Saiunkoku Monogatari

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saiunkoku Monogatari ( Japanese 彩雲 国 物語 , dt. "The story of the land of colored clouds") is a light novel series by the Japanese author Sai Yukino ( 雪 乃 紗衣 ) with illustrations by Kairi Yura ( 由 羅 カ イ リ ). The story, which can be classified into the genres of drama, history and romance, takes place in a fictional world that has strong similarities with medieval China. Up to October 2010, 20 volumes were published: 16 volumes for the main story and 4 volumes with subplots.

Based on the books, an anime of the same name was produced by the animation studio Madhouse , which was broadcast in Japan on NHK .

Story of Saiunkoku

According to legend, Saiunkoku has long been ruled by demons who terrorized people. But then the warrior So Gen, together with the eight "saints of colors", managed to drive out the demons. However, after the death of So Gen, who was crowned first emperor of the united country, the saints disappeared. The eight provinces of Saiunkoku were named after these eight saints, who bore the names of colors, as were the eight most powerful clans that rule in their respective province.

  • Shi (Japanese purple) - The clan of the imperial family and thus the most powerful in Saiunkoku
  • Ran (Japanese blue) - Almost as influential as the Kaiserklan, but rather pulls the strings in the dark. In addition, all members of the clan are kindly instantly recognizable by their long blue hair.
  • Kō (jap. Red) - Almost on a par with the Ran Klan, both are considered the absolute elite in the country
  • Heki (Japanese green)
  • Kō (jap. Yellow) - Although pronounced like the Kanji for "red", it is spelled differently and means "yellow"
  • Haku (Japanese white)
  • Koku (Japanese black)
  • Sa (Japanese brown) - Considered the lowest clan of the eight, but plays an important role in the course of history

action

1st season

The main character in the story, Shūrei Kō, is a member of the powerful Kō clan. However, she and her father have been impoverished since the death of their mother (their servants disappeared with most of their property), so Shūrei teaches as a teacher and plays the Ehru (Japanese Niko) at events. Her father is a librarian in the emperor's palace, a position that is well respected but by no means well paid. The only servant they have left is Shi Seiran, a young man whom Shūri's father picked up as a boy and took him in. His only purpose in life seems to be the well-being of Shūrei and her father.

Then, however, the three advisors of the emperor made her an extremely well-paid offer: She should move into the harem of the newly crowned emperor and bring him to his senses, since he has shown no interest in politics or his country since his coronation and from the most considered an idiot. On top of that, he is also considered gay, so it is no problem for Shūrei to accept the offer. Arriving at the palace, however, it soon turns out that the emperor (Ryūki) is anything but stupid, but only wants to cause his advisors to look for his brother Be with his behavior. Seien had been sent into exile 13 years earlier due to a plot. As the youngest of 5 brothers, Ryūki was hated and mistreated by everyone but Be. When his father fell ill, an argument broke out over the throne. Three of his brothers were killed, only Ryūki survived, while his whereabouts remained unexplained.

Through Shūreis positive influence, Ryūki begins to take his task seriously. In addition, he falls in love with Shūrei and would like to marry her immediately, but she does not want to, as she has always dreamed of a career in the service of the emperor. The exam test is not approved for women, but Ryūki allows this to be changed for them.

She comes off third best and is sent with To Eigetsu, the best of the test, as governors in Sa province, which is on the brink of civil war. On the way there, however, she is separated from her companions and instead travels to the provincial capital with a trader.

On the way he makes clear hints that he likes her, but Shūrei rejects him. Once in the capital, it turns out that he is actually the second son of the Sa clan, Sa Sakujun, who is responsible for the unrest in the country. After the death of the clan chief, a conflict over the succession is currently smoldering, and since it is planned that Shūrei will be married to the new chief (whether she wants to or not) in order to secure absolute control of the province for the Sa Klan, Sakujun kills his elder Brother to marry Shūrei.

He commits suicide when he is again rejected by Shūrei and the leadership of the clan passes to the third brother, who is responsible for the clan's crimes. The conflict ends, but Shūrei has to stand trial because she has broken several laws in order to protect the people of the province and thus loses her position as governor. She returns home and the season ends with a meeting between her and Ryūki, who promises to wait for her no matter how long.

2nd season

After her dismissal as governor, Shūrei has to start all over again, which means: cleaning toilets, carrying documents around and being humiliated. Because she meets people in the palace for the first time who think nothing of female officials and let them feel it clearly. But through her ambition she manages to work her way up slowly and to gain respect through some intrigues, mainly through her enlightened. In contrast, the emperor is confronted with ever greater resistance and intrigues against himself, since he is too young and inexperienced for many of the older nobles as emperors. And at the end of the season, the Ran Klan also begins to pursue opaque plans, so Ran Shūei, one of his closest advisers and friends, also leaves him, which affects him badly. Therefore he decides to follow him to find out the reason for breaking his oath of trust. At the same time Shūrei is also sent to Ran Province to investigate an intrigue.

Characters

  • Kō Shūrei ( 紅 秀麗 ): main character of the story, niece of the head of the clan (her father Shōka is the elder brother of the head) In the course of the story she meets numerous men who would all marry them immediately if she had wanted to (including emperors Shi Ryūki, Shi Seiran, Sa Sakujun). But her dream is to be able to help ordinary people as a civil servant, because during the war for the throne she saw dozens of people die at the gates of her house without being able to help them.
  • Kō Shōka ( 紅 邵 可 ): father of Shūrei and librarian in the emperor's palace. He is friendly to everyone and has good advice on everything, but is completely helpless in normal life on his own (he is unable to make tea without destroying the entire kitchen in the process, which does not prevent him from making it again and again to attempt). But his deliberately harmless nature is partly also a camouflage, in fact he is the "black wolf", an elite killer who is notorious for killing everyone to protect the emperor.
  • Shi Seiran ( 茈 静 蘭 ) / Be ( 清苑 ): Second eldest son of the last emperor. Exiled by his brothers because his father intended to make him emperor. He fled with his mother, who was killed shortly afterwards, and was picked up by Sa Sakujun and his band of robbers and made a killer. A year later he was found unconscious in the snow by Kō Shōka after a fight and taken in. Since then, his only purpose in life has been to protect Shōka and especially Shūrei and to do everything possible to prevent her from getting behind his dark past. Shōka and his little brother Ryūki are the only ones who know who he really is.
  • Shi Ryūki ( 紫 劉輝 ): As the emperor's youngest son, he was always treated like dirt by his brothers and relatives. The only one who always looked after him was his big brother Be. That's why he's acting like a fool because he wants his brother to be wanted. When he sees Seiran, who is accompanying Shūrei into the palace, he recognizes him immediately and has since asked him for advice, especially when it comes to him and Shūrei.

Anime

Television series
Original title Saiunkoku Monogatari
彩雲 国 物語
Country of production JapanJapan Japan
original language Japanese
Year (s) 2006-2007
Episodes 78 in 2 seasons
First broadcast April 8, 2006 - March 8, 2008 on NHK
synchronization

The studio Madhouse produced in 2006, a 39-part anime - TV series directed by June Shishido . The character design comes from Miwa Oshima. The series ran in Japan from April 8, 2006 to February 24, 2007 on NHK . A second season with 39 episodes was broadcast from April 7, 2007 to March 8, 2008.

The first season will be translated into English by Funimation .

Voice actor

role Japanese speaker ( seiyū )
Kō Shūrei Hoko Kuwashima
Shi Ryūki Tomokazu Seki
Shi Seiran Hikaru Midorikawa
Ran Shuei Toshiyuki Morikawa
Ri Koyu Nobuyuki Hiyama
Kō Shōka Shuichi Ikeda
Rō Ensei Kentarō Itō

Web links