Saiunkoku Monogatari 2nd Series

Overall	Art	Animation	Character Design	Music	Series Story	Episode Story	Reviewer
Buy 4	9	7	9	9	8	8	Ggultra2764	[series:1566#1552]
Saiunkoku Monogatari 2nd Series Continuing from where Saiunkoku's first season left off, the series continues its look into the political struggles of Shurei's duties as an official, as well as the other characters that encompass the powerful royal families of the kingdom of Saiunkoku. This time around, the arcs in this series feature Shurei involved in political situations that put her status as an official at risk from tending to events such as a plague striking one of the kingdom provinces to the planned uprisings of the Hyou clan. Shurei is the same strong-willed woman from the first season who places her need to protect the people and those she cares for over conforming to the policies that her superiors expect her to follow. Outside of Shurei, several other major characters in the series get a good amount of development. Eigetsu's past gets explored and more of the Ran family is seen in this series. Ryuki finds himself coming to terms with the responsibilities that he has as an emperor and Shuei's loyalties between his family and the emperor are put to the test. The series still does a good job at providing enough twists in the plot and character developments to keep your interest on what happens. Character designs and scenery are still as greatly detailed and appealing to the eyes as the first season. The music still does well to match up to the mood and atmosphere of the series with its traditional music, though the opening music is reused from the first season. However, Saiunkoku's second season suffers from some gaping problems that make it's plot quality a bit inferior to the first season. While the primary antagonists of the second season, the Hyou clan suffers a large case of underdevelopment with their characters due to their limited time onscreen despite their influence on many of the events in this season of Saiunkoku. Some of the character relationships set up for this season seemed forced and unnatural, a big case being the attraction between Korin and Eigetsu which lacked development compared to many of the other character relationships I've seen in this series like anyone drawn to Shurei. This season also had the idea of throwing in three recap episodes during the middle of major developments in the series which will definitely infuriate some folks anticipating what happens next with Saiunkoku's cast. Some developments in the plot which get thrown in at the end of the series are left unexplored, especially with one plot development involving Shurei and Ryuki. The animation for this season is still as subpar as the first season with its uninspiring action scenes. While Story of Saiunkoku's second season is still a worthwhile title to check out, its issues with quality in some of its plot elements did hamper my enjoyment of Saiunkoku compared to the first season. Still, the focus on political tensions and struggles with Shurei continue to be the driving force of the series that make the show a worthwhile long series to check out. Last updated Thursday, November 26 2009. Created Sunday, November 22 2009.
Buy 4	8	8	8	8	9	8	Dreamer	[series:1566#2279]
Saiunkoku Monogatari 2nd Series We get more courtyard goodness, intrigue and plenty of subplots going on in another series to a wonderfully done previous series. Art, Animation and Character Design The art wasn't bad. It wasn't any improvement over the first series, nor the animation. As mentioned in the review for the earlier series, the character designs weren't bad but because there are so many characters, most of which are permanent, it seemed the illustrators had a tough time coming up with unique designs. Some of the characters almost look identical that at times, I'd get mixed up between them. Music The OP was a nice piece with a gentle female voice. It was slightly enjoyable and fit the anime perfectly. The music elsewhere were very traditional style chinese pieces with traditional instruments. Most were very soft and have that very "oriental" feel to them. The ED itself was a soft, more modern song and not too bad either. Series and Episode Story The story is pretty simple and not filled with a lot of action. However, there was plenty of action politically speaking. As was the first series, this one also details out the storyline in more or less inside the courtyards of Saiunkoku. On occasion would the story venture out into some other locations. There are so many characters in this series that you'll easily get confused who is who and to make it worse, many of the characters look the same.... as mentioned above. There was a few "recap" episodes that were pretty much worthless and didn't do anything to advance the storyline. Episode 17 was a light hearted almost useless episode.... but fun to watch nevertheless. What made it fun was how a bunch of our characters got to simply "relax" and tour the country side while getting into silly situations. It was a great break from your everyday political life. One thing that I was really hoping to see is "Kokurou" (Black Wolf), being more involved in the storyline. In the first series, you get bits and pieces.... like teasers of his capabilities and "fame". Here, it was more or less the same. If you don't know who Kokurou is, you should watch the first series. As for the ending, somewhat disappointing. I won't say much about it since I don't want to ruin it however, our emperor is not much of an emperor. Overall, it's a good watch. There's not a whole lot of action but plenty of political intrigue. As well, by the way it ended, it seems they left it wide open for another season. So many subplots were left unfinished. Last updated Monday, March 30 2009. Created Monday, March 30 2009.

Other Sites

Name	URL
Japanese Language Series Web Site	http://www3.nhk.or.jp/anime/saiunkoku/

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