A small announcement, in case you will be wondering: the next episode of Shigofumi and Shion no Ou will be delayed for about a day, as I’ll be too busy for anime tomorrow and some share-users decided to upload fake raw-versions again…

In any case, this was definitely the best episode yet, because for once, everything felt right. The current episode yet again comes with a different art-style, as it takes us back to the younger years of Grand Master, and the other two older members of the Witches’ Council. To think that Grand Master used to have a younger sister at one point.

I think I already did this, but I must thank Arusu the Adventure for reminding me why Mahou Shoujotai ended up being my favourite anime ever. Looking back, there is no other series where I can find so much to praise as this with this one. Terrific art-style, great music, engaging characters, perfectly paced, an outstanding storyline, experimental in every single way, an imaginative setting, full of creativity, terrific storytelling, and I could go on and on like this. This is really the series that showed me the amazing things you can do with anime, and what happens if you let go of all boundaries.

I’m still wishing for an anime like this to appear some day. A series that doesn’t care about conventions (just like how Alice tried to go against the witches’ traditions in the original series). I admit that I often get annoying during the seasonal spring-season previews, where people dismiss a show, only because the character-designs aren’t mainstream. More often than not, it’s these series that really end up outstanding.

I guess that that’s why I like what Gonzo is currently doing. They too are trying to go in their own way, even though this isn’t always the right one (Dragonaut), and they often get lazy (Romeo x Juliet). Amidst all the dross, they did manage to pull off Bokura no, a series that also tried out lots of different things, and wasn’t afraid of going away from the mainstream. In fact, the simplistic character-designs still strike me as the best of 2007, and Gonzo managed to combine this with a terrific premise and storyline.

Okay, so basically the post of the fourth episode of Arusu the Adventure turned into some kind of mini-rant. These are of course just my own opinions, and they’re what I find really important in an anime. Sure, there are other ways to become an excellent series (I fell in love with the third, mainly because Honoka is just an amazing character), but this OVA reminded me that outstanding anime are basically created by letting your imagination run free. Of course, this doesn’t work for slice-of-life series, as they usually take place in a normal world without anything mundane happening, but it’s a good guideline nonetheless.

With this episode, the zig-zagging of Shinichiro’s feelings is definitively over, and he’s finally chosen. I must say, that this has been one of the best harems I’ve seen. The director of Simoun has really shown that even a harem can turn out great with the right development. I still cringe at how many of these series feature the plot-device where a younger-version of the protagonist meets up with a bunch of girls, and they all end up falling in love with him afterwards. It really doesn’t go that easily! Especially Shuffle was bad at this (christ, I still can’t believe that I ever managed to finish that series).

There are three episodes left, and they’ll probably focus on Noe, sorting out her own feelings. This episode pretty well resolved the Miyokichi/Aiko storyline, and it seems that Aiko did sort out hers, and has acknowledged that Shinichiro doesn’t like her. I doubt that Noe will take it that well, though. Her brother took her so much in his protection that she’s hardly ever been with another guy, and it’s apparent how much trust she put in Shinichiro when he first met her, trying to look for someone to distract him from his worries about Hiromi.

One thing I like about this series is how Shinichiro isn’t portrayed as some huge player, who even though he has one girl, goes after another. This seems to happen often in other harems, and random girls fall surprisingly easy for the guy, even though they hardly know him. With True Tears, all the crushes are neatly explained, and in the end, they didn’t feel forced. The creators did very well in keeping within the boundaries of suspense of disbelief, something that yet again most other harems have a lot of troubles with.

I can sort-of understand why people often are reluctant to check out very lengthy series. After all, they’re a huge commitment and it’s very hard to tell whether it will turn out worthwhile or not if you have to sit through more than sixty episodes. Series like Naruto, Bleach, Dragon Ball Z and Inuyasha went on and on, amidst pointless fillers, and just could have gotten so much better if they were just 1/4th of their original length.

Still, let me say that for every lengthy series that screws up, you can always find a lengthy series that’s absolutely worth the commitment. Take Legend of Galactic Heroes, Gintama, or any of the World Masterpiece series. And of course Saiunkoku Monogatari. It’s set in a world, reminiscent of ancient China, and follows Shuurei, as she tries to be the first female govermnent official, in a male-dominated society.

Of course, there’s much more to the story than just that. The series starts out as an innocent shoujo love-drama, but soon enough this series shows its josei-roots and develops its huge cast of characters perfectly. Be sure to expect lots of politics. The different arcs are very different from each other, and they’re more than enough to keep this series interesting though its entire run. And of course, there’s quite a bit of romance as well, but don’t expect standard Shoujo-romance here. Quite often, you see two characters who are in love with each other, yet can never be together due to their social status, or the things they did in the past.

I do want to note, though, that some parts of this series are less interesting than others. Saiunkoku Monogatari has a couple of incredibly deep and well-developed characters, but it needs to build up a lot in order to achieve this. There will be a few arcs that aren’t that special, other than that they build up for some amazing scenes, later on in the series. It’s also a shame that the final quarter of the series builds up to a third season that’ll probably arrive in two or three years. The final few episodes also showcase some dramatic budget-problems, with three recap-episodes within twenty episodes, so that’s also something to take into account.

Still, despite the flaws, Saiunkoku remains a versatile and engaging series. If you liked The Twelve Kingdoms (I haven’t seen the series myself, but I hear from everywhere that that’s another excellent series), you’ll definitely like this series. Now all that’s left is to wait a few years for the third season to arrive!

What a wonderful episode to close off the second series! This was hands down, the best episode ever since Shuurei got back from the Sa-clan. Thank you, Madhouse, for not leaving a bad taste at the end, while we have to wait who knows how many years for season three. The end of the episode closed off quite a few storylines, and yet it hinted that there’s still so much more to come. I really hope that the creators will realize this, and haven’t planned to end this series here.

But still, finally this series is over. For the past two years, it’s been my top-source of google-hits and out of all the series I’ve blogged, Saiunkoku Monogatari has received by far the most page-views, even comparing this to Death Note and Claymore. No other series also has as many posts as this one, although I guess that Jigoku Shoujo and Higurashi will come quite close when their third season finishes. Really, it’s sad to see this series gone now. I’ll put it on finished for now, until we get some real confirmations that a third season is under production.

It was also a delight to see Kouyuu and Shuuei back together. The two of them form such a great team with their banter. Suou also seems to have moved his family to the countryside, while he carries out some kind of mission for Kouki. We also learn that Anju is none other than Kouki’s ally. But the best part of the episode was of course seeing Ryuuki and Shuurei back together. It draws quite a parallel with episode 39 of the first season, which also ended with a similar series, but this time, Ryuuki’s development made that scene so different. Back then, he was just a weak little coward, screaming for Shuurei’s affection, but now he really seems to have accepted his task as an emperor. He’s now not just trying to become a good emperor because of Shuurei, and that’s what he realized when he was in the Ran-province.

Now, if you excuse me, I have to go write a review that does this series justice. ^^;