Saiunkoku Monogatari II Episode 36 - “人生いたる所に青山あり”
I am really expecting a lot from the coming story, considering how all the parties in this arc are going to meet in the mystical place of Jiuzhaigou, a place of mysterious origins and myths. However, I am pretty much disappointed. This episode is a recap of the experiences that Ryuuki has been dealing with ever since the first day he becomes king. I didn’t expect them to throw in a recap at this time and hence it will not be a full summary. I wonder how they will end the second season of this series though, with so few episodes left. I hope they do not leave me hanging, and everyone else too.
However, I will take the opportunity to discuss about Ryuuki’s reign as a king since it is the focus for this recap episode.
Story gist
As Ryuuki ventures alone to the wilderness in order to find the Hyou shrine, he realizes that he is completely lost. Tired and exhausted, he is unable to fish as there are no fishes in the lake. Moreover, starting a fire is also hard as he dozes off on the hardened mud. He starts to dream about his first meeting with Shuurei, where Shuurei tells him that she is here to support him as an official that will never waver. We then see the experience of Shuurei’s kidnapping, and subsequently about Ryuuki’s family abuse when he is merely a child.
The recap then reveals the Sa province arc, where Ryuuki fights hard to allow women to take the imperial exam. He also hears Shuurei battling against the dissidents of female officers. Ryuuki also shows the reluctance to let Shuurei leave for Sa province as a co-governor with Eigetsu, but eventually allows it despite the fact that Shuurei will be distancing from him. While he thinks of these things, a few resident pandas start to listen to Ryuuki’s story. He also remembers how he has to punish Shuurei as a compensation for the powerful forces that are against Shuurei’s rash actions.
Lastly, he remembers how he cannot even answer Riou Jr’s answer whether he came to this place as the emperor or simply as Ryuuki. He realizes that he run away from trouble despite knowing it. He hates doing so, and decides that he is going up to the Hyou’s shrine as the emperor of Saiunkoku. He finally resolved his doubts and reaches the Hyou shrine. However, due to exhaustion, he finally falls at the foot of the Hyou’s shrine entrance, with Shun looking onwards.
Ryuuki - Is he a good king?
Ryuuki definitely has gone a long way since his nonchalant behavior over the ownership as an emperor. However, the answer of whether he is fit enough to be king is pretty much open to debate. One can argue that he is definitely on the road to be a king, as he is finally trying hard to be a good emperor. He also makes some good revolutionary plans such as the entrance for women, and hence opens up a window of opportunity for talented women who are interested to serve the nation. However, despite this argument, I am somewhat hard felt to say that he is a good emperor.
His handling of noble clans, and his lack of knowledge with politics among various groups of noble clans has been more than suspect. Many a times in this season, Ryuuki has been saved by Yuushun in the court. I cannot imagine the major communication blunders that will shake his reign as an emperor without Yuushun’s help all the time. Ryuuki clearly struggles to understand the dirtier side of politics, and he is too naive toward most people. It does make many viewers like him, but it’s a complete liability as an emperor, who must be able to think for himself and act when it appears that he is biased or siding certain groups.
I am not saying he cannot rely on others, but he is in the stage where he’s dependent on Yuushun to survive in Saiunkoku. His need to rely on others make him vulnerable whenever he makes a decision. His motivation to allow female applicants for the imperial exam has nothing to do with gender equality, but simply to further Shuurei’s means. He seems to think of very short-term benefits despite the fact that he probably has the capacity to think longer. He seems to be hampered by his friendships and personal feelings in decisions for the whole state.
Despite his best efforts, Ryuuki is still emotional and irrational. He often sneaks away on little campaigns that make no sense at all, such as sneaking a trip to see off Shuurei in Sa province. Another obvious situation is during this latest arc, where Ryuuki runs off looking for Shuuei and abandons his post. When Riou jr asks him his position to travel, it becomes apparent that even though he does want to get Shuuei, it is clearly his fear of authority and responsibility as an emperor.
With his intelligence, he clearly knows that there is a huge plot revolving around the palace. It is slowly forming with the conspiracies of the salt situation, the paintings and the assassination of Jyuusan Hime. Everything is done to gain leverage and cause the emperor to lose all contact with the two major clans that can save his throne. He is getting isolated, and instead of doing something to stop this growing pain, he runs away. It is good that he finally realizes his mistake, but it might be too late if this is a real life situation.
Yet, all of this will probably change. Do you agree with my assessment, despite being a bit biased against Ryuuki?
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ahh lemme seee..lemme see.. ok ill agree with you!!!! impz! ahhh recaps again wif the pandas..ahh welp being a ruler in a early age ish not a easy anyways.. plus he ish stubborn.. he needs some spanking..his life will suck more if he isnt going to do something about it…good thing wif self-realization..
he always remember shuurei and shuuei ahhh dang they rhyme together and it ends wif ei. heeeheh .good enuff!
but for me, self-realization ish a bit hard..but yer my opinion only hehe..
this series will end soon..how come recaps and realizations..
” what is essential is invisible to the naked eye” wakeeee up ryuukiiii!
gracias impz! ure the bestest
Impz! Talk to me on #ab! >:D
BTW, those pandas are freaky. But adorable. But freaky.
Okay… the pandas are ridiculously cute!!!!!! That made my day…. =)
I have to agree. Up to this point, Ryuuki hasn’t been doing too good a job as Emperor. He’s alienated most of those he needs and avoids what needs doing.
At least he’s honest enough though to realize his failings and admit to them. I think that’s very admirable. It has to be hard to look at yourself and realize that you’re not what you need to be (if that makes any sense). He know he has the weight of the country on his shoulders. Now whether he improves after this remains to be seen…. As you say, he is VERY smart and VERY capable of doing the job. I also think he’s measured himself too much against other people’s expectations.
I will disagree on the naive part. Too wrapped up in the emotional, yes, but not naive. He KNOWS how things work. That’s why he had to punish Shuurei despite his feelings otherwise.
I think he’ll do just fine once he decides WHAT he really wants in life (aside from Shuurei!!! =))
Thanks for the excellent summaries!!!!
oh my gosh… pandas! thanks for the update
i didn’t think the episode is a complete waste, given that this is crucial to Ryuuki’s development. as to the question of whether he is a good king or not, i suppose there really isn’t anyone who’s born to be a good king… they eventually get there through their own means (urgh that didn’t sound right). but i guess what i’m saying is that though ryuuki hasn’t been doing really well as an emperor, there’s still a chance for him to do things right this time
*laughing her heart out at the sight of the pandas*
OMG, those pandas are soooooo kawaii! Impz, if you don’t mind, I want them for my personal desktop wallpaper
Just to let you know, don’t get too surprised with the sudden pandas sight in this episode. JiuZhaiGuo, in fact, has one lake called Panda Lake, where(duh!)pandas lived.
Ahhh, finally! Somebody else to talk about other than Shuurei, Shuurei, Shuurei + her potential marriage partners(aargh!). Let’s see…Ryuuki… Eh, wait a minute! Ryuuki made it in one piece to the Hyou shrine alive?! Wow, despite his insecurities and vulnerability, the Saiunkoku deities must have come to favour him THAT much to let him arrived at that taboo place safely. Being ageless immortals with timeless wisdom to boot, the deities concluded that the greatest kings are the ones to surface from the hardest of trials. The dieties sees it necessary to let Ryuuki rough himself out to unleash the emperor in him. If they think Ryuuki is unworthy, then from the start they wouldn’t have bothered to groom and push him, of all other potentials out there! Now he is confronted hard by his weaknesses than ever before, he knows them now, and that leaves Ryuuki to become stronger. Kambateh Ryuuki!!
Actually, I see the recap worthwhile. Ryuuki is in a critical turmoil whether to be truly king and for what reason. It’s a dizzying juncture in life where you have to confront the truth and it is now. To know answers, you have to dig into the past and decide what you want for tomorrow. Besides, that Hyou shrine is where emperors of Saiunkoku are given their ruling mandate by the Hyous. Before you face something big, surely you would reflect back on your past. That, I believe, is what the anime directors want the viewers to experience and that’s why the recap is necessary.
Recaps eh?? Geez! Ahyhoo, I agree with Impz on Ryuuki not stepping up to the royal plate for the past two seasons. It’s not like he wasn’t totally groomed for the job. From the kidnapping of shuurei eppie we learned that Shouka-sama had Ryuuki-chan trained in swordsmanship under General Sou and Shouka-sama schooled Ryuuki-chan in politics (helps to work in the archives). I believe Ryuuki was so tramatized as a child (first being abused by his wicked mother and evil siblings, then was forcibly separated from his beloved elder bro Seine) that he didn’t want to take the throne seriously. As we learned from last eppie Ryuuki never stated, “I want to be emperor”, it was Shouka-sama who asked Ryuuki to be emperor. I think Ryuuki did it out of love for Shouka-sama and not his real father Senka. In the novels, which will never be animated, I surmised that Emperor Senka never really spent time with his kids. Ryuuki didn’t recognize his father until Seine/Seiran told him who his pops was. So Ryuuki-chan had a lot of issues to deal with. But it doesn’t mean that he couldn’t over come them. Seine/Seiran had much more to face, with his mother constantly saying he shouldn’t have been born, siblings sending assasins after his life daily, threats of poisoning and other non-stop death threats. With all that, Seine/Seiran became stronger. I think from reading Impz’s comments it’s nice to see how Ryuuki compares his life with that of Shuurei’s. He definitely admires her for her courage and strength. I think not being able to face problems head on like Shuurei is eating him alive. That and the fact that she will never be by his side as wife but only support him as an official. Must suck to finally realize he will never be with the woman he truly loves, his first love no less.
The pandas are cute!! I can see a toy action figure of him with a panda on his shoulder and scepter in his hand (Emperor of the pandas). Anyhoo, I’m really hoping for a good ending to season two and not some stupid cliffy where someone is going to die, or something like that. I’m hoping since they are in the Hou Clan territory that they end season two with hints of Bare-hime arc. If they want to hook the audience they could have that hot bad guy Rio Sr trying to take Shuurei away with Ryuuki coming to her rescue. (I would prefer Seiran come to her rescue but he is guarding Yuushun). (Seiran/Shuurei 4ever):) Thanks again impz for great summary!
THANKS A BUNCH, Impz..!!
why must recaps????
we only have..let me see…3 episodes left !!!
and we got a recaps ?!
I hope they will really reveal those hanged ‘mystery’ in the end
I’m looking forward for the next episodes.
I should have saved my rant last week for this. *sigh*
Suffice to say that I’m disappointed in this season’s Ryuuki but am still desperately hoping that he will grow into his infinite potential… soon.
I think it was good to see what changes Ryuuki has gone through to try to be a better emperor but of course if it was a real experience, then he prob would have been ousted already….hmm is it really determined that shuurei won’t be with ryuuki
Thanks for the lovely pics^^
Impz…Thanks for the update and you said it all very well! It will be interresting to see if they do a season three on the side stories published. Seeing Shoka as a child and how/why he became the black wolf. There are enough side story information that you could do a season three on all that.
the recaps is just one way of showing that he is considering things in a more serious manner and that his realization is deep enough for him.
it was shown in the novel that he also thought about his direction rather well.
i guess the anime just delved deeper into how he really considers things lately.
those pandas are in the novel, too. it has been discussed as to why they are there, whether they symbolize anything at all or not…
anyhoo, with all these things in there, i guess it can’t be helped to conclude that season 2 will end leaving everything hanging up in the air just as how book 12 was ended.
don’t worry, i believe they will come back after the novel has ended in a few year’s time and the anime will still be faithful to it, making it a little more suitable for 13 y/o’s and up. ehehehe
there are some things in the novel that are practically too dark for kids. the anime has a lighter atmosphere.
let’s wait for the last episodes, and learn to wait more patiently for all the rest, ladies.
One of two things I hope happens in the last three episodes: One Shuurei uses her powers that she got from her mother (I assume she has powers), or this whole mystical mountain thing will somehow prove Shuurei to be the best choice for emperor. Which is more likely?
@hawkeye… dream on! hehehehe kidding. that’s gonna be way too far ahead if she realizes that in just 3 episodes.
let’s just wait and see what happens next.
hey, impzie, thanks for the blog, by the way.
kaeboo - i hope the directors and producers realize that their viewers are not all 13-year-old kids and risk animating the “darker” parts that would actually make this story more interesting. I, for one, would love to see the story of Shouka and the whole history of Senka’s bloody reign. ^_^
i’m hoping that they’re setting us up for a season 3 that would focus this time on how Ryuuki grows as an emperor. They can always mix in the development of all other characters there somehow.
On the naivete part, I don’t think Ryuuki’s naive. Many times in the story, you can actually see that he’s highly perceptive and actually knows what’s going on. And there were times before Yuushun came along that he made very good decisions. But he has yet to become the statesman that he needs to be.
I think Ryuuki really needs this to happen to him so he’ll be forced to confront the reality of who he really is now. He has to learn to accept that he is now the emperor and, even though his aniue is still very much alive, things have changed so much that it’s no longer feasible to make Seien/Seiran take up the throne.
Which is why I’m so looking forward to the next season if this episode is any indication of where the story is heading. Oh joy!!! ^_^
Thanks, Impz!
Wow, the life of an university tutor sure is tough. I literally just burned my whole day marking interview scripts. However, it is always good to have decent students who are doing fine. There are a few lazy ones, but it’s expected. Anyway….
@Etineski: I think that the core thing that causes him to be weak is not only his age, but his lack of interest over the throne. He is always lax, and does not care about anyone except himself. As an emperor, he has to live for the people if he is going to be a good emperor and it’s a drastic change from how he is, so I give him that at least.
@JC: Well, I have to disagree with your opinion. He does know how things work, which sounds that he is knowledgable. However, he is still pretty much gullible and does not think of darker approaches or more critical thinking over the morality of officers. When he does allow Shuurei to venture alone with the cult, it is a decent attempt but he is allowing a future decision to shoot him down if Shuurei fails. She already did with her rash actions, despite being effective. She causes a whole lot of entrenching nobles in the capital to be dissatsified with the Ryuuki regime. That is how I see him as naive in treating the other forces in the capital.
@Liesel: Ya, the pandas are cute. I did not want to literally just ignore this episode completely despite being a recap. It will be a waste if I do not showcase the pandas at least. No one is fated to be a king, but it’s merely nurture and training. Ryuuki clearly needs more than training to survive the ordeal.
@SeaMaiden: Ya! My post-graduate friend in my university tells me about her trip to Jiuzhaigou, since her residence back in China is decently near to that scenic place. It’s so beautiful. I personally do not think it is getting to the place that is hard, but going inside that will dictate whether he will survive or not.
I think that it feels like he does not truly immerse himself in the emperor role. He realizes that he has been running away and being immature when he is causing huge trouble and physical harm to a person who is trying so hard to protect him. Yuushun must have known that there is something special in Ryukki that can be trained. Despite the recap, it is a decent recap that reflects the key decisions of Ryuuki as an emperor.
@Gypsy: No one disagreeing with me? Where are the valiant Ryuuki fans that will fight me! That said, I think that the motivation of him wanting to be king has to come from him. I think that he is living as an emperor because he does not want to disappoint Shuurei. However, now, he is starting to realize that he has a responsibility to be emperor. He still does not want to disappoint Shuurei but it is no longer his primary concern. I feel that the trip and the realization that he is running away gave him this realization that he no longer has the right to be emperor unless he himself wants to be ruling the world.
@Aka: Ya, i wonder how they are going to clear with 3 episodes left.
@Briar: hehehe.
@Peggy: I think that even in real life, he will probably survive. The truth is that despite his screw ups, they are not that crazily major. It is probably accurate to say that there are dissidents, but he makes this final mistake to run away. I doubt he will be ousted from his post because there are hardly any controversial decisions except with Shuurei that he has to deal with. He can do much MUCH better, but not that complete screwed up too.
@Sumomo: I think that there’s quite a bit of darkness in the series, but at least there is hardly any huge sexual references. It’s a morning show nevertheless, which means children might be watching it. I never doubt Ryuuki’s intelligence, but I feel he lacks wisdom to think of stuff long term. As I argued earlier with JC (read comment above), he has to be less dependent. Yuushun cannot be relied every single time to give him the right answer. He needs experience, and his personal naivety can affect him sometimes.
Ryuuki definitely needs to suffer now in order to change him to a responsible emperor. I am sure something big will happen.
regarding yuushun… you hafta remember that his background has never been revealed at all. i can not remember whether it is in the anime, but i am pretty sure that the novel made anju comment on reishin’s actions towards yuushun, saying that if reishin knows his background, reishin would have treated him otherwise.
i feel that the development of ou ki as a character is not being done rather well, whether it be novels or anime. whether he is among the antagonists or the protagonists, he has gained respect from among the nobles that are basically sole heirs to their names and those who belong to the 8 color-clans.
@sumomo… true that not all who watch belong to the 13-yr old group, but, you can not ignore the fact that the anime is packaged to be attractive to a very wide range of audience. i personally like it this way. you can at least breathe a little bit from the very dark setting of the novel. i just hope that the author would start disentangling the subplots that she got her characters into, lest it would drag the story too much. i wouldn’t want to see another good story having two different endings like rourouni kenshin.
on season 3, I am so hoping that i’d get to see the mystery of the Hyou clan explained.
Hi there!
I’m a Ryuuki fan (not a die-hard but yes, I like him)… And I like him because he’s a failure for the most part. And yes, I agree, he still has a LONG way to go to be the right Emperor for Saiunkoku Monogatari. On the other hand, we have seen him move from “not caring about his position” to “caring about his position for Shuurei’s sake”… and hopefully this journey will cement the next step which is “caring about his position for his own sake”. I think there is a fine distinction between those 3 phases.
On the other hand, I do agree that the show does drag along - and that Ryuuki hasn’t grown alot - but then… who has? Other than people dying (like Eigetsu), or disappearing (Sakujun) or whatever… the only person who seems to be steadily evolving is Shuurei. I feel that alot of this show is really focussed on her - so that is probably why the directors had an episode like this… you know, to be like, “oh remember THIS guy? Yeah, this guy who likes Shuurei… and remember how, like, 50 episodes ago, he was basically useless and unmotivated? so yeah, lets look at him now…” And so on.
I hope there’s gonna be a 3rd season. Otherwise, this show will have a really hurried end… or even worse, like Tsubasa have to rely on OVAs to get by… >>;;;
The pandas are ADORABLE.
And I am now an avid fan of yours. Thank you for the reviews! THANK YOU THANK YOU! *showers you in Kourin x Eigetsu goodness*
Heh, Eigetsu. Everytime I hear his voice, I think of Fye from Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles. XD
Oh, and, if you don’t mind me asking, what -did- happen to Eigetsu when the time came for him to die? Did he survive? (I couldn’t get at the ‘read more’ parts, for some reason…)
[...] too much in his role as an emperor. Ruka really threw the gauntlet down because as I have stated in my previous entry that Ryuuki is really becoming the emperor because of Shuurei. For now, he finally realizes his own [...]
as long as a king is kind and generous to his ppl, he is a great king.ryuuki is a good king as he cares for his people and his officials as for his knowledges its okay to have offical to back him up as this is the purpose of the officials.