I forgot to write a summary for this gaiden. This is the first gaiden; however, most of the stories were covered in the anime, so I’ll only summarize the part that wasn’t animated.

Yuurei Taiji Daisakusen (the great campaign to exorcise the ghost)

This is the one which wasn’t animated. It occurs before the anime begins; that is, before Shuurei comes to the palace. The story opens with Reishin eating some manju that Kouyuu has made. He criticizes Kouyuu’s cooking (the manju are flat, like senbei) and tea making skills, but eats them all. Then, he tells Kouyuu that Shou Taishi requested that he wait upon Ryuuki; although Kouyuu doesn’t want to do it, eventually Reishin bullies, er, convinces him, into going.

Half a month passes, and Kouyuu is sitting in the archives, irritated. Shouka comes and asks him what’s the matter. Kouyuu explains that Ryuuki won’t even meet with him, so he’s been sitting around doing nothing. It’s been about half a year since Ryuuki’s coronation, and the king has just been hiding in the Inner Palace, simply rubber stamping things. Shouka says that Ryuuki has some reason, which doesn’t satisfy Kouyuu. He also reveals that there’s a ghost haunting the archives.

Kouyuu asks for Shuuei’s help in getting rid of the ghost, so they wait in the archives during the night. Although Kouyuu doesn’t care about ghosts, he’s worried something may potentially happen to Shouka. They see a figure reach for Kouyuu’s manju, which he’s left there as bait, hearing the ghost likes to eat manju. When the ghost says that Kouyuu’s manju look bad, Kouyuu becomes angry, and scares off the ghost, although Shuuei tries to capture it. The next day, Kouyuu reports to Shouka that they saw the ghost, although they don’t know if it really is supernatural, or a human being. Sure enough, later Shouka tells Ryuuki that he shouldn’t criticize food that was left out specifically for him. Yep, the “ghost” they saw was Ryuuki.

Kouyuu and Shuuei argue about the next step they’re going to take. They speculate about whether the ghost is really a ghost, and whether it is male or female. We learn that Shuuei finished second to Kouyuu, thus meaning that he was Bougen. They lie in wait for the ghost, and when a figure approaches, they pounce. Unfortunately, it turns out to be… Shou Taishi! Then, Sou Taifu appears and takes a swing at them. Then Sa Taiho shows up and calms everyone down. Afterwards, they sit together in the archives. It turns out the three elders were thinking of some scheme to get Ryuuki to leave the Inner Palace. Anyway, it’s another failure for the ghost-busting operation. For the next five days, Kouyuu and Shuuei wait up for the ghost, and it’s a bit much for Kouyuu, who’s half dead from lack of sleep. Shouka tells him that if he can’t find the ghost tonight, he should just give up already.

As they wait for the ghost, it begins to storm. Kouyuu tells Shuuei this is the last night, and Shuuei says that only Shouka and Reishin could get the stubborn Kouyuu to give up so easily. Kouyuu apologizes to Shuuei for the fruitless quest, but Shuuei says he doesn’t mind (he’s a trained soldier, so this isn’t physically taxing for him), and he gets to hang out with Kouyuu and eat the manju Shouka gives them (made by Shuurei).

Suddenly, there is a great flash of lightning, with the accompanying burst of thunder, and a beautiful woman enters the archive. Shuuei is not at all phased, and greets her gallantly. He removes his coat for her, and so does Kouyuu. However, she doesn’t put the clothing on, but instead uses it to dry her hair. Although the woman appears to be in her mid twenties, Kouyuu thinks she doesn’t really seem to be around their age. Kouyuu reaches out and touches the woman’s hair, which feels normal, then he touches her arm, and he is about to touch her cheek, before he is stopped by Shuuei, who points out that this is rather rude, and one mustn’t do this sort of thing the first time one meets a lady, although he is happy to see that Kouyuu is showing an interest in women. Kouyuu angrily says that he was checking to see if she was a ghost. Kouyuu feels foolish, and Shuuei continues to play the ladies’ man, and goes off to get some water for the tea. The woman asks if she can eat the manju, and seems to be very interested in them, half-laughing/half-crying remarking that the taste is the same. Kouyuu asks if she was outside in the storm. The woman says that this was an unexpected circumstance, and she did not intend to go out, and she is here because of the thunderstorm, and without thinking, came there. She asks if the master of the archives is well, and Kouyuu replies that he is. Then she asks if his daughter and Seiran are well, and Kouyuu says he doesn’t know about them; the woman appears disappointed, so Kouyuu says that Shouka seems to be proud of his daughter, and the woman appears pleased by this.

She then asks Kouyuu some questions about the court (she also knows that he was adopted by Reishin), asking if the succession has occurred, and who is king now. Learning that Ryuuki is king, she gathers that Shou Taishi is still at court. As she is asking these questions, the memory of her doing so disappears from Kouyuu’s mind. Then the woman stands up, and her clothes and hair are now, impossibly, dry. She tells Kouyuu she has a message for Shou Taishi: Don’t do unnecessary things. (don’t make a mess of things/interfere too much?) Also, he shouldn’t mess things up, and especially, he shouldn’t involve those guys, because things will become very bad. [... such a clear message] Shuuei returns, and the woman prepares to leave. She says her time is up, and thanks them (she also knows Shuuei’s name, although they never told her what their names were), and disappears when the next bolt of lighting flashes.

Later, Shouka arrives. He had asked an acquaintance to pretend to be a ghost, but owing to the storm, he couldn’t make it. But Kouyuu claims that the ghost is a woman who seems to be an acquaintance of Shouka, and he and Shuuei fall asleep. Later, Ryuuki meets Shouka in the archives, and says that Shou Taishi has told him he is sending a woman to the Inner Palace. Ryuuki says that no matter what Shou Taishi does, he won’t participate in politics. He’ll keep the promise he made with Shouka, but beyond that, there’s a line beyond which he won’t budge. Then Ryuuki sees the manju, and says that it would be good if the person who made them came to the Inner Palace.

Some days later, Kouyuu meets with Reishin. Reishin asks if he has gotten better at making manju, and tries some of the manju Kouyuu has with him. He says they’re much better, but Kouyuu says that these aren’t his manju, but Shuurei’s. He informs Reishin that for the past few days, he’s been hanging out with Shouka, drinking tea and eating manju, and asks if Reishin is jealous. Naturally, this upsets Reishin. XD

Commentary: Did the author screw up here? In Gaiden #3, Kouyuu meets Bara-hime, but here he doesn’t recognize her. Now, this can , be explained away by saying that Kouyuu never saw her after that time, or he was young so he didn’t remember, or one doesn’t think to meet a dead woman, but it would be nice to see this continuity point acknowledged at a later date. I wonder why this story wasn’t animated at first, but now I think I know; it introduces too much stuff that just isn’t going to get resolved at all in the anime, because it will probably be one of the last things to be resolved in the novels. We don’t really seem to learn anything concrete, although I do wonder if Kouyuu did end up relaying that message to Shou Taishi. Well, if Shou Taishi is following Bara-hime’s advice, maybe that explains why he’s hasn’t done anything useful for volumes and volumes. >_> I’ve complained before that the supernatural stuff seems to simply be underdeveloped in the Saiunkoku world, and this story does make me think this is more true, because the author has included these elements from the beginning, so she’s had time to integrate them into the storyline. Since so much of Saiunkoku is concrete, I think it works better for the magical system to also be rather well defined, IMHO.

The second story is about Eigetsu getting in trouble before the exams. This was mostly in the anime. It’s the story about how Eigetsu can’t find his exam token, etc. At the end of the story, on top of the Kogarou, Shou Taishi and Dr. You are talking on the roof. Dr. You asks if Shou Taishi is going to call the eight immortals together, but Shou Taishi says that there is one (or some?) who is always sleeping. Actually, I can’t remember this part of the anime very well, but it really does seem like there wasn’t much difference, except maybe in the order. Since it was so like the anime, reading this story was sort of uninteresting, though.

The third story is the one where Shuurei gets sick, and everyone goes to her house. This was also an anime episode. Shuurei gets sick because she was chasing one of her students, and she ended up falling in the river in the middle of winter. As in the anime, everyone descends on their house, but then the boy Shin’s father reports that he is missing, so Kouyuu, Shuuei, and Seiran decide to go off to look for him in the mountains. Then Shouka becomes surprisingly leaderly and tells the search party they must come back by a certain time, etc. Most of what happens, I recall from the anime.

The last story is a short piece, called “Bara-hime.” This was also in the anime. Ryuuki and Shusui are talking in the Inner Palace, and Shusui tells him the story of Bara-hime (the legendary figure, not Shuurei’s mother specifically… well, maybe?). In this story, Bara-hime has a child, who is prone to sickness, so she gives her life in exchange for the child’s. She says to her husband, that though now she returns to being a rose, from then on, the rose will have thorns, so it cannot be captured again, and this shall be proof of her love for him. Afterwards, they talk some more, and Ryuuki wonders if he is foolish for continuing to love like he has, hanging on and hoping his feelings will be returned. In comparison, Shusui is content to love without any expectation of return. Afterwards, Shusui is walking in the palace, and runs into Shuuei, and he attempts to sweet-talk her, and they bicker some more. In the end Shuuei says that she was kind to him when they met for the first time (unlike now) and gives her his coat. Shusui doesn’t know what he’s talking about. (For more information on this, see volume 11). Later, Ryuuki is thinking about how he wishes not to be the cruel man who locked Bara-hime up, but the man who freed her and was loved by her (which is why he does things for Shuurei which in effect take her farther away from him.)

Second part of the Gaiden. (covering the third story). Thanks to everyone for your comments. I’m glad that we’re getting some discussion in.

Jijoku no Sata mo Kimi Shidai (This is based on a Japanese saying, and basically means something like “even the affairs of hell change at your command” _< However, at least we got more background info on Houju.

As for Houju, can we throw him a pity party? T_T This story makes you feel really bad for him, because it becomes clear that he really is a good person. Shouldn’t Reishin feel more remorse? Or shouldn’t he have let him off more easily with a “it’s not you, it’s me” message? Well, I guess that would be out of character for him, but this also shows that Houju is a really great friend, because most people would not be friends under such circumstances. (Or has Houju figured it out? Reishin thinks he will…) Heck, people have stopped being friends when their friend can’t get along with their spouse. In a way, it does show how important Houju is to him, because he did it to preserve their friendship, by making Yuri out to be the bad guy… but hmm, really, this just comes off as rather selfish, but I suppose the author wants us to forgive Reishin somewhat because he didn’t think the letter would be hurtful? But on the other hand, what if Houju meets Yuri-hime by accident? What in the world are they going to say to one another? (haha maybe this will happen later. I look forward to it. )

Er… Reishin’s line about ways of making children that don’t produce children. XDDD I’m not really sure I want to know what the fans are going to make of this one. You know if you give people a prime opportunity to address questions referring to, shall we say, questionable material, then they probably will take advantage of that. After all, they can say that it’s totally canonical. XD Although, actually, the story is rather chaste. They don’t even hug, let alone kiss.

I wonder if Kouyuu knows that Yuri-hime is none other than Ryuuki’s aunt? It’s not really clear. However, I wonder if Shuuei knows, given that the Ran clan seems to know a lot. On the other hand, Shuuei would have no reason to look into that matter, but it’s never explicitly stated he doesn’t know. Considering that Shuuei is a fairly subtle person, and up to this point, Yuri-hime has played no role in the main plot, it’s not impossible that he does. Hmm, I was hoping also that we would see the Ran triplets show up, but in terms of timeline, they had already left the capital by the time Reishin arrived. So I’m curious as to where their legendary grudge comes from, as well.

I continue to feel sorry for Kurou. Actually, I’m disappointed that this volume didn’t have more Kurou; I hope he’ll play more of a role in later volumes. Jeez, this guy gets the short end of the stick on everything. Made to do all of the work, left out of the great secrets, and now he even gets radically less pagetime. (Amusingly, if you want to be punny, you can write his name in kanji as “苦労” (hard work).) It also makes me wonder about Kurou’s marriage. Did he manage to get married in a normal way (which I am sure Kurou would prefer, none of this nonsense about arguing with the emperor (who wanted the bride dead) and abductions and cross-dressing and repeated rejections and slaughtering hordes of Hyou and assassinations and romantic rivals psychologically scarred for life and the time-honored Kou clan tradition of moving heaven and earth and damn the consequences to get what one wants), or did he also eventually cause scandal? It’s a good thing that Kurou seems to feel no urge to outshine his brothers, because after a sennyo and a princess, I’m not sure what he would do to top those acts.

I now want Shuurei and Ryuuki to meet their aunt. XD I also want to see the moment where Ryuuki realizes he’s also gained an uncle. On the other hand, I think Reishin’s reaction to Ryuuki calling him uncle would be more on the lines of DO NOT WANT.

I really wonder what impact this new information will have on Kouyuu’s current job problems, Reishin’s strike, and Ou Ki’s coup. Who comes first in the order of succession, Ou Ki or Yuri-hime? Yuri-hime is a woman, but Ou Ki doesn’t even seem to be known as part of the imperial clan. Will Ou Ki seek Yuri-hime’s approval or otherwise target her? And what of the Hyou clan? The Hyou clan is so amorphous and confusing. Does this mean Shusui might be related to the imperial family? More and more questions emerge. Once again, awaiting the next volume.

Hey, it’s the Return (dramatic music) of the hideous charts! Er, looking at these charts will SPOIL you for all of the novels. So if you don’t like spoilers, don’t look at them.

Kou and Shi Clans

The double bar means marriages. Previous=previous head of clan.

Yuri is Shouka, Reishin, and Kurou’s first cousin once removed. A first cousin once removed is the child of one’s first cousin. So Yuri’s first cousin is Shouka’s father. In other words, you are someone’s cousin if you both have the same person as your grandparent. You are someone’s first cousin once removed if the same person is your grandparent, and the other person’s great-grandparent.

This means, that if we consider Kouyuu to be Yuri’s child, he would be Shuurei’s second cousin once removed (and Shouka’s second cousin). However, since we would then also be considering him Reishin’s child, then he would also be Shuurei’s first cousin (and Shouka’s nephew). This is what happens when you marry your relatives.

Ran Clan and Shiba Clan

Shiba Jin and Jyuusan-hime are second cousins. Gyokuka is Setsuna’s wife who hasn’t appeared yet in the anime. Confusingly, she and Gyokuka have similar names. In both names, Gyoku=jewel 玉. The kan in Gyokukan 環 means ring or wheel. The ka in Gyokuka (華) means splendor or flower.

There has been some confusion here, so I’ll try to clear it up a bit. There are twelve Saiunkoku light novels and now, three Saiunkoku gaidens, so now fifteen books in all. “Gaiden” literally means “outside story,” and in the gaidens are side stories/short stories. Most have been serialized in The Beans magazine. The Saiunkoku manga, on the other hand, is up to two volumes right now, but I’m not summarizing it here since people are translating it anyway.

Anyway, in this gaiden, two of the stories have appeared in The Beans magazine before, and the other is new material. BTW, can someone tell me where the stuff in the anime about Shouka and his great-aunt appeared? Also, I think this is pretty much the moment where the anime and the novels are going to “diverge.” (Well, not so much diverge as the novel story is continuing, whereas the anime will, I am speculating, stop at volume twelve. As it is, the new material is too relevant to what is probably going to happen in the next volume, IMHO, for a reader of the novels to skip this gaiden).

Also, thanks to everyone for your comments! I will try to respond to the questions later.

Ren’ai Shinan Soudatsu Battle! (Contest for Romance Guidance!)

This story takes place the winter before Shuurei passes the national exam. Governor Kai Yu (at this time, governor of Koku Province, and Eigetsu’s backer for the exams, later governor of Sa Province) has arrived at the capital for his yearly visit. Although he’s over eighty, he still possesses the charm, which, in his youth, made him popular among both women and men. He’s also famed official, on par with the three elders, and he’s also very kind and understanding.

Ryuuki is bemoaning his lack of success with Shuurei to Kouyuu (who mainly just listens). Anyway, the two head generals of the bodyguard (Plume Forest) army, Haku Raien and Koku Yousei, come to Ryuuki with a proposal: to encourage the troops, they’ll have a contest of skill, and the prize is Governor Kai’s romantic advice. Because the military officials spend so much time training, they have no chance to meet women, and so have become discouraged over their singleness.

Meanwhile, Shuurei learns from Kochou that there’s a special part time job. Feeling the need for cash for New Years’ celebrations, as she’s been spending so much time studying that she’s cut back on her part time work, she agrees, but learns to her horror that it’s in the Inner Palace. However, Shusui and the others don’t give her away, and they end up sitting with Shusui in the Tousenkyuu (later this is the place where Jyuusan-hime and Shuurei live in volume 11, a remote villa within the grounds of the Inner Palace), dressed up and doing nothing, even though Shuurei at first thought that Ryuuki had gotten into partying hard.

Ryuuki has decided to participate because if anyone needs romantic advice, it’s him; Shuuei was forced to by his boss, and Seiran enters because he’s caught wind of Shuurei’s special part time job and wants to keep an eye on her. The day of the contest comes. The two generals announce that because of the number of participants (officers from other armies were allowed to enter), they won’t be having a one on one contest. Instead, there will be three gates, the outer court, inner court, and inner palace, and at the end, those who survive will have to face them. But, they won’t have to defeat the generals, just get past them and grab a certain item. Then they tell the contestants to take a stick. On the stick is a task they must complete to get past the first gate, and there are also lucky blank ones. Some of the contestants also start fighting to increase their chances of winning, and a group attacks Shuuei. After defeating them, he finds that his task is to make Official Rou (of the ministry of rites, later the minister) smile, which he finally does by finding some cute baby animals. Ryuuki has to down ten cups of Shouka’s tea, which he’s used to doing anyway, and besides, his determination is strong! Seiran needs to pass Undersecretary Ouyou Gyoku’s fashion inspection, which he does. The other candidates are given various insane and impossible tasks, like stealing Houju’s mask, drinking with Minister Kan, etc.

The soldiers who’ve completed their tasks then move into the Inner Palace, where they’re tempted by the ladies in waiting. Most of them, because their motivation for entering the contest was to find a girlfriend, succumb. (Afterwards, there is an unprecedented amount of marriages between the ladies in waiting and elite military officials. XD) Finally, Ryuuki, Shuuei, and Seiran meet the Left and Right generals. Even if it’s three on two, because of their great skill, for even one to get past will be difficult.

But in the meantime, Shuuei’s subordinate, Officer Kou (no relation to Shuurei or Houju… it’s an entirely different kanji. You may also recall him helping Shuurei and Tantan in some later books. He looks young for his age and is exceptionally skilled with the bow) has drawn a very lucky stick. This stick enables you to, if you wait until the contest is almost over, pass uncontested to the final point by using the king’s secret passage. So he does this, and near the Tousenkyuu, shoots down a target as instructed, then enters the detached palace, where he meets Shusui, Kochou, and Shuurei; he’s too intimidated by the two famous beauties, so he goes to Shuurei, who hands him an item, an exchange diary, to be used along with the advice Governor Kai will give him later. He then leaves. Meanwhile, Sou Taifu has leaped out of nowhere, and misunderstanding matters, shot down everyone’s weapons with a large bow (throwing some extra axes to disarm the generals), leaving Ryuuki the only armed one. Seiran and Shuuei were of course willing to let Ryuuki have the prize, but then Officer Kou (no relation) runs in asking who shot the bow (as he heard it from the palace).

The next year, Ryuuki reminisces about the events of the last year, and Governor Kai again meets with him. Kai Yu notes that Shuuei and Kouyuu are, unlike last year, absent from Ryuuki’s side, but Ryuuki himself has not yet noticed the significance of these events. There are various small scenes of what the other characters are doing, and we go back to Ryuuki, alone, thinking about Shuurei and Seiran. As the last line, we shoot to when Shuurei appeared before Ryuuki at the court audience, back from Sa Province… seeing her face, smiling as always, he inwardly wishes to cry.

Commentary: This is amusing, but this story doesn’t really add much new info or plot development. I guess in a way, these short stories can’t advance the plot, only add background info, because they occur either in the past or in interstital moments (between events in the main storyline). But in this one, we don’t learn too much at all, or what we do learn is repeated by other events. I think the two generals will become more interesting when they have to decide whether to side with Son Ryouou or not, as the Secretary of the Military has thrown in his lot with his BFF, Ou Ki. I also hope we see more of Officer Kou (no relation) Kanshou. Possibly we shall next volume.

Otogibanashi no Hajimari (The Beginning of the Fairytale)

This story takes place the winter where Shuurei returns to the court for the New Year’s ceremonies, but suddenly has to instead prepare a relief expedition for the epidemic. However, thanks to Shouka’s copious flashbacks, you could say that most of the most interesting stuff takes place thirty years or so before. Actually, and perhaps somewhat annoyingly, I’d say this story reveals more important info than any other short story save the Suzuran No Saku Koro Ni one. Because it is simply too annoying to continue to skip baaack and forth, I’m going to commit some consolidation and switch some parts out of order. It won’t get rid of all the back-and-forthing, but I hope it will make things more comprehensible.

Here we’re introduced to two characters who died long before Shuurei was born, Ki-hime (Ki=demon’ this is a code name) and Kou Gyokukan. Ki-hime is the former head of the Wolves of the Wind, the elder sister of Ou Ki (which we learn in a later side story, but hurray for spoilers), and the woman Senka (hurray, now that we officially have a name, I can save typing space instead of writing ‘previous king’ or ‘Ryuuki’s father’) was in love with for his entire life (so in other words, holy parallel to current events?). Kou Gyokukan is Shouka’s great-aunt, but she seems to be a relatively youngish one, given that she has a daughter (Yuri-hime) who is younger than Shouka. She was previously a wife of Senka’s father, and was the best biwa player of the era.

Shouka recalls when his friend and fellow Wolf of the Wind, Hokuto, asked him why he left the Kou house. After awhile, he recalls his unspoken answer, ‘for a fairytale, maybe.’ The relationship between Hokuto and Kaito (Shouka’s name as a Wolf of the Wind: Hokuto is associated with the Big Dipper, Kaito refers to a part of the constellation of the Big Dipper, and means something like, the “leading star” or “chief star” (sorry, constellation terminology confuses me)) reminds me somewhat of the relationship between Ensei and Seiran, mainly because Hokuto reminds a bit of Ensei (he’s described as grinning widely in the same way). Hokuto isn’t mentioned in the anime, but he’s the deceased adoptive father of the two boys in the Sa Province arc. Read the novel two summary for more information. (And damn, after reading this story, I feel even worse for Shouka, because he never got to say goodbye to his friend).

We then get a flashback, to when Shouka is around five. Gyoukan is listening to him play the biwa, and at age five, he’s already extremely good at playing it. She says he is a kind, wise child, but also a sad one, because at his age, he no longer is innocent and carefree, because he has witnessed the struggles for power within the Kou family. She goes onto say that he is the one most characteristic of the Kou family, and thus he must protect the clan. Shouka smiles, but does not agree. Gyokukan also says that sound does not lie.

Shouka awakes in the archive (it seems he hardly needs any sleep). Shuurei has gone to Sa Province to face an epidemic, hostile crowds, death threats, and an evil cult. Shouka is spending most of his time worrying about Shuurei, who ironically, given that she is the daughter of a master assassin, has gone off to Sa Province vowing to avoid killing people. As he is untying his hair, he notices his hands are shaking with anxiety. He chides himself for worrying about trivial things, given that Shuurei is probably alright, especially with all of the help she has. Suddenly, he senses a vibration: Shusui is attempting to use her power, standing in a lake in the middle of winter. She has the Senrigan (thousand li vision. A li is a unit of distance), which allows her to see things far away. Shouka manages to stop her, and she passes out. In Kiyou, if one uses such supernatural powers, one runs the risk of going insane. Shouka calls for Shou Taishi, thinking that the blasted old man should make himself useful once in awhile. Shou Taishi, helpful as always, checks her and says that she’ll probably be alright with some rest. As he does this, Shouka thinks back to when he first met a thirty-ish Shou Taishi, and Shou Taishi says that probably the only people around now who would notice the breaking of the barrier would be Shouka and Uu Uu, because all the rest are no longer around. Shouka thanks Shou Taishi, but Shou rudely says that if he hadn’t stopped her, he would have known whether Shuurei was safe. In response to this, Shouka throws a knife near him.

After Shouka leaves, Kai Yu appears, and tells Shou Taishi that he’s childish, as always. He says Shou Taishi has probably ended up like this because he’s still single, and recommends him a self-help book. BTW, Kai Yu is the sort of guy who, when captured by enemies and tortured, didn’t say a word, and when the the previous Black Wolf came to rescue him, just said “you are beautiful as always.” He also says that well, maybe it wouldn’t help, because Eiki is unlikely to get with him, given her devotion to Enjun. Shou Taishi replies that he would never marry Eiki. Then Kai Yu moves the conversation along to Shouka, saying that Shou Taishi should be more understanding, because Shouka has lost all of the “adults,” and so has no one to turn to, and that the previous Black Wolf died too early. Also, neither Kai Yu nor Shou Taishi regrets turning Shouka into an assassin, because it was an age where nothing could be accomplished through fine words. Kai Yu then tells Shou Taishi that people are not perfect (at this, Shou Taishi wonders whether Kai Yu knows his secret), and that he should be nicer to Shouka and say that Shuurei is probably alright. Shouka carries a heavy burden, not even knowing how hard he’s working, being depended on by everyone.

Back in the archives, Shouka sees that he’s got to get those wet clothes off of Shusui, but she’s no longer a child, so he can’t just undress her. But Reishin pops in, so Shouka asks him if he’ll do him a favor. Somehow, Shusui ends up dressed in dry clothes and resting, while Shouka continues to consider the past. Apparently, at first Shusui seemed to have no powers, but later she developed them. Shouka pours some wine for Reishin, and they discuss Reishin’s laziness, and they disagree about something that I can’t understand, and Reishin says that Shouka is in a bad mood today. Shouka asks him if he remembers their great-aunt, and Reishin claims that he recalls that she favored Shouka over him, so that is in itself says something good. He then asks Shouka if he’ll play the biwa for him, but Shouka refuses. Shouka then goes into this whole speech about how he does exactly what he wishes, despite how much Reishin might ask him to stop being an assassin, that Reishin doesn’t lie to him, while he lies frequently to Reishin, Reishin does what he asks, while he doesn’t do what Reishin wants him to do, etc. Shouka asks Reishin why he likes such a terrible elder brother. (Basically, Shouka is, in his quiet way, even more willfull and stubborn than Reishin) Reishin says he can’t put it into words, and also, that although he can’t lie to Shouka, he does have some secrets from him. He says that Shouka has always been too highanded, just going off, breaking promises and telling lies, and then coming back with souvenirs.

Then Reishin begins to fall asleep (because Shouka drugged the wine; before he had been trying to get Reishin to go home and rest. However, Reishin drank it knowing it was doctored). However, he refuses to sleep before Shouka tells him that he likes him. Shouka then says that Reishin has found many people important to him, listing them, and finally does tell Reishin he loves him; Reishin says that the answer to Shouka’s question was that he knows “why” Shouka needs to tell so many lies, and that is why he and Kurou always waited, and are still waiting. Before Reishin falls asleep, Shouka asks him if he believes in fairytales, and Reishin says, only one before finally falling asleep. Shouka reflects that he is behaving strangely, saying all of those things to Reishin because of his worry over Shuurei, who also shares his stubbornness. Just like Shouka, she’ll rush out into danger, believing it’s the right thing to do. (Ah, so perhaps Shouka is finding out what it is like from the other side?) Shouka never apologized to his brothers, because apologizing has no meaning when you keep on doing the same thing over and over again. So instead, he thanks them for waiting.

Then, Shusui awakes. Shouka tells her that if anything had happened to her, both Shuurei and Ryuuki would be sad, probably especially because she was trying to help them. Shusui notices that someone changed her clothes, and asks about it… Thankfully, Shouka didn’t ask Reishin to help him undress Shusui. Instead he asked Reishin to call a lady-in-waiting and have her dress. Anyway, Shouka jokingly says that maybe he could have also asked Ran Shuuei to help, but Shusui is annoyed even by the mention of his name (Shouka thinks they fight like a married couple). Shouka recalls that Hokuto also helped take care of Shusui when she was a little girl, and that neither she nor Hokuto knew the previous Black Wolf. He promises that he’ll continue to protect Shusui agains the Hyou clan.

Oh, time for a flashback: After Shouka left his house, not even ten, he went to the capital, where he somehow met the previous king, Senka. This scene isn’t shown. Because the previous Black Wolf chose him as her successor, Senka allowed Shouka to live. She often lectured the king and held him back from doing violent deeds. She was the first person who allowed Shouka to cry. She also observed that Shouka did not understand himself, not knowing whether he was a cold or warm-hearted person. She also says that if Shouka had not come to the capital and become the successor, than in the near future, Senka would have probably killed Shouka and all of his brothers, even little Kurou, because they get along so well they probably would try to avenge the others. She also praises him for pretending to be stupid when he met Senka, as that saved him from immediate death. She then takes Shouka’s hand and thanks him, because if possible, she doesn’t want to kill children. For the first time, Shouka felt himself treated as a chld. Paradoxically, despite her kind nature, she was the one who would kill scores of people, while wishing for a peaceful age where high ideals could be carried out sincerely. She knew Shouka better than he knew himself, and he loved her like an elder sister.

Back to the present: Shusui has returned to the Inner Palace, and now Kai Yu visits Shouka. Shouka reminisces about the past, and wonders what would have happened had that person lived. However, Kai Yu tells him to stop, because if she had lived, she would have certainly killed “Bara-hime.” While trying to kill her, Ki-hime died, and for ten years after that, Shouka trained, hoping to carry out her mission and avenge her. Someone else was also strongly affected by her death, Senka. Her dying request was for Senka to construct a country where children wouldn’t cry, but while Senka sat on the throne to carry it out, he did so in a somewhat distanced way. To get rid of the corrupt princes and concubines, he allowed them to fight it out, even if it harmed the people, and he ignored the concubines who sincerely loved him.

Oh, and also, Shouka knew Ka Shin (the guy who raised Eigetsu: god, does everyone know each other in Saiunkoku?) They were opposite existences, one killing, the other saving. He also remarked that Shouka did not know himself. Ki-hime said that Shouka had too much leeway (I guess… he has too much range?) so he couldn’t grasp himself. He doesn’t realize his own kindness. Oh, we also learn that Shouka’s tea tastes awful because he fortifies it with too many healthful herbs. She tells Kai Yu not to tell Shouka about himself, in hopes that Shouka will eventually meet others who won’t be fooled by his lying kindness.

Then Shouka goes and meets Ryuuki: Ryuuki tells him that his father said that Shouka was a great biwa player, but would not play it for him. He said that if Ryuuki became a great king, Shouka would play the biwa for him. However, although things have improved enough so that Shuurei can be an idealistic official, Shouka still won’t play the biwa. Also, Shou Taishi is uncharacteristically nice and shows Shouka a secret missive confirming Shuurei’s safety.

Oh, yet another flashback: Shouka recalls picking out souvenirs for his brothers with Hokuto. Hokuto asks the question at the beginning of the story, and Shouka says it’s because Reishin stopped believing in fairytales, but Kurou still believed in them. Reishin just doesn’t believe in “happily ever after,” and insists that the brothers in the fairytale he was telling probably eventually fell out over the wealth, or the villagers killed them for their treasures. Hokuto is shocked that the realistic Shouka believes in fairytales. Irritated, Shouka smashes him over the head with one of the toys, and leaves the shop, meaning that Hokuto is stuck dealing with the angry shopkeeper. It seems that Shouka wants to believe in the one fairytale, that the brothers lived peacefully and happily ever after.

An even further flashback: Shouka, who isn’t even ten years old, is being kicked out by his father in the guise of “going off to study.” Shouka promises Reishin and Kurou that he’ll be back on a sunny day, after the rainy season. So Kurou says he’ll make lots of teru-teru bozu (those things in the illustration: a charm to prevent rain). But Shouka broke his promise, and it was a rainy day, over a year after he left, that he returned.

When he returns, he goes to Gyokukan, on orders to kill her. What happened was that Emperor Senka was biding his time, allowing Gyokukan room to hatch her treasonous schemes so that he could have leeway to thoroughly crush the Kou clan (not all the way, he intended to kill Shouka, Reishin, and even Kurou, and just tell their father to have more children). So in fact, Shouka says, rather than helping the Kou clan, Gyokukan was actually putting it in grave danger, and for this reason, she needs to die. He gives her a cup of poisoned tea. Gyokukan drains the cup and accepts her death, but only after Shouka promises her that he will see to it that the Kou clan continues in its present prosperity and glory. She also asks him to play the biwa as she expires. For the whole night, Shouka plays the biwa. Gyokukan tells him once again that sound does not lie. The sound of his biwa is like hers, a beautiful, murderous melody, the secret deathly biwa of the Kou family. Afterwards, Shouka sealed his biwa, and swore to no longer play, no matter how much his brothers asked him to.

And now for Reishin’s secret: Both he and Kurou were actually outside and heard Shouka playing the biwa. They also saw that Gyoukukan was dead, although Kurou, being just a little kid, thought that she was just sleeping. So, Reishin was just pretending earlier when he appeared to attach little significance to Shouka’s mentioning Gyokukan. Reishin tells Kurou that it is their fault that Shouka is crying, and that he alone has taken everything on himself to save them. They were too weak, which is why Shouka couldn’t keep his promise, so they must become stronger. Kurou should remember this sound, because it is for their sake. He then tells Kurou that if he doesn’t forget what he saw by tomorrow, Shouka will hate him, and Shouka will be Reishin’s alone. Kurou does forget by the next day. Since Shouka committed so many sacrifices to preserve their innocence, so that they wouldn’t change, Reishin forced Kurou to forget. However, Reishin has decided to remember, so that he can understand how difficult it is for Shouka to continue to lie and smile as always, and for whose sake he continues to lie. So, this is the way Reishin now thinks he’ll make the single fairytale he believes in come true.

Commentary: Well, if you wanted info on Shouka, you got it. XD However, we have yet to hear the story of ‘Bara-hime.’ This story vastly changed my idea of Shouka. I had never seen him as overtly a tragic character before, but he’s kind of… depressing. Right now, he’s around fortyish, yet is unable to grasp his true self (also, does anyone else feel that Shouka and Seiran have even more in common? Seiran, also, lacks self-knowledge despite having knowledge of others), having lost most of the people he looked up to, and having lied so much, he’s unable to be fully understood, even by the people who love him. Well, that’s for certain, given that he’s sealed away his biwa, which is analoguous to meaning that he’s committed to concealing his true self. Although at first in the novels I thought Shouka became the Black Wolf simply out of civic duty, this story reveals his far more personal reasons.

The older generation: Actually, I quite like Kai Yu. He seems to be a much more kind and adult person than Shou Taishi, who’s mean to Shouka for… huh, why is he even mean to Shouka? There seems to be no reason why Shou Taishi is such a jerk. -_- I’d like to see much more of the past in later gaidens. I’d also like to see much more of Ki-hime, especially her relationship with Shouka and hints on why she and Senka never got together. Did she feel she needed to support him as the Black Wolf? Did she not return his feelings? There seem to be some parallels between her and Shuurei, but in terms of personality, I think in many ways, Shouka did end up like her. (So that makes Ou Ki in a way like Reishin? Except Ou Ki actually feels responsibility as an official and is interested in political power.)

Reishin and Shouka: This is honestly the first time I felt really bad for Reishin, and for Shouka also. I am just not really sure if I can buy the idea that the best way to preserve idealism is through secrets and lies. It actually seems really odd that Shouka doesn’t know Reishin knows, given that it would be a really obvious explanation for his behavior, but Shouka really wants to believe that his brothers don’t know the truth about why he became an assassin. I’m wondering if some of this will come crumbling down. Will Shouka ever be able to play the biwa? It seems that what Shouka needs are people who are not fooled by him and know his whole self, and these people are all dying off (or they’re totally unsympathetic bastards, like Shou Taishi). The rest of the people close to him are dependents: he’s a father figure or elder brother to them, so he must protect them. And one of the things he must protect them against is who his is. But this way, unlike Ki-hime’s prediction, they cannot convincingly tell him who he is. (Well, obviously, right?) As for Reishin, a lot of people observe that he doesn’t really have an adult realtionship with his brother, but IMHO, that might be because Shouka is almost a parental figure for him, and he feels tremendously indebted to Shouka, in a way he can never pay back. However, this makes me think of something Ki-hime said in the story, which I didn’t put in because it puzzled me: she told Shouka that if he had people important to him, to not kill for their sake, but for his own sake, and not to make them into excuses for his killings. That line puzzled me at first. However, (my total interpretation) this seems to be that really, Reishin knows that Shouka killed for his sake, and that has possibly not had an entirely positive effect on him. So I mean, the book even says that even now, Reishin feels pain because of the ongoing situation with Shouka, so do they all believe that this is the happy end of the fairytale? Having read the story twice, I’m just not sure.

Kurou: Actually, this story makes me feel even more sorry for Kurou. He appears to be constantly disappointed in Shouka, and he doesn’t know what Shouka has done for him. Also, because he doesn’t know about Shouka’s sacrifice, and Reishin does, there’s a distance between him and his elder brothers, which certainly can’t have escaped him. Actually, it does seem really sad, that this means he doesn’t truly understand Reishin or Shouka, and both of them think this is doing him a favor. Are we supposed to think that Reishin made the right decision, to hide the truth from him forever? I can’t really tell, but if so, I’m not sure I agree. >_> Well, I mean, maybe the truth is a bit harsh for a toddler, but Kurou is now thirty and a responsible adult with his own children. 0_o But basically, I think I just disagree with Shouka, because I think if you think that people can’t live happily ever after, or believe that a better world is possible, without lies, fabrications, and cover stories, is that really faith, or just deceiving them?

Hurrah, I’ve gotten my hands on Saiunkoku gaiden 3. As a way of saying thanks to the people who comment in this blog, I’ve taken very LQ camera pics. Sorry for the extremely poor quality, but I just do not know how to take pictures of books very well at all, nor do I know how to do much more than crop and resize images. Obviously, these pics will contain spoilers!

The pics are too big for me to directly embed, so I’m just going to link.

1st story
Frontispiece of Renai Shinan Soudatsu Battle
another from the same story

2nd story
These are Shouka, Reishin, and Kurou as kids (ahaha, I wonder if you could guess that without me telling you?)
Present Shouka and Reishin

3rd story
Frontispiece of new material: yes, that’s Yuri-hime, Reishin, and Kouyuu
The other guy is Tei Yuushun
Reishin and Yuushun put on masks and spy on Houju and Yuri-hime

I wish they would include a map of Saiunkoku in the novels. In the anime they did, but they change some things in the novels, so I don’t know how ‘accurate’ it is.

Anyway, I thought I would make some notes on Saiunkoku’s geography. There are SPOILERS here up till book 12.

Shi Province: This is the province where most of the action takes place. It seems to be ruled by the Shi clan (imperial clan), and there is a governor, but he has never appeared, oddly. The capital is Kiyou. The government is not allowed to move from Kiyou, because the city is warded against supernatural influence, meaning that it is very hard for those with supernatural powers to use them there. In the anime it seems that Shi Province is in the center of the country, and all the other provinces border on it. So far, in the books, nothing has been shown to contradict this (it is possible to go directly from Shi to Sa and Ran provinces without passing through other provinces).

Sa Province: The poorest of the eight provinces. Current governor is Kai Yu (vice governor To Eigetsu), previous governors Kou Shuurei and To Eigetsu, as well as Rou Ensei. The capital is Koren, and the second largest city is Kinka.

Between Sa province and Koku province is the Senri (Thousand Ri (ri is a type of measurement)) Range. It’s so tall that no one but the first emperor has been able to climb its highest peaks.

Koku Province: This is where Eigetsu is originally from. The capital is Enyuu. There are apparently many skilled fighters in this place. Eigetsu’s village, Seika, was in a remote location near the Senri Range, but due to the parasitic illness, it is now uninhabited, as all the villagers died, except for Eigetsu.

Ran Province: The governor is Kyou Bunchuu, and the capital is Gyokuryuu, which is a canal city (sort of like Venice?) and is said to be even more splendid than the capital. The manor of the Ran family there, Kougaijyou (Lake Sea Castle?) is famous for its beauty.

Garyuu Range (Crouching Dragon): a high mountain range located in Ran Province

Nine Colors Cove: A territory outside of the authority of the Ran province government. It seems to be under the control of the Hyou family, and the true headquarters of the Ran family is there, but neither family accepts liability for any death or injury incurred in the area. However, it’s extremely beautiful and there are cute pandas. In terms of attractions, it seems to be modeled after this place in China.

Within Nine Colors Cove:
Ryuuminzan (Sleeping dragon mountain): The location of the headquarters of the Ran clan, although this fact is not commonly known.

Houkyousan (Treasure Mirror mountain): On the top of this mountain is a shrine belonging to the the Hyou clan. It is said that a true king is capable of reaching this shrine. The shrine used to contain an ancient sacred mirror, until Shouka broke it.

A frequently asked question:

Where do the Hyou clan live?: This is very unclear. Although they have some authority over Nine Colors Cove, it doesn’t seem as though they live there. Otherwise, wouldn’t they have sent someone besides Shusui to attempt to assassinate Ryuuki?

Org chart contains incidental spoilers, so click at your own risk.

This is a not very sparkly organizational chart I made, based off of this chart.

The Saiunkoku government structure is based off of the structure of the government during the Tang and Song dynasties, vaguely. This structure was known as the “three bureaus and six departments.” The author added one more, the Sendoushou (Bureau of the Cave of the Immortals?). In terms of who outranks whom, Yuushun (actually, on the chart he’s listed as the chief of the executive branch, for lack of a better word, and is also at the same time Prime Minister. But to make things less confusing, I just listed him as Prime Minister.) Ou Ki is sort of in charge of the branch that deliberates the new laws (or something. I tried to research these things, and I became even more confused). Riou is in charge of astrology, and planning the king’s marriage, as well as approving who gets to be king or not. Probably Yuushun outranks the heads of the other bureaus.

As for the Censorate, I’m not sure who Kouki directly reports to. (Also, Mei Sai is another Censor, but since he’s such a random character, I didn’t put him on the chart. ) Same with the archives.

The Six Departments are executive departments (carrying out the laws, etc). I don’t think Minister Rou’s name is ever completely given. No clue who runs Keibu either.

As for the Plume Forest Army, you could say their role is the Guards. They basically are there to defend the emperor. I have no idea where the regular army is.

Well, looks like I managed to finish this summary before the new Gaiden comes out on November 1st. Yay? I uh… will probably get that one done in a more timely fashion, as I plan to split it into two parts, first the new material and then the old stuff.

Shuurei and co arrive in the capital of Ran Province, Gyokuryuu (jewel + dragon, for those of you into kanji), which is a city even more splendid than Kiyou, with many canals (I guess kind of like Venice?). They meet with the governor of Ran Province, Kyou Bunchuu, a man in his forties who is also part of the Nightmare National Exam group. Governor Kyou tells Shuurei that Seiga previously had come to Ran Province, as part of his duties as a Censor (they roam the country investigating wrongdoing), and impressed people there; he also researched the Shiba clan. Governor Kyou is surprised to learn that Seiga has not risen to a high rank. He also says that right now, if Shuurei and Seiga were to compete, he would bet on Seiga. He also talks about how an official only needs to take eighty percent of the go pieces in order to succeed. Shuurei brings the governor up to date on Ryuuki’s journey. He is astounded that no one tried to stop the king. Later, Bunchuu worries about Yuushun, and his vice-governor suggests that he return to the capital if he’s so worried. Many high positions are unfilled. But, Bunchuu is filling an important post as the governor of Ran province, who must contend with the powerful Ran clan. He reflects on the current political situation: in terms of the high officials, nothing has changed for years (probably this is partially the fault of Reishin, who doesn’t try to look towards the future), unusually, but now that Yuushun has arrived, things have begun to move under the surface. Yuushun is an idealist who wants to take all of the go pieces, that is, to gamble and risk everything. Bunchuu prays that he’ll be careful, but since the king has ran off and pushed all the work on him, Yuushun is in a risky position.
Bunchuu and the vice-governor talk some more. It seems that although Bunchuu didn’t seem to be very friendly towards Shuurei, he did actually intend to welcome her, but because of his dour face and manner, it didn’t work out that well. XD Also, the vice gov recalls him saying to remember that one doesn’t be come an official just to be promoted, but for the sake of the people. We also hear that when he was taking the exam, people thought he was a ghost and were frightened, and Reishin, hearing the rumor, led some campaign to exorcise the ghost. Bunchuu was told by a fortuneteller this was the second most (something… crucial or worst) time of his life, but this makes him feel worse, because if this was the second, what is the first going to be like? However, soon he may have to return and make a decision. [Hmm, this guy seems like a really interesting character. I would like to see him return to the capital, to see what he would do. If he really thinks Yuushun is overreaching, maybe he should play the Suou role and become his aide.]

Shuurei has Suou and Ensei research the various cases. Suou is shocked that Ensei is capable of investigating, because he thought he was as dumb as he (Suou) was. [... Suou would have to be stupid to believe he was stupid. Erg. ] Shuurei investigates Jin’s case, and finds he was sentenced to death and was supposed to be sent to Kiyou to be executed, but instead the execution was supposedly performed in Ran Province. She finds that besides Son Ryouou, Ou Ki (who at that time had Kouki’s job as head of the Censorate) has also signed off on the orders.

Ryuuki and co are still travelling, and they end up near the Nine Colors Cove (which is near the real house of the Ran family). The Ran house is on the Sleeping Dragon mountain, and the Hyou clan has a shrine on the Houkyou (Treasure Mirror?) mountain. That region is famous for testing the valor of kings. During one reign, there was a succession dispute and all of the princes went to the area, but only one returned (we later learn, because his trusted retainers aided him). Ryuuki merely intends to go to see Shuuei, but there’s a problem. For some reason, only those of the main line of the Ran clan can get there easily without getting lost. Even Jyuusan-hime took half a month (the distance is about two days) to get there because she kept losing the way. Unfortunately, the next day, when Jyuusan-hime awakes, she finds that both Ryuuki and Shouka have gone missing.

In the Ran clan’s manor, Shuuei meets with Setsuna. Setsuna asks him if he intends to throw away the Ran clan and choose that foolish king. Shuuei says that even if the Ran clan won’t choose Ryuuki, he will, and that the Ran clan can manage without him. Even if Ryuuki ends up badly, Shuuei will follow him to the very end. But Setsuna refuses to let Shuuei leave the clan, and also reveals that the priestess who entered the shrine is Shusui. Shuuei goes to search for Ryuuki.

Meanwhile, Shuurei learns that Ryuuki has entered the forbidden Nine Colors Cove. Shuurei resolves to bring him back, even if it it means risking her job. As Shuurei leaves, she asks Bunchuu what the name of the Censorate official who suggested throwing the manjuu into the water was. He replies that it was Ou Ki, speaking with great respect. [Interesting. So Ou Ki is not just a man seeking power or a mere defender of noble privileges.] She also learns the souvenirs Kouki asked her to get exist only in Nine Colors Cove (ahaha). Ryuuren pops up with a boat to take them there.

Ryuuki is walking through the forest. Nine Colors Cove is a weird place. The lakes are pure green, with white tree trunks in the water, and there are no fish. Also, trees seem to grow right out of the water. Ryuuki is still rather upset over the mess he’s in, and he sees three baby pandas, and after recalling that pandas are not carnivorous, huggles them (see illustration). Later, Ryuuki collapses due to altitude sickness. Although Ryuuki is in good shape, due to his training in swordfighting, this kind of problem occurs when you ascend too quickly. While Ryuuki is unconscious, Shiba Jin picks him up and takes him to the Hyou clan’s shrine and imprisons him.

Shuurei, Ensei, Suou, and Ryuuren arrive at Nine Colors Cove (it was quick because the Ran clan has really fast boats). When Shuurei awakes, Ryuuren has gone off to look for a hot spring, but suddenly, they meet Shiba Jin. He tells them Ryuuki s being held prisoner unconscious in the shrine, and he has been ordered to take Shuurei there alone by Hyou Ruka. However, she is not Jin’s true master, and he doesn’t really care about that, so Shuurei orders Ensei and Tantan to go search for Kouki’s omiyage, and if they uh… happen to end up following the same path as Shuurei and Jin, so be it. Jin explains that there probably are no fish because the chemicals in the land dye the water green and kill the algae, meaning no food for fish. Jin continues to insist he is not Jin. Also, strangely, although Tantan seems pretty tired out by the hike, Shuurei feels totally fine. [Yet more evidence of changes to her body, or perhaps evidence that Suou needs to hit the gym.] Shuurei enters the shrine and meets Shusui, or actually, Hyou Ruka possessing the body of Shusui. She falls unconscious.

Ruka also goes to meet Ryuuki. She says he reminds her of his father, and also says that he is an easier king to manipulate than Seien, and orders him to abdicate. She says that Ryuuki is too weak to be a good king, and that she can find a replacement (as Uu Uu should have told him, the royal house and the Hyou clan are two sides of the same coins, both carrying the blood of the first king, and cannot survive without each other). She says he is not king, and that he should have realized it himself, and that he simply engaged in politics for the sake of a woman. He ignores Uu and Ou Ki’s advice, and doesn’t care about anything as long as he can be with Shuurei. Exhausting his officials, as the old ones retire, he hasn’t tried to nurture new ones, and has wasted the last two years. The Hyou clan will not recognize himn, and it’s not only them. Ryuuki cannot deny this, but Ryuuki refuses to give up. It seems what had truly bothered Ryuuki was that he had deep down desired to b king, but was horrifed that he was not truly so. Now that Ryuuki has, however, realized he wishes to be king for his own sake, and not for Shouka or Shuurei’s, he won’t give up. Because Ryuuki had heard that only a true king may arrive at the shrine, he secretly decided to go there. [Well, I guess being carried up and imprisoned there is one way of arriving.] Ryuuki will no longer say that he doesn’t want to be king, and although he is ‘Ryuuki’ he will no longer attempt to evade or throw away the part of himself that is ‘king’ as well. Ruka didn’t expect this of Ryuuki, but no matter. She orders Jin to kill him.

At this moment, Shuuei steps in. It seems he was watching from the shadows all this time (embarassingly for Ryuuki, he also witnessed the panda-huggling…). Ryuuki is still unable to fight because of the altitude sickness, but Jyuusan-hime also arrives to defend Ryuuki. Jyuusan-hime says she’ll buy them time by taking on Jin, even if she’s outclassed, and Shuuei tries to leave with Ryuuki, but they are opposed by a brainwashed Shusui. Shuuei decides to break the brainwashing with the Power of Love!! So he says ‘look over there, it’s Shouka!’ Everyone else yells at him for this, but it works. XD (Shuuei himself feels pitiful to have used the name of another man, since he’s in love with her. T_T)

Meanwhile, in the room with the sacred mirror sealing the 108 spirits in the lake, the spirit of Ruka (her real body is somewhere else; unlike Riou (lil’ Riou’s dad), her younger brother, she is not unaging. However, her spirit still appears young) is looking at Shuurei, who is still out cold. Her plan is to take over the body of Bara-hime’s daughter so that her younger brother will finally look at her. Ruka, in case you don’t recall, is totally obsessed with him for some reason.

Shouka, however, is not going to let her just do that. He says that he thought she was rotting away somewhere (she’s over eighty), and Ruka says that as usual, he has quite a sharp tongue, and says she doesn’t entirely hate him. The rest of the conversation is confusing… I hope this does get animated so it makes more sense, or it could just be that this is a lot of foreshadowing. Shouka asks how much longer she’s going to be obsessed with her good for nothing younger brother. Ruka says how can someone who became obsessed with a sennyo (female Immortal), stealing away and marrying her, criticize her. [It's somewhat difficult to understand with my limited Japanese skills what Ruka is saying, because her speech pattern is odd.] She goes on about how women foolishly live for the sake of their men, and how men exploit women and cause wars and misrule the land. She also says that Shouka has committed many evil deeds, and Shuurei must sadly bear the burden of both his and Bara-hime’s actions, and there is no longer a place for her on the surface of the country (front side… I think she is referring to how the Shi clan is the front and the Hyou clan the back of the coin.) Shouka continues to prevent fate. She says that it is Shuurei’s destiny to madden men, and although they try to help her, eventually destroy her. So, why not give her Shuurei, to spare her from this destiny?

However, Shouka won’t be convinced by her sophistries. He refuses. Ruka says that he has always been like that, and that wishing for a flower, he won’t rest until he gets it, even if he knows it shall wither once he has it. The woman who is loved by Shouka shall certainly be happy. Loved to the point of not caring whether one is destroyed. However, no matter how much the flower is loved, the fact that a plucked flower shall wither shall not change. But Shouka, at the very least, will not hand her over to Ruka and Riou, but at least let her live freely. Ruka asks if he is even willing to break sacred mirror to defeat her. (Shouka, having no mystical powers, can only do that to make her retreat). Of course he is. Shouka says that not to complain because the work of her clan has increased a bit, but to work hard. Ruka says that she does not hate Shouka. He’s as calm as ice, rational and realistic, won’t care what he breaks in order to get the person he loves. (Like right now, Shouka is rather indifferent about what disaster will occur). She admires the depth of Shouka’s feelings, but says his beloved daughter will be destroyed by his love, and she and Shouka are the same kind of person. She swears that just as he stole Bara-hime, she shall steal Shuurei. Then Shouka breaks the mirror, and she fades, smiling as if she were the victor. Then the mountain begins to shake.

Shuuei has brought Ryuuki down to the boat to leave him with Suou. Shuuei tells Suou if anything bad happens, to leave without the rest of them. At first Ryuuki is shocked, but then, thinking of how Shuuei has left Jyuusan-hime and Shusui up in the mountain, how Shuurei came to look for him, and how Suou is willing to leave Ensei and Shuurei behind, realizes that he must, as Shuuei said, be more conscious of who he is. He accepts Shuuei’s words. [See what I mean about Ryuuki getting character development?]

Jyuusan-hime and Jin face off. He asks if Ryuuki is a kind person, and Jyuusan-hime says “more than you.” Jin says that’s a bit painful to hear, but Jyuusan-hime says that they were happy together, yet she can’t throw everything away to be with him. She says, finally, that she loved Shiba Jin, but that Jin is now dead, and this is over. She asks him to give back the eyepatch she sewed for him, because she made it for Jin. He does, and she cuts it to shreds. Jin says he is no longer the man willing to give his life for her. Jyuusan-hime says that she will become happy and not waste the life that Jin gave to her (she says there are lots of men in this world better than him). She’s done living for Jin, and shall live for herself. But Jin says that he’ll never find a woman better than Hotaru. She tells him he no longer has the right to use that name, but he says it is his alone, and he knows of no other name for her. On that alone, he won’t budge…

Shusui rushes to save Shuurei and finds that some idiot has broken the sacred mirror! She accuses Ensei, who has also come to the room, who denies it, but she forgives him because he didn’t know any better. Shusui finds the erhu that Sou Youki used to seal the 108 spirits. Suddenly, she sees Kuro approaching Shuurei. It jumps on her and melts into her hand. Suddenly, it begins to rain.

Shuuei and Ryuuren see it has begun to rain. Shuuei asks “Ran Ryuuren” whether he can do anything, and he begins to play his flute with a great deal of effort. Shuuei thinks the mountain is shaking less, and the rain has become less intense. In this area, the name “Ran Ryuuren” has a special meaning.

Meanwhile in the boat, Suou and Ryuuki are feeling rather wretched under the rain. Then Shuurei and the rest arrive. Shuuei is about to go back for his sister, but then Jin arrives carrying her, unconscious (seems he knocked her out). Jin says this is not where they will have their final match, and Shuuei is surprised that Jin, a man who would not swear his loyalty to Setsuna, would become an assassin for someone. Shusui decides to stay along there also, because she is afraid she will just be brainwashed again. She meets Shouka, and says that she shall face the rest of the Hyou clan, and stop running away. Shouka warns that she may never be able to break free again, but her resolve is firm.

They all return to the Ran clan’s nearby mansion. Shuuei asks his elder brothers to have a wager with him. If he can tell them apart, they will agree to certain conditions. Although this is one of those scenes not shown, Shuuei, surprise, wins, and in return for him not getting two of them killed, has himself disinherited so he may be free to follow Ryuuki. There may also be other terms (ambiguous). However, Shuuei says that even if their public ties are broken, he is still their brother, and will help them if they need it.

As Shuurei is resting, she half-wakes up and sees her father watching over her, but she thinks it’s a dream since he shouldn’t be there. Shouka is worried about Shusui, whom he thinks of as a daughter. Shuurei says that she can’t separate herself from her father yet. BTW, later Shouka had to worry about how he was going to explain himself… He ended up saying he lied because it was you know, a matter of state, and that he was “rescued by the Black Wolf” (to Jyuusan-hime’s great excitement. XDDD)

Jyuusan-hime explains her history with Jin. (I explained it earlier so we don’t have to get into that part again). We also learn that Shuuei’s dad was one of those rare people capable of polyamory, and so he uh, somehow managed to make all of his wives like him and be satisfied married to him. Shuurei stops Jyuusan-hime before she can get to the part about how she asked the triplets for help. Shuurei guesses that the triplets actually did nothing, because they didn’t wish to commit the serious crime that interfering in such matters would be, but just pretended that they had in order to make their sister feel better. [Really. No wonder Shuuei said that they weren't soft. 0_o They got her to promise them stuff in exchange for nothing. They simply said "wakatta" (means, "understood" or "I know." Which means they never concretely promised anything.] Shuurei wonders what she would do if she were the official judging Jin. Patricide is the greatest of the “Ten Crimes,” but because of the circumstances, Shuurei would try to give him a lesser sentence.

Ryuuki meets with Shuuei. He says he wishes for Shuuei to return to him. He is asking for him as an ally, not as a friend (of course Ryuuki wants friends, but as king, what he needs is allies). He asks Shuuei to swear his absolutely loyalty to him. He asks Shuuei to choose him, because he has chosen him. (Yeah, and one of them does think this almost sounds like a romantic proposal XDDD). Shuuei reveals that he has been disinherited and can no longer use the power of the Ran clan (Setsuna does not wish to meet with Ryuuki, nor will he have the officials of the Ran family return), but Ryuuki doesn’t care.

Then, now that Ryuuki is fed and rested, Shuuei challenges him to a rematch (see volume eleven). Shuuei handily wins. Ryuuki is rather shocked, and it seems that Shuuei has been holding back his true power and was not able to be serious earlier because he was uncertain of his loyalties. But now that Shuuei has wholeheartedly sworn his loyalty to Ryuuki, he is able to show him how strong he really is. (The Shiba clan, under whom he trained, has the rule ‘don’t show anyone your true power.’ In the bodyguard army, the only people he loses two are the two generals.) It seems that Shuuei had not been sure Ryuuki would want him back without the Ran clan’s power. (It seems, BTW, that Yuushun had foreseen this and advised Ryuuki how to regain Shuuei’s loyalty. Yuushun is fairly scary.)

Shouka has something very important to say to the Ran triplets (“Ran Setsuna”: among people who do know them, they call themselves Yuki (snow.. the setsu of setsuna is this kanji), and probably Tsuki and Hana. (Snow, moon, flower: it’s a phrase relating to the four seasons)). BTW, when they were kids, Shouka was their tutor (well, considering their ages, more like their babysitter). Because of this, they’re very fond of him, and wish that he was their elder brother (they think he’s wasted on Reishin. BTW, Reishin and the triplets detest each other). Shouka discusses… something with them (it seems this was one of his main motivations for coming to Ran Province). They say they will see when the time comes. However, we don’t get to actually hear what this important future request is. Anyway, they all head back to Kiyou using the Ran clan’s super-fast boats.

Then we have the infamous conversation between Ryuuki and Shuurei. He tells her he will no longer be king for her sake, which surprises her. He says, he’s not really sure exactly why, still, but he wants to become a king worthy of being respected by all those who have sworn their loyalty to him. He says that he shall find his own way as king. (She thinks she can see him becoming king in this instant) Ryuuki tells Shuurei as king, he must marry, and he shall have Jyuusan-hime enter the Inner Palace as Shusui’s replacement. If he marries anyone other than Shuurei, it shall be her. He cannot afford to wait for Shuurei. Shuurei is more moved than she thought she would be by these words. So he shall give himself a certain period of time to win her hand, a time which is not short, but not long either…

Suou and Ensei talk on the boat. Suou asks him if he likes Shuurei. Ensei says nothing and just smiles. Suou reflects that he has never met a man who could so thoroughly separate private and public matters. (Ensei has chosen to support Shuurei being an official) He thinks Ensei is cooler than Seiran. Meanwhile, Ryuuren and Shuuei also talk. Ryuuren hears about how Shuurei can drink unimaginable amounts of liquor. Shuurei’s body is somehow continuing to change.

Upon arriving in Kiyou, Suou goes straight to Kouki’s office and gives him a full report. Later, Shuurei reports to Kouki, who says he knows what she did. If we remember volume 10, when Suou said to Kouki he knew of Shuurei’s weakness, it was there that Kouki agreed to spare Suou’s father if Suou reported on Shuurei to him. However, Tantan has agreed to be fired in place of Shuurei, and is leaving for the provinces. (He also decided to leave so that Kouki wouldn’t use him to spy on Shuurei. Unlike Ensei, Suou will not throw away everything for Shuurei, but he’s willing to do at least this. ) Shuurei rushes to where Suou is preparing to leave the capital, and promises that if she’s promoted, she’ll bring him back to work under her.

As they set off, Suou’s father is confused. Didn’t Suou receive a promotion? So why is Shuurei so sad? … It seems that actually, Suou was promoted to the same rank as Shuurei (before he was her assistant). XD His job is now to go around the country investigating corruption. Ahaha. It seems that later (future narrator again) Suou leaves his mark on history as a legendary censorate official (it’s useless to hide anything from him), famed for his ability to work undercover, and expose wrongdoing with minimal harm to innocents.

When Ryuuki returns to the palace, Yuushun greets him, then begins to tell him about Kouyuu…

Commentary: Obviously, since the volume ends with Yuushun starting to tell Ryuuki what happened to Kouyuu, the next volume will have Kouyuu doing something. Up to this point, I had felt that Kouyuu was rather an overrated character, comparatively, because after vol 2-3 he never really did anything vital to the plot, and a lot of his characterization bits were repetitive, because all Kouyuu did repeatedly was realize zomg what should I do wait I don’t need to make a decision right now. Now perhaps Kouyuu will have to FINALLY make a decision. I think he’ll decide for Ryuuki. Well, obviously, we KNOW thanks to future narrator that Kouyuu has a distinguished career as one of Ryuuki’s officials. Actually, what Reishin will do is far more interesting. It is actually hard to see when, if ever, Kouyuu has done anything worthy of reprimand, whereas not doing your job is usually a firing offense, so if anyone should be fired, it would be Reishin. It is unclear whether Yuushun has any ideas for helping Ryuuki gain Kouyuu’s wholehearted loyalty.

BTW, I think I now support Shuuei/Shusui simply because I feel sorry for Shuuei, and wish that Shusui would just move on from Shouka, since it’s obvious he thinks of her as a daughter, kind of like Kourin and Sa Enjun. Well, who knows how this will work out, now that Shusui is stuck with the Hyou clan.

As for Shouka, he’s one of my favorite characters, so I’m glad to see him finally doing something in the story after a lot of inactivity. Although, just how productive is Shouka if he can just pop off to vacation with Ryuuki for a month or two? We never see any mention of other officials in the archives. Shouka doesn’t even think that he needs to explain his absence to anyone other than Shuurei and Seiran. Is his post a sinecure or something? Also, it amuses me how Shouka uh… just sort of wandered away from the boat during the whole confusing confrontation with Hyou Ruka, and no one noticed that he was gone. I would think that they should at least worry what they’re going to tell Shuurei. “Uh… Shuurei, I brought your dad along for fun, but I kind of misplaced him. “

Ryuuki: Since Ryuuki’s main flaw, in terms of action was… essentially not building relationships with his top officials. So now are we going to see Ryuuki reaching out to the ones who are not particularly impressed with him? … That will be quite a sight to see. But yes, I am really curious to see how this new Ryuuki will rule.

Suou: Argh, am sad that Suou is not going to be in the next vol, probably, because he has become one of my favorite characters. Unfortunately he didn’t get to do much in this volume, but I hope later Shuurei will go to the provinces and ally with him. Or… gaiden story about the great detective censorate official Shin Suou? I think a character like him is both useful and difficult for an author. It’s both inconvenient and convenient to have a character who sees through people and their schemes.

Ran clan: Shuuei was v. cool in this volume, I got to say. I wish there was more Ryuuren, because he didn’t do much other than show up and be all mystical. Setsuna, also I want to see more of him/and them, but then they would have to come to Kiyou, as it seems unlikely the story will go back to Ran Province. (Or will it? I really want to see the other provinces, especially Kou province)

Jin and Jyuusan-hime: Jyuusan-hime is def. a strong character. I like her and look forward to seeing what she’ll do later. As for Jin, maybe it doesn’t come through in the summaries, but he’s quite charming. I look forward to finding just WHO he swore his loyalty to, and why? And his final match-up with Shuuei. I am wondering whether Jin will come to a happy or unhappy end… So far in the story, there hasn’t been much Tragic Death, which it would be if Shuuei ended up killing the man who was once his best friend.

And now for the latest volume… BTW, this book is long; the author herself says so in the afterword. XD

The novel opens with Jyuusan-hime’s and Shiba Jin’s grim past. We had might as well get it over with and explain it all, although not all of it is revealed in the opening. Jyuusan-hime’s mother was the cousin of Jin’s father, the head of the Shiba clan, a military family who owe allegiance to the Ran clan. For a long time, Jin’s father was in love with her mother, but this was unrequited, and she married Shuuei’s father, the head of the Ran clan. Jyuusan-hime was born, and when she was three, he came over to their house and murdered her mother in a jealous rage when she refused him. Afterwards, Jyuusan-hime, who witnessed the slaying from a hiding place, stayed by her dead mother’s corpse for three days, after which Jin, aged eleven at the time comes in, having been sent by his father to kill her. Of course, he doesn’t try to kill her, and instead, when she says that he’s a demon and tells him he can only approach if he gives her his eyes, without hesitation Jin pokes out one of his them. (0_o) Jyuusan-hime stops him from removing the other one.

After this, Jin is disinherited by his father for losing his eye (and also for failing to kill her, although she doesn’t know this at the time), and he goes to live with his retired grandfather, Shiba Ryuu, who is a famed warrior, on par with Sou Taifu. Jyuusan-hime, who has grown attached to him, also comes along and is considered to be fostered by the Shiba family (frequently members of the Ran clan are sent to be fostered out to various families to learn skills). Shuuei is a frequent visitor to the house, and he and Jin are very close friends, and they learn martial arts together, as does Jyuusan-hime. When Jyuusan-hime is twelve, Jin asks her to marry him when she’s of age (sixteen). [ZOMG loli?!?!] She says she will consider it when the time comes, if there’s no better man around. Inwardly, Jyuusan-hime is eager to marry Jin, and spends time trying to make herself a bride worthy of him, but next year, when she is thirteen, tragedy strikes. One day, Jin’s father comes to the house and attempts to rape Jyuusan-hime, and Jin kills him. Afterwards, Jin turns himself into the authorities, and refuses to explain his actions. As patricide is the greatest of the capital crimes, and because he refuses to defend himself, he is sentenced to death. Jyuusan-hime goes to beg her elder brothers to save Jin, somehow.

Back to the present. In the early morning, Shuuei is sneaking out of Kiyou. Shuurei has forseen this and had a drinking contest with the guards at the gate. They’re totally knocked out, but Shuurei is okay. Shuuei is able to leave before Seiga comes to arrest him, and Seiga and Shuurei trade barbs once again.

Ryuuki has announced his intention to go to Ran Province, but it’s uh… going to take him about seventy pages to actually dispatch hahaha! This is why the volume is so long, people. Anyway, at the council, Riou asks him if he’s going for personal reasons, or as king. Ryuuki is unable to answer and Riou says it’s better, then, if he doesn’t, and sighs and says he might as well go to think things over then. Sou Taifu thinks that Riou resembles someone… [Just speculation here, but I think the someone is probably Sa Enjun.] No one seriously opposes his trip, but then they start talking about making Jyuusan-hime officially consort, to resolve the vacancy left by Shusui’s absence. Ryuuki announces Jyuusan-hime is coming along as guide, which Uu-sama misinterprets this, thinking he means a honeymoon. XD When he refuses, Uu-sama optimistically says this is like a pre-marriage trip (huh, never heard of any such thing). Uu also tells him not to go near Kyuusaikou (Nine-colored Cove ?). Shou Taishi says that he’ll send along the Black Wolf as a bodyguard. After the meeting, Uu tells Ryuuki that even if he wishes to reject Jyuusan-hime as consort, he’ll stand up for him, even agains the Ran and Hyou clans. But, he cannot accept Shuurei as the sole consort. They only accepted her before because she was a temporary one. It’s okay if she’s one of several or an official. He refuses to give the exact reason, but says it will make both Ryuuki and Shuurei unhappy. Later, Yuushun stops to talk to Uu, and says that although publicly, Ryuuki is the only one of the direct line, how many others, including Prince Seien, would be accepted by the Hyou clan? Uu Uu gives him a figure (I suppose it’s several). [Okay, editorial comment: no wonder Ryuuki isn't fully the king. They keep so many things from him.]

One of the generals of the Urin army (meaning the bodyguard army), Koku Yousei comes to see the Secretary of the Army, who is pretending to be absent after the whole incident where his deputy was exposed as the one behind the attempt to assassinate Jyuusan-hime. The general just busts through the locked door, however, and delivers Shuuei’s resignation. The Secretary, Son Ryouou, is a man in his fifties, who enjoys smoking pipes. He seems more like a military official or a mob boss than a civil official. Then, Shuurei busts in through the window, because she’s been lurking trying to get an interview. Secretary Son continues to insist he is absent, and gives Shuurei some candy (he also gives General Koku some). He then tells her that ‘this is not the place of her death’ and General Koku, seeing her out, tells her to forget about coming here and meeting the Secretary. Shuurei asks what kind of person Secretary Son is, and he replies that he has the greatest respect for him, and so do many officers. It seems that soon, just as Shuuei’s loyalties were tested, so will those of General Haku and General Koku.

Later, Son Ryouou pays a visit to his old friend, Ou Ki. He says he isn’t really attached to his position and will help his friend in any way. Son Ryouou reflects on the passage of time, and says that finally, Tei Yuushun has taken up a high position, along with Kouki and Anju. Son Ryouou asks if Ou Ki desires to become king, because with his lineage, he would be recognized by the Hyou clan, and says that Ryuuki is unworthy, because he resembles his father too much. He says that it is unsuitable for a king to enter politics simply for a woman. The king and Sa Enjun are dead, and the older officials are beginning to retire and step away from actual politics. Finally, Ou Ki declares his desire: the throne. Ryouou says that he will stand with Ou Ki no matter what, and Ou Ki tells him not to regret being with him. In what is beginning to be a tradition of Saiunkoku, Ryoumou jokes that it sounds like a confession of love (in other words, I don’t have to make jokes about how ghei it seems, because the characters will do it for us.).

Somewhere else, Sou Taifu remarks that Shou Taishi has acted, unusually. [Yeah, usually that guy does nothing, really. Seriously, since the first Sa Province arc he's really not done much besides hang out with Sou. ] Now that Kouyuu and Shuuei are gone, Ryuuki has begun to change internally. Shou Taishi says that he will send Kuro (that little black ball-like creature) to the Nine Colored Cove with Shuurei, for some reason.

Afterwards, Shuurei heads back to the Censorate (Gyoshidai) to try and convince Ki Kouki to send her to Ran province. Kouki tells her to stop sneaking around the Dept. of the Army, and says that Son Ryouou is the former governor of Ran province. In general, Kouki also suspects the Ran clan. Suddenly, Kouki unexpectedly tells her that she can go to Ran province, but not to leave until he tells her she can. (Previously Shuurei had been harassing Kouki about it to the point where he put a sign on his door saying ‘Kou Shuurei Prohibited from Entering, which in Japanese involves a construction that’s kind of like saying ’stand and enter’. So Shuurei went in crawling on her stomach, and then Kouki said ‘what kind of creature are you?’ and had to get rid of the sign… )

Later, Shuurei talks to Tantan about him accompanying her to Ran Province. Tantan agrees to go, because his father won’t be lonely. It seems that his dad found his mom wandering around disoriented, and took her home. At first his mom was in shock over the events of vol 10 (especially considering the making a pass at her own son thing), but now she’s begun to help them around the house. Anju pops in, and sees that Shuurei is studying the nobility, as Hakumei previously advised her to. He says he’ll help her study (as he is an expert in these things) if she plays the erhu for him. Shuurei mentions that Kouki plays the flute extremely well, and Anju says that the Ki clan was destroyed by the previous king (they were forced into committing suicide), and that all that is left are Kouki and the flute. Something similar happened to Seiga’s clan. But, Anju says, although the Kou clan did terrible things, they continue to enjoy prosperity and influence; the Eight Houses are special and can get away with those things. Anju also tells her she should look at Ou Ki’s lineage, because it is interesting. Ou Ki, BTW, is apparently a noble’s noble. Shuurei naively asks whether Anju is a member of the nobility. Suou is inwardly shocked at her ignorance (apparently bad things happen to those who discuss this.) Anju says that he was adopted, but like Kouki, he is the only one left of his clan. He also says that Shuurei is like Seiga; just as Seiga despises the Eight Houses, Shuurei dislikes the nobles. Anju says that both he (Anju) and Kouki have done a lot of things to get where they are, throwing away what needed to be thrown away, selling whatever could be sold. They had to enter through the special/private route because you need money to take the National Exam, which they didn’t have, and they are not like Shuurei, who had the backing of the King and Kouyuu. Suou tells Anju not to bully Shuurei, and Anju returns to his normal self and says that he has a bad habit of teasing the girl he likes, but says that doesn’t hate her at all. Afterwards, he helps Shuurei study, and she plays the erhu for him.

Shuurei is somewhat reminded of Sakujun, but Anju actually works, rather than loitering around all the time, and never complains of boredom. Anju asks who she’s comparing him to (does he know? ) and says the best thing for forgetting old romances is to start a new one, and invites her to start an ‘adult love’ with him. He tells her to not to get mixed up with some bothersome guy a second time when she goes to Ran Province. Suou reflects that Anju and Kouki are legendary because of their rapid rise through the ranks, despite the fact that the National Exam faction was in favor at court. [Apologies for the length, but this is all quite interesting info, isn't it?]

Ryuuki is shocked to find that Shou Taishi told Jyuusan-hime it was a honeymoon trip. He sets her straight and reveals the Black Wolf will be coming with him. Jyuusan-hime is super excited and wants to spar with him. She asks if Ryuuki has a plan. Ryuuki’s plan is… ‘my love.’ Jyuusan-hime is somewhat unimpressed. Jyuusan-hime, probably speaking about herself, says that just because two people love each other, does not mean they can be together, and if they would be unhappy being together, the best thing to do is to separate, because love is not necessarily the most important thing in the world. Later, Ryuuki calls on Shouka, to invite him to come to Ran Province as a chaperone/travelling companion. Shouka is of course first shocked and worried that his cover was blown, but Ryuuki ironically has no idea. Shouka of course agrees. (He is, BTW, going to tell Shuurei and Seiran he’s just working hard in the archives.) Ryuuki reflects later that for the past two years, he has not desired to leave Kiyou, because until Yuushun arrived, there was no single person he could trust to look over the state.

Shuurei returns home and meets with Ensei, and invites him to go to Ran Province with her. He quickly agrees, because his true purpose in coming to Kiyou was to help Shuurei, because he has decided to spend his career helping her, because he admires her way of doing things. Later, Ensei and Seiran talk. Seiran tells Ensei to take care of Shuurei or else, because Seiran will not be coming along. Ensei also reveals that he knows Kouki, because the mysterious Mei Sai was actually an undercover Censorate official, and Ensei used to take his reports to Kouki for him at New Year’s. Ensei says that if he were going to choose between Seiran and Shuurei, without hesitation he’d choose Shuurei, but Seiran shouldn’t cry, because second place isn’t that bad. XD Recently a lot of things have happened. Seiran has been watching Ryuuki, as he goes through his current isolation, and thinks of his current situation. Ensei thinks that Seiran’s number one is actually not Shuurei, and says that although he previously said that Shuurei should marry Seiran, he thinks now he shouldn’t. [This is interesting. Is the author closing a door here?]

Later, Ryuuki, Jyuusan-hime, and Shouka leave the capital.

Before leaving herself, Shuurei meets with Kouki, who tells her of Shiba Jin’s past, which leads him to suspect the Ran clan even more. He runs through a list of the various ways the Ran and Kou clan have dissed the authority of the government during Ryuuki’s reign; they only superficially obey the king, and are the most dangerous elements in the country. Shuurei begins to understand Shuuei’s feelings a bit more. After meeting Suou, Seiga, and Kouki, Shuurei has become more uncertain about these matters. Kouki is hiding a lot of things, bad-mouths people constantly, pretends not to see a lot of matters, and is not really obsessed with JUSTICE, but she doesn’t mind working under him, because even after criticizing her, he still allowed her to work in the Censorate, as he did Seiga. Shuurei asks him if he wants any souvenirs from Ran Province. Kouki is for a moment in shock, but then he smirks and says he wants the super rare preserved blue good double-yolked eggs, and the monkey’s head mushroom. He also says that she is not, under any circumstances, to enter the Nine Colors Cove, or else she’ll be fired. She then leaves Kiyou with Suou and Ensei.

Meanwhile, Yuushun is in his office. His leg hurts because he’s overdoing it, so he drinks some medicine Rin made for him. Yuushun reflects that Rin goes through a lot of trouble taking care of him, apart from her job making the new coins, and on top of that, they rarely have any free time together because Yuushun is so busy. Suddenly, someone grabs his arm. It’s Reishin, here to continue his pointless quest to get Yuushun to resign. This time he says that Ryuuki is unworthy of Yuushun’s allegiance because he doesn’t see how unwell Yuushun has become as a result of overwork. Yuushun tells him not to blame Ryuuki because he’s been deliberately concealing it. Reishin says that Ryuuki is irresponsible for running off to Ran Province, but Yuushun said he did something similar when he went to Sa Province. Reishin says that Yuushun didn’t dump the work he was supposed to be doing to leave, but Yuushun asks if Reishin, of all people should be saying that? Right now, Reishin has pretty much quit working. However, Yuushun won’t ask Reishin to get to work, because he knows that Reishin hates the royal family and as the leader of the Kou clan, has his position to consider. (BTW, it’s revealed that previous King and Shou Taishi made a deal with Reishin, that he would become Secretary of Civil Administration in return for letting Shouka return to Kou Province. They figured that even though he would never be loyal, he wouldn’t be flagrantly corrupt either. [I see a lot of problems with their logic...] After this heated argument (although Yuushun outwardly appears to be calm), Anju meets Reishin outside of Yuushun’s office and says that it was quite a passionate lover’s quarrel, to the point where he thought someone had been cheating. [Darn, Anju swiped that opportunity from me. XD] Reishin coldly tells Anju not to address Yuushun without an honorific (in Japanese, this is yobi-sute), and Anju says Reishin can only behave so shamelessly because he doesn’t know the truth about Yuushun’s lineage. If Reishin knew, he wouldn’t have the nerve to meet Yuushun again. Yuushun had erased his past, so it’s natural that Reishin doesn’t know, but since Anju arrived at court before Reishin, he knows the truth; also, he says that Yuushun is generous/broadminded in deciding to be Reishin’s friend.

Okay, had might as well finish this part, so I don’t have to keep cutting back and forth: Reishin basically decides that he’s totally not going to work, and this time, Kouyuu and the other Civil Admin officials can’t convince him to return. [editorial comment: sorry, but jeez, this would get you fired at Burger King. I don't understand why Kouyuu feels he needs to support Reishin like this when Reishin obviously doesn't give a damn.] So Kouyuu is drowning under the work, as You Shuu looks on, sighing. But, it seems that You Shuu is collaborating with Seiga to gather evidence against Kouyuu. Seiga plans to get Kouyuu dismissed for exceeding his authority.

Cut to Jin and Shusui, who are travelling to Nine Colors Cove: This is where the first emperor’s sister, founder of the Hyou clan Sou Youki, sealed the 108 spirits with a mirror, then calmed them with her erhu. Shusui has the power of clairvoyance. In Kiyou, it’s nearly impossible to use mystical powers like this, or you risk going insane. This is the real reason the capital must remain at Kiyou and never be moved.

Shuuei has arrived at Ran Province, but he doesn’t go to the capital. Instead, he heads to the Garyuu Range (… Sleeping Dragon. Aahhahaha.), near the Nine Colors Cove, to go to the true main house of the Ran clan. Since before the Ran clan adopted the name of ‘Ran,’ and even before they allied with Sou Gen in exchange for ruling Ran Province, they have lived in this small manor. There, Shuuei meets Ryuuren, who seems uncharacteristically worried about him, just as a normal person might be. Although Shuuei came to meet with Setsuna, only his wife, Gyokuka, is there. Gyokuka makes him some tamago-yaki (I gather this is the scrambled egg roll?), which Shuuei likes sweet. The egg rolls are a point of contention between Setsuna and Gyokuka, because Setsuna detests sweet tamago-yaki. However, Gyokuka continues to make them that way, except on his birthday. Setsuna even meanly said that it was because she continued to make sweet eggs that Shuuei did not return home. Although Setsuna behaves kindly to Shuuei, he and Gyokuka seem to be continually bickering over this kind of thing. (Shuuei once sweetly said to Gyokuka that she was as like a fluffy egg roll, because Setsuna, upon meeting her, had said that ‘this time father’s new lover is a mediocre woman like a fried egg.’ ) Shuuei has a selective memory and just recalls them being rabu rabu and ‘destined love’. It appears that Gyokuka was supposed to marry their father, and upon Setsuna’s disapproval, was determined to gain the respect of the children, and somehow, in continually opposing Setsuna, they fell in love and got married (!?!). Setsuna even immaturely was jealous of Gyokuka hanging out with Shuuei, even though Shuuei was just a kid. Anyway, Gyokuka asks him if he has anyone special, and Shuuei shows her Shusui’s fan. We also learn that although it seems like the three elder brothers share the duties of being the clan leader, in reality only Ran Setsuna is the leader, because all three are ‘Setsuna.’ Normally the other two would have been killed, but their father let them live, on the condition that they not be found out, i.e., told apart. The moment someone can do this, the other two must die. So they live publicly as one person.

Shuurei and co are travelling by boat to the capital of Ran Province, Gyokuryuu. Tantan is seasick (well, actually it’s a river. It actually seems as though Saiunkoku is landlocked), but Shuurei is okay, even if she has never travelled by boat before. He wonders if she’s really a human unseriously, but then suddenly Kuro begins to attack him. Shuurei also observes a strange custom. People are throwing manju into the water. It seems in the old days, people used to sacrifice real humans to the river, but a passing Censorate official said this was stupid, and people should sacrifice manju instead. This makes Shuurei recall how the superstitious people in Sa Province wished to sacrifice her. [BTW, this idea of replacing human sacrifice seems like it was inspired from an anecdote in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.]

Ryuuki is also travelling by boat (he was also seasick). While asleep, he has a dream in which Shuurei, or a girl who looks like her, is sitting near him, but then she walks away, determinedly pointing to the capital. Ryuuki then begins to cry, because he realizes that he has irresponsibly run away from his duties. For the past two years, in a way, nothing has changed, which is why none of his council seriously tried to stop him from leaving. Once Kouyuu and Shuuei were no longer at his side, he felt his increasing isolation. He recalls Seiran’s words, ‘no matter what, I and the young lady (Shuurei) will be at your side, even if no one else is.’ However, at these words he realized that he ‘was not not king.’ Jyuusan-hime, watching this, feels sorry for Ryuuki, who has been alone for so long. It is also painful for Shoka to watch this, because it was he who asked Ryuuki to become king. Jyuusan-hime reflects that Ryuuki needs someone at his side. Having met Shuurei, she thinks that Shuurei’s decision is correct, and that just love alone can’t make people happy. Jyuusan-hime has given up all hope of being with Jin, despite their love, but despite this, she is believes that both of them can still find their own happiness. Even if they can’t be with their first choices, she thinks she and Ryuuki can eventually be happy together. Ryuuki doesn’t have time to wait for Shuurei. If he wants to be happy with her, there is one easy solution: abdicate.

Back with Shuurei, Ensei is helping Suou with his bandages (he accidentally hit Suou previously while defending the boat against pirates), and Suou reflects that Ensei is a much nicer person than Seiran. Ensei says that Suou has helped Shuurei a lot, and is thankful to him for it. Suou says that like Seiran, Ensei puts Shuurei first, but that he isn’t like that. To Suou, his father is the most important, and besides, he’s just an ordinary person anyhow. Ensei says that’s fine and invites him to try the tanuki soup. Suou is horrified that Ensei cooked his lucky animal.

Part 2 coming sometime soon, hopefully.

Comments: In this volume, Ryuuki really has the most character development. I can’t really help but feel that Ryuuki’s situation is not really comparable to that of the other officials, because he was forced to become king under the impression that no one else could do it. So now Ryuuki will perhaps in the future be forced to face the question: does he truly desire to be king? This is a v. necessary development, I think, and what’s clever is that the reader never really sees it coming, yet it seems quite natural, perhaps because Shuurei never bothers to consider this until Kouki and Anju begin to show her the politics behind the stage.

As for Anju, Kouki, and Seiga, it’s interesting that when you think about it, they’re actually the underdogs, because their families were wiped out, and they lost their money. Ou Ki is the one who helped all of these displaced nobles, which is why he has such a strong power base, it seems. Most of the officials are not truly loyal to Ryuuki, but just will support any competent legitimate monarch who keeps the country stable. So Ou Ki, IMHO, has a pretty strong hand, especially with Ryuuki’s recently running off. I’m also curious about Anju’s background. Although Shuurei compares him mentally to Sakujun, personally I think (despite their similar styles of dress and styles of speaking) it’s almost an insulting comparison, because Anju does actually do work, and has led a life of accomplishment (it’s also completely mysterious as to what Anju wants to do. Clearly he must have some huge goal, to have sacrificed so much to rise.) I’m also more curious about his friendship with Kouki. It makes more sense now that we learn they have a shared history of hardship.

As for Yuushun, it’s entirely mysterious what he’s up to and who he really is. It seems bizarre that in all of these years, Reishin has never bothered to wonder why Yuushun became an official, and is even willing to risk death to realize his mysterious goals. Frankly, one really has to agree with Anju that Yuushun is a broad-minded person, for putting up with Reishin’s obnoxiousness. Probably he would even claim that Reishin should be excused because he deliberately concealed his big secret that would shock Reishin and presumably shut him up. Pure speculation: he’s somehow related to Ryuuki? Or someone harmed by the nebulous bad deeds of the Kou clan? BTW, I continue to not understand why, even if Kouyuu is super loyal to Reishin, Kouyuu thinks he is helping Reishin by assisting him at work. Reishin doesn’t even seem grateful or pleased. And it’s clearly not something that Reishin even values, so if Kouyuu wanted to make Reishin happy, it doesn’t seem to make any sense.

Also, I like the Setsuna/Gyokuka couple. XD Setsuna seems to be the sort of person who is always ^_^ but in times of opposition turns into a demon. I want to see more of the rest of the Ran clan in later volumes, though I’m not sure when they’ll come into the story again.

I just installed WordPress 2.3. Out of all of my plugins, only Simple Tagging was not compatible. Anyway, it is made obsolete by 2.3. (BTW, if you have either of these installed, make sure to run the converter).

The major upgrade this time is tags. However, this means that you need to upgrade your theme. This is one way in which WordPress shows that it’s not made for the complete newb. Look. The average person doesn’t know php. Okay, they may be able to c&p, but how are people supposed to know exactly where to paste to get the results that UTW and Simple Tagging achieve effortlessly? Also, since php is code, you can induce errors by putting in special characters, like colons.

Anyway, what you need to do is this. In your theme, there will be an index.php (main index file) and a single.php (single post file). Locate these files.

Then just follow these instructions. http://iivee.com/add-wordpress-23-tags-to-wordpress-theme-bogart/33/

So far, I’ve updated the Skittlish, Lainlog, and Tarski (actually found an updated version) themes. I hope to go through my themes and update the rest of them soon. Actually, now that I’ve gotten Skittlish working fairly well, I might just go with that one. Or maybe I’ll whip up my own header for Tarski.