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dancing_moonLife: It continues to be busy!
But I at least had the time to read The Story of Saiunkoku on the train home. It's a manga I have looked forward to read properly ever since someone posted a few pages to scans_daily years ago.
The art style is polished fantasy shoujo, similar in design to the (good) works of Yuu Watase and You Higuri. It's pretty similar to Watase's Fushigi Yuugi in other ways too, starting with the obvious Chinese influence. Stir in plenty of court intrigue and possibly prophecies or something from the mysterious past and a go-get-'em female lead, and the surface starts to look very similar.
But! There are many differences too, because Saiunkoku takes place entirely in one world. There's been no magic in the first volume and, so far, only one of the pretty men in the manga has become obviously infatuated with the main character. Who is also btw admired because she's smart and driven, yay.
I like shoujo manga, especially the historical and fantasy kind (high school romances tend to bore me) but I will freely admit that there is a problem with the female main characters. In short, they tend to do little but have to be rescued after a while. Sometimes for really stupid reasons too.
It's way too early to say how Saiunkoku will develop in that fashion, but at least Shurei isn't supposed to run around and fight people (so she shouldn't be able to fail at it). Instead, she's supposed to teach the reluctant young emperor how to actually be an emperor - a task she has accepted because it means she gets The Moniez, and this is very important to Shurei.
Shurei, the main character, reminds me a great deal of Tohru from Fruits Basket, except she's way sharper when it comes to handling her money. They do seem to share the same kindness, however, and they're both very likeable; both for characters in the story and reader (well, me at least).
This is great, because far too often (in all kinds of genres), one finds a person everyone loves, from good old Mary Sue over to generic harem-manga leading man, for no reason whatsoever.
Here, we're presented with a noble but impoverished young girl, who is both book-smart and knows the pains of the world. She's still got a positive outlook on life, but it's not all roses and cheer - and yes, I like her. Maybe she's a bit too good, but heck, she's the HEROINE, she's allowed to. And the author still makes me think that if I met her in real life, she's someone I could easily come to like.
There appears to be much more intrigue, palace schemes and whatnot brewing in this manga than in your typical shoujo story. I hope it keeps up and develops those threads even further, because there's the potential of a really, really good story here.
So far, I like it a lot ^_^ Since I also bought the very last volume of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, this series came at just the right moment. Might even give the anime a try if the manga keeps my interest...
By the way, Saiunkoku is another anime where it's fun to play "Spot the voice actor!"
Seiran Shi / The faithful retainer who’s good with the sword and probably hides a dark secret (also potential love interest): Hikaru Midorikawa, aka Tamahome (Fushigi Yugi)
Shuurei Kou / Our plucky lead who isn't afraid to tell people where to stick it when she must: Houko Kuwashima aka Sango (Inu-Yasha), Marron Kusakabe (Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne)
Ryuuki Shi / The always smiling emperor who hides a very Dark and Troubled past and is smarter than he looks: Tomokazu Seki aka Chichiri (Fushigi Yugi), Shuichi (Gravitation), Van (Vision of Escaflowne)
Even Hotohori (Koyasu Takehito) appears, although I don't recognize the name of his character yet. All we're missing is Tasuki (Nobutoshi Hayashi back then, Canna nowadays) and we'd have almost the whole set of cute Fushigi Yuugi guys!
Heh, I love japanese VA type-casting
But I at least had the time to read The Story of Saiunkoku on the train home. It's a manga I have looked forward to read properly ever since someone posted a few pages to scans_daily years ago. The art style is polished fantasy shoujo, similar in design to the (good) works of Yuu Watase and You Higuri. It's pretty similar to Watase's Fushigi Yuugi in other ways too, starting with the obvious Chinese influence. Stir in plenty of court intrigue and possibly prophecies or something from the mysterious past and a go-get-'em female lead, and the surface starts to look very similar.
But! There are many differences too, because Saiunkoku takes place entirely in one world. There's been no magic in the first volume and, so far, only one of the pretty men in the manga has become obviously infatuated with the main character. Who is also btw admired because she's smart and driven, yay.
I like shoujo manga, especially the historical and fantasy kind (high school romances tend to bore me) but I will freely admit that there is a problem with the female main characters. In short, they tend to do little but have to be rescued after a while. Sometimes for really stupid reasons too.
It's way too early to say how Saiunkoku will develop in that fashion, but at least Shurei isn't supposed to run around and fight people (so she shouldn't be able to fail at it). Instead, she's supposed to teach the reluctant young emperor how to actually be an emperor - a task she has accepted because it means she gets The Moniez, and this is very important to Shurei.
Shurei, the main character, reminds me a great deal of Tohru from Fruits Basket, except she's way sharper when it comes to handling her money. They do seem to share the same kindness, however, and they're both very likeable; both for characters in the story and reader (well, me at least).
This is great, because far too often (in all kinds of genres), one finds a person everyone loves, from good old Mary Sue over to generic harem-manga leading man, for no reason whatsoever.
Here, we're presented with a noble but impoverished young girl, who is both book-smart and knows the pains of the world. She's still got a positive outlook on life, but it's not all roses and cheer - and yes, I like her. Maybe she's a bit too good, but heck, she's the HEROINE, she's allowed to. And the author still makes me think that if I met her in real life, she's someone I could easily come to like.
There appears to be much more intrigue, palace schemes and whatnot brewing in this manga than in your typical shoujo story. I hope it keeps up and develops those threads even further, because there's the potential of a really, really good story here.
So far, I like it a lot ^_^ Since I also bought the very last volume of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, this series came at just the right moment. Might even give the anime a try if the manga keeps my interest...
By the way, Saiunkoku is another anime where it's fun to play "Spot the voice actor!"
Seiran Shi / The faithful retainer who’s good with the sword and probably hides a dark secret (also potential love interest): Hikaru Midorikawa, aka Tamahome (Fushigi Yugi)
Shuurei Kou / Our plucky lead who isn't afraid to tell people where to stick it when she must: Houko Kuwashima aka Sango (Inu-Yasha), Marron Kusakabe (Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne)
Ryuuki Shi / The always smiling emperor who hides a very Dark and Troubled past and is smarter than he looks: Tomokazu Seki aka Chichiri (Fushigi Yugi), Shuichi (Gravitation), Van (Vision of Escaflowne)
Even Hotohori (Koyasu Takehito) appears, although I don't recognize the name of his character yet. All we're missing is Tasuki (Nobutoshi Hayashi back then, Canna nowadays) and we'd have almost the whole set of cute Fushigi Yuugi guys!
Heh, I love japanese VA type-casting
