Comments on: Saiunkoku Monogatari II Episode 16 - “風

By: Mai

Mai — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 08:04:39 +0000

Thanx heaps for the summary, I had some doubts specially about that decision Ryuuki had to take in the court and also about the conversation between You sensei and Yougetsu. I only know a wee bit of Japanese, so I don’t get most of the things exchanged in conversations.

yokatta! I already knew Eigetsu can’t die so soon (wishful thinking! lol) but a lil sad to think we won’t getta see much of Yougestu for a while. He’s 1 of my fav characters in Saiunkoku coz of his contrasting traits.. strong, rash n bold but very caring n understanding towards Eigetsu.

about Shuurei’s punishment, it’s pretty much shocking and it must be way too hard for Ryuuki even more than it affects Shuurei. coz Shuurei’s blessed with many wonderful comrades and kindred spirits to comfort n encourage her. as for Ryuuki, he can’t express his feelings n thoughts more freely since he’s the emperor. prolly the very reason why he acted so funny, going for embroidery lessons with Shusui n challenging Sou Taishi for a duel..! lol

but since Shuurei’s gonna be free after returning, hope to see some good romantic development between Ryuuki x Shuurei.. wishful thinking again!

By: Impz

Impz — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 04:29:42 +0000

@Briar: Hmmm, ya, it feels really anti-climatic of sorts that we didn’t get a chance to feel for Yougetsu. I do not know, even though they did develop the relationship of Eigetsu and Kourin, it just feels a bit of a let down.

Yougetsu does not really hate humans, if you ask me, but he is more of someone who does things on impulse. He definitely has a kind heart, though he is acting very tsun most of the time.

Well, it’s a shocking revelation nevertheless. No matter how much you trust a person, if your best friend literally screws you up big time when you are hit with a huge impact, you definitely will lose some trust nevertheless for the moment.

@Uruz: Her hair O_O;; Huh!!!! It’s strange how I didn’t see your reply until now, but I guess it got buried somewhat. That’s why I need the recent comments sidebar to see the new comments. I believe that Kourin can serve her purpose more than a damsel in distress that cries at every junction. I think that it’s really depressing to see her strength dwindle into nothingness.

The love triangle tsk tsk tsk ~_~

Really? The way that they talk does not seem like a pet at all, but more of an immortal. Yet, it feels queer nevertheless. A neverending saga of love sounds really queer, which means there are more Shuurei lovers? Darn, shuurei is a bloody lucky girl.

@Sakujunghost: Hmmm, I think that despite the fact that you mention the meaning of crying, the amount of tears that Kourin shed is a bit too excessive. I know it is a heart wrenching period, but some of the times are not really required to cry.

I mean the first time she saw Eigetsu in a tattered state, sure. When Eigetsu is about to die, sure. But for the rest of it, I do not think there is a need to really cry that much. I guess Kourin’s character does help us see Shuurei in a different light, but even that role can be somewhat usurped by Shuuran in this arc.

Huh, I hope not, especially not Ensei to slip out of the picture. However, most of the story plot between Eigetsu and Kourin seems somewhat cleared at the end of this arc. However, Ensei’s development is still awaiting more, if you ask me.

By: sakujunsghost

sakujunsghost — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 21:57:58 +0000

Thanks again to Impz for the summary! Maybe I’m a bit on the emo side myself, but I liked this episode. I didn’t have a problem with Kourin crying–the girl has been through a lot in a relatively short period of time, and for the second time in her very short life, she lost a man she deeply loves (Enjun being the first). I think she showed just as much courage as Shuurei has. I think that women’s tears are often misinterpreted. Sometimes, a woman’s tears are the equivalent of a man punching a wall–they come from overwhelming anger and frustration at not being able to fix a situation. Next time a woman in your life cries, consider that she might have chosen to let out her anger that way instead of tearing your head off! ; ) I think Kourin is an interesting foil for Shuurei. Kourin’s emotions emphasize Shuurei’s lack of them. I was quite surprised that Shuurei was not more upset when Eigetsu died right before her eyes. They’d been through a LOT together, were rather close and shared so much of the same experiences, and when he died, she just stood there–detached like all the guys standing around. At least, that’s my take on it, not knowing what was actually said. Shuurei has even said that she doesn’t let herself get attached because she doesn’t want to feel the same loss she felt when her mother died. Or something like that. I think Kourin’s personality helps us understand Shuurei’s.

Also, do you think we’re coming to the end of seeing Eigetsu, Kourin, and Ensei as part of the show? : ( That thought makes ME want to cry!

And young Dr. You-baby is a HAWT-TEE.

By: Uruz 8

Uruz 8 — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 02:45:24 +0000

Impz, hmm… I don’t have anything against Kourin… but … i really dislike her hair. But anyway, ditziness aside, I suppose her purpose is to be a “background” (i forget the right word) for Shuurei for her strength/courage to be more obvious. So she has to be the weepy girly girl that she is. All the other women seem to serve this purpose too. They can either highlight Shuurei’s personality by being like her or being unlike her in the right moments. (e.g. If Shuurei becomes weak, some other girl ends up shown as “strong” like in season 1, when Shuurei was hostaged, Shusui ended up getting revealed as part of Shouka’s troup) Kourin can be Shuurei-ish too, i think, when she does stuff and she seems to think “if shuurei can do it, so can I” (although I can never really tell for sure - horrible japanese comprehension..sorry)Although i must admit, she annoys me sometimes, I think Kourin is okay. this may sound so evil but, she serves her purpose well. Hahaha, sorry, I thought you hated Emo-ness because you disliked the idea of having a whole love triangle thing between yougetsu-kourin-eigetsu before yougetsu finally disappeared. But hey, that would’ve been less anticlimactic than what happened in the episode. Imagine, if it had been implied that Yougetsu “liked” Kourin and it was one of the reasons he decided to just go into deep sleep, it would’ve been more “awww” and “Kyaaaa” and stuff. than just “…Eh?”

Whooaa… what Luna said waas cool. About Byakuya. I thought Yougetsu’s just the pet of You-sensei (and I agree with Briar that he was really cute.) …wehehehe. Oh my…. darn it. So it really is a neverending saga of love?!?!??!?!! Oh nooo… With the characters the author put up, i suppose she herself is lost as to who her main protagonist should end up with *sigh* Oh maaan… I wish she ends up with Ryuuki. Or at least give Ryuuki someone to love that loves him in return *sniff sniff*

By: Briar

Briar — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 01:58:50 +0000

I don’t really like this episode. Sore points as followed:

1) The aforementioned anticlimatic revival of Eigetsu. What? That’s it? No dramatic buildup, no emotions (not much, anyway), no sense of touching-ness. Nothing. He walks in and I went, “that’s Eigetsu. He’s alive? Oh.” *shrug*

2) What, Yougetsu is out of the Eight Immortals? I mean. Seriously. He’s like, so young-feeling. And impulsive. And he dislikes humans. How did he become one of the Eight Sages of SaiMono when he doesn’t even like humans?

3) Shuurei and Seiran, at the moment when the Emperor’s decision was read out. Both of them should know Ryuuki better than that. One of them defends Ryuuki in all the wrong way, saying how it’s alright instead of truly trusting Ryuuki. The other just keeps quiet. Grrrrrr. I thought they have a better relationship than that!

I like the embroidery scene. Did not like the pigeon scene, probably because I don’t quite get it. I also think that You-Sensei as a young man looks really cute.

By: Impz

Impz — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:25:45 +0000

@Yanlan: Cat, who isn’t? It is like so freaking sweet that it can be overly sweet for a sweetener to be used on the bittergourd drink. Ya, I personally emphathize with the man Ryuuki simply because he has to really do things as an emperor, and not as Ryuuki. It is really unimaginable for me to live a life that is living for others. Quite sad to be honest.

Haha, Saiunkoku Monogatari is really one that has a basis on historical and oriental roots for sure, and I am quite amazed that you did not notice it earlier. Nevertheless, it is a huge storyline, and I wonder what the next twist is.

As much as I love the romance of Eigetsu X Kourin, Kourin has to get more tsun tsun rather than the damsel in distress and crying all the time gal. I do not like that part of her. She has to be stronger like Shuurei, who cries only occassionally, not for anything and everything.

Luna: arr, thanks Luna for the correction. In that case, it is perhaps the theme of the rainbow in which it describes the seven immortals in the seven different colors. I forgot Saiunkoku has a symbolism of rainbow colors as part of its meaning.

Arghhh! Now, I really wanna see more love love of Kourin x Eigetsu. When Kourin goes all tsundere, that is way too cute because the anime really made her cry way way too much.

By: Luna

Luna — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 08:51:04 +0000

According to the novels Yougetsu is one of the immortals of saiunkoku, his name being 白夜(Byakuya) not ‘Byakaya’. ‘Byakuya’ is read in Japanese as ‘white night’ which goes with the theme of colours in saiunkoku and also with the ‘you’(sun/light) and ‘ei’(shadow) in the getsus’ names. For extra information the ‘you’ in You-sensei’s name means yellow.

I have to say I was very pleased with all the extra content in this episode as I have been looking forward to it since reading the novel counterpart. There was definitely much more eigetsuxkourin interaction.

The novel did not have kourin fainting and yougetsu in depression. The epilogue of this arc began with eigetsu alive walking with kourin and explaining how yougetsu sacrificed himself. I did, however, miss this part:

K: I have no interest in guys younger than me!
E:Well…um…we can pretend that I’m 16, I mean it’s only two years and-
K: I-I like you!!

Ah…young love…

This episode was truly a wonderful revelation for the copious doses of eigetsuxkourin we’ve been given in the last episodes (last season even?) and the Ryuuren pigeon performance was truly the icing on the cake. I do believe this will remain my favourite arc so far.

On the topic of Shuurei’s love life, Uruz mentioned that it’s a neverending saga of love…

you don’t know how right you are especially if they continue the novel’s storyline the way it’s currently going…

Many thanks Impz for a detailed english saiunkoku II summary!

By: YanLan

YanLan — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:37:34 +0000

I am relieved that Eigetsu is still alive. We see Yougetsu’s kindness in his decision to hibernate himself. I bet the scene of Kourin and Eigetsu exchanging their love vows must be hawt! Haha.

From the ep, we also see the 无奈 of Ryuuki. Shuurei will be able to understand Ryuuki’s harsh decision definitely because she is clever and thinks in people shoes. We see the bias against women very obviously in the anime and maybe it is just so true still in our modern times of a Twentieth century.

The anime is thought-provoking in its own ways.

When You called Yougetsu “Byakaya

By: Impz

Impz — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 13:17:45 +0000

@Lupus: thanks luppie!

@Uruz 8: The thing is that I cannot even listen carefully to the name of Yougetsu but I believe that the name is something special at the very least. I actually believe that it has something to do with the white tiger since in historical Japanese and Chinese culture, the white tiger is considered to be a mythical creature. That is of course stated by you, but Japan animation tends to link quite a bit with chinese folklore, and Saiunkoku Monogatari has a very distinct oriental nature.

I really wonder why Yougetsu’s disappearance is so anti-climatic (hey, I LOVE EMO-NESS), but I believe that he meant that Eigetsu can probably survive around 50 years more, which is the standard lifespan of a normal human in that period of time. In that way, he can be active after Eigetsu dies, and it’s really a short time for Yougetsu who lives forever.

No, there’s no god slayer.

Ryuuki’s appearance is always good, and I love the struggle. What do you think of Kourin’s character currently?

By: Uruz 8

Uruz 8 — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 03:55:24 +0000

Oh, Lupus’ explanation seems to work. I have horrible survival japanese and all i can think of was… flame… oxygen… wind… Nevermind

Hey hey, Byakaya sounds like Ryuuki’s sword (Bakuya… or something… right?). It also sounds (or at least looks like) Byakko. I remember this from some other anime which i can’t remember right now (I guess it was Hell Teacher Nube… not sure though). All i know is that it means “White fox”. I checked out wikipedia and apparently, Byakko is a Chinese Constellation. (”White Tiger”) Their background/explanation for the white tiger in chinese mythology makes a lot of sense too. But in the Japanese sense (Maybe they didn’t have tigers so they said it’s a “fox”… oh god, i need ryuuren’s brain) aha!! Yougetsu’s a little kitsune eh? hehehhe.

I was a bit sad that Yougetsu didn’t leave without a fight or any drama (sorry, i know you dislike emo-ness but still…) but i guess that was okay. One thing disturbs me though. The You Sensei said “50 years” so does that mean Eigetsu gets to die when he’s 63/64? Ooh well,he and Kourin are so very young and in love, i guess they get to start everything early. But poor yougetsu! He gets to come out when his host body is old already? Or maybe he can go get another body in 50 years?

Anyway, glad to see Ryuuki… and glad to see some progress (sort of) in Shuurei’s never ending saga of love. (unrequited or otherwise). Thanks Impz

By: Lupus

Lupus — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 03:10:51 +0000

Impz: A flame before the wind means something that is about to go out, die or perish any minute. Literally like lighting a candle in windy conditions.