Story of Saiunkoku 1

Kairi Yura / Sai Yukino – Viz – 2010 – 6+ volumes

It’s a shame to not support something like this when it appears. We so rarely see feudal-type stories, and there’s no reason in the world not to get on board with a period romance like this. Of course, I’ve passed over feudal stories in the past (Kaze Hikaru, Tail of the Moon), but this one reminded me a lot of Apothecarius Argentum, with its fantasy kingdom and its own set of politics, so I wanted to try it.

It’s a shame I have Apothecarius Argentum to compare it to, because that series comes out on top. Saiunkoku isn’t bad so far, but it falls into several easy traps for light fantasy like this. There are info dumps explaining the history of the country, and a lot of details about politics, the characters and their lives are told rather than shown. I don’t really blame it for this, since it’s common to have a volume or two of info-dump exposition, but I always like to see a little more finesse.

Apothecarius Argentum also had a smidge more sensitivity and likable characters, but this is only the first volume of Saiunkoku, and I didn’t much like Argentum after one volume.

Basically, there is a kingdom with legendary warriors all named after colors. Any family with a color in their last name is descended from these warriors, and thus treated as nobility. The main character, Shurei, is from the second rank of these warriors, and yet her family lives in abject poverty. Thus, she takes one of the Emperor’s advisers up on an offer to become the Royal Consort for a sum of money for her family. The advisers hope that a well-rounded girl like Shurei, both a noble and a girl who knows a lot about the country from living among its people, can influence the Emperor in a positive way. Shurei enters the palace, hoping to gently guide the Emperor onto a path where he governs the country fairly.

Romantically, Shurei seems enamored with a young palace guard that lives with her and her father. As far as the Emperor is concerned, Shurei doesn’t expect to carry out her official consort duties since there are rumors that the Emperor prefers men.

When the Emperor appears, he is far from the spoiled rich kid shirking his duties that you would expect. He was abused as a child, and keeps to himself. He doesn’t govern the country because he wants to flee. As the last in line among five brothers, he never expected the position and doesn’t want it. He merely hides, rather than acting out against his advisers. He also has strange quirks that turn endearing, like insisting on sleeping in the same bed as Shurei due to nightmares.

There are a lot of politics, and a lot of mysterious pasts and future character relationships to explore. So far, the characters are likable, the kingdom is something of a blank slate and could go different places, and I’m looking forward to filling in some of the blanks. It’s an interesting start with many possible places it could go. I’m partial to this type of series, and with such a nice beginning, I’m looking forward to the future volumes.

This was a review copy provided by Viz.