Tale of Saiunkoku (season 1) final thoughts

Things aren't always rosy in the land of Saiunkoku.

Tale of Saiunkoku is an unusual anime; it has romance and action (or, more precisely, violent political intrigue), but much of the story concerns the aspirations of a young woman, who wishes to serve in the government bureaucracy. Although it has its weaknesses, it is charming, and I can recommend it to someone looking for a solid storyline about work and politics.

This post reflects my views after having completed season 1 (39 episodes), but I intend to keep my remarks spoiler-free.

Tale of Saiunkoku (epidodes 14-26)

Plum Blossoms (top-left: morning, top-right: evening, bottom: by moonlight)

This post covers episodes 14-26 of Tale of Saiunkoku season one. Since this review covers the middle third of the season, it should be considered to contain spoilers, especially for the first third. If you want a spoiler-free introduction to the series, please read my review of episodes 1 – 13 instead.

Tale of Saiunkoku (Season 1 – episodes 1-13)

Tale of Saiunkoku is a non-fantasy alternate history anime. Although it plays at times with being a reverse harem, by surrounding the main (female) character with bishonen, more than one of whom are implied to have romantic feelings for her, the story so far is really about a spunky young woman who, through no fault of her own, is prevented from taking an active part in politics.

Uh oh, Shurei is mad again.

This review, presented with minimal spoilers is based on viewing the first third of season one.