite smart and wants to take the national exam to become a court official, but due to the sexist natures of the rules on who can sit them, she's not eligible seeing as she's a woman. This changes as the emperor pushes to allow women to right the test. From here the story just keeps going as Shuurei works her way up the ladder in society overcoming one obstacle after the next, sometimes on her own, and sometimes with the help of others.

This is why I like the series so much: it goes so far beyond just being an excuse to parade handsome men across the screen. There is so much substance to Saiunkoku Monogatari. The first season has a couple of very good story arcs chalk full of political intrigue, both related to the Sa clan, another of the kingdom's more powerful, and in this case prone to scheming, families. There were so many twists and turns during this part of the show that it was hard to pry myself from it and actually get some sleep every once and a while.

The eccentric Ran Ryuuren is now one of my favorite
anime characters ever

On top of this, there is a huge cast of characters, and all of them are interesting. At the center of things is Shuurei who is learning the ways of the world, becoming an adult, and doing her best to prove to those around her that she can be an excellent government official. All the while, Ryuuki is slowly becoming more responsible, and actually doing a good job as the ruler of his country, even if it means he has to be apart from Shuurei and live a rather lonely existence. Then there are all of the characters that surround the two, like Ran Shogun and Kouyuu, two of Ryuuki's most trusted aides. Kouyuu is always good for a laugh since he's so serious about everything, and has such a terrible sense of direction. Meanwhile Ran Shogun is quite the ladies' man, though I much prefer his younger brother Ran Ryuuren. That guy is just awesome the way he wanders the land in his eccentric garb, playing the flute as he goes. Everyone finds him super annoying, but I love him. If I were ever to take up cosplay, I'd go as Ryuuren in a heartbeat. Seiran is another prominent character, as a long time friend of Shuurei, adopted by her father, and who has quite the past, and certainly needs a mention here.

There are also other people who have strong feelings for Shuurei. The one to have the biggest impact on her would be Sakujun of the Sa clan. He's a terrible, evil person who has been responsible for countless deaths, yet he found that he wanted to be kind to Shuurei, and slowly fell in love with her, never showing her any ill will. She in turn wound up having feelings for him to a degree, or at least was unable to hate him, unlike most other people in the show. It made for a very complicated situation, but it was really interesting to watch it unfold.

Shuurei is a very strong female character in this show

Really, though, I could go on for ages praising all of the other interesting characters in the show like Shuurei's father, Shouka, as well as her uncles, Kurou and Reishin. Then there is the young Tou Eigetsu, who has a brilliant mind, and amazing work ethic, and is contrasted by Rou Ensei, who is incredibly carefree, and an excellent fighter. Then there is the mysterious Grand Advisor, Sho Yosei, who has an amazing level of influence over the royal court, and the country as a whole. It is very rare that I come across an anime with such a large stable of characters, and the vast majority of them are really interesting, but Saiunkoku Monogatari manages to pull this off.

The show's setting itself is also quite interesting. It takes place in the fictional kingdom of Saiunkoku, but it is very reminiscent of ancient China. Everything from the architecture to the mythology has a pronounced Chinese flavor to it. While I am quite fond of European, or historical Japanese settings that often crop up in anime, I really enjoyed the world created here.  It has a largely historical feel to it but there are elements of magic and otherworldly beings. What I like is that the show is so subtle about it. There are always vague hints of it, or we'll see a few characters that seem to have a mysterious ability, and only over time are we given tiny hints at what it all means. So, there's always a little bit of curiosity as to how that all works, and these sort of things don't happen very often making them all the more interesting. It's a nice change of pace from so many other shows that will just be, BAM! Wizards! and suddenly spells and monster summons are happening all over the place.

Saiunkoku Monogatari is definitely a show worth spending some time with. The story is phenomenal, there are tons of interesting characters, and the world it presents is quite intriguing. I really wish more bishonen styled anime series tried to emulate this instead of being ramshackle excuses to parade handsome men across the screen for half an hour. Saiunkoku Monogatari shows that the genre can be so much more than that.

Have your own thoughts on Saiunkoku Monogatari that you'd like to share? Be sure to leave a comment below. ^_^

Seirei no Moribito Review

Seirei no Moribito has a lot of interesting
characters

It's not often that I come across a show where the world really feels mysterious to me, but Seirei no Moribito has managed that. It feels like a world in the distant past, maybe the Asuka period, but with all sorts of magic and spirits. Moreover, Moribito has a very strong female lead in her 30s, which is very rare, and has become even less common since so many series go for some sort of ultra cute moe girl if they do opt for a female lead nowadays. So, these two factors combined with a really engaging story and great action scenes has made this one of my favorite animes to come along in recent years.

Moribito follows the story of a female bodyguard for hire named Balsa. She's serious, down to earth, and fights well with a spear. After returning to the town where she grew up after some time away she is hired to protect the realm's prince, which leads to all sorts of adventures as the young lad tries to fulfill his destiny (he needs to "give birth" to a water spirit), Balsa sorts out her own past, and we're introduced to a deluge of other characters.

Of all the characters in the show, Balsa and Prince Chagum get the majority of the screen time. They're probably two of the more interest characters that I've come across in an anime for quite some time. There are quite a few reasons for this. In the case of Balsa, it largely comes down to what I said about her before: she's a strong, slightly older female lead, and this is something that we just don't see a lot of in anime. It's usually moe girls from here to infinity, but this show opted for a 30 something spear-wielding heroine, and I really appreciate that. Moreover, she has a lot of substance to go along with that. She's serious, but down to earth, can walk a line between strictness and kindness, and its impossible not to like her when her motherly instincts kick in.

Balsa (left) and Chagum (right)

This all plays well off Prince Chagum since they spend so much time together. While he comes from royalty, he has to quickly learn what it is like to be a commoner, and also to grow up and become an adult. Balsa helps him along with this, and he does grow a lot during their time together. Over the course of the series, Chagum learns so much, and it's hard not to want to cheer for him as he makes his journey, not just to bring the water spirit into the world, but also to becoming a young man.

The pair are also joined by several great supporting characters. First there is Tanda, a local herbalist, and childhood friend of Balsa. He's a very kind, gentle man, and it's obvious that he and Balsa like each other as more than friends, but neither of them know how to admit it. What I like about this is that the show doesn't press the point and bring about some forced romantic pursuit. It's all subtle body language and the occasional comment from Chagum that hints at the two liking one another, and all we can do is quietly hope that they eventually hook up. Then we have Shuga who works for the royal court as a star reader. While his specialty is more astrological in nature, he is like a counterpoint to Tanda in that they are both academic, kind, and want to do what they think is best for whatever matters most to them. On top of this there is old, wise Torogai, a local mystic. She's quite eccentric, but she knows a lot about the spirit worlds that overlap with the human world. While she's usually extremely serious, I often found her to be a bit of comic relief in the show because she could be so out there sometimes. It's obvious that because she spends so much time away from people that it has allowed her eccentricities to really manifest themselves. I often found myself smiling while watching the show whenever she was on.

Balsa is one of the best female leads I've seen in an anime for
quite some time.

All the while, the show keeps hinting at a theme of pairings. There is the human world and the spirit world, and there are countless characters that are paired in various ways, be it Tanda versus Shuga, or Torogai versus Hibitonan (chief star diviner). It does hint at some sort of balance and symbiosis throughout the series. The theme isn't driven down viewers' throats, but it is there always hovering around in the background. It's kept subtle with us left to acknowledge its existence and sort things out for ourselves.

I should also quickly discuss the show's technical merits before ending this review. Firstly, there is a lot of detail here. Characters costumes are extremely varied since Moribito portrays so many people from different walks of life, from peasants to royalty, and several different regions in the kingdom. Moreover, the settings themselves really come alive, giving a sense of mystery, and of a land that existed long ago, where even history cannot completely push back the fog obscuring exactly what those places were like because no one totally remembers them. Also, the animation itself is top notch, especially the fight scenes. In a lot of other shows, fights are pretty simple with some basic sword swinging, and maybe some magical, flashy super power to spice things up. When it comes to Moribito, the scenes are painstakingly choreographed, and seem like something out of a well put together live action martial arts film. The fight scenes here are really impressive to watch.

While the visual presentation is good, I wasn't quite so taken in by the music. The soundtrack is a bit hit and miss. There are some very good tunes in the show, but a lot of the other stuff is forgettable. My favorite piece is a folk song that the people working the fields sing, and that becomes an over arching theme throughout the series in various incarnations.

Overall, this is by far one of my favorite anime to come along in the last ten years. It tackles mature themes very well without being forceful, and provides a fantastic set of characters. Moribito is actually the first in a series of books, so there are far more stories in that universe. I really hope that one day more anime is made that is based on latter books in that series because as it stands Seirei no Moribito is fantastic and I'd love to see further adventures with Balsa and company. As it stands, this anime is fantastic and more people should take the time to watch this show.

Have your own thoughts on Seirei no Moribito that you'd like to share? Be sure to leave a comment below. ^_^