Anyway, I personally thought that as heart-warming an episode this was, it was also incredibly sad - when you contrast the cheery welcome scene with the solitary Ryuuki, and the fact that he’ll probably be alone for a very long time to come (I shan’t say forever since I’m being optimistic and hoping that the author has a good ending in mind for him. :D), it just makes his situation all the more stark. Even though it seemed obvious at the start that Ryuuki and Shuurei were the “destined” pair, now after so many episodes it ironically seems as if it’ll be even harder for the two to end up together than before. Quite an unusual development for a shoujo story, and although I welcome the refreshing change, I can’t help but feel really sorry for poor Ryuuki. ^_^;; I really wonder how the author is going to develop the story in the future to make it plausible for Ryuuki and Shuurei to end up together. (Although I can’t quite decide whether I like Shuurei better with Ryuuki or Seiran, as I said before it seems hinted that Ryuuki and Shuurei are meant to be the eventual couple. The anime ED certainly seems to think so anyway. :p)

@LockVII: LOl, DON’T WORRY. i THINK I am the only person here who will over analyze things quite a bit but as stated earlier, Seiran and Shuurei are more like siblings rather than a couple, so you are right in speculating it.

However, I doubt that the reason will be to fear hurting Ryuuki. If anything, Seiran will do anything to win it over, but he cares more about Shuurei’s happiness than anything else. ^^

anyways my thoughts:

i had hoped the Sakujun had more of an impact on Shuurei and how she would be around Ryyuki, but i guess his death never really did. It actually felt like Shuurei totally forgot about Sakujun in the last 2 episodes, haha. Not that his death didn’t impact her (it did), but well.. considering how similar Ryuuki and Sakujun were (regarding thier affection for Shuurei and how they both regarded her and acted similar), i was kinda thinking that Shuurei would back off a bit when Ryyuki told her that she loved him, and how he brushed his fingers over her lips (Sakujun did the same thing before).
Anwyays, as you can tell, i liked Sakujun, even though he was evil. The only thing i disliked about him was his purple lipstick that he had on after it was revealed that he was of the Sa clan.
I don’t get it, are evil characters suppose to have purple lips? is it, like, a characteristic of theirs that tells us readers that he’s the bad guy? Cuz i don’t udnerstand why they couldn’t just leave them like they were before, he looked better that way.

I feel sorry for Ryuuki, being the emperor means having to lead a lonesome life *sigh*, and he’s so young too, to take such a role. Even Shuuei and Kouyuu regard Ryuuki as “Shi Ryuuki the emperor”
=(
so i’m happy that Shuuhei called him by his name~
hehe.
i kidna think that there’s really no way that Seiran and Shuuhei could be together, even though Seiran does have the freedom (which Ryuuki dosen’t), i don’t think that Seiran will like Shuurei in that way, cuz there’s Ryuuki to consider. And i’m pretty sure Seiran knows that if he would to ever like Shuurei in that way, he would break Ryuuki. And well, i doubt he’d want to break his brother’s heart.
=P

I think i’m analyzing this a bit too much x___x” haha. Anyways, thanks for blogging Saiunkoku!!
=)

Now I can’t wait for a fansub group to sub the second series.

Thanks and keep up the good work

Hey Vree, even though Sakujun used his physical charm to flirt with Shuurei, it was perhaps the only way he knew to make Shuurei fall in love with him. On a outsider’s point of view without caring much, it just seems to us that he is a serial flirt. However, for him, it is probably something that is the most purest for her. Yes, he is evil but you cannot deny that they have some strange chemistry, hehe.

*no, i am not a sakujun x Shuurei supporter*

Well, I guess if anything, the unresolved situation of Shuurei and Ryuuki will not come anything soon. Even though this series is based loosely on history, as well as romance, I do not yet see romance coming deep into it . We did have clues that Shuurei has fallen in love with Ryuuki but it is merely her own conviction as an official.

It broke my heart to see the effect Sakujun had on her. Whatever her feelings for him were, and it was highly likely physical since she knew next to nothing about him, the fact that he disappeared from her life so abruptly, before she could make a firm decision about him, well… it makes for a great deal of confusion. Sakujun was admittedly an awful man (to put it lightly) but he was very charming and Shuurei responded to that.
In reference to Ryuuki, I love him. He is growing into his power and is devoted to Shuurei, and that I think would be quite seductive. However his position is in many ways constricting, there is only so much freedom he would have, and yes he can say he’ll wait as long as it takes for Shuurei, but how long would his advisers allow him that freedom. He is creating a better kingdom, but it’s not worth much if there are no heirs, he can’t just leave it hanging placing everything they’re striving for in jeopardy. Yes they are young, but considering disease, wars and other unforseen occurrences, can they afford to take chances? And at this point I think Shuurei sees Ryuuki as a very dear friend and would be in no great hurry to change the status quo. She is aware there is more to life than just her career, but I think doing the best for her province will consume her life for the forseeable future, as far as you can predict something like this, but she always throws all of herself into each task. and also it is a fair distance to Ryuuki from the Brown Province so how often would she make the trip anyway? …

But then again maybe Ryuuki will make huge inroads into Shuurei’s feelings, so that Shuurei herself will make an effort to forge something other than friendship. Anything is possible.

But if anything does develop it better be something worthy of Ryuuki.

And there is my two cent’s worth (probably less), and once again thank you very much for taking the time to provide us with these summaries, especially as you give your take on the actions of the characters. More often than not it gave me something to think about, or provided details and nuances that I missed so thank you. (btw . sorry for the length of this thing^^)

If there is anyone that Shuurei will end up with, it will be highly likely that the first candidate will be Ryuuki, no one else. Of course, I will wish that some form of romance will sprout from Seiran and Shuurei since I like this pairing but it’s merely realism to think that the two already have feelings that they cannot fulfill due to their political ambitions for now.