The Story of Saiunkoku: Volume 4

by Kairi Yura (art) and Sai Yukino (story), 190 pages

Ryuki arranges to have dinner with Shurei and her family, but a gang of bandits sent after her houseguest messes up his carefully laid plans.

Hee hee hee. Lots of cute, awkward Ryukiness this volume. With his help, Shurei vows to succeed in breaking down the gender-barriers in the government and fulfill her dream.

For more details, please see my review of volumes 1-4 on NoFlyingNoTights.

The Story of Saiunkoku: Volume 3

by Kairi Yura (art) and Sai Yukino (story), 174 pages

Having accomplished her mission of getting the emperor to accept his responsibilities, Shurei returns home. But she misses occupation and still dreams of entering the civil service, though it is barred to women. When she gets a chance to secretly temporarily fill in at the Ministry of the Treasury, she jumps at it. Meanwhile, naive Ryuki's trying to run the country and come up with ways to win Shurei's heart.

Yay for Shurei for ignoring glass ceilings. Luckily for her, she has friends in (very) high places who appreciate her for her true worth. Now I just want to see the rules change so women won't have to sneak around in order to give back to their country.

The Story of Saiunkoku: Volume 2

by Kairi Yura (art) and Sai Yukino (story), 184 pages

Shurei gets caught up in the power play between old rivals. Secrets are revealed and kept, bonds restored and tested.

It's a little hard to keep these pretty people straight, sometimes, but I'm enjoying getting to know them, regardless. Ryuki, the emperor, is especially loveable as he becomes aware of his knowledge gaps (most of which involve matters of the heart).

The Story of Saiunkoku: Volume 1

by Kairi Yura (art) and Sai Yukino (story), 170 pages

When Shurei Hong, headstrong and down-to-earth daughter of a noble family fallen on hard times, is called by a concerned advisor to be a royal consort to the delinquent emperor, she readily accepts the invitation. If she can kick the lazy, reclusive ruler into actually taking an interest in governing his people, she'll get a princely sum in payment. And since he's rumored not to be interested in women, she figures she's safe from any other responsibilities and can go home to life with her father when her mission is accomplished. But as she gets to know her kind, quiet, oddly fragile husband and slowly draws him out of his shell, she discovers he's a far more competent and complex young man than rumors have led her to believe. And luckily, while she's so focused on supporting him, he's watching out for her, for Shurei's position in the court (and among the living) is more precarious than she realizes.

The plot clips along at a pretty fast pace here and I wish it were about two or three times as long so I'd have more time to get to know the many characters and take in the details of life within and without the imperial court. That said, I still enjoyed the story and like the characters; I just hope it slows down a little in future installments now that the main elements have been introduced. This manga series is adapted from a series of light novels (short novels with a handful of illustrations), and I think that really shows in the fact that, despite the quickly moving story, the skimmed-over detail still manages to feel significant enough to tell the tale. The art is smooth and attractive in a typical shojo style but nicely embellished with historical details inspired by ancient China.

If I can find the original novels in English, I might give them a try, too, and I've already added the well-received animé adaptation to my to-watch list.