AniWorth

The Story of Saiunkoku

The Story of Saiunkoku

Introduction

Shuurei Kou, the daughter of a noble yet impoverished family, is a clever young lady who dreams of becoming a government official and contributing toward her country. However, her dream is out of her reach as such a position is forbidden to women. While her father works a low wage job as an archivist at the palace, Shuurei has to juggle odd jobs to make ends meet. Then, one day, an unexpected visit changes her life. Shuurei is called to assist Ryuuki Shi, the new emperor who is known for slacking on his duties and preferring the company of men. Tempted by the generous compensation, she readily accepts the chance to become the young emperor's consort for six months. Luckily, she is not alone as Seiran Shi, her trusty friend, joins her as Ryuuki's bodyguard. While tasked with transforming the new emperor into a responsible ruler, court life and politics prove troublesome as Shuurei faces the challenges of her new life. Set in a fictional country, Saiunkoku Monogatari centers on the idea of meaningful leadership, its adversities and the rewards that come alongside a prospering nation. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Where to watch & buy

As an Amazon Associate, AniWorth earns from qualifying purchases.

Audience ratings

MyAnimeList / Tenrai : 7.86/10 · 37393

1/10121
2/10107
3/10186
4/10492
5/101719
6/103597
7/108303
8/1010466
9/107153
10/105249

Audience reviews

20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.

Pookiexdo0kie

This anime really changed me as a person the mean girl has to be one of my favourite female protagonists of all time it's such an empowering anime that deserves more recognition than it actually has Even in the romance department, it deals with complicated topics with amazing grace way ahead if it's time in most of its political and emotional aspects I enjoyed this anime as a nine, maybe even a 10 out of 10 but realistically speaking it is an eight but if I have to be completely honest, I cannot bear give this anime lower than a nine The character development in this anime is so tea everybody mature so much and I feel like the ending really shows how much all the characters grew up

Read at the source

Benx2019

The animation is overall just alright. It's low resolution, and the action scenes are, as with many old anime, hardly animated at all. However, there are some pretty backgrounds, and a lot of detail in quite a few scenes. The characters are many, and have a fair amount of depth given the size. Although, that isn't to all characters have depth, and when they do I wouldn't call it an impressive amount. That being said, most of the characters are fairly interesting and entertaining. The setting is pretty interesting and so in the premise. While I wouldn't say the premise is wasted on the show, I would say the story kind of drags it out more than necessary. Which leads me to the pacing. It's slow. However, it's not unbearable and keeps the show enjoyable. The voice acting is well casted, but n…

Read at the source

KillerOwlQueen

I am so glad. I orignaly thought that this was going to be a story were everyone either fall in love with her for no reason, or she is a mary sue who has everything handed to her and everyone talks about how smart, brave, and kind she is and how much they love her without her ever proving it. But in this story shuueri proves that she is smart, brave, and inteligent by her own actions, I would sing her praises more than anyone in the show. I also love the other characters, because they are characters, they do have some gimics like one persone get lost all the time, but that is not what happens all the time. Or that the king doesn't give everything to Shuueri just because he likes her romanicly, but puts is dutey as ruler of a country before his feelings and also respects the power imbalance…

Read at the source

anime96Kitty

I really enjoyed this anime, I thought the plot is really good, I was hooked from episode one and would happily watch it all over again. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes Comedy, Fantasy, Romance and Historical anime. I think this anime should have more confidence. The music and sounds are very interesting as they have traditional Japanese instruments, which I really like. The shows main female character(Shuurei) is very strong with a real sense of girl power which very different from most anime I have seen. The rest of the main of the characters all had very good background stories. Overall I really loved this anime and I hope other people will enjoy it as much I as I did.

Read at the source

infiraya

Saiunkoku Monogatari, one of the anime I randomly selected to watch and I never regretted it. The story of this is beautiful and each episode has a moral hidden. If you haven't notice it, each episode has some kind of a saying, and you will see it later during the episode what it truly means. Story - I can't exactly write something about this one here, because I am bad on giving a short summary without spoiling the details. Art - I have read the light novel of this version and I'd say there is some quite of a difference how they drew the characters from the anime, it look quite the same but I can't ignore by the fact that one of the characters look quite a bit different compare to others. Sound - There's not really much of a soundtrack in here, the only thing that stays with me is th…

Read at the source

Hachiko75

Decided up update my review of this anime. This might contain spoilers. I like the story and the plot of the anime. The summary is mainly about what I consider the first arc of this season. Shurei has to help the new king become interested in politics so he can run the country. Since the position just fell into his lap due to family issues, he was not ready, prepared and really did not want the position. The second arc is about Shurei's dream to be an official in the government, but that career option at first is not open to women. When it does, she faces a hard road of sexism from immature boys to realize her dream. The third and longest arc is her journey to a city where she and another character are supposed to be co-governors. That's the story. Now with the characters, I like all…

Read at the source

NalarueAni

I read the synopsis on a different website and it really intrigued me. I was told I'd be watching a show about an ordinary noble girl would be sent to the imperial palace and help knock some sense into the "idiot" king while they fall in love along the way. So I thought to myself, "Awesome! I'll get to watch a different kind of love story. This will be great!"  It wasn't. The first couple episodes were promising, they were just like what the synopsis said. But around episode six or seven (I can't remember) the main character, Shuurei leaves the palace and goes on her merry little way. The two main characters whom I thought were going to be "lovers" didn't even meet up until sometime later, and even then Shuurei tried avoiding Ryuuki because she didn't want to face him. Once Shuurei beca…

Read at the source

DenzRui

Well, it's been a few years since I've finished Saiunkoku Monogatari and my memory's not that reliable but I'll do my best in reviewing this anime. I've seen some reverse harems; from classics to modern ones, but let me tell you this: Saiunkoku Monogatari still tops them all. (If not, then it's one of the best out there.) I came blind to this anime without knowing anything; the only thing I was expecting was for it to be underwhelming. But nah. It's good. Really good. Story: Saiunkoku Monogatari's premise about a girl from a fallen branch of their aristocratic family who is then offered 500 gold coins to join the imperial 'harem' for six months to straighten their unreliable emperor caught my attention. (Just so you know, I'm a maniac when it comes to governance,royalties,classics, pol…

Read at the source

GrayRealm

I've just finished watching Sainkoku Monogatari, and I can tell that it was quite horrible.... The anime has nice artwork, good sound, and nice music, there's an interesting atmosphere, but.... The story ruins it all. The very first story arc was quite interesting, but once it was over, everything fell apart. The biggest problem is that main heroine has a bad case of a "Mary Sue" syndrome. She acts in reckless and outright stupid fashion at any opportunity she gets, but is ALWAYS saved by some convenient deus ex machina. Every single time, someone mysteriously arrives, intervenes and saves Shuurei (main heroine) from another trouble she managed to get herself in. So instead of a story about a girl overcoming difficulties to achieve her goals, we have a whole world set up in such way tha…

Read at the source

GenuineOne

After putting off watching this for the longest time, I finally gave it a go. This is a review for the first and second season. I enjoy long and detailed plots with a good amount of episodes, so this was something that interested me. The characters are one of the best assets. They're lovable and you'll be attatched just for that reason alone. The art is classy, and as far as characters go, the women in this are independent and strong, which is a switch up from the usual helpless and pathetic main characters that are female. The main character, Shuurei, has her own strengths in knowlege and determination. We learn a bit about each character and their back story, which is nice. With that said, there was SO much more potential for the plot. The romance was a tease, and after 80 episodes, the…

Read at the source

Shizuku-Kuroneko

//Multilanguage Review (English-Español)// English: The story takes us to meet Shuurei and is set in a medieval China. Thanks to past events, in which they had monarchists wars and politic problems, Shuurei family suffered the consequences of this, because his family, one of the most famous aristocratic families of the country, helped many people at the time. This family offered to give food, water and shelter to those who need it, at the time when the monarchy was a mess, and because of that the economic condition of his family declined, leaving infertile trees and the rivers that furrowed her big house was dried, and anothers several additional problems. One day is presented to Shuurei a palace member, and asked to be part of the Harem of the newly crowned emperor (ie, that is part o…

Read at the source

Mavis808

I loved the meaning and potential of this anime. The story is amazing and deep but I found that it wasn't executed as well as it could have been, they missed many chances to make it more interesting. This is one of those animes that if you dont pay attention to certain parts, you'll get lost. lol I got lost in some parts. I expected more from some scenes and was disappointed. Plus they didnt do a good job in ordering the scenes.. Like they made a really high tension scene then switched to a low paced scene and it killed the mood. In season 2 they foreshadowed things way too early and Im almost done watching and I still have not yet seen what was foreshadowed, Im worried they took something that could have greatly deepened the story and half assed it into something small. From what I've alr…

Read at the source

Itachi_Llianen

If you are looking for a review pointing out reasons that might make you not like this anime, then you are like me and read reviews just to do that before watching it. You dont like reviews saying "it is good for this, this and this", you read reviews saying "if you dont like this, this and this, you wont like it". That said. First, this might be a quite boring series for most viewers. Since having more than 20 eps happening in only 3 buildings. To timings, since having a couple straight episodes lacking story action, to having basic timings not adding right. You will find these at some point. Second, the animation was lacking in many ways, and by animation i mean the art, individually each frame are quite decent, pretty characters and all, but when it comes to movement, fighting scenes…

Read at the source

floecity

Why this isn't one of the more popular Animes continues to leave me in shock. - Saiunkoku Monogatari isn't some simple, one-two,half-heartedly done reverse harem Anime. - The depth it takes with each characters background and personality make this politic romance drama so much more than any Anime has ever shown. The characters. Personality. History. Storyline. It's all so perfect. Nothing's rushed. Everything eventually gets explained. A shame that the Anime series couldn't continue on. - I'm no fan of historical Animes but this particular one got me hooked.

Read at the source

Shannthunder

This is only my second review so bear with me. I thouroughly enjoyed this anime. There are many things that made this anime one of the best anime I have seen in a very long time. Story: 10 I think the story was very developed. You could clearly understand what was going on throughout the story. This anime wasn't very predicable either. When you thought one thing was going to happen. it ended up going a different way. Art: 10 The person who did the art to this anime, did it very well. At first, I was confused because certain people in the anime looked alike, but as the anime progressed, everything made sense. Sound: 10 I especially loved the music in this anime. I thought that Shuurei's erhu played beautiful music. I also thought that when a certain person ( I'm not going to tell you w…

Read at the source

Atrista

Saiunkoku Monogatari was one of the best stories I have ever seen. It is a very smart anime, with very complex and captivating characters. I was really sad when I finished this and the second season. Here is a breakdown. Story - 10 The story was wonderful. It had a great combination of humour, politics, mysticism, family, friendship, and love. At first, the story seems pretty simple and basic, but don't be fooled! It get's so much better. I didn't think it was predictable at all, and had pretty good twists. The setting was something new to me, but I enjoyed it throughly. Art - 8 The art for this anime was very pretty and pleasing. A lot of the men are very beautiful, but it is handled well in the story. The character costumes were breathtaking as well as diverse. I liked that character…

Read at the source

Janvizchat

This is my first time writing a review and let me say this series was my all time best. You might see this story as the girl gets accepted into the emperors harem, the emperor ends up falling for the girl, or the girl ends up falling for the emperor. It's completely different. Only for the first I think 13 episode is she actually the emperors consort after that it becomes completely different. It has sword fights forgeries, politics, love, drama, adventure, and so many oh my gosh what just happened, twist that make you want to keep watching. When I first watched this series I started it around 10 o'clock am and ended up finish the next morning around two. Art 6 the art is okay but it definitely is not great. However the overall story makes up for the art. Sound 7 the sound was good. When…

Read at the source

shootdawoop

I couldn't fall in love with this dull "romantic" anime. It was more about government than love, honestly I wouldn't watch this anime if you want some comedy and romance. It'll kill your vibe to watch anime for about two weeks. The characters are explained well, but the whole story was a bit above average because of some of the fighting/government scenes. Overall, it's not something I would recommend for starting anime watchers, but veterans who have nothing else to do.

Read at the source

LucilleLelant

I found this anime alot like Fushigi Yuugi or Hanasakeru Seishonen. But it was extreemly interesting, has a good plot line and has good character developments. I would recomend this anime to anyone who liked Fushigi Yuugi.

Read at the source

djintash

Saiunkoku Monogatari... I actually watched it after seeing it so highly recommended on this site, but I think I was in the wrong genre :) I usually gravitate toward the action animes (i.e. Trigun), or the intense story-driven animes (i.e. Serial Experiments Lain) , but I think this anime is much lighter. I do enjoy light and fluffy fare sometimes, but this one was not for me. I'm writing this review, I suppose, for both seasons. The first season I actually liked. The story was interesting enough, the characters were developing well, and there was enough plot that I stayed interested. The animation... well, this is not an action anime, so the animation was pretty stiff. Nevertheless, I was entertained, and found that the anime had its 'smile' moments. I found the music soothing, and actual…

Read at the source

Similar anime