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The contents of this blog and all comments I make are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike License. I hope that name is long enough. I could add some stuff. It could also be a Bring Me A Sandwich License.
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Awww, I guess chacun a son gout - but here are some pro Saimono feelings.
Date: 2011-05-06 04:45 pm (UTC)The very first plot - trying to get the emperor to shape up - goes eventually into a murder conspiracy against him (even run by one of the most trusted old men in the country - although in the second season of the anime you find out that he was not responsible, someone else in his family was and he accepted that and tried to shelter a) the person from shaming the family name b) the rest of the country from the murderous egotism of said person - let's call him a sociopath serial killer) which for example leads to Shurei being poisoned and eventually that old man being executed by one of the coloured saints (or whatever those bodisattva equivalents were called in Saiunkoku).
In the rest of the first anime season you eventually get Shurei and friends being sent to the province of that old man and running head long into that conspiracy, with war and danger all around (and a few allies in prison). Shurei in particular gets drawn in and has to deal with making the acquaintance of that fellow, whose death will actually lead her to second guess herself emotionally for quite a time.
In the first arc of the second series we have a health crisis in that province and loads of people die, and Shurei has to find solutions for that. In the second arc of the second series the emperor actually figures out that Shurei may not ever be his wife and that he won't be able to wait for her forever because it would be bad for the country. He also finally resolves to be the best emperor he can be, with or without Shurei. I thought all these ruminations - for the good of the country - were pretty mature for a shoujo series. In the whole anime Shurei does not end up with any of the men who like her or love her. And she's not sure she even wants to do so. She has other priorities.
So - as a huge fan of the anime and manga (so far) - I plead for you giving the whole first season a try again at some point.