Shurei finds her lift in danger as she becomes the pawn in a plot to usurp Ryuki as the emperor of Saiunkoku.
Creative Staff
Art: Kairi Yura
Story: Sai Yukino
Translation/Adaptation: Su Mon Han
What They Say
Shurei Hong, destitute but of noble birth, has always dreamed of working as a civil servant in the imperial court of Saiunkoku, but women are barred from holding office. The emperor Ryuki, however, refuses to take command, leaving everything to his advisors. Shurei is asked to become a consort to the emperor to persuade the ne’er-do-well ruler to govern.
After realizing Ryuki has been faking his ignorance, an enraged Shurei demands to be sent home immediately. Ryuki then locks Shurei in her room, unaware he has now put his consort in great danger…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Shurei has become accustomed to life as Ryuki’s consort and has made some friends in the court: Koyu Ri and Shuei Ran. The two men have found themselves in the trust of the emperor, who sees them as reliable allies. Koyu and Shuei are cautiously optimistic that the clever but still green emperor will bring them success, and continue to work behind the scenes to uncover a plot to harm Shurei.
Meanwhile, Shurei has learned more about Ryuki’s childhood. Shurei, Ryuki and Seiran all bear wounds from the war of succession which decimated the royal family, and the land, years before. Each wants to help restore the government and country to a state where such tragedies cannot happen again. That’s Shurei’s true dream and why she aspires to be a court official. When Shurei realizes that the emperor has been shirking his duties not from ignorance or stupidity, but more personal reasons she storms off in a huff. Before she can forgive Ryuki she’s kidnapped and carried off, the victim of an attempt to remove Ryuki from his post. She’s not the only one being used as an unwilling pawn. Seiran catches up to the perpetrator only to find that he’s also being used in an effort to place a new emperor on the throne.
Swords are drawn as various people close to Shurei dart to her rescue and confront the traitors. After the light and playful nature of the first volume, volume two is full of intrigue and a few surprise revelations. Saiunkoku wastes no time in setting up some interesting conflicts for the leads. It forces Ryuki to take charge and for others to pledge their allegiance to him.
Shurei finds that her time as consort is drawing to a close, but it’s clear that life is certainly not going to return to normal for the princess of the Hong clan.
An added treat, the last chapter of this volume is a cute side story about steamed buns that Shurei always makes.
In Summary
The action really takes center stage in this volume as court politics come into play. A few surprise revelations and unsuspecting turns keep the story moving at a brisk pace. While another series might have ended the story here, it wouldn’t have resulted in Shurei achieving her goals. There’s sure to be more intrigue in the upcoming volumes, and it’s going to be interesting to see how Shurei moves forward with her life after her time in the royal palace.
Content Grade: A
Art Rating: A
Packaging Rating: B +
Text/Translation Rating: B +
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Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: February 1st, 2011
MSRP: $9.99
