Koukyuu no Karasu

Title:Koukyuu no Karasu
Raven of the Inner Palace
後宮の烏
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , ,
Notables: Animation - Bandai Namco Pictures
Uki is an imperial concubine who has never been called to the emperor's bedchambers, and maintains a singularly unique life within the harem chambers. Seen by some as having the appearance of an old woman, and some others as a young lady, she is known to use mysterious magic that helps with everything from finding lost items to inflicting curses. When a circumstance makes the emperor call on her, their meeting will change history.
(Summary Courtesy of Anime News Network)


13-episode TV anime that premiered on October 1, 2022.
Animated by Bandai Namco Pictures.
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Buy 9 9 8 8 9 9 Ggultra2764 [series:4541#1552]
Raven of the Inner Palace is focused on a royal consort known as the Raven Consort, with 16 year old Liu Shouxue serving the role, who is often tasked by imperial officials to resolve any issues involving the departed souls of their deceased loved ones. Most episodes of the series explore the different cases that Liu is involved in resolving as each get a good amount of fleshing out and development within their respective episodes to explore the circumstances and causes surrounding each spiritual case, a number of which offering rather tragic developments during and sometimes after the case is resolved. Besides these, the series also fleshes out Liu's character to explore how she gained the role of Raven Consort and undergoes gradual development as she becomes less aloof and close with the emperor and other officials who develop bonds with her throughout the series. The spiritual circumstances surrounding the Raven Consort are also dabbled into, though this element appears to have more to it that the series doesn't have the time to properly resolve. The title's source material appears to had concluded earlier this year, though there hasn't been any official announcement as of this review over whether or not the remainder of the light novel series will be adapted into another anime season. Still, this series offers up a rich amount of engaging storytelling involving the exploration of the Raven Consort's character and the various spiritual cases she is tasked to resolve. Anyone who is a fan of Eastern historical and supernatural lore should take a good deal of interest in this hidden gem of the Fall 2022 season.

Last updated Sunday, December 25 2022. Created Sunday, December 25 2022.
Unevaluated Stretch [series:4541#628]
(One episode watched):

My impression is that this show will be about solving mysteries within the Forbidden City of Beijing. Handsome young Emperor Xia Gaojin was cheated of his right to the throne by the conniving Empress Dowager, who is to blame for his mother's early death. He has taken back what is rightfully his and has spared the Dowager, but she continues to conspire. Liu Shouxue is a strange young woman who has some sort of extraordinary capability to discern the truth, which makes her useful to the Emperor. But she is a very independent woman who charges a stiff price for her services. It looks like the first case will be about sparing a cursed ghost (of the Emperor's mother?) from its torments. Unfortunately, my impression was that this first mystery lacked depth and the show was taking a bare bones approach to storytelling; that is, feeding us a relatively simple story without our needing to figure out much of anything by ourselves. It is looking like a pretty simple good versus evil tale. For all the majesty and bureaucracy of the Forbidden City, it seems that the Emperor and one aid (and the Raven consort) basically get everything done. Maybe there will be a battle of wits with the Empress Dowager, but I'm not seeing any clear signs of it yet. So maybe I will watch episode two, and maybe I won't.

Last updated Thursday, October 20 2022. Created Thursday, October 20 2022.

Other Sites
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Official Japanese Series Web Site https://kokyu-anime.com/

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