#saimono

I have a little hope that Kou Reishin might appear. Because he's the only reason why Li Kouyuu is sad most of times lol Its like if Jin Ling doubts Jiang Cheng's love for him or Jiang Cheng feeling he's not loved by his own father. Reishin is not a perfect father okay. He acts sarcastic, cold and inexpressive around his own adopted son but very affectionate around his niece Shuurei. Li Kouyuu don't even have Reishin's surname and so he don't wear red like Kou Shuurei despite being part of the same family. It was later revealed his stupid adoptive father hated his own clan and want Li Kouyuu to not be part of it, be free and not chained up by family matters. I believe one of the reason why Kouyuu remained this pure earnest guy is because Reishin protected him away from politics and court intrigue. Let's see if they will change his story.

People are not ready for adoptive father-adopted son angst. I just realised Reishin's hair is not green in the book. They made it greenish in the anime to make it closer to Kouyuu's character design.

This is why Houko Kuwashima playing a role in Apothecary Diaries and Jaadugar that feature strong girls as MC is very important to me.

Saiunkoku Monogatari Moodboard to show that SaiMono was inspired by "Chinese Classics/literature"

Heroine's Journey - Kou Shuurei's growth as the first woman who enter Saiunkoku's world of politics and later leave to get married. Her story questioned patriachal society norms as she try the profession exclusive for men only without erasing her feminine qualities. This type of story is quite popular in Chinese Costume Dramas where heroine get the roles usually for men. Look at the popular Pursuit of Jade cdrama where heroine might a butcher and became a general at some point.

Tragic Romance - Their interests are doomed from the start. Heroine want to enter politics but her ML is the emperor of the country. There's power imbalance but its not their fault. They are in very complicated situation. They did their best to get their happy ending tho. Their story reference Chinese tragic love stories that are important in Chinese literature like Butterfly Lovers, and Cowheard & Weaver Girl. The story constantly compare the heroine to Celestial Maiden's story where her ML wish he can do what the human lover did in the story, to hide the maiden's robe so she will not leave him.

Wuxia - Ensei and Seiran's adventure in Sa province where bandits are rampant because it was abandoned by the government. At some point, the same province even suffered from epidemic. So we have someone like Ensei who had to become a governor without passing the civil official exam. His character is actually inspired from Yanqing of Water Margin aka the classic Wuxia book. The courtesan of Kogarou who helped raise the heroine but behind their back she's the leader or heroine's dad assassin backstory are also very Wuxia setting.

Xianxia - 8 immortals of Saiunkoku worshipped by people. As homage to them as one of the founder of Saiunkoku, the main noble families are renamed after them and their respective province territory. Despite existing in the world setting, they never became the star of the story. They only observe and help humans from time to time. The 8 immortals is heavily inspired from Baxian, the 8 immortals in Chinese mythology.

Court Intrigue - It has some court intrigue, politics and economics since heroine became a civil official. It became more prominent when heroine became censorate to investigate corrupt officials so she will know who want her ML's head and protect citizens. Again, another well-loved genre in Chinese classics.