The chapter starts with Shuurei waking up to find her royal husband lying on her and of course they are seen, but we know this from the anime. What is different in the manga however is the breakfast after that not so memorable first wedding night.

Shuurei is not sure what happened and desperately wants to hear that nothing took place, but Ryuuki acts nasty and …

… teases her to no end, but Shuurei being Shuurei is not fooled and sees right through him that nothing actually happened, which in turn causes the Emperor to sulk cutely.

Then our beloved concubine takes a long time to explain all the ways to love and how exactly she loves different people including telling her husband that he doesn’t make her heart go doki-doki (ouch, that must have hurt).

Next are some scenes from ep four – the talk between Ran and Seiran and the consequent sparring battle of the latter with the bearded councilor Sou.

The difference here though is that right after the end of the battle Sou talkes about what happened to the exiled prince Seien thus reveing straight away that Seiran and Seien are in fact the same person.

While I like the fast pace of the manga as well as the way the characters are much more seriously treated giving them mature and not so frilly personalities as in the anime, I think a bit more mystery about that one would have been a good idea. The anime also revealed that secret in one ep and even without it, it had enough subtle hints to the double identity of the lilac-haired bishi, but they did a better job of the revelation in my opinion.

Ok then there’s reference to one of the few things Shuurei fears (we get a glimpse of that in ep 9 of the series). Then follows some interaction between Shuurei and her father. It is annoying to no end, but he has his eyes constantly closed in the manga as well as in the anime. I don’t see why, it just gets on my nerves, big time!

And we have Ryuuki going to his concubine’s room to sleep there again, while we get all this in the eps, what is new here is the part Kourin plays. She gets some attention and we are shown that she harbours some romantic feeling towards her Emperor. She blushes sweetly when he takes the dinner she had brought for the two husbands.

Ryuuki drinks Shuurei’s tea and this angers her, but what I am more interested in, since it is not shown very clearly is if he does it because he considers it poisoned. The tea was in a silver cup, so after the hints that silver would change colour when filled with poisoned drink, it is a possibility. On the other hand unlike the case in the anime, where that was at an official gathering, here there were only the two of them, so he could very well spill it somewhere making it look like he did it unintentionally, like slip or drop it, or whatever.

Then follows a bit different way for Kouyuu to realize that the emperor is not the fool he makes of himself, but the difference is not that important. The only additional info we get is that Ryuuki’s teacher at swordsmanship was Sou, who’s legendary for his excessive expectations from his students. I guess that this would either be a substitution of the tournament from ep four or just some info that would make sense later. I guess the next chapter at the latest will show us the Emperor realizing Seiran’s true identity. I am most impatient to see how this is handled in the manga.

Interestingly, the last panel of the chapter is dedicated to Kourin, a character one would least expect to be treated with such an honour. It can even be said that she was given a lot of personality in this chapter, more that in the anime till ep 5.

The art of the manga remains absolutely gorgeous and the guys in it are so yummy that fangirls should have a napkin to prevent the drool from falling on their keyboard. I really hope that the manga will remain as beautiful and well passed. I am happy that through it I can have a view on the story form a different angle.

On another note, I’d like to point everyone’s attention to the great chibis on the cover. An especially to the fact that while Shuurei is alone in the top half of the sheet, Seiran ane Ryuuki and together in the bottom part and looking towards one another. And yes, I am perfectly aware that there is close to zero chance of any actual BL interaction between those two, but I can’t refrain myself from noting this small detail and go moe over it. I mean what kind of BL fangirl would I be, if I don’t comment on it?

Ok, I have not seen it done on another blog (which doesn't mean it has not happened, just that I am not aware of it), but that would hardly be a reason why I shouldn't do it, so I decided for now to try blogging the chapters of Saiunkoku Monogatari manga. I know that most people would blog episodes or just say a few words about a volume of manga or even the whole manga, but since I like Saiunkoku too much for the time being I'll do it like this.

Chapter two roughly covers some of what happened in eps 2 and 3 of the anime, but there's another meeting between the Emperor and Shuurei (before they officially know who is who).

Ryuuki considers the woman he has met to be some servant at the harem and is surprised to find out she is actually his a concubine.

There were some nice jokes in this that I really liked. And especially the lurking Ryuuki who tries to secretly see who's in the harem, as if he has no right to enter it.

I am glad that the manga is not too close to the anime or it would have been too boring and predictable. In this way readers can get a different view on the story and the characters and this will help them get a better idea of what is going on.

Another difference is that Shuurei doesn't take the Emperor out for a walk around the town and later for a visit at her home, but instead tells him the story of the sakura trees in her yard while they are in the royal garden.

Otherwise we have the emperor waking up and grabbing Seiran then offering him a sleepless passionate night, which is an offer sadly turned down in the manga as well , (now, why wouldn't they indulge me with some Seiran x Ryuuki BL fanservice is beyond me).

Then Ryuuki goes to Shuurei with roses, gets his hands treated and he falls asleep while she is telling him the Bara-hime story, which is once again cut short and I don't find out what happens in it (damn!).

But what is more memorable is the absolutely stunning beauty of the art. I mean Ryuuki is just like a candy waiting to be devoured by the best seme around *cough* Seiran *cough* and the same goes for Seiran, but the truth is, in this chapter it is the Emperor, who is the bishi of the day.

Feast on the bishis, for they deserve it as much as every naughty fangirl does.

Wow, it is eps four already and I was eagerly waiting for this sub ever since I saw the raw. I had so many evil and naughty ideas, but that is not the topic here. The thing is that this ep really makes me feel good. The fanservice for those like me is aplenty and I can not hide my pleasure that they did it the way it is.

What do we have after all?

We have one pretty angry Shuurei stalking the elders for deceiving her and making her believe that her royal husband is a fool when he is nothing of the kind. The Elders are content that everything goes according to their plans and then the High Consort barges in their room stating that since she sees no need of her aid for the Emperor, she should go home, but… there is the small matter of the 500 gold pieces that she desires so much, and that binds her in the Palace.

And then we move to the depressed and utterly funny Emperor, who is sad that his wife is mad at him. I must really compliment the seiyuu, since the voice acting does a great deal in showing the characters emotions and makes me laugh as well, without making the whole scene ridiculous.

And what do you think the reason for Ryuuki's idiotic behaviour was? He thought Shuurei would like him better that way. Trust a man to assume such a stupid thing. But the fact is in any other anime that would have probably scored points in the heroine's book, so I'll let him go off the hook easier.

And right in the middle of this funny little stunt of selfpitty and lovely facial expressions, his companion – General Ran – brings up the topic of the Emperor's intimate preferences. He has actually always preferred women, but the one thing that forced him to act gay (*BL fangirl mode ON* Ryuuki, act as gay as you wish and as often as you want, you have my firm support here, and if you let Seiran do you, I'll be even more pleased *BL fangirl mode OFF*) was that he was afraid to sire any children mortified by the idea what struggle for power and influence that might induce.

Even if not stated directly it is obvious that his past and memories of the battles that took place prior to his taking the throne are the main reason for his fears and I find this a nice touch in the character development Ryuuki gets in this ep.It is also good that they don't see need to spell the things for the viewer assuming his/her intelligence would suffice to draw the conclusions. Another plus of the show. I guess it being made after a josei novel is partially the reason and the common sense of the scriptwriter helps too.

The Elders discus the problem with the poisoning attempt against Shuurei and her ability to keep it a secret, but then one of them mentions the only living brother of Ryuuki the long since exiled Seien. Seems like he considers that Seien would make a better ruler, but that is my assumption.

They do concur on one point though – that Seien was the best among the royal heirs and had he stayed a Emperor candidate, he would have succeeded the throne without the problems that took place.

And Shou, the most active and conspiring among the Elders comments that sadly none of them has any idea what happened with Seien after he was cast away. What a liar! But I am actually really interested in him as a character. He seems to be a borderline secondary character, but most of the important plot twist revolve around him or are directly plotted by him (this is a minor spoiler for the future eps, but I hope this won't ruin anyone's pleasure).

As Shuurei and her father discus the issues of her marriage and Ryuuki's intelligence she realizes he knew everything. And we find out that one of the reason Shuurei was chosen as Consort was the fact that she has a limited set of relatives that might try to use her and attempt to expand their influence. Nice touch as always. Such small details that have seemingly insignificant role at first glance but are later revealed to have been the small stone that changed the direction of the cart make this story a good in the political sense. No stupid teenagers who a suddenly put on the throne and it comes naturally to them, no idiotic decision that turn correct out of the blue. But rather political games and puling the strings behind the scene that are so much closer to real life politics.

And through the memories of Shouka we get another glimpse on Ryuuki's past.

The young then prince sought in the library refuge from the constant abuse he was subjected to and there he stumbled upon Shouka, who started to take care of him.

But then Shouka adds that while Ryuuki might be an Emperor and have what others might deem perfect life, he has been deprived of the one thing that even the poorest person has – the tender love of a mother and he hopes she would be there for him to make up for that.

Now here I am actually divided. While I understand that the poor guy needs Shuurei, I am not sure that their relationship should elaborate too much on the mother-son type of connection the story seems to concentrate so far on. I just think that if they continue in such a mater it would be hard to convince the audience that they deserve a more intimate relationship as the kind of husbands would be. It won't be realistic. But I'll wait and see how they solve this one from what the series shows so far I have strong hopes for it and hope they don't ruin it. I would even welcome a relationship between Ryuuki and Shuurei that is based on something else and not romantic love in the end, it would be a fresh breeze, but considering the target audience of the novels – young women – I guess that is rather unlikely.

And we move to a more interesting scene right next to brighten the mood . The two friends Ran and Ri, who comment on the topic of the day (or would I say the ep – the Emperor's intellect) and if Seiran was presented with a purple iris (well, as far as we've been shown so far – not).

And then they see him and Ran goes for a little sekuhara type of act – leaning over him and his head as if he would kiss him right then and there, he does not :/ –that while funny is between two characters that I can't envision as a couple. But I guess even this is better than none at all.

The conversation is rather cheesy and suggestive and then I have to praise the voice acting once again as it really helps for making the whole scene even funnier.

And as Seiran leaves Ran talking to no one the latter chases after him as in a game of courting and leans over him some more (I guess that had this been between my beloved Seiran x Ryuuki couple, I would have been in for some major blood loss due to nose bleed) while imagining scenarios of the things that Seiran did while living with Shuurei and the way he had courted her. It is made into quite the ridiculous and hilarious scene with slightly chibified versions of the characters but not too much).

Then follows some bad fanservice as we see one of the Elders – the bearded Sou naked from the waist up. He looks horrible to me. Too muscled for my taste. If I have to make some ugly comparison, and since I am writing this and I feel like sharing my allusion with you, I'll tell you that he looks like an overworked fitness junky on steroids. So this man practices sword movements and forces Seiran to spar with him and while fighting he asks questions of the bishi's past. The Elder wins the battle and comments on Seiran's sword style in a way that reveals he has realized something.

In the evening of the same day Seiran and Shuurei talk and while she brags on about the Emperor he puts in the odd one-word replies but is obvious that is mind is not there at all. And all of a sudden another nice BL reference jumps out of the Consort's mouth.

Shuurei: Are you being bullied by the Plume Forest Army?

Seiran: Huh? o.O

Shuurei: You are skilled and have a handsome face…

I was really cracking with laugher and could almost hear the phrase continuing with

"…and you are just begging to be molested."

I don't know if my mind is too perverted or the scene and the text are really suggestive, but my associations were quite not what Shuurei had in mind.

Ok, that aside, there was some nice development of the Seiran x Shuurei interaction. She is sad that it is always her that seeks support in Seiran and never the other way around and is afraid her debt has grown too much. She says that she is there for him, if he needs her.

Next out of the blue comes the news that Sou has decided to organize a Martial Arts Tournament. This jumps out on us during a talk between Ran and Ri. And Ri wonders if this is done in order to lure out some famous assassin– the Black Wolf, who was rumoured to have been the right hand of the late Emperor.

If this name is mentioned, then we can expect this assassin to make an appearance in some of the episodes to come. Kind of like the Chekhov's rifle saying.

And meanwhile Seiran is ordered to take part and not to hold back.

Then there is a brief comic relief due to Shouka's horrible art of tea-making and Ri's opening speech which is just a tad too long, boring and he can't present it very well. But really "Let the tournament begin!"

The award is announced – 100 gold pieces and our money deprived Consort has stars in her eyes at the mentioning of the amount, so her royal husband decides to win her the prize.

So the battle goes on and the semi-finals oppose Ryuuki vs. Seiran, which puts Shuurei at dilemma, whom to support. Until she realizes that whoever wins the money goes to her. Nice one, huh?

So Ryuuki recognizes the sword style, but manages to pull himself together and win.

I have a few remarks here. First I didn't really like the way the battle was done, but since this is not a fighting anime, I am not going to be harsh. What I do mind however is that in the following situation (the left pics):

…if these were girls and this was a shounen anime, we would have been fanserviced with aplenty of panty-shots, so now would anyone tell me, why didn't we, women, get similar treatment and be presented with some equivalent. Look at the picture to the right. That is what the anime version should have been like .

Whatever, I guess I am getting the short straw here and I can do nothing about it. So, after winning the semi-final our fair Emperor loses in the final to General Ran and the poor Shuurei remained poor (pun intended), no 100 gold pieces for her.

And what is more, Ryuuki seems to be out of it for some reason, but wouldn't speak of it with Shuurei. Then he spots Seiran and follows him leaving behind a perplexed Shuurei.

Now I really liked how the conversation between those two is handled. Both of them talk mainly in third person.

Ryuuki talks of the important role of Seien in his life, the difference he made. And we finally find out the reason behind his resistance and withdrawal from his royal duties. He always felt like and impostor, a figure that was on the throne only until the far more deserving in his eyes Seien came back to take the place that Ryuuki saw as rightfully his brother's.

Seiran on his part replies that what once was, is not meant to come back, that the Emperor has eventually started to rule as he has always been supposed to and that is the right direction to head to. That, were Seiran Ryuuki's brother, he would have been really proud of him.

When Ryuuki demands the official return of his brother, Seiran refuses saying that should that happen Seien would have to leave. I can see the sense in this. There's no place for two possible Emperors, not after the problematic rise to the throne of the youngest son. This might inspire another fight, even if Seien has no aspiration towards the title. There are always those who would do anything if they believe that would make them more powerful or richer, or both.

This is another good one from political point of view. While it would have been absolutely tooth-painfully sweet to have a long-lost brothers' reunion, it would have made the political situation very difficult and hard to control. I suppose this however leaves open opportunities for future twists as the secret slowly makes its way from person to person, as secrets tend to do in anime.

Nice visual touch is the transition from the current selves of the two to the kids in the Emperor's memory. Like the images that were frozen in time for Ryuuki are finally allowed to grow up and mature, thus letting him continue on with his life.

The two embrace while in the kids forms and then are shown as the men they are now.

Ok, and then on this sweet brotherly love expression scene steps in our romantic main heroine, yes none other than Shuurei, and what conclusion does she draw from the pic that her eyes feast upon (mine too by the way) – that they are so rabu-rabu for each other…

If only, dear friend, if only…

And she retreats to leave them to themselves… as they chaise after her and even if they don't say the obligatory in such cases phrase "It's not what you think" (yeah right, a pic is worth a thousand words), it is obvious, they mean it…

So, as overall impression from the ep, I can say, that the animation remains low in quality in comparison with the first two eps, which is especially obvious when the characters are drawn in the distance, their features in such cases are a bit disturbing. But aside from that, the story remains consistent, sensible and the characters grow on the viewer and in development. I wish more series were this good.

The one thing that continuously gets on my nerves is the way Shouka's eyes are always closed as if he is blind. It really irks me.

This was as always when it comes to Saiunkoku, one long comment-heavy summary.

Just a few words on the Saiunkoku Monogatari manga. Yesterday was provided the first chapter by one of the scanlating groups and I grabbed it right off.*

While I would really love to actually read the novels which are bound to give a better knowledge of the world and the characters, I am not passing on the manga too. Plus there are not many groups willing to start translating a novel.

What interested me the most was to see to what extent would the manga match the character designs in the anime. And my, oh my, are the bishounen even prettier! I mean I still have troubles to decide once and for all if I prefer Seiran or Ryuuki, but here they both are pure gold on the bishi side. Even if Ryuuki is a bit disturbingly beautiful in quite the feminine sense of the the word. But Seiran is just perfect.

I like the way the hair of the guys is drawn in the manga, looks much better and I am a sucker for long-haired bishounen.

Chapter one covers the first ep of the anime and if the scanlations manage to go ahead of the anime, or at least ahead of the subs this would be good as my understanding of the raws will rise a few notches. Considering however that the anime has already gone into volume 2 of the novels, I am not sure if the scanlations would be able to catch up with the anime, but as I said, even if they manage to go ahead of the subs I'll be happy.

* Please don't ask for links, if you are a fan, you'll know where to look for it

OK, this is ep 3 of the series and the truth is, this show is rapidly climbing up on my list. It has it all – it's moderately funny, the characters are smart and witty, the story-line goes fine so far, the character design fits my taste and man I just love the BL innuendoes here and there. They are done with such taste and to the point that one can't help but laugh. I guess that even people that don't like BL references might find this show good. But of course, I can't be sure. Whatever, if they miss the show for such stupid reason it's their fault.

So ep three…

It is a month now since Shuurei became the Emperor's wife and started to work on changing him. And where did that lead to? Ryuuki is now attending the Imperial Council meetings and studies to learn what is needed to be a good Emperor.

But one night Ryuuki has a nightmare of his older brother leaving and when he wakes up it's Seiran who's by his side and clutches to his hand. You can only imagine how my romantic BL-thriving heart did doki-doki at the sight of that. And it was so sweet too. The two of them together in the bedroom… ah the possibilities…

And then out of nowhere the Emperor offers Seiran a night together… Oh, my God, I am all for, unfortunately, the offer is turned down. But that is to be expected I guess, knowing what is revealed in the next ep… Still I can't help but feel a little disappointed. Man, such a great opportunity is missed…

But as it turns out, our fair beauty the Emperor is a tad jealous of Seiran and how the latter is the person Shuurei relies on the most, so he decides it is time he took some action to build a bridge between himself and his wife. Man is he fast, only moments before he was offering Seiran a night of passion and now he goes to look for his wife. I don't know whether I should admire him for his fast recovery over being turned down or be disappointed how quickly he changes his objectives. Ah, considering the fact that he is a bishi, and a great one too, I guess I'd forgive him almost everything.

But… there's one big issue for everyone in the Palace – the fact that the esteemed family doesn't share the same bed and this will make it hard to produce heirs. Wow, it is sweet to see how Shuurei blushes at the mentioning of kids but still knowing that her honorable husband has it for his gender she feels rather safe and finds it absolutely fine to be alone in her bed, only…

Only her Royal Husband comes to her late in the evening bringing her a bunch of roses he himself picked in the garden. Oh, the romantic moments in this ep are so many and they just touch my heart.

So can you all envision the pretty Emperor, going around the garden picking roses and having his beautiful skin torn by the nasty thorns. Ah, that is so unfair…

And his wife shares my feelings. She is so worried that he hurt his hands and had to wander so late in the cold. So of course she invites him in her room and treats his wounds… ahhh…

Yet the Emperor is once again faced with the proof that he might have something to be jealous of when he sees that his wife has a few roses courtesy of Seiran and when his calloused hands are compared to, yeah you guessed it correct, Seiran's.

But obviously what bugs the guy even more is the fact that Shuurei addresses everyone else by name, him being the only exception, so he demands that she called him Ryuuki from that moment on… and blushes kawaii-ly as he hears his name exit the lips of his lovely wife.

But he has the bad manner to fall asleep on Shuurei while she treats his scratches and tells him a fairy-tale of why roses have thorns. And now I am curious to know the end of the story, but Google is of no help so I hope that in some future episode they'll share with us what happened with the Rose Princess (Bara Hime).

So with the Sleeping Beauty in the form of Ryuuki now in her bed Shuurei faces the hard choice of where to sleep and decides upon sleeping with her husband, since he swings the other way , but just in case puts a comforter between them. The use however proves to be little since she wakes up in Ryuuki's embrace. And goes ballistic…

And very soon the whole Palace knows that the Royal family spent the night together because the young maid saw them and delivered the news to everyone.

The next evening just in A Thousand and One Nights fashion Ryuuki comes again in order to hear the end of the story he fell asleep on the night before but our Shuurei, being the smart girl that she is, quickly catches that his purpose is to spend the night in her room. She also has a present for her husband a hand-made handkerchief and he treasures it even more upon finding out she never made one for Seiran (wow, my dear Emperor, don't go overboard with jealousy).

It is fine to see how Ryuuki is ready to protect Shuurei at the possible cost of his health or life. On a formal evening party she is offered a cup of sake, which he drinks in her stead only to fall ill some time later when they are in her room. Obviously the drink had poison in it and still suspecting that, he drank it in order not to inspire a scandal. Seiran is also there and he is the one to tell Shuurei why the Emperor had to drink the sake, no matter what.

As Seiran leaves, Ryuuki tells his wife why he is afraid of the dark. It turns out his life was also far from pleasant in his early years.

Being the youngest son, he was considered useless and was maltreated by his parents and older brothers, who would lock him up and ignore him or beat him. The only light in that dark part of his life was the presence of his second oldest brother – Seien, who would take care for him, treat his wounds and educate him, but that one was exiled when Ryuuki was only six.

Luckily at that time the little kid met Shuurei's father who became his friend.

And all that sad story is overheard by Seiran who is outside.

In the morning the Emperor has already recovered and presents his wife with a hairpin only to have a tad strange reaction – she wonders how many houses could be built at the price of that piece of jewelry. Yet she still accepts it with a smile. Typical Shuurei – pragmatic and yet nice.

And I just love how they are consistent in making Shuurei smart and someone who thinks logically and is able to draw conclusions from the things that happen around her. In the ep she considers that if her husband has realized that the sake was messed up with then he is not the air-head he pretends to be. And remembering how fast he is in picking up things and how well he manages his obligations as Emperor she realizes he has only been playing the fool all along.

Then she decides he has been bugging her, so she (kind of) beats him up. While I don't approve of male-beating female characters in anime (what about female-beating female characters, lol?), in this particular case I find myself approving of he actions. And it was off screen anyway, we just hear some suspicious noises.

What I really like is how every now and then there would be some references to Shuurei's poor life and the effect it has on her. And I am so relieved that instead of having her being the whining, always complaining of her hard life idiot, she simply takes it as something normal and pays no attention to it. She can reminiscent on her past with some humour and the voice actor does really good job of showing us her feelings.

And I just love her interaction with the servants, they are people to her and she is so unaffected by the sudden jump to the prestigious spot of Emperor's wife.

I also like the way this anime treats its characters so far. While it obviously is not shounen-ai in any way no matter how much I would have loved it to be, I can't hide my pleasure that the emperor and Shuurei don't just end up in love with each other at first sight as happens in most animes, where one meeting is enough and from then on the characters are all lovey-dovey.

Here they actually walk a path towards each other and they are friends for now. I really fell like there is reason for them to feel attracted or to fall for each other at some further point as they discover what kind of person the other is. I mean this was something I really missed in anime in general. While the character interaction between the main cast is always there and used to develop the characters, it is mostly in different aspects and not in the terms of love as it is in this case.

I would love to see how they interact and how they actually fall in love instead of being served the fact that they are in love.

The animation is a bit worse in this ep, the characters seem a little strange but still the show looks good in general. There are a few more still shots with moving mouths than it would have been wise, but honestly, I said it in the first ep review, while I picked this show up because of the bishis in it, I am watching it now for more reasons than just that.

The second ep makes quite a progress into the real story and what is more, it proves that the characters are not your average stupid pretty stunts that only grace the screen for the purpose of fanservice and to please the eye of the (female) viewer.

Shuurei starts to interact with the Emperor treating him no differently that any other person around her, which obviously makes him wonder about her. Is she stupid, simple, clueless, naïve or what… And he is quite stunned that the hands of the young Empress bear the signs of hard labour. They are all bruised and unlady-like. So she admits that she had done all the domestic chores at her previous home.

However, thinking that the Emperor is lonely and ignorant of the actual political situation in the country, Shuurei decides to let him see for himself what he is responsible for.

She takes him out into the Real World ™ outside the Palace walls, which seem to have so far been the border of his small privileged and pampered world.

Once in the city he gets to experience things that he had never been subjected to. Like having stray kids pull him demanding he played with them. Become a vendor and use his male charm and attraction to lure the women into buying hairpins. And after some initial blushing and backing off, he does a fairly good job.

Leter on he is awarded with an invitation into Shuurei's house where he realizes just how strongly the political struggles of the high nobility and more specifically the struggle for the throne had influenced the life of the commoners and the poor nobles.

This and a few carefully chosen words from his young wife make him see his own life, position and responsibilities in a completely different way and realize that the Palace does not give a fair idea of the life of his subjects. Going back in time she tells him what she saw and experienced, hiding her own pain.

So after hearing what his subjects went through the Emeperor decides that it is time for him to take his obligations seriously and begin studying to become a wise and competent ruler.

I was relly impressed how there were no tears or cheap melodrama while she told her story. She just described an honest picture of hunger and hopelessness. Yet later when she was alone in the kitchen she couldent control the tears and luckily her bodyguard was there to give her a sholder and support.

This is actually the other thing in the series that really appeals to me – the interaction between the characters. One actually feels that there's more to them than just sharing the same show.

That is a lot of development for one ep. I even have a distant fear that in no way would they be able to pull it off like this for a long time. So maybe I'll just get used to a lot going on and they'll start to drag the show. Let's hope that I am wrong though. It will really be unfortunate.

On the subject of animation, which is always a matter when it comes to second eps in general, the characters look a bit strange in comparison with the previous ep, especially the Emperor. But seeing him blush made me go into a "fangirl mode" and scream "Kawaii!" There are noticeable difference in the way the characters are drawn, but still the animation itself is of the same high quality. The characters always move, even if they are in close view and basically do nothing but talk, they still move their heads, or smile or change their facial expression or something else. It is nice to see that it's not only their mouths that move, while they stay immobile like broken dolls.

I actually think the constant change of expressions, which give the viewer a good idea of what the characters feel and go through is one of the strong points in the anime, even if those expressions are sometimes a bit exaggerated.

Ok, the Emperor got scolded like a child for eating and spilling crumbs. And he eats so much and doesn't know when to stop. Kodomo mitai, ne?* So he gets a slap on the wrist. Don't be so gluttonous, Emperor. Show, some manners. ^_^

Aah, I like Shuurei's character. She really is not one of those most banal types that the average anime girls surrounded by (a harem of) bishounen seem to belong to. She differs from the rather annoying cliche-females who would either jump and beat the boys or be some blushing maidens who are also known as the "damsel in distress" type. She however looks quite plausible which is really refreshing.

And I am even more impressed because she is capable of thinking reasonably and connect the dots to get the picture that they make. I mean she is not fooled by the lie of the Emperor. And she is not one of those who will shout "I know you were lying, you, bad boy" or try to make the other feel bad about his wrongdoing. She just calmly pretends to be clueless and lets her husband take his time. she realizes that forsing hum wuill only result in pushing him away form her and would ultimately make her tast way more difficult. As I said already, she is smart.

Ok, this anime has a few strong points in my book, and I just can't hold silence and miss to mention them even if Irepeat myself:

1 – It has a sensible plot so far. Yeah, it might be far from original, but I don't care. It's handled well, and that's what matters.

2 – The characters are funny, yet they have brains and for a change they use them, even the main female character, which is a miracle on itself.

3 – Nice, really nice animation, even if the quality is a tad worse in this ep, "The curse of the second episode", I guess

4 – It is full of bishounen. Do I need to say more?

5 – Last but not least – they interact in a way, which leaves enough room for a looser interpretation. In the yaoi aspect, I mean. Now, tell me, what's not to like here?

And as far as yaoi goes I just loved how Shuurei directly asked the Emperor if he really prefers men to women and how he straightforwardly answered in the affirmative. And she wais so ridiculously happy at his reply, that I almost fell off my chair. And then she starts to worry over the heir issue that this creates. It is just so nice to see a series where sexuality is handled so openly and honestly. There were no blushes from the Emperor, no going around the topic, no nasty all-knowing smiles. Just a direct statment of his sexual preferences. WOW! Well done!

And the way Ran Shuuei and Ri Kouyuu nag at each other is so rabu-rabu that I can almost imagine the fanfics that would inevitably sprout. Or at least I hope so, they deserve it. 

*Just like a kid, isn't he?

I started this one just because of the bishounen it promised, but I'll continue it not only because of them, but because I got interested in the story too. Not that it is that complicated or original a story, but I like the way they tend to tell it. That's of course if the series doesn’t go head first down into the swamp of mediocrity that tends to plague some shows. Especially considering that this one will be 39 eps long. That's a lot.

The characters:
We have a young girl – Kou Shuurei (age of 16), daughter of a great family that had unfortunately lost its financial back up; she has to work to help support the family, which so far consists of only her and her father – Kou Shouka – responsible for archives, that is not very adequate and from the little I've seen from him, obviously lives in his own world among books.

She has a friend capable in the art of war – Shi Seiran that is bound to her by a promise he made to himself to stay by her side, because she took him in as a child.

One day that same girl hurriedly promises to do what a person desires of her, only because he is a person known to be honorable – Shou Taishi the Imperial Counselor and he promises her the enormous amount of 500 gold-pieces.

So she ends up as the wife of the young Emperor – Shi Ryuuki (no connection to Shi Seiran), who is the fifth child of the late Emperor and has inherited the throne rather unexpectedly. So our main heroine is supposed to reform him into a responsible head of state in the span of 6 months.

In the Palace she also makes acquaintance with two young men – Ran Shuuei and Ri Kouyuu, who are friends but ones who are constantly arguing about something.

So the story begins. In the first episode she enters the Palace and having taken her task of reforming the slaking Emperor quite seriously starts to do research on him, only to realize that from what is written on him, he obviously has liking for boys. Wow, how nice, if only it was true… (insert a dreamy smiley here). So she calms down, thinking that she might not be required to do her duty as a wife but maybe the author of that reference and her are very wrong. We'll see in the future.

She doesn't get to meet the Emperor for the first five days of her life at the Palace but one day as she goes for a walk she meets a man, who stutters his name as Ran Shuuei, when she had already met another person with the same name. Shuurei however doesn't comment on that and just has a tea with that 'Ran Shuuei'. As you have probably guessed correctly already that fake 'Ran' is the Emperor himself.

As I said it is not the most original story ever made, yet the execution is what really drew me into it. The rich and vibrant colours, the music and the absolutely gorgeous character design of the males (ok Shuurei is sweet too, but who cares anyway if a girl can drool at the sight of the absolutely perfect bishounen that are a plenty).

The OP and ED are not something that immediately grabbed my attention, but I'll give them a chance to grow on me. They are just a tad too slow for my taste, but I guess that is rather individual. Still on a second hearing the OP seemed better and hey, even if I don't fall in love with them, I always have the option of skipping them, right?

The background music, I guess is supposed to be Chinese, since the story takes place during some-dinasty-China, but sinse my knowldge of Chinese music is close to non-existent, I won't be commenting on how close it is to the intended aim. I'd rather mention that I liked how it combined with the ongoing animation and the characters portrayed.

And I just have to say that I am quite happy with the animation quality of the first episode. The character clothing, and especially that of Shuurei is very elaborate and detailed and coloured very pretty and I'd say that one has to be very demanding not to like them.

Of course, anyone who's seen more than one anime series knows that the first ep is done with all the effort possible, in order to draw audience, so I will give my verdict on the animation later as the show progresses. I do hope it will not reduce the quality far too much. As Ouran showed that is quite possible if the studio desires so.

In conclusion my opinion is rather positive as far as the first episode is concerned and I am planning on watching the show as long as it is entertaining and of decent quality (man, and this is coming from someone who watches Gakuen Heaven which is none of those… *shakes head at her love for BL*) .